Blog Post #8

            The Sports Psych Lab was a really fun and interesting field trip. The technology they use there helps to train athletes by training their brain. Using the Dynavision, a piece of technology that has flashing buttons and a screen that displays numbers, math problems, and excerpts from stories, a student can better train his brain to multitask. For learners who need to move around while learning, the Dynavision is a perfect tool for them.

            PowerPoint can be used at each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy to support student learning. The first level is “Remembering.” PowerPoints can be used to review lessons after they are given. The second level is “Understanding.” After reviewing the PowerPoints students have a better understanding of the material. “Understanding” is followed by “Applying.” Here students now use the skills they have learned in the PowerPoint and apply them to their work. Fourth is “Analyzing.” PowerPoint helps to lay out facts that better help to analyze a lesson. Following “Analyzing” is “Evaluating.” Students evaluate the analysis of material to decide whether they except or reject it. Last is “Creating,” and this is where students now know the material enough to create their own PowerPoint.

            A site teachers can use to stay informed of technology changes is Twitter, which we have been using throughout the semester. It is great for following education companies that focus on technology. Teachers can even interact directly with these companies. They can search hashtags having to do with education technology to find the latest articles and opinions on advancements in technology for the classroom. Twitter.

Blog Post #7

            Assistive technologies unlock learning for students with disabilities. For those who have trouble holding a pencil or pen and therefore writing, word processors eliminate the need for a pen, and text can be edited during or after the initial phase of writing. Recorded books provide audio books for students who cannot always understand what they are reading, but can better comprehend it if they hear it. Sticky keys let students press one key at a time, rather than having to hold down multiple keys. Besides for a word processor, I haven’t used any of these technologies. I have used text to speech but it was when I lost my voice and was therefore for a different reason than the textbook gave. I am not familiar with anyone else who has used these assistive technologies. The text book references three challenges of using adaptive technologies in the classroom which are having to determine “which technology solution will be most effective,” and then having to be trained as well as the student in how to use the technology, and finally the need for IT and AT workers to communicate to make sure the right assistive technologies are installed.

            I am excited by the skills I learned in creating a website which I can use for the author website I need to create for information on my books and for me to upload reviews of other books. I like the design I chose for the website and the layout for the announcements. I didn’t like how some of the spacing turned out. Trying to space and place pictures and text where you wanted using Weebly was awkward. I hope next time to figure out how to space things better.

My Website.

            

              Using Diigo, I have learned to annotate much better and how to organize webpages instead of simply adding them into a favorites tab where they become lost and cluttered. This can be useful in my classroom by helping me to organize lessons and websites that are good for educational use. I can create a discussion board for myself and my students to have discussions on. With Diigo collaboration between team members becomes easier as different articles we find can be saved, and we can annotate them for each other. In my professional efforts I can organize websites of book reviewers and sort news articles involving publishing.

Citation: McDonald, Jean and Judy Lever-Duffy. Teaching and Learning with Technology. United Sates: Pearson, 2015. Print.

Blog Post #6

            Visiting the class pages of the seventh graders at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy, I can view teacher names and homework assignments. There are also reminders about tests and what the dress code is on certain days. Teachers also leave messages to their students. The emails of the teachers are posted as well.

            I see myself using Word a lot in accomplishing my professional responsibilities more effectively. I can use it to create newsletters for students that I can email so as for them not to get crumpled in a backpack and forgotten. Taking notes on what I need to do can be organized in either Word or in an electronic spreadsheet. Diigo can help me with organizing websites. Databases provide the ease of finding formal articles to use for teaching. Prezi is amazing for creating presentations that keep the audiences’ attention.

I think virtual reality has a lot of potential for a classroom. It can greatly affect the learning experience by making it more interactive and hopefully limiting students zoning out and falling asleep during class. If a teacher is teaching about a specific country, with virtual reality, students can then take a field trip to that country. This will increase memorization of facts from a lesson. Students can explore different animals, like how I experienced what it felt like to be up close to a dinosaur. It was terrifying as it felt so real. Students can explore the ocean floor in marine biology, and in literature class, students can step inside of books.