Posts Tagged ‘education’

Twitter Application Blog

{ October 2, 2009 @ 12:14 am } · { Uncategorized }
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“Just Tweet It” is a Twitter application that allows users to search for people with similar interests listed in their bios. There is a directory listing by topics and subtopics. Once you find a directory category, it lists all twitter users in that category. Just Tweet It also allows users to list themselves in this directory with a more category-specific bio about themselves. For example, i searched the Education category. Within the Education category, there are many subcategories such as; teacher, students, colleges, universities, homeschooling, etc. By choosing a category or subcategory, a directory listing of Twitter users with those particular interests appear. This application can be extremely useful to people in the education field because it allows you to follow people with the same interests. Sharing ideas, thoughts, lesson plans, behavior action plans, technology, support, etc. can all be done through this twitter application. The internet has been a huge breakthrough for teachers in terms of sharing lesson plans and ideas. The  Just Tweet It Twitter application has just made it even more convenient for teachers to share ideas and collaborate.

“The Rattler Pit”

{ September 28, 2009 @ 2:22 am } · { Uncategorized }
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It is amazing to me with how fast technology is growing everyday that many students do not see a computer till the third grade or have a weekly computer class in their schools. Many times teachers have to integrate technology education into their curriculum on their own and with everything else they must accomplish (preparation for standardized testing) they cannot fit it into their already crammed lesson plans. That is no way to prepare students for a future filled with fast-paced growing technology.

Here is a great YouTube video about a school in Grass Valley, California that has invested money and created a technology lab in their school called “The Rattler Pit.” A former teacher and technology specialist named Jeff Peach had the idea to create a Mac lab in Magnolia Intermediate School that would not only encourage students to interact with technology but also help teachers to integrate technology and multi-media into their curriculum. Peach helps teachers to collaborate, share ideas, and figure out how to make technology work with their curriculum. He believes that “a computer lab that’s based around the way teachers think when they work” is most successful and beneficial for both students and teachers.

Peach created a working model of teaching with technology that teachers are excited about and comfortable working with where they do things they wouldn’t normally be able to do. Teachers with no knowledge of the Apple System are able to easily work in “The Rattler Pit” and adapt to a curriculum filled with technology education. Peach was able to take things that teachers already do in their curriculum and add technology to make the lessons better and more engaging. Teachers believe that the workplace of tomorrow requires more than just skills but also the ability to use technology and create team relationships. They believe they are helping their students to achieve just that.

IMac laboratory similar to The Rattler Pit

IMac laboratory similar to "The Rattler Pit"

The most crucial part of this working model is hiring a technology specialist/teacher, which requires extra funding. The teachers at Magnolia agree that the lab is worth the money and greatly benefits students and teachers. They are currently trying to integrate a “Rattler Pit” into every school in their district. Teachers with years of experience are seeing the biggest improvement in their student’s education in years. Computers can be used to enrich the curriculum and engage students rather than sit in the corner of classrooms gathering dust.

Just think about it…Technology is the future.

Assitive Technology in the Classroom

{ September 21, 2009 @ 1:07 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Computers have become an essential literacy tool in our society and that includes classrooms.  Over 76% of American students use a computer at school and 83% use one at home for school assignments/word processing (NCES, 2001).  Computers contribute assistive technologies to the classroom that not only enhance any student’s educational experience but also improve learning for students with special needs and learning disabilities.  Assistive Technologies are the tools and strategies that act to liberate the use of technology for all students as well as to provide new ways to “assist” interactions and learning (Lewis, 1994). In other words they make it easier for teachers and students to do such things as write, communicate, see and read. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Computers can make curricular materials (CD textbooks, E-books, websites, webquests etc.) more accessible in faster and easier ways for students with disabilities such as…enlarging the size of the text, changing the color or font of the text, having the text read aloud, hearing labels read of pictures and simulations, speaking into a computer microphone to write, and using alternate input options: trackballs, larger keyboards, touch screens, etc. Students with poor eye sight will benefit from enlarged text on the computer screen, struggling readers can benefit from having the text read aloud to them (and teachers will have more time to work one on one or observe a group), students with poor motor skills can benefit from the opportunity to speak into a microphone to write (converts sound to text) etc. All of these things make it easier for students, and especially special needs students, to improve, reach their utmost potential and succeed in the future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above pictures taken from the following websites

Picture 1  Picture 2

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