September 13, 2012

Education & Technology Notes / Garret Feedback #2



Touch screens are important for kids who are kinesthetic. Why is this a need for them?

  1. Ease of access – no need to be able to operate a mouse, a switch or to need to sit a certain way. The iPad can easily come to the student, be placed where they need it and the touch required is extremely friendly. (Not for all!! Remember, this is very individual.)
  2. Simplicity of programs – from very basic to more complex, many apps are design to be user friendly. For the moderate to severe population of students the amount of simple apps is huge, plus they are extremely inexpensive and visually draw students in.
  3. Simplicity of use - many who cannot understand how to operate a computer, can understand how to operate an iPad. (Even your grandmother!)
  4. Low cost of programs – compared to the cost of software programs for a computer, there really is no comparison (unless you consider the abundant amount of free programs available on the Internet. And yes, please continue using those!).
  5. There are apps designed specifically for our population (see other postings to right). Designing apps for education has become quite the market. The amount of apps designed specifically for special education has grown so much that there is now a category for it that stands alone in the iTunes Store.
  6. Assistive Technology and Communication Apps are available that help to make this a tool for access support, not just a tool for learning (i.e. audio books, word prediction, visual prompts, etc.)
  7. It can be loaded with many adaptive technology gadgets and programs, thereby reducing the need for multiple devices. Talk about UDL (Universal Design for Learning)! This is a tool that can level the playing field for many.
  8. There are apps that are inexpensive and exciting to increase vocabulary, sight words, math facts, reading comprehension, organizational skills, and drawing skills, just to name a few.It can be very educational and in the classroom, this is what we want: exciting, fresh, innovative teaching tools.
  9. Built-in accessibility tools such as zoom and high contrast display make this a tool to support visually impaired. The built-in VoiceOver screen reader works as well on the iPad as on the iPhone. For our VI population, the options are growing and growing. (However, it may be the iPhone that is the best solution for those with significant vision impairments.)
  10. Programs such as Dragon Dictation is free, no paper and pencil needed if one can speak clearly, for writing text messages, e-mail, maybe documents. (Must have Internet/WiFi connection for this to work however and it is not the best option for longer texts.)
  11. The brilliant screen of the iPad which creates and supports visual interest - with the ever improving HD colors which are bright and the HD video and/or camera- tools at our fingertips that can be pulled into our educational artillery in so many new and innovative ways. 
  12. The right case can make it much less indestructible.
  13. More and more tools are being developed to help with access. (Mounts, switch access, adaptive styluses, etc.)
  14. Light weight (iPad = 1.5 lbs.)
  15. Instant Response/Instant On/Fast Processor.
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Discover the world view - Goal. Why is this important?

world·view  (wûrldvy)
n. In both senses also called Weltanschauung.
1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.


it is important that students have access to to the internet to communicate and collaborate with other students from around the world. This helps expand their world view and fosters a better understanding and tolerance of other cultures and beliefs. 

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Self-modivated - goals. Break it into traditionally taught self. Look into Jane McGonigal (game in the classroom lady) - Sense of self. 




Why? 

“During this kind of highly structured, self-motivated hard work, Csikszentmihalyi wrote, we regularly achieve the greatest form of happiness available to human beings: intense, optimistic engagement with the world around us. We feel fully alive, full of potential and purpose--in other words, we are completely activated as human beings.” 

SENSE OF SELF:

SOURCE: 

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED358394&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED358394

"As the number of latch key children and at-risk students increases, teachers have become one group of significant others with whom children spend much of their time. This paper focuses on students' sense of self and the teacher's role in positively impacting it, from the perspective of a model of mental health. This model places self-esteem, motivation, common sense, and the ability to learn by insight at its core. It is suggested that this state of mental health is a key to teachers eliciting and students accessing their positive sense of self and, therefore, enhancing motivation and learning. It is recommended that attention be paid to the ways in which teachers can positively impact students' sense of self, based on a model of mental health which facilitates access to the deeper self. The author asserts that for teachers to positively impact students' sense of self, they must view students in a positive way, provide an environment of socioemotional support, operate from a state of mental health themselves and interact with and relate to their students in ways that allow students to access their own mental health. (Author/BF)" 


Home work at home. Why is it important? Cite some studies.


