Final Wrap Up

I have made huge gains throughout this course in the short few weeks we were here and I am very pleased with my progress. Before this course, I had honestly never touched an iphone, ipad or i anything. I have a Dell laptop, I have a Samsung phone and I consider the i “user” world to be cliquish, I assumed the technology was just a passing fad that wasn’t so helpful, and would quickly become out dated anyway. I consider myself a current teacher, I’m flexible, I teach on my feet, I use multiple intelligences and UDL, I’m inclusive, I used a lot of computer apps and technology- but not to the best advantage I could. Especially not to the personalized needs of my students.

Conveniently I got issued an ipad from my new school directly before this course started. Until I sat in this class, I didn’t open it or use it. I didn’t know how to get apps, I couldn’t see the purpose of the apps, I had no idea what was available. I’m not a Luddite, I was just- resistive.

In not time, I was downloading apps like crazy, and even entertaining myself in the evenings using the world creator app games I downloaded, and the math apps that were tutoring me in math! It really was opening up a world of possibilities. I could quickly see which apps would have helped my students, which apps would engage the whole class, how to really take class to the next level.  Much to my surprise, I quickly became comfortable with the ipad. I’ve even emailed my principal to see how I could get an allotment to purchase apps.  The hand on use of the ipad and apps that you had loaded were very helpful. The “selfie” assignment was a great assignment to start with as it was easily achievable, and lined us up for success. The app smash was likewise timed well. I found it overwhelming at first and I was uncomfortable- but change is uncomfortable as one’s boundaries are pushed and prior knowledge updated. The app smash method was very effective to get hands on experience not only using all the apps, but deciphering which app would be the most useful for what aspect of the book. While using them, I was also subconsciously determining how the app would be useful (or not) in my class. I then had my own ipad and was downloading useful apps while we were working. This experience with the App Smash increased my confidence.  I could then pick and choose what I wanted, and make wish lists. The articles we read further reinforced my acceptance, and embracing of the new technology.

Breakthrough for Josh really helped me realize that ADHD students could thrive when using assistive tech because most of the apps provide immediate feedback, are engaging, and provide rewards. I always thought assistive tech would be further distracting, but it’s more so taking the students energy and directing it in a targeted manner.  

I also found that most research I read seemed to conclude that ipads are indeed useful, significant gains have been made in classes, but the results are always vague. More research needs to be done to discover exactly how the changes happened, and why. I think the data is hard to collect because there are so many variables and the technology is ever advancing. It is helpful though to hear the different case studies of how specific technologies helped specific students.

Another “big idea” that I took away from this course is that Ipads make learning so much fun.  Just as learning games without technology are fun in school, learning with technology (Specifically small, hand held, personalized, bright, shiny, talking, interactive technology) is 200x more fun! Students feel like they’re getting to “play” when they use the ipad, but again, channelling their energy in a targeted manner will result in huge gains.  Engaging students in class is so important, ensuring students succeed is equally important- Ipads let us support students through UDL and making everything accessible, it all makes so much sense to take the pencil out of the process if the pencil is the problem.

I think we’re finally starting to see the shift in education that fair doesn’t always mean equal- different people need different supports, and challenges. No everyone needs to write a paper pencil test. Allowing one to type, or to verbalize answers doesn’t mean that it’s not fair, it means each student is getting what they need.

Another aspect of the course that I loved was blackboard collaborate. I can really see the varieties of use it provides. How else could you gather people together, from anywhere around the world, place them in one “room” but still have video options, mic, handing out documents, and recording the entire thing to play back at a later time. I could use it when I’m coaching to reach my students, I could tutor with it via distance and provide visuals, we could have online staff meetings, parent meetings- possibilities truly are endless.

The last assignment we did was the imovie trailer- I felt this was a beautiful end to the course. Everything fell into place when we created it. It was easy. I felt like I had come full circle using the technology.  

My confidence using the ipad has increased exponentially, and equally as important, I see the ipad as an integral part of my classroom. A way to hook student, support students, challenge students, reward student; what a great piece of technology.   

imovie trailer

What a fun and neat project idea. imovie makes trailer creation so easy! I could easily see this working within my classroom for a multitude of projects. The ipad and imovie are so user friendly. We recorded directly within the file and could preview immediately with no down time. It was great for instant feedback.

The different projects everyone came up with was really neat as well, every project was unique and allowed us to express ourselves.

Blackboard

What a neat program- I love the versatility. It's perfect for live instruction and could even be used for one-on-one tutoring outside of the classroom. It could be used for distant parent teacher meetings or even to have virtual guest speakers come in (kind of like the pre-recorded webinars you guys did).

When I did my education degree, I was part of the union executive. We met weekly, but every now and then, we met using a similar program called Elluminate Live which let us run Roberts Rules style meetings via distance, with ease. Likewise, we used the program for planning activity days for the student body over Xmas break when we were all over the Country.

