The Most Powerful Tool in the Classroom - Huffington Post
For thousands of years the human race has relied on two sources for information in the classroom. One was the teacher and the other was the textbook. Times have changed. The Internet is now the most powerful tool in the classroom. The role of the teacher is not going away, it is simply changing. Teachers no longer need to be lecturing students but instead helping to guide them through it. Students are able to learn with the Internet but they still need our guidance as mentors, facilitators, and coaches.
When students can learn things at the point of a button or tap, they do not want to be lectured to. "Siri can often give a more comprehensive answer than many of us on any given topic." This statement is incredibly accurate and helps to show the amazing power of these social media/selfie/communication devices we hold in our hands. So, how we teach needs to change. It is no longer sensible to make students memorize rote facts and regurgitate what we teach them. We now have the opportunity to have these students think critically, solve problems, and use their creativity in ways they have never been able to do before.
Monday, November 3, 2014
5 Ways to Use Technology in the Special Education Classroom
Educational Technology-October 2, 2012
http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/tech-ed/5-ways-to-use-technology-in-the-special-education-classroom/
The author of this article discussed five of the many ways in which special educators could bring technology to their students with special needs in order to provide a 21st century classroom experience.
The first idea is to utilize the features found on the classroom computer's operating systems. My iMac houses these features in the Accessibility section in the System Preferences tab. At school, I use the slow keys function in which my students have to touch the keys each time they want to type a letter. This helps to eliminate the pretty rows of one letter that my students like to create when we type. There are other features found within the section that allow adaptations for many types of disabilities.
The second idea is Braille Displays. This function is able to read text that is sent to a machine that activates pins. Other versions read text either line by line or the entire documents depending upon their cost. There are versions that work with smartphones and tablets.
The third idea is Word Prediction Software, which works great for students with severe disabilities because they are able to create written documents without worrying about the spelling of their choice of words but creates laziness with students like mine.
The fourth idea is the use of tablets in the classroom, and the fifth is apps. I believe that these ideas go hand-in-hand. I can also speak from personal experience that my classroom iPads have been a lifesaver on many fronts. My students enjoy working for extra time, which is spent on apps used to improve sight word knowledge, hand-eye coordination, and math drill skills just to name a few. I also keep visual timers and clam down devices on the iPad, which the students respond to much better than the egg timers I use at times. Since many students with special needs are visual learners, tablets and apps are used to engage the students in activities that would seem difficult before.
Overall, technology in special education classrooms have allowed these students to expand their knowledge and demonstrate mastery in ways that teachers only imagined ten years ago. I have seen real gains with my own students since integrating technology into my daily lessons.
http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/tech-ed/5-ways-to-use-technology-in-the-special-education-classroom/
The author of this article discussed five of the many ways in which special educators could bring technology to their students with special needs in order to provide a 21st century classroom experience.
The first idea is to utilize the features found on the classroom computer's operating systems. My iMac houses these features in the Accessibility section in the System Preferences tab. At school, I use the slow keys function in which my students have to touch the keys each time they want to type a letter. This helps to eliminate the pretty rows of one letter that my students like to create when we type. There are other features found within the section that allow adaptations for many types of disabilities.
The second idea is Braille Displays. This function is able to read text that is sent to a machine that activates pins. Other versions read text either line by line or the entire documents depending upon their cost. There are versions that work with smartphones and tablets.
The third idea is Word Prediction Software, which works great for students with severe disabilities because they are able to create written documents without worrying about the spelling of their choice of words but creates laziness with students like mine.
The fourth idea is the use of tablets in the classroom, and the fifth is apps. I believe that these ideas go hand-in-hand. I can also speak from personal experience that my classroom iPads have been a lifesaver on many fronts. My students enjoy working for extra time, which is spent on apps used to improve sight word knowledge, hand-eye coordination, and math drill skills just to name a few. I also keep visual timers and clam down devices on the iPad, which the students respond to much better than the egg timers I use at times. Since many students with special needs are visual learners, tablets and apps are used to engage the students in activities that would seem difficult before.
Overall, technology in special education classrooms have allowed these students to expand their knowledge and demonstrate mastery in ways that teachers only imagined ten years ago. I have seen real gains with my own students since integrating technology into my daily lessons.
Impact of Technology in Elementary Classrooms
About the Author
Author: Santosh Bhaskar KWebsite: http://www.twitter.com/SantoshBhaskarK
Devotee of Dr. Abdul
Kalam. Following his path of Creating Creative Education in India. Contributing
my works in "India Vision 2020". Former EdTech Blogger/Researcher at
ETR India
Mr. Santosh Bhaskar begins his article with the following: "Elementary Education should focus on learning through playing and exploration in order to improve a child's cognitive, emotional, physical, sensory, reflective, communication and social developments. Traditional classroom methods may not always provide children with a fun learning environment. But nowadays, technology helps educators engage students with many fun learning approaches." I agree with Mr. Bhaskar's view wholeheartedly. When I think of "traditional classroom methods", I visualize a lot of teacher lecture, a lot of teacher doing, a lot of kids watching, and a lot of worksheets and paper/pencil type work - not necessarily engaging or fun. I have been teaching for six years now and have seen first hand how rapidly technology has changed within that short time frame. I recognize the impact that technology has had on teaching practices such as having an online version of our new reading curriculum, having access to projectors and smartboards, having laptops, netbooks, i-pads, kindles and most recently chrome books, and how this technology has indeed, increased student engagement.
Mr. Bhaskar states that "Educators find the use of technological devices in education, a great way to engage students because it attracts them. Mobile devices and computers provide students with a fun learning environment. As we know, different students have different learning styles, technology helps them learn in the way they're comfortable with." As I reflect on this part of the article, I do agree that the use of technology engages students. I believe that the addition of technology can bring a lesson, concept, or topic to life, thus creating excitement and sparking student engagement. Technology can also aid the teacher and students by allowing for more opportunities for differentiation, interventions and enrichment. I do still believe however, that students need and should have a balance between technology/virtual hands-on learning and truly physical hands-on learning . I hope it never comes to the point where the personal human interaction of teaching by teachers and/or parents be completely replaced with technology.
The article also mentions that "There are some people who oppose technology in the classroom as it reduces physical activity." Again, I think there needs to be a good balance of technology based learning as well as other types of learning happening in classrooms. In my opinion, people fear that our children are on technology/electronics overload, overly stimulated, expect instant gratification, and rely on technology to get their answers instead of building concrete knowledge and understanding. That is why I believe there needs to be a balance. Technology should be used and it must be taught - like it or not, it is the current trend and the way of the world in present and future times. In conclusion, educational technology does positively impact student engagement. Used correctly and in moderation, teachers, students, and parents should continue to embrace technology as an excellent learning and teaching tool.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Effects of Technology in the Classroom
Effects of Technology in the Classroom
This is a great article about the different effects technology has in the classroom. I really
like the main points the article hits about increased motivation and having students working collaboratively in the classroom. It shows how you can easily do some of these things with little or no work to yourself as a teacher. I also like the areas where they talk about the increased self esteem, I can see how teaching students these skills and helping them to feel confident and independent can help with their self esteem in and out of the classroom. Also depended on your population and students access to computers you could have students doing assignments at home and still working together in groups. I once had a cooperating teacher who used to make a powerpoint with himself recorded and pre-teach the math lesson they were going to learn the next day. So the students assignment was to listen to the lesson so that they were prepared the next day, if they did not have a computer at home they came into the room early (right after breakfast) and previewed it. This concept worked very well and could not have been used without technology!
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