Here are the top 14 reasons why Homework is important:
  1. It improves your child’s thinking and memory
  2. It helps your child develop positive study skills and habits that will serve him or her well throughout life
  3. Homework encourages your child to use time wisely
  4. It teaches your child to work independently
  5. Homework teaches your child to take responsibility for his or her work
  6. It allows your child to review and practice what has been covered in class
  7. It helps your child to get ready for the next day’s class
  8. Homework helps your child learn to use resources, such as libraries, reference materials, and computer Web sites to find information
  9. It encourages your child to explores subjects more fully than classroom time permits
  10. It allows your child to extend learning by applying skills to new situations
  11. It helps your child integrate learning by applying many different skills to a single task, such as book reports or science projects
  12. Howework helps parents learn more about what your child is learning in school
  13. It allows parents to communicate about what he or she is learning
  14. It encourages parents to spark your child’s enthusiasm
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NEW INFO STARTS HERE:


"Technology tools can help educators make and strengthen home–school connections. With technology becoming more prevalent as a means of sharing information and communicating with one another, early childhood educators have an opportunity to build stronger relationships with parents and enhance family engagement. Early childhood educators always have had a responsibility to support parents and families by sharing knowledge about child development and learning. Technology tools offer new opportunities for educators to build relationships, maintain ongoing communication, and exchange information and share online resources with parents and families. Likewise, parents and families can use technology to ask questions, seek advice, share information about their child, and feel more engaged in the program and their child’s experiences there"

"When used appropriately, technology and media can enhance children’s cognitive and social abilities. Technology and media offer opportunities to extend learning in early childhood settings in much the same way as other materials, such as blocks, manipulatives, art materials, play materials, books, and writing materials. Screen media can expose children to animals, objects, people, landscapes, activities, and places that they cannot experience in person. Technology can also help children save, document, revisit, and share their real-life experiences through images, stories, and sounds. The active, appropriate use of technology and media can support and extend traditional materials in valuable ways. Research points to the positive effects of technology in children’s learning and development, both cognitive and social."

"Digital citizenship is an important part of digital literacy for young children. Digital citizenship in the context of early childhood programs refers to the need for adults to help children develop an emerging understanding of the use, misuse, and abuse of technology and the norms of appropriate, responsible, and ethical behaviors related to online rights, roles, identity, safety, security, and communication. Adults have a responsibility to protect and empower children—to protect them in a way that helps them develop the skills they need to ultimately protect themselves as they grow—and to help children learn to ask questions and think critically about the technologies and media they use. Adults have a responsibility to expose children to, and to model, developmentally appropriate and active uses of digital tools, media, and methods of communication and learning in safe, healthy, acceptable, responsible, and socially positive ways."

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Why is a common screen in the home important:

COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING. 

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REGARDING HOMEWORK:

"iTunes U allows students to time-shift more of the passive learning that currently makes up the majority of class time. This has a few benefits. For one, teachers only have to give a lecture once. And students can watch as many times as they want, rewinding and fast-forwarding recordings as needed.
But most importantly, removing lectures from class allows students and teachers to work closely with hands-on assignments. There’s a world of difference between practicing algebra with a trained professional in class, and struggling with the student’s parents at home." 
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Why is an app important. Why and how does it apply to the course work / students well. 

#4. Smart mobile devices and tablets are on the horizon for schools.

"The Horizon Report identifies mobile devices—especially smartphones and tablets—as one of six emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within K –12 education, and as one of two that are on the near-term horizon (under two years until usage in the educational community) to become mainstream (Johnson et. al., 2011).  Once smart mobile devices are pervasive in schools, apps will have an entryway into the hands of many more children. The time to start considering how to harness this media as a powerful educational tool is now."


Why and how is the physical touch screen important? Having something to touch matters why?

WHITE BOARDS FOR KIDS:

"Developments in the area of digital technology have resulted in the creation of interactive
whiteboard [IWB] technology. This technology enables the user to control both the hardware
equipment and software application by touching a screen with either a finger or pen. This
ability can create an interactive and ‘responsive’ environment for a learner. Through the use of
touch screen technology the learner has the potential to interact directly with the screen
allowing for a more authentic or ‘real’ experience. “Mouse and pen-based interfaces allow the
user the immediacy of touching, dragging, and manipulating visually attractive ideograms”
(Bolter, 1999, p. 23). The ability to touch the screen creates a sense of immediacy and
transparency. As a result a more seamless and authentic interface is created between the
technology and the learner. The machine becomes an extension of the physical body
(McLuhan, 1964).

Multiliteracies and Multiple Ways of Learning. 

Studies that evolved from the New London Group (1996) explored the nature of literacy in the 21st Century. The New London Group coined the concept of ‘multiliteracies’. Multiliteracies
helps us determine what it means to be a literate person in contemporary society, a much
broader view of literacy than portrayed by traditional language-based approaches.This view
takes into account the “multiple modes of communication to which each of our senses are
attuned and multiple ways in which knowledge and skills can be passed” (Williamson, 2005).
These multiple ways of knowing are inherent in the media texts of contemporary society.
 With the advent of the Internet, the work of the New London Group is even more significant.
Interactive touch screen technology is an effective medium for understanding these
phenomena. Any notes, diagrams, or other images shown on the surface can be printed out and
given to students. The use of colour marking on the board in the note taking mode
can provide an important dimension in focusing students’ attention. Students and
teachers can use the whiteboard interactively. Users can write on the board once an
image has been projected and the teacher can add comments at the computer or
notations at the computer. Students or the instructor at the board can use the
markers or their fingers to press on the board and interact with it as one would with a
traditional screen and mouse.  (Bell, 1998 p. 2).

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"An Oklahoma State University study indicated that 75% of the students in the pilot agreed that the iPad enhanced the learning experience, and only 3% would opt out for a similar course with no iPad."
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Why is the tangible object important?
- on a touch screen matters why?
- what is the difference between a multifaceted device vs a singular device?

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Limiting the device is the ability to limit, a distinct advantage? disadvantage?

"The best defense here is a good offense: Teach kids positive computing habits, encourage them to come forward with questions surrounding negative situations or questionable content encountered online, and set a good example with your online behaviors. Build trust, foster parent-child communication and teach your kids how to make good decisions, and you’ll empower them to safely connect and interact. And know that — like any normal individual — they’ll sometimes mess up, and that, once breached, trust can take time to reestablish. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, despite safeguards and the best of intentions." http://mashable.com/2012/03/16/kids-and-tech-parenting-tips-for-the-digital-age/

"This introduces a fundamental paradigm shift, as modern kids are growing up in an age where technology and connected devices are both readily available second nature, and yet standardized norms and rules of behavior governing usage — as well as experienced, positive role models — are hard to come by."

THIS IS JUST A GOOD REFERENCE TO WHAT ALREADY EXISTS.

Joel Rose focuses on disrupting long-standing, outdated practices in education with new approaches, rather than adding technology to existing ones. His program, the School of One, focuses on providing personalized instruction that moves at the pace of each student. Technology only comes into play insofar as it advances that personalized instruction. Machine-learning algorithms adapt the curriculum as each student progresses, and monitors direct each student to his or her next lesson. 

What denotes the best teacher?

The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.  ~William Arthur Ward

- what are they getting out of this?

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken
joy in creative expression and knowledge.
Albert Einstein

- already existing benefits.
- smiling kids?
- seeing children light up when they understand a topic you just taught.

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WHY'S OF EVERYTHING!?

Why is the course work important. 

* USE A NEW TYPEFACE!

CITATIONS!

EVERYTHING WE PUT ON THIS POSTER NOW WILL CARRY OVER TO THE FINAL DESIGN!

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