I enjoyed the blackboard learning experience, how you could show videos, slide shows, do polls, hand out documents- all with ease. It really is a technology experience that seems user friendly.

As far as the material we covered- I found the low tech pencil grip/writing information most useful. The video made so much sense- writing posture, core strength, training and strengthening the hands- but it's aspects I never really thought about before.

The whole learning experience was a highlight of the summer courses for me :)

July 15th- Using iTunesU

I'm finding iTunesU a little overwhelming. It took so much time to figure out how to use the program, how to upload data- I was finding the technology as a bit of an impediment. I'd rather just talk about the apps and explain what they do, to sit down with someone and actually show them how awesome they are. I guess this is where different learning styles come into play. I'm definitely more of a visual and auditory person, I felt like we hit a lot of glitches in the program but we have so much good information to share. We just need to make sure that we know how to sort it, place it and access it again when we want to. I think it's coming together now. Once we start going, and problem solve along the way, communicating with others, it always falls into place.

July 9th Presentations & Adjustable seating & Task Analysis

Angela and Jonathan

For being nervous to start- they created a really neat project and used lots of different apps. Regarding presumed competency, it’s important for everyone, but especially important for non verbal students.
UDL and differentiation, the difference is you do it for everyone and you provide choices to students, more individual and choice for students.
Differentiation you do specifically for one person.

Ash and Ainslie

Neat analogy throughout.
Imovie trailer- really applicable to using in class.
Sock puppet app- Really cool. I use real puppets as a presentation tool (students are given an outline and present their own project based on what they come up with), but this would be amping it up a step.
Ainslie, something has always been replacing something else but an ipad is sticking around. It’s time to start learning.

Shauna and Liz

Videoscribe is neat, but a valid point that it’s hard to make sense of purchasing it for $5.99- how could it be used in class?

Another great example of imovie trailer- I’ve used imovie before, but imovie trailer seems easy to use and super engaging. Students would love using these to explain plot lines, conflict etc.

Darah and Mark

Videoscribe- Excellent example. We found that videoscribe took a long time to use, to load and save, but well worthwhile. Their example is much more in depth than ours. I think students would find it really gratifying to use this program to create stories, or as a presentation tool.

Neat image of kitten and lion for presumed competence.

Katie and Greg

Kidspiration- used to help students plan their writing. Using them to help keep track of notes and information.

Youtube is always popular used in the classroom, it’s like students don’t think it’s learning or something, they feel like they’re getting away with something.

Janet and Lindsey

Strip design- Really versatile in class. I’ve used online comic programs but they require so much time to sign up for, to work with, then they might not save and things go wrong. Strip design here seems much more accessible.

Eleanor and Simon

Garage band- I used audioacricy to record student monologues before but garage band would be something new and fun to try.

Stephen Hawking everybody technology 

Candice and Meaghan

Really neat use of the students in the background of your telegami. Neat to have animated and real life merged.

Christi
Really nice page on Callum and moms quote- that really hit me- about presumed competence. 

After presentations: Here are my notes on the air force video clip. My three main take-aways:


1.) Ban the Average, design to the edges- it makes so much sense to plan for those below and those above. I assume less (or no, as they showed in the film) people are average than they assume.

2.) Simple solutions make a BIG impact. We just need to loosen up and be a bit more flexible. Think outside the box.
3.) Jagged learning profiles- we see it every day in a variety of aspects but we've never really done anything about them. Well, we play to the students strengths to work on their weaknesses, but it makes sense hand-in-hand that we should plan to the edges.

My Seating: In my classroom- I always give voice and choice to students- from books that we're reading to presentation styles. I have fidgets for people who need them and encourage students to stand up, and to move around. I'm weak in the area of assistive tech and look forwarding to closing that gap in the classroom.

Task Analysis

When reading, first we need to engage; attention to the task. I need to see the letters and turn the letters into words, understanding semantics and syntax. My brain puts everything together so instead of letters I see words, and the words flow into sentences as I take cues from punctuation to guide me. I see the word Dracula and visualize a vampire, I tie into visualizing the scenes from the film and even picture Dracula from Sesame street for a moment. I visualize the book cover. Basically I'm using a ton of prior knowledge.

When I read chapter one, I know its the beginning of the book, when it says it's a journal I know to expect a certain first person literature. I think about my own travel and documenting. I also have prior connections to the words Munich and Vienna- if someone didn't have this knowledge they'd have much more difficulty putting everything in context. We're constantly using sight word recognition , following punctuation and reading left to right. 

July 11th Webinar 1 & 2

What a neat experience with the webinar. Perfect for my learning style of wanting to hear people explain, while also benefitting from the visual aspect of seeing the apps in use while they are being explained. What more can one ask for? 

