- What content could this help you teach? Online Safety and Ethics
- What type of pedagogical strategies might you use with your students? Some appropriate pedagogical strategies to teach these concepts are: role playing, think-pair-share, journals, compare & contrast and debates.
- What technologies do you think would be harder to use with your students? Why? Web Wise Kids offers a technology that "features stories, video clips and fun activities to teach and reinforce online safety concepts. Most importantly, it introduces real issues to you in a practical and convenient way and offers proven solutions." They also provide other resources for parents, educators, and students. This technology does present a barrier, there is a suggest donation of $7.99 in order to play the game, and even suggests users pay $19.99 for the newest version. My concern is that Internet Safety games and interfaces aren't the most enticing topic for our youth to play-- it is unlikely that a child (or even parents) will pay the suggested fee to play.
10/26/12
Online Teaching Experiences
Web Wise Kids is a resource that I'd like to use with my course's online learning. Children need to be mindful and aware of what they share, navigate, and participate with online. The purpose of Web Wise Kids is to "empower students to safely enjoy all the benefits of technology, recognize and avoid dangerous or unethical online activities, and confidently manage issues like piracy, fraud, online romances, cyber stalking, sexting and other detriments."
A Funny Thing Happened with Technology
We've all had some sort of funny moment in technology. I remember one time in my classroom I was setting up the projector so that students would be able to use an online site for further content practice. But instead of having the website up, I left my personal email account up on my screen. I was a little embarrassed that my students read my email, but my students thought that was quite funny.
Another technology blunder that happens every so often is when I accidentally send a text to the wrong recipient. It is especially embarrassing when it's a private conversation. This sort of thing also happens to me with email too. I use gmail, and it remembers just about every email address that I have ever sent to. This can be both great and not so great! Click on this link to hear the full story.
Another technology blunder that happens every so often is when I accidentally send a text to the wrong recipient. It is especially embarrassing when it's a private conversation. This sort of thing also happens to me with email too. I use gmail, and it remembers just about every email address that I have ever sent to. This can be both great and not so great! Click on this link to hear the full story.
10/19/12
MACUL Space Contribution
For this Participation Assignment, I shared a useful poster creatively displaying educational technology buzzwords. I found this to be a valuable resource for students and teachers alike. It is a visual reminder of the numerous ways we can use technology in education.
Wiki Lab
This week my classwork focused on using wikis in education. I created two personal wikis using wikispaces and pbworks. I also created a wiki for my children's school, as there was not one already in place.
I had previously created a wiki last Spring when I took CEP 810. I had designed this wiki to serve as an online site for collaboration.
For my CEP 811 Wikis lab, I did much more experimenting with wikis. I created multiple pages, embedded links, uploaded files, and invited others to collaborate to my created wikis.
First, I created a new wiki, using wikispaces.
I created this wiki to represent myself and the work I am doing in CEP 811. I embedded a link to an Instructional Design lesson plan that I had previously published to the Internet. I also embedded a video. The various pages of this wiki have links that move a user throughout the pages. It is definitely a "work in progress."
After playing around and getting familiar with wikispaces, I visited pbworks.com and created a wiki at that site. I found pbworks to be more user friendly. I explored the various content types that you can include and use.
I edited the content in my sidebar to include two important links for the MATC program. I also changed the color themes, and added a logo.
I had previously created a wiki last Spring when I took CEP 810. I had designed this wiki to serve as an online site for collaboration.
For my CEP 811 Wikis lab, I did much more experimenting with wikis. I created multiple pages, embedded links, uploaded files, and invited others to collaborate to my created wikis.
First, I created a new wiki, using wikispaces.
After playing around and getting familiar with wikispaces, I visited pbworks.com and created a wiki at that site. I found pbworks to be more user friendly. I explored the various content types that you can include and use.
I embedded the Google calendar for our CEP 811 class.
I added a Skype contact feature and a Google Translator gadget.
I also uploaded a file to the wiki that pertains to the MATC Portfolio requirement for my Graduate program.
To complete the Wikis Lab, I looked for my children's school wiki. There was not one created yet, so I created one and added one notable fact- the school hours. I also invited other parents and my Professor to contribute/view/visit the wiki.
