It took me a moment to realize that on my campus we have a student that utilizes a piece of equipment to assist her in class. This student has dysgraphia and she carries around with her a small machine that allows her to type or speak her thoughts into it as a modification to her learning. It is quite neat and she is able to complete assignments in a timely manner without feeling akward or left out. Another student of mine has a small FM transmitter that looks like a small mp3 player that helps his hearing. Before looking at the buffalo.edu site I never looked at these items as AT. By doing so I have realized that my student that has dysgraphia may find it helpful to use MS Word in class as well as her other piece of equipment.
Looking thoughout the internet I found that there are several online sources that help with students, parents and schools with finding assistive technology for students.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/assistive_tech.htm a great resource for any child that might need AT, not just those children that struggle with learning or physical disabilities.
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/ this is part of Microsoft website that gives information on AT products specifically for Microsoft products
http://www.assistivetech.net/ is a wonderful site for students who need assistive technology in their everyday lives. It gives information on products that make life at home more accessible.
http://www.nockonline.org this site helps provide communication devices to disabled kids
http://www.atstar.org is an online curriculum that helps educators design lesson to benefit any student with disabiities.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Usage of Phone Camera's in the Classroom?????
Looking at how my students use technology amazes me. They can create, edit, and upload video’s with their telephones to the internet that look like mini movie’s. They also can download whole albums for free from different websites. They can do their homework all from their phones if they wanted to. What my students do with their cell phone’s is nothing sort of a miracle. One of the most creative things that I have seen a student do with their cell phone is video each field trip he attended for the year and put into a presentation entitled “Sites to see in Dallas” for one of his semester projects.
As I talk to my colleagues not only are middle school students using their cell phone’s for class projects but elementary students are using them as well. One autistic fourth grader utilizes his phone to take pictures of his classmates and teachers to download them into his laptop. This is a strategy he uses to help him remember who his peer helper is throughout the day as well as keep up with his daily schedule. I know that teachers view phones as a distraction, but I view this topic a bit differently.
If certain features of a phone can help a student in the classroom why not let them use it. For example, one of my students asked his math teacher if he could video him working out an algebra problem using a particular formula that he could not grasp in the classroom. As the student reviewed the footage when he got home to do his homework he was able to figure out what he was missing when he went to work alone. Basically his phone became a take home tutor whenever his teacher allowed him to tape the class. Sometimes as educators when need to revamp the way we look at certain technologies before we write them off as a nuisance.
As I talk to my colleagues not only are middle school students using their cell phone’s for class projects but elementary students are using them as well. One autistic fourth grader utilizes his phone to take pictures of his classmates and teachers to download them into his laptop. This is a strategy he uses to help him remember who his peer helper is throughout the day as well as keep up with his daily schedule. I know that teachers view phones as a distraction, but I view this topic a bit differently.
If certain features of a phone can help a student in the classroom why not let them use it. For example, one of my students asked his math teacher if he could video him working out an algebra problem using a particular formula that he could not grasp in the classroom. As the student reviewed the footage when he got home to do his homework he was able to figure out what he was missing when he went to work alone. Basically his phone became a take home tutor whenever his teacher allowed him to tape the class. Sometimes as educators when need to revamp the way we look at certain technologies before we write them off as a nuisance.
So far. . .Some what. . .
When I began this course I knew how to use the basics of Word and Excel. And I do mean the bare minimum of skills. As I have worked through a few of the assignments that are due I have learned quite a bit more of the advance features of Word. I still need some work when it comes to Excel. One of the software programs that I was completely unfamiliar with was Access. Thanks to Atomic Learner, I was able to figure out how to utilizes the features of Access to maintain a large database that gives vital information not only for me but to the administrators on my campus as well. I have been able to keep up with the amount of data reports when it comes to testing that my administrators want to see on a weekly basis. So much so, that I have been asked to present the information to my campus so that we all submit our information in the same format. The Atomic Learning Self-Assessment showed me that I have a lot to learn and that it is going to take practice, practice, and more practice for me to become proficient in Excel and Access.
Views and Concerns of an Educator
As a teacher my views on technology in the home is a must. The world is changing so fast at times that I think it imperative that students and parents should be able to keep up. Also education is moving, although slowly, to become a paperless environment. My district has moved to marking attendance using a software by the name of Chancery. We also have a district wide gradebook named GradeSpeed. (What I find wasteful is that both of these programs have the feature of attendance and gradebook, I wonder who was the ‘genius’ who decided that we needed both programs instead of just one.) Education is using technology to push students to utilize technology in every aspect of learning, from online manipulatives to turning in homework via campus website. Even parents, in some districts, are expected to communicate with the teachers and keep up with their child’s grades via the internet. Again all things are moving to become more convenient for all involved in a child’s education.
November 17, 2009 the Dallas Morning News printed an article about the new AT&T netbooks featuring the new Windows 7. The article was of great interest to me due to the fact that I have been considering purchasing one of the smaller versions of a laptop due to the fact that I have to use my own laptop in my classroom for presentation purposes. With that being said the netbook would be a great investment but the cost worries me. Mainly because once I would purchase it I would have to pay another monthly fee for wireless internet for the netbook to be beneficial in my classroom. This would bring my monthly wireless cost to $100 from $35. What I believe AT&T should do to assist their customers is to bundle the cost so the increase won’t hit the consumer so drastically. The article itself states how sales have increased for AT&T, I just wonder if they will pass savings down to their customers.
