Evaluation on Technology Tools

Over the course of my ED271 experience, it turned my life upside down because of all the new technology tools I was exposed to and the ones that I was familiar with I got a greater understanding. This course had really broadened my ways of presenting as a student and a future educator.  The tools that I assessed were Moodle, Google Chrome, Google Apps, LiveBinders, Wix, Powtoon, ooVoo, and Spaaze. 

I have rated them according to this scale:

 1. Google Apps
This technology tool has a variety of features that are all free. One of the Google Apps that is so versatile is called "Google Drive". Google Drive allows you to access your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and files that are shared with you anywhere, anytime (Allen, 2014). Google Apps gets better because it not only has a drive but it is linked to 3 other sites. These sites are YouTube, Blogger, and Google Hangouts. Having these 3 sites link to my Google accounts saves me from having 3 different usernames and passwords.

2. Google Chrome
Google Chrome is one of many web browsers that is available to download for free.  This web browser has so many attractive features that will want you to make it your default browser. It has one of the largest libraries of extensions, add-ons, and built-in applications that enhances the browser's ability to do what you want it do (Popp, 2012). Google Chrome's layout has one of cleanest, organized, simple user interface. It upholds Google's reputation of innovation and industry dominance. I like Google Chrome because it is compatible and remarkably fast.

 3. LiveBinders
LiveBinder is your 3-ring binder on the web that holds all your resources. Though this is my first time using LiveBinders, one of the reasons why I use it and will continue to use throughout out my education career is that its available 24/7. On LiveBinder you can collect and curate resources that includes websites, documents, movies and photos into tabs or sub-tabs(Stallings, 2014). LiveBinder is my go-to site when I want to bookmark websites that I want to save for future use or reference. This technology tool you can combine uploaded PDFs and Word documents with links in one binder. The best thing about this LiveBinder is it is PAPERLESS!!

 

4. PowToon 

PowToon brings your presentations alive with all the animations and effects. This technology tool is the best way to get creative with pre-made templates for presentations, demonstrations, introduce a lesson, and show your syllabus to your students. PowToon is a drag-and-drop video creation solution that is easy and fun to use. I believe that PowToon can be