EDCI 5825 Assignment Week 4

For a student with a hearing impairment, I would first and foremost have this student sit closer to the front of the classroom so they would be able to hear me better when I speak. I also would make sure that whenever I would give an oral lecture that students have to take notes from I would make my notes readily available for my students to access via the course wiki or google docs. In this way, the hearing impaired student will be access my notes so if they possibly missed something from the lecture they will be able to have the material they missed. If possible, I would use a variety of SMARTBOARD activities as these are very strong visual aides for the students. Also, if possible, I could use speech recognition software that would allow me to speak into a microphone as I am lecturing and have what I am saying either project on the board or to the student's computer. The hearing impaired student will be able to follow right along with the lecture and will be able to catch all of the nuances of what I am saying as what I am explaining may be portrayed differently in the written notes form of the lecture.


For a student with with low vision, I would use technology such as DAISY talking books. The DAISY talking books are a more technologically advanced version of books on tape, but DAISY talking books offer even more than just this aspect. "Some of the features that make the DAISY system effective are image files, video playback, and support for standard files such as .wav, .jpeg, etc. The tools allowed by DAISY aids those with visual impairments to share in today's digital, knowledge society" (WEBSITE). DAISYwould aid those students who are not able to see very well will be able to have an interactive textbook. I also would plan to use technology such as jingcasts that can talk to the students directly to explain what is going on if there is an activity that utilizes a lot of visual aides. 


For a student with a broken right arm, I would use technology such as speech recognition if the students are required to do an activity where they need to take notes. The student would also be able to use speech recognition to complete a quiz or a test. The speech recognition software will allow the student to complete any task required. According to the wiki article, "The use of speech recognition software allows students that have little or no motor skills in their arms and hands to be able to produce typed reports, manage software, and perform research with a computer, just like other non-disabled student" (WEBSITE). I would also have my notes readily available for the student as it may be difficult to catch all the information from the lecture.


For a non-communicative autistic student, I would use a variety of the tools already mentioned. Something beneficial for these students would be DAISY talking device. Not only can DAISY read textbooks, but it can also read documents. Some autistic students have the ability to write. In this case, I can have the DAISY reader read the student's assignment right from the word document. I would also use lots of pictures in my lecture as non-communicative autistic students are able to connect very well through photos and are able to recognize certain characteristics. As for the other students, I will also make my lecture notes readily available.


Reference

Assistive Technology in Education/DAISY. (2009). Retrieved June 19, 2011, from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/DAISY

Voki 1

EDCI 5085 Assignment Week 3

Looking at all of the different ways to utilize the internet in the classroom has made me start to think about how I want to use the internet in my own classroom. I have come up with a few different ideas.

1. Course Wiki- I have never even seen a course wiki before this semester but now it is something I can definitely see myself using in my future classroom. At a first glance I thought that using a course wiki was going to be more cumbersome than useful; however, after only a few short weeks I have come to appreciate the benefits of using a course wiki and could never imagine looking at a paper syllabus again! One of the benefits of using a course wiki is to being able to use an interactive syllabus ( In this way the students are able to access it at all times and will not have the opportunity to lose or misplace a paper syllabus. Also, the teacher can add items or change items so the student can have an up to date copy of the syllabus at all times. The course wiki is also a great way for the class to compile information. There is a discussion tab, which allows different members of the course wiki to post questions about an assignment or to share resources with other members of the course wiki. Course wikis are also an efficient way of relaying a message quickly to students if ever there was a change in an assignment or something needed to be brought to the attentions of the students. Overall course wiki is a great way to communicate with students and for them to be aware of up to date information about a class.

2. Photo Sharing- I could definitely see myself using this in my classroom. Photo sharing allows the teacher to share photos with the students via a website such as Flickr where people need permission to view the photos (Schrum & Levin, 2009). In this way, it is protected from unwanted viewers and is limited to only those who are allowed to view them. I lived in Spain for five months and I traveled all over Spain and I of course took pictures of everything. I always hoped that I would be able to share my pictures with my students someday and hopefully be able to create an activity from it. I was never able to think of any creative ideas to do so. The reading helped me realize I could create an activity based upon the history and sights that I photographed. This can be utilized during a map exercise for example and the students would have to place the pictures in the correct place on the map.

3. Google Earth- This is another interesting way to make an activity more interactive for the students. Google Earth allows people to zoom in on different places in the world to actually see what places look like. It is one thing for me to show my students where different countries are on an atlas, but it totally takes it to the next level by being able for the students to get an eagle eye view of what the country looks like at this very moment. This tool allows the students to make a more meaningful connection to different places they are studying because it gives them a better picture than just looking at a map. This is a tool I can also see myself using the classroom especially when learning about different Spanish speaking countries.

References
Schrum, L., & Levin, B. (2009). Leading 21st century schools: Harnessing technology for engagement and achievement. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.

EDCI 5065 Week 3 T2P

Yesterday's class was an excellent opportunity to expand my knowledge on a variety of learning theories. I have studied some of the theorists and their theories in some of my undergraduate classes, but there were also some theorists that I was unfamiliar with and it was interesting to learn about them. I feel it is beneficial as future teachers to be familiar with a variety of learning theories. The Kruse article was particularly helpful because not only did it outline the basic cognitive and behavioral theories, it also suggested that it is beneficial for lessons to be structured in a way that incorporates all of the learning theories. In prior classes we have talked about being conscious of students different learning preferences and I was unsure of ways on how to put together a lesson that would cater to a variety of learning preferences. The article illustrates perfectly on how this is possible through his explanation of the different learning theories.
I also found it helpful that we were all assigned a theorist a head of time and then we had time to share with the other groups on our findings about the theorist. I feel that this is more beneficial to my learning as I was able to have a strong focus on one of the theorists instead of having a weaker focus on three theorists. In this way, we were able to share our information to the other groups, which is a great practice in explaining things to others.
The part of the class on Bloom's Taxonomy was also extremely beneficial. I have learned about Bloom's Taxonomy in other classes, but it was not as clear to me until after this class. The text examples given on the course wiki page that showed how to actually apply Bloom's Taxonomy was the light bulb moment for me. I understood Bloom's Taxonomy and what it is trying to accomplish but it was once I read the examples for each of the levels that I finally saw how I can write these questions for my own classes.
If teachers utilize the learning theories in a way that complements each other, then students will become more well-rounded learners.

Week 3 LT1

1. Identify B.F. Skinner's theory related to learning. (Knowledge)

B.F. Skinner's theory related to learning is the Behavioral Learning Theory. This theory is based on operant conditioning and response to a stimulus. As people react to the stimulus, they will either be positively or negatively reinforced. In this way, people will know how to react to the stimulus again. For example, a rat in a cage after time has realized that if they hit the second lever they will recieve a treat. The rat is being positively reinforced for his behavior. This is one example of the Behavioral Learning Theory.

2. A psychologist is observing a child to figure out which stage of development they're in. The psychologist shows the child a stuffed animal, and then hides the stuffed animal behind a couch. The child begins to cry, believing that the stuffed animal is gone for good. What stage can we conclude the child is in, based on Piaget's stages of development? (Comprehension)

I conclude that the child is in the pre-operational stage of development as the child is unable to realize that although they do not see an object, the object still exists. At this stage, children do not have any concept of object permanence and things only exist if they can physically see them.

3. Further subdivide the Cognitive Learning Theory into its three main subgroups by creating a diagram that displays these ideas in a few words (Analysis)

Constructivist Learning Theory: focuses on changes in observable behavior, creates difficulty for understanding learner's reasoning and thinking

Developmental Learning Theory: focuses on how prior experience and age affect students' ability to handle abstraction.

Social Learning Theory: focuses on how learning is constructed via social interaction

EDCI 5065 T2P Week 2

Today I further enhanced my knowledge of the concept of learning. The two articles that we had to read for class today really opened my mind to the degree that teachers impact their students. I knew the role of the teacher was to teach content and to share their knowledge with their students. However, I didn't realize how many other factors can also impact the overall learning of a student. I knew that teachers can be role models for student, but I didn't realize that this can happen in a very indirect way. It is important for teachers to realize that their actions can impact the future actions of their students as students look to their teachers to be able to judge how to act in social situations. Teachers direct this learning through their own classroom management as well as how they comport themselves in the classroom. This aspect really stuck with me today as important and especially to be aware of it in my future classroom.
I also appreciated breaking up into groups again to have discussions. This helps to solidify my learning as I enjoy bouncing ideas off of other people as everyone has a different perspective about an idea. At first my group struggled to create a new concept map, which was surprising to me because we had such an easy time last week. However, it makes sense that we struggled more this week because we have more knowledge about learning. Since we have more information, it was harder to categorize all of our thoughts. This also leads to another problem. It seems that learning is not best described through categorization, but more as a process. I believe that my group and I forgot that learning can be described as gray, which makes it very difficult to put into specific categories. By reassessing our concept maps again, it helped me realize even more how abstract learning truly is and how many ideas and thoughts can encompass learning.
Lastly, I feel that the videos we watched in class were very informative and helpful in demonstrating different methods of teaching. It is very easy to read about different methods in a textbook, but it was beneficial to actually see them in action in a video. It is helpful to examine other people's teaching preferences as it is helping me form my own preferences for teaching. Through watching the videos and class discussions of the readings I see how important the teacher's presence is in the classroom as an intrinsic and extrinsic model for students.

If students can learn to appreciate and utilize other people's differences as a resource then successful learning can occur because students will strengthen their own learning and understanding of a topic through the experiences of their classmates.

EDCI 5065 Week 1 T2P

Today I learned many things about the abstract concept of "learning" that I believe will benefit me as a future educator. It was very interesting to me to be able to see on paper what my learning preferences are. I always speculated what I believed were my stronger/weaker learning preferences, so it was interesting to see a whole list of preferences and how I rated. As students and teachers, it is important to understand where are strengths and weaknesses are in order to be able to know how information should be relayed best.
It was also beneficial I feel to split up into groups in order to compare other people's learning preferences. It is important for teachers and students to realize that people have different learning preferences as this helps explain why we are all different. It is important to be able to present information in a way that is conducive to multiple learning preferences.
The concept map was also helpful as it made me realize how abstract learning really is. There is no one set definition and everyone views learning differently. Through discussing the idea of learning with my group, I was able to come up with a better understanding of learning through the multiple avenues that learning occurs. The biggest thing for me is that learning is gray. Learning is not cut and dry and encompasses many different definitions.
In all I feel the most important concept I took away from this class today is differences. We all have different learning preferences, different personalities, different demographics etc. After this class I feel that above everything our differences will make us stronger especially as a group as we will have the opportunity to learn from each other's differences, which will make us better educators. When we embrace each other's differences and begin to learn from them, it will help us reach our students in different ways.

If a teacher employs a wide variety of learning activities throughout the daily lesson, then a wide variety of learning preferences will also be met which is beneficial to the students because no student learns in the same manner as another so in this way students will have many opportunities to connect to content.