November 17, 2009 the Dallas Morning News printed an article about the new AT&T netbooks featuring the new Windows 7. The article was of great interest to me due to the fact that I have been considering purchasing one of the smaller versions of a laptop due to the fact that I have to use my own laptop in my classroom for presentation purposes. With that being said the netbook would be a great investment but the cost worries me. Mainly because once I would purchase it I would have to pay another monthly fee for wireless internet for the netbook to be beneficial in my classroom. This would bring my monthly wireless cost to $100 from $35. What I believe AT&T should do to assist their customers is to bundle the cost so the increase won’t hit the consumer so drastically. The article itself states how sales have increased for AT&T, I just wonder if they will pass savings down to their customers.
Technology Distribution a District/Campus Observation
There is a major funding issue on my campus and district when it comes to technology. There are limited funds available which is, in my opinion, horrible for a Title 1 school. There is plenty of training but that is wasted due to the fact that of when you get back to campus the technology is not available to utilize. I have a total of three desktop computers that are available for my students, and I am considered one of the lucky ones. If I want to use the projector to present to my class, I must use my personal laptop to do so. That isn’t the worst of it though, the use online manipulative to reinforce reading strategies is null and void. But if I go to another school with in my district they will have new technologies that benefit students with learning disabilities readily available for all teachers and students to use.
I find this absolutely appalling due to the fact that ‘no child is to be left behind’. I have fought as an educator to get equipment and software that my students would benefit from but I feel as if I am fighting a losing battle. I have even gone so far as to elicit contributions from corporations to sponsor our campus. To my understanding of district policy this is something that should not have to take place due to the fact that the technology budget should support all schools. Unfortunately, the availability and accessibility of these funds are not apparent and students continue to suffer from a lack of fair/equal education.
I find this absolutely appalling due to the fact that ‘no child is to be left behind’. I have fought as an educator to get equipment and software that my students would benefit from but I feel as if I am fighting a losing battle. I have even gone so far as to elicit contributions from corporations to sponsor our campus. To my understanding of district policy this is something that should not have to take place due to the fact that the technology budget should support all schools. Unfortunately, the availability and accessibility of these funds are not apparent and students continue to suffer from a lack of fair/equal education.
Finally Posted - Until Next Time
This has been a very trying semester for me to say in the least. Dealing with illness and being quarantined to my house for bed rest was a completely new experience that I would not wish on my worst enemy. During that time I was able to do a lot of reading for this class and learned that there is a lot of catching up and improvements education must achieve to keep up with the constant changing face of technology. The most beneficial aspect of this class was to see what other districts/schools had to offer their students. I was quite jealous on behalf of my students, due to the fact that my campus has two computers per class room at max. But I would say it has motivated me to investigate what is available for my campus to afford.
As far as the course itself I will say that I am classroom/hands on learner. Being self taught to a certain degree was a bit difficult for me at first. But as I worked with a couple of classmates it became a bit easier to deal with. For me I would have liked to have a little bit more face to face time during the week with the professor to be sure of their expectations out of each project. I feel as though it was hit or miss, some projects I did well on, other I felt as if I would have done better had I had more time in a classroom setting.
If I were to make any suggestions of change about this class I would like to see a second day added to the face to face meetings or a tutorial portion. Especially in regards to the different types of hardware and software that can be utilized in education. I also would suggest a portion of the class to cover, piece by piece, the state requirements of becoming a MTT would be awesome. Reading over the standards are a bit confusing, like most state documents, to fully understand what is expected from the teacher by the state would be a beneficial component to the class. Overall, the class was a good one in the sense that it did meet my expectations.
As far as the course itself I will say that I am classroom/hands on learner. Being self taught to a certain degree was a bit difficult for me at first. But as I worked with a couple of classmates it became a bit easier to deal with. For me I would have liked to have a little bit more face to face time during the week with the professor to be sure of their expectations out of each project. I feel as though it was hit or miss, some projects I did well on, other I felt as if I would have done better had I had more time in a classroom setting.
If I were to make any suggestions of change about this class I would like to see a second day added to the face to face meetings or a tutorial portion. Especially in regards to the different types of hardware and software that can be utilized in education. I also would suggest a portion of the class to cover, piece by piece, the state requirements of becoming a MTT would be awesome. Reading over the standards are a bit confusing, like most state documents, to fully understand what is expected from the teacher by the state would be a beneficial component to the class. Overall, the class was a good one in the sense that it did meet my expectations.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Technology Goals
This has been a world wind race to get caught up. This is ironic in itself due to the fact that I feel as though I am always trying to catch up to technology. (Especially when it comes to my students) Learning a second language seems to be easier for me than learning the latest software programs that are available. I can't remember the author of an article that I read about a year ago, but he stated how our students are digital/technological natives where as those of us born a decade or so before our students are digital/technological immigrants when it comes to learning technology. This so applies to my experiences and shapes the goals listed below:
- How to effectively implement the use of technology in my classroom for my students
- To become a master at blogging to communicate effectively with my students
- I would like to create a class website to display student assignments as well as to have another means of communication with parents
- My students need exposure to the world around them, therefore I would like to learn how to share classrooms outside of Texas and the US.
- To become more effective than just a powerpoint interactive teacher. I know there is more to technology than my little laptop and I need to learn to be more innovative with the little technology that I have in my classroom.
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