After completing this lab, I am much more familiar with wikis and how they work. I really like that anyone can edit the wiki. It is a great source for online collaboration.
10/12/12
Universal Design for Learning
The new wave in education is a far cry from the traditional way where textbooks reigned and curriculum was designed for a one size fits all student body. Universal Design for Learning ("UDL") is all about embracing diversity in learners. UDL has three principles. First, teachers need to be flexible with how they represent and introduce the content. Second, teachers must provide multiple ways for students to express themselves in the curriculum. Third, teachers must be aware and accomodate for the individualize ways students are engaged. By adapting the principles of UDL, teachers are flexible with their curriculum so that students excel at learning and are intrinsically motivated.
For my CEP 811 class, I need to answer the following questions relating to Universal Design for Learning:
Q: At the core of UDL is the premise that often the curriculum is disabled (and disabling!). It is not flexible; it often poses barriers, and consequently prevents rather than supports optimal learning experiences. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why or why not?
A: I disagree with the view that curriculum is disabled and poses barriers which interfere with learning. Without curriculum, teachers would be recess aids. Curriculum provides us with a framework, a set of goals to reach. Teachers are artists and shape the curriculum to meet the needs of the diverse student body. Curriculum is not the problem. The responsibility is on the school district and its teachers to create a rigorous curriculum that engages students and accommodates the diverse group of learners present in every classroom.
Q: What are the benefits of analyzing the curriculum for strengths and weaknesses rather than focusing on the student’s strengths and weaknesses? What are the challenges of this approach?
A: Spending time analyzing curriculum is a good thing; students will benefit when curriculum has the kinks ironed out. We as educators can never put enough time into planning, strategizing, and reevaluating what and how we teach students. However, if all the attention is put into analyzing the curriculum, the students' strengths and weaknesses become the background. As educators, our ultimate goal is to bring up responsible citizens who will participate and foster growth in our communities. Students are our primary focus, and spending too much time analyzing curriculum can take the attention off what truly matters.
Next, I will analyze one of my lesson plans using the UDL Guidelines. (See below.)
UDL Guidelines – Educator Checklist
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Your notes
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Feature:
Real life visual of content, image
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Barrier:
Students only hearing teacher’s voice
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Feature:
Content is deliever in text, real life examples (touch)
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Feature:
touch, text, and
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Feature:
teacher and peer feedback
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Feature:
French lesson
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Feature:
hands on
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Feature:
activates bk
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Feature:
relates content to personal needs
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Barrier:
No scaffolding provided
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Feature:
Student associate content to real life tasks (grocery errands and diet)
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Your notes
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Feature: Online technologies, Peer
group, Art, Touch, Smell, Sight, Speech, Auditory
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Feature: blind fold activity
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Barrier: None provided
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Feature: Twitter discussion
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Feature: Books in native language
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Feature: Creation of grocery list
using content
Barrier: No scaffold for practice
in peer groups
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Feature: Real life task assessment
Feature: Prompts healthy dietary
thinking and choices
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Your notes
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Feature:
text, aural, oral, sight
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Feature:
relevant content to real life
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Barrier:
content promotes sharing likes/dislikes and some students may not feel
comfortable liking something without knowing how peers will react
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Feature:
Long term goals implemented with content covered
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Feature:
Simple to more advanced content and technology (access to and use of Twitter)
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Feature:
peer groups, class discussions
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Feature: Student Blog post, group discussion
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Feature: Student blog
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© CAST 2009
After analyzing my lesson plan, I found some areas where I can adapt the lesson to meet the individualized needs of my students. I found that I did not take into account any Assistive Technologies, nor did I consider the dynamics of an autistic student. This lesson would work well for a student with ADHD because there is lots of new content and it is very fast paced. However, it does not follow a normal class routine, and perhaps a student who struggles with change would be challenged at the pace and introduction of all the new content. This lesson was created outside of a classroom setting, as I am not currently teaching. I imagine that if I created this lesson for a specific set of learners, I would greatly change the order and amount of tasks I do. I would also adapt the methods and technologies used to meet my learners.
This experience has shown me that regardless of having a predetermined lesson, I would ultimately gear and tweak the lesson to fit the diverse make-up of students in my class. My curriculum is just the base from where I uniquely design the ladder my students will climb.
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