I appreciated the discussion about executive functioning, specifically the included examples of what the struggles might look like and how one can support those students.

What I appreciated most about the presentation, as aforementioned- were the awesome app explanations.

To just list a top three took some time- but I want to focus on:

Ibook store- these books are mega enhanced, digitized and engaging. Everything is accessible at your fingertips. Multiple intelligences were taken into consideration as one can read to themselves, can watch video, can have it read to them, text can be enlarged, highlighted, pulled out- awesome. It’s also about converging technologies with the text, layered in with the video. It’s definitely disruptive tech too as the student doesn’t need to open the dictionary to look up the word, or scan the text to have it read to them. Not to mention the environmental footprint getting a little bit smaller (I just packed up 50 worn tired and outdated social studies 9 textbooks to pass on to the next teacher).

Task initiation-  flexible checklist- also very cool. I found this useful because what I’ve noticed this year, is if I get students started on their work, they’re more likely to continue with ease- it’s the starting that takes some time. Which makes sense according to the executive functioning explanation at the start of the webinar. This app would replace my post-it note, as I would usually segment and chunk tasks for students as required by writing it on a post it note and sticking it to their desk- this would be an easy visual way to remind students what’s expected as sometimes, my explanations/directions can be long winded- go figure.

Tools4studnets- Also super neat, and basically eliminates my need for at least 3 binders my school board has purchased and distributed over the years. 25 graphic organizers on ipad ready to go- audio app typing option is great, very useful and inclusive.  My students would have benefited from this.

Overall, what all these apps seem to have in common is the consideration for universal design for learning. Make everything accessible to everyone and presume competence. It’s all about voice and choice, and multiple ways to represent ones knowledge.

Webinar 2

More knowledge for me!

I am especially excited by iRead iris which changes hard files to electronic. Mainly because I taught a Korean student who had a hard time learning English when she first arrived. I would need to find the worksheet on my computer, put it into google, translate it using an inaccurate google website, save it in word, print it off, iread iris or prizmo gets rid of all those steps, and would even read it to her, how wonderful.

I also like Razz-kids and it’s great to know about Puffin to access it. Another really engaging way for kids to read books digitally.

Word prediction seems super helpful for students as well, we often assume that typing on a computer is helpful enought, but word prediction would be a huge (yet still subtle) help for all students. It’s not like it’s “cheating”, instead, it’s a universal define aspect tied into the gradual release of responsibility.

Book creator- Yay! Nice to see a familiar app (and by familiar, I mean I used it for the past few days).

Again, this webinar is exactly what I needed to see some very useful apps, what they can do, and how to apply them to real life. Really takes the intimidation out of the ipad....but might break the bank once I start loading up my ipad J

July 17th reading: Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning : Two Sides of the Same Coin

Universal design is a term I was also introduced to last year in disability studies. I appreciate how all of this terminology carries over.

Universal design (often inclusive design) refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments that are inherently accessible to older people, people without disabilities, and people with disabilities.

 

Universal design seems like the ultimate goal in education- where we are all striving to get to. To not modify and adapt for each student, but to teach, assess and have the school function in a way that the needs of all are met in a more natural way. It's a shifting of the learning environment rather than adapting to one specific student.

 

I dug into the concept further, seeking for specifics on how to do so and discovered the following:

 

Reduce barriers (adapted from http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/ud_edu.html)

In the classroom:

• Class Climate. Adopt practices that reflect high values with respect to both diversity and inclusiveness.
• Interaction. Encourage regular and effective interactions between students and the instructor and ensure that communication methods are accessible to all participants.
• Physical Environments and Products. Ensure that facilities, activities, materials, and equipment are physically accessible to and usable by all students and that all potential student characteristics are addressed in safety considerations.
• Delivery Methods. Use multiple, accessible instructional methods that are accessible to all learners.
• Information Resources and Technology. Ensure that course materials, notes, and other information resources are engaging, flexible, and accessible for all students.
• Feedback. Provide specific feedback on a regular basis.
• Assessment. Regularly assess student progress using multiple, accessible methods and tools and adjust instruction accordingly.
• Accommodation. Plan for accommodations for students whose needs are not met by the instructional design. (Burgstahler, 2007a)

Software suggestions:

1. Provide all text in digital format.
2. Provide captions for all audio.
3. Provide educationally relevant descriptions for images and graphical layouts.
4. Provide captions and educationally relevant descriptions for video.
5. Provide cognitive supports for content and activities:
   • Summarize big ideas.
   • Provide scaffolding for learning and generalization.
   • Build fluency through practice.
   • Provide assessments for background knowledge.
   • Include explicit strategies to make clear the goals and methods of instruction.
     (Orkwis & McLane, 1998, pp. 14-15)