Assistive Technology 1

As usual, google provided over a million websites somehow related to the search words: Assistive Technology. Despite the millions of choices, I found an excellent definition: "Provides hardware and software solutions to help people with learning, communication, and access difficulties lead more independent and productive lives." (http://www.assistivetech.com/corporate/home.aspx) The good thing about the google search, is that it also provides the searcher with pictures of the different types of technology, the downside is, is that it can take several hours to sift through the sites to determine which ones are pertinent to the subject you actually want. Looking in declious though, I used the tags, which narrowed my search to a more realistic number, only over 2,000, but the tags allow one to quickly breeze through and eliminate the ones that don't pertain the subject, but simply contain the words or have additional relevance that a person may not need. In fact, some of the websites on delicious came up through my google search, such as pluk.org. Overall, I find declious a much quicker and efficient way to find valueable websites. It also helps if more than a few people also have tagged the site; it adds to its legtimicy.

2cents blog

This week, David wrote about a Canadian teacher, who had his seventh grade students create box labels to represent different events in Canada's history. They used mac computers to design their labels and the pictures on the website are amazing! He then went on to discuss that such technological 'artisan' work should be shared more than simply on a blog and he suggested the idea of having a company print the labels onto crayon boxes for the elementary students each year.
First of all, it was interesting to know that a middle school teacher successfully incorporated technology use into classroom and the amazing products show the range of capabilities that children exhibit when given the opportunity to apply their knowledge while learning something new. I think that this project exemplifies what we have been discussing as enhancing a child's learning experience of a topic, through the use of appropriate technology. My guess is that his students will always remember making the box labels depicting major events of Canada's history much better than their peers who may have simply read it in a book.

Delicious

Okay, so I have been looking into the Delicious website and I was disappointed to find out that they only use Yahoo accounts. :( I already have three email accounts, on top of various other log in accounts and personally, I do not want to have to add another site to the list. Is there any way around this? Do other sites provide the same function, but accept other email accounts? I would really like to use Delicious, but I feel wary about giving another site my personal information.

NEW educational blog

Well, I have found a new educational blog to follow. :) It is written by David Warlick and is called '2 cents worth.' In his most recent post, he describes his response to a reporter's question about his opinion on schools who are banning Ipods in the classroom. His response reminded me of what we have been discussing in class, because he basically says that as teachers, we shouldn't shun technologies, but rather figure out how to use them in an educational way. In my opinion, if school districts don't incorporate the use of different technologies, the chidlren will lose interest in school and either stop coming, in the older grades, or will be ill equipped for the work/college worlds. I am a HUGE supporter of books, but I also recognize that there are now other means in which we can obtain or present information and those can be just as effective for children to use as the traditional means.

Voicethread

So I am starting to get the hang of talking using the headset using Voicethread; I figured out to create my own and comment on Lee's for this week. Although I still feel awkward, I do find it an interesting way to to communicate with people who do not live near you and am going to try and convince my best friend in Germany to create an account, so that we can 'talk' to each other. I think that Voicethreads have amazing potential for personal and professional use; they also allow those who are shyer in front of a group, to comment in a less stressful manner. The only downfall I have noticed so far, is the fact that voice comments aren't as personal as a face to face conversation and since not everyone comments at the same time or day, I could see it being difficult or perhaps simply time consuming to follow a thread. However, if we treat a Voicethread like a blog, then people would know to check it at least once a week and post verbal or written comments; whichever a person felt more comfortable doing.
One last thing I would like to say, is that while I am highly interested in tinkering around with voicethread, I would hate to see technology drive out the benefits of face to face classes/conversations, because we miss all of the body langauage associated with conversing when all we have is a voice. It's fun though and I'd encourage anyone to try it!

Technology

Where you are at on tech skills to be a great teacher and where you think you need to be? What are your strengths and weaknesses in technology use for instruction and professional development? What kind of plan can you develop for your professional growth?

I honestly can't say where exactly I am when it comes to my technology skills; I did not grow up with computers, until middle school, since they were not very popular until around that time in my life. Compared to children today, my skills are most likely lacking in the areas of specific technologies, such as podcasts and I don't even an own an Ipod. I guess I'm not entirely thrilled with using technology, because I don't know how to use it; my computer skills are decent, but I have no idea how to input formulas in a spreadsheet and have never used all of the different features of a word document or blackboard. For my own professional development, it would be nice to gain first hand experience of what it is like to use a smartboard or expose myself to other forms of technology that could be useful in the classroom. However, I also believe that it is unfair to hold the regular education teacher fullly responsible for teaching children how to use the everchanging technologies in the world. Rather, I think that their should be teachers in the schools, who are spefically trained in the use of relevant technologies, who can then teach the children how to use it, so that the regular education teacher can implement what the children have learned in the computer lab. Technology is being renewed so rapidly, that I fear by the time I learn what is out there today, it will be outdated and I will have to start all over again. As for a professional growth plan, I'm not even sure where to start, because there is so much out there, it's overwhelming.

Following

So, I have been searching around for a good blog to follow and I have discovered that blogs are not as easy to find as I thought and when I do find them, I find them lacking. I think the reason for my unableness to find an interesting blog, is the fact that that most blogs are all opinionated. They're written from one individual's point of view and if that's the case, I would much rather have a verbal conversation about the topic, rather than scrolling through a bunch of text. I have also discovered that I'm a rather conservative person, who believes that personal opinions should not be displayed for anyone or everyone to read, primarily because it can come across as offensive, and people give meanings to words, not the other way around. Not to mention, the fact that it is difficult to create a tone of voice through the written word that accurately and appropriately describes one's emotions at the time of writing. I prefer informative text over the opinions of millions of people; thus I ask the question: what is the purpose of a blog?

Suggestions?

Well, I've been following the Lee Lefever blog for a few weeks now and even though what the company and him do is quite interesting and helpful, I find myself being unable to relate to much of the information. Therefore, I have decided to find a new blog to follow and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions? Perhaps if a few of us followed the same educational blogs, we would be able to create longer discussions on our blog posts. Meanwhile, my goal is to find a new blog to follow that peaks my interest within the next couple of days and then comment on what I have found.

Following III

The most recent post on Lee Lefever's blog was on October 2nd and it was a book review on the book Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook. Honestly the only correlation between his post and education that I could think of, is 1. Don't judge a book by it's cover and 2. Book reviews are a timeless assignment for getting children to read and be able to articulate on the contents of what they read. The first correlation is significant, in the fact that the phrase "friends with benefits', caused me to think of those couples/friends who are, shall we say 'loose' when it comes to personal boundaries. Clearly, this is not what the book is about and thus, it is important for me, as a future educator, to research the titles that I may present to my class, rather than just going on the cover.