Assistive Learning in the Class Room

Hey viewers! Today's blog topic is technology helping students with disabilities.

Has anyone you know needed to wear glasses, hearing aids, or use other technology like audio books? I know I have. I personally need to wear glasses because I am near sighted. These aids can actually be considered as assistive learning technology! Assistive learning is the use of technological devices to help people with disabilities adapt to their environment easily. Did you know that there are many different forms of disabilities? There are physical disabilities such as poor vision, poor hearing, or sensory motor difficulty to name a few. There are also disabilities that pertain to mental health such as speech impairment, emotional disturbance, or even severe brain injury. Disabilities can be due to heredity or injury; they can also put limitations on someone being able to reach their full potential and that is where assistive learning devices come into play.

Image found at http://goo.gl/aW9UT

I recently found out that assistive technology can range from simple devices such as glasses, to high-tech devices like pens that record and convert your written notes to your computer! After the passing of the American Disabilities Act of 1990, all unique needs of eligible disabled persons must be met and this also applies to the classroom. I've had a few other experiences with students that had disabilities. For example, during my senior year of high school (forever ago) I took a class called Teacher's Academy which was pretty much going out to elementary and middle schools and gaining field experience.

While I was working under a veteran teacher at one of South East Polk's elementary schools, I got to work with a little girl named Mariah. Mariah was considered to have a hearing disability, as she had limited hearing in only her right ear; she needed to use hearing aids to help her in everyday life. My mother also runs a day care center that I've worked at for about seven years; I've learned to work with children with disabilities there also. The reason for this blog entry is that I feel disabilities have become more common over the years, or at least I'm starting to become more aware of them and I feel that I should learn more about the different ways people adapt to their disabilities.

Feel free to post your thoughts or share your experiences with students with disabilities or opinions of different assistive technologies!

Happy Friday everyone!

~Ms. K. Lawler

Adventures in RSS!

 Image found at http://goo.gl/afsCR

Hey readers! It sure has been a while but today's blog topic is using RSS or "Really Simple Syndication". I learned today in my Education Technology and Design class that RSS can help you keep up-to date on your favorite websites and it submits anything new from those websites into a news feed that you can access on networking sites like Google+.

To learn more about RSS check out this extremely informational video below!

If the embedded video doesn't work try here http://goo.gl/jBB5L

Just like the video says RSS feeds are like Netflix compared to video stores. I love the idea because it is really simple and convenient for the fast-paced, instant, new, and now type culture we have developed over the years. Feeds are also used in the daily websites most web surfers visit, such as Youtube.

Anyone who has a Youtube account knows that little bulletin of news updates that appears at the bottom of your splash page; a splash page is the page that appears after you log into your Youtube account. This bulletin shows a list of new videos from the channels that you've subscribed to! RSS feeds are exactly the same but they have much more to them. With RSS feeds you can get multiple types of updates, not just videos from video viewing websites. The trick with RSS feeds is that in order for them to work you need an RSS feed reader and you need to be connected to your favorite websites, this is called subscribing.

Hopefully you'll test drive your own RSS feed and make your web surfing a little less time consuming... okay even if RSS feeds save time you may not spend less time playing around on the internet!

See you next time!

~Ms. K. Lawler

Use social networks to speak out!

Hello once again viewers! For today's blog topic I'll be discussing the global movement Kony 2012 and how the use of social networking has helped made it so wide-spread. 
 
 KONY 2012 Video below (Warning: brief graphic content parental discretion is advised.)

Video found at http://goo.gl/zSk1G

 (You are not obligated to watch, agree with, or comply with the suggestions of the video.)

"We can help make a change. We can make a difference. This has to happen in 2012. We can't let him go around and keep doing this to children in Central Africa. Let's make his name known so he can be stopped. HE CAN NO LONGER BE INVISIBLE!"

  "2012 is election year in the US! If the interest of the public is just big enough, it will become an issue for the election campaigns! You might think that one single voice can't do much... But if we all share this and the people who watch this rise their voices just like we did, it will spread and make a change!"

 - KONY 2012 

I'd like to take a moment to realize how much of a difference a small group of people can make by throwing out their idea to the world wide web. The reason this movement has been so effective other than the diligence of it's supporters is the use of websites such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google+, etc.

What do all these sites have in common? Well for one they are all social networking sites; this means that many people use them to communicate and share things like images, videos, work, and ideals. Most of these sites work globally and allow their users to reach out into the world and impact it even as simply as giving their opinion on a video some one else uploaded onto the internet; because over thousands of people have committed themselves to this movement they have the power to make a change in the influence the US military has in another country!

Some people don't realize the magnitude these social networking sites have! So before I tell you all to be respectful and mind your manners when on the internet and all that good golden rule stuff your parents and teachers told you about, remember that all great movements have started with a shared idea.

Excitement and New Discovery: Polls!

 

 Image found at http://goo.gl/r975a

Today in my Education Technology and Design class there was a lecture on 1.1 and Mobile Computing; we used a free poll generator instead of the Backchannel chat we normally use to discuss the lecture. The poll generator can be found at this link-> http://www.polleverywhere.com/ it was really interesting to say the least. I've participated in many online polls before both on my social networking sites and as well as in my class rooms but I never really thought about creating my own poll before; and boy did this lecture get me thinking about it. Since then I've been thinking with polls when it comes to getting immediate feedback on things; I don't mean that I have polls on hand when I want someone's opinion on something but I have used a good number of them in my UNI Student Organization meetings.

I also would like to point out that I think the use of polls in class rooms would definitely be a great way to get even the shyest of students to participate! I remember how it felt when I was in middle school, I hated it when my teachers would call on the students who didn't raise their hands. I remember how embarrassing it was to be put on the spot like that, so now that I've learned more about poll generators I will most definitely make use of this in my future class rooms!

Its exciting for me to learn about the different ways I can integrate new technology that I wouldn't haven even thought possible when I was growing up, in my future class room and let me tell you that being an aspiring teacher and thinking about things such as: "When I'm a teacher..." or "In my class room I'm going to use this" is a wonderful feeling because knowing you have the resources to make it happen is the best feeling in the world for me. I can't wait to get my hands on kid-friendly laptops and Echo pens and become more familiar with the technology around me.

When I was growing up the closest thing I had to technology was my family's land-line; my parents didn't allow my siblings and I to have our own phones until we were almost through high school. My older brother is 28 now and his first phone was a cordless phone he bought when he was a senior in high school! For my sister and I it was much easier to talk our parents into letting us experience cell phones; we received our first phones when we were sophomores in high school.

Its amazing to look back to the 80's and realize how far we've advanced in technology, from big blocky computers to microchips and global positioning systems! If there is anything I've learned from growing up as a digital native its that if you're going to make it in the world of teaching you've got to think like a 21st Century teacher!

That's all for today, hope you enjoyed this blog!

Happy Monday Everyone!

~Ms. Lawler

Welcome Readers!

Hello readers welcome to my blog! This is my first blog entry and I am pleased to say that I cannot wait to use this blog for professional work. I have had a blog in the past but it was more of a funny collection of the thoughts and experiences of my friends and I. Now that I am attending UNI (the University of Northern Iowa) I figured creating this blog would be extremely helpful to my professional teaching career.

~Until next time!

Ms. Kristen Lawler