Post #7 - Should I Stay Or Should Diigo

This week we listened to an Adaptive Tech podcast. It defined adaptive or assistive technologies as technologies that help people with disabilities use computing equipment more effectively. Some of the examples it gave of these technologies are those with physical and learning disabilities can use voice recognition software in lieu of typing, or text-to-speech software that has the ability to read text to students. The book also provides examples of these technologies. Students can use alternative keyboards such as expanded keyboards, one-handed keyboards, and on-screen keyboards. These can make communicating to others easier for students. I have never used these technologies, nor have I met someone who uses these technologies. A problem one might face when trying to incorporate these into the classroom, is trying to maintain a sense of normalcy in the classroom and lesson plan. As accepting and flexible as a teacher might be, that doesn't mean that their classroom will be as open-minded.


I learned a lot about myself, and about Weebly through this assignment. I thought that although it made it easy to put words on a screen and create a basic website, the parameters that my lack of knowledge regarding website creation left me with resulted in a very boring and uncreative website that is probably terrifyingly similar to hundreds of other people who have used Weebly.  Next time, I can look up way to customize my website, other than just changing the color of my font. Here is a screenshot and link to my website:

I had no idea that you could annotate websites and share thoughts and information so gracefully over the internet until I started using Diigo. It allows you to highlight websites and bits of information that may be beneficial to you and those who are looking at the website with you. That's incredible. I can use this technology professionally by looking up articles, websites, anything online that I think may be valuable to students or colleagues and I can easily point out and share and communicate why I think that source is so powerful. 

ILP #1 - Design - Podcast

For my first Independent Learning Project I created a podcast. I have always appreciated podcasts as a fun and easy way to obtain knowledge. You can easily, ride to school, walk, run, while listening to a podcast. I, very excitedly, created my own. I had to edit it because my roommates and I couldn't stop giggling at the thought of me creating a podcast and pretending to be a high school English teacher. See, podcasts bring people together! They're fun to listen to and create! My podcast is me reading an excerpt from the essay "Learning Curve" in the David Sedaris book: Me Talk Pretty One Day and asking students to respond in the comments. Here is the link so you, too, can pretend to be a member of my English class:

https://soundcloud.com/sartsfield/ilp-1-participation-english-podcast-me-talk-pretty-one-day

#6 - Websites, How I Plan to Use Technology, Sandboxes... oh my!

As technology has evolved, many schools have incorporated it in to their classrooms. Additionally, schools have also begun to use technology to promote their schools and get in touch with their community outside of the classroom. This can be done through websites.

I visited the website of my mother's elementary school, Enterprise Elementary School. I could not access classrooms' websites specifically but there was a vast number of different links, found through easily navigating the sites under the name "Elementary Curriculum". Publicly, website-goers can access links about things going on in the community, teacher information, and a number of other things. It seems that any question a parent may have about the school that isn't classroom specific can be answered.

Here are two images. The first is the homepage and the second is the list of links provided when you click on the link entitled "Elementary Curriculum".

I plan to use technology in a similar way.  I want to use technology for good, as an avenue that connects myself and my students to the real world. In the podcasts it describes professional development as the concept of people in a profession further their knowledge. Chapter 7 in our textbook provides a number of different ways one can further their knowledge through technology. This coupled with my desire to use technology to better myself and students will foster professional development and student growth. I envision myself using the many features of Microsoft Word that we have learned to better reach my students both within and beyond the classroom. Making quizzes and tests and letters to parents have all been made easier through discovering the different features offered by Microsoft Office. 

Still along the lines of technology, our class visited the Tech Sandbox! This was beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the coolest things I have done all semester. We explored a ton of different technologies found in classrooms and each and every one was unbelievably engaging and fun. I have found that the importance of extracurricular learning and fun (recess) is being forgotten in schools. However, if I incorporate, say, the 3D pen into my classroom, students not only get to learn about that kind of technology, but they also get to have fun and make beautiful crafts in the process. I believe that developing a child's creativity is just as, if not more important than textbook learning. This technology allows students to experience the best of both worlds!

#5 - I Could Really Go For a Sand-Twitch

Web 2.0 tools are advanced technologies which allow us to communicate with one another in a unique way. Examples of these are YouTube and Wiki's. Although the podcast refers it as "passive" I value YouTube in the classroom because of its expansive repertoire of knowledge and information. YouTube can be used to show students a number of different videos that cater to any need a student may have.


An example of a Web 2.0 tool is the following website, https://www.twitch.tv/ . Twitch allows for a person to live stream whatever screen they are using and showcase it to an audience. Students can watch as their teacher leads a lesson from any computer. The sight is easy to navigate, as I, someone with no prior experiencing with live streaming was able to successfully live stream a video of myself playing a game with my brother in an effort to experiment with the website.


I believe gamification is an extremely effective way to reach students. Every time I have played a game in class I have become significantly more engaged in the lesson. Gamification allows for students to receive information in an exciting way. Students participate in all sorts of competitions and games outside of the classroom, so incorporating those things into a lesson allows for students to apply real world knowledge and vice versa.

#4 - The Digital Divide

     Thus far, Twitter has proved to be a fun way to interact with my peers. I don't normally interact with every person in my class on social media but our educational twitter accounts allow me to do this. It is exciting to see the different ways people interpret the going-ons of our course. I've interacted with several people in my class, whether it be through "liking a tweet" or "retweeting" their tweet. Twitter could prove to be helpful in my career by bringing me closer to my colleagues outside of our schools. My mother, a third grade teacher, has a twitter and she uses it to access her school board and fellow teachers in a mature, but relaxed tone.


     When I effortlessly use social media outlets like Twitter it's easy to forget that there is a very large population of students who don't have as easy of access to technology. This phenomenon is known as "The Digital Divide". This divide is the gap between students who have access to reliable technology, and those students who do not. The podcast says, "the impact is not just about access, but also knowledge and skills". There are many forms of active learning software that make up the instruments of the Digital Divide, Among these are academic software, productivity software, presentation software, and academic software applications. Within each of these categories are programs like simulations, graphics, drill-and-practice software, educational games, simulations, and tutorials. Many students don't have access to these kinds of software's, and some don't even have access to more common software's such as Microsoft Office, a tool that many teachers incorporate in student projects. Students who rely on the failing, outdated computers of their school libraries are deprived of basic skills students with computers at home may be learning that will better equip them for future learning and careers.


    An example of one of the skills a student more acquainted with technology can develop is the ability to properly evaluate a website. This is the ability to determine whether or not a website is good and reliable. When I examine a website I first check to see the domain of the website. If the domain is .gov or .edu I automatically consider the website to be reliable. One can also check the sources of the information provided on the website. A basic rule of thumb to live by when navigating websites for information, however, is to ask yourself the question, "would the person providing this information lose their job if it wasn't accurate?"