Blog Post 3

Technology in Special Education

Lacy Cook's video was about how technology improved learning in special education classes. Throughout the video, she showed us her students and the outdated learning methods they were stuck with, such as cards with the alphabet printed on them; a simple, wooden, raised platform for a book to sit on; and how one of her students needed someone to read to him in the hall during silent reading.

Just having a computer greatly improved the conditions in which they learned. A regular computer, something most of us don't really think much of or make a great fuss over having, really helps some of these students to do their assignments and learn. An iPhone is used as an audio book for the same student who had to have his books read to him in the hall. Audio books are, while not exactly cheap, certainly much cheaper than an iPhone. You wouldn't even really need the iPhone unless there's no audio book, in which case you could download an ebook and software that reads what's on the screen to you, much like some blind people use for computers. There's so many different ways of using technology I'd never thought of before watching this video, and it was definitely enjoyable for the kids in the video.


iPad Apps in the Classroom

After watching How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism, I decided "Futaba" would be a great app to use in a classroom with special needs students. It's a matching game that up to four people can play. Images come onto the screen, and the first person to match the word presented with the correct image gets a point. First person with three point wins.

It seems pretty simple, but it would be good for teaching students the meaning of harder words. And since you can insert your own images and words, allowing for a wide range of customization, you could conceivably teach anything with this, from science to English. Plus the competition of the game would motivate the student to try harder, to earn the points and win the game.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count

I actually have no problem believing these numbers. In the last 80 seconds over 800,000 items have been shared on facebook? I can see that. Though I do wonder where this information comes from, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Even when it says that in the last 120 seconds over 1,000 new facebook accounts have been made, it's not that surprising. It might seem weird, because wouldn't you think that everyone who cares already has a facebook? But accounts are made for all kinds of things--authors, authors' publishers, specific books, characters from books, characters from shows, clubs, TV programs, production companies--you name it, there's probably a facebook page for it.

But I don't know what this could mean for my professional career as a teacher. That communication is steadily becoming digitized? I imagine it will be like my move from high school to college. In high school, we didn't use much technology or the web in the classroom or for assignments, unless it was to write a paper. That's what schools--or at least schools around here--are like now. But in the future, perhaps it will become like courses at college. Some courses are half online, like this class, EDM310. Maybe a system like eCollege or Sekai will be integrated, so that students can submit their assignment online. It seems to me that the progress of technology use in elementary and high school will be like the leap in technology when going from high school to college.


Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I don't think I've ever seen a more accurate representation of college classes. When I sit in class it's a serious struggle not to fall asleep; to resist the urge to open a book I actually want to read; and to watch others with their laptops, getting on facebook, and not pull out my own and get on Tumblr. I want to pass the class, I want a good GPA, but it's hard to care about a class when it has absolutely no impact on what I'll be doing in the future. And it's sometimes sad to think that I can pass a class doing the bare minimal amount of work possible, yet stress over it more than most things in life.

Classes fill up students' lives with clutter that latter on in life won't matter, that they probably won't even remember. Conversely, teachers are stuck with the same curriculum that they know won't affect a student beyond the walls of the classroom. If classes were more--I don't know, relevant?--to the issues of today's world, they'd be worth more. It would be worth more to say, "I've got an education," when that education includes knowledge relevant to the issues the world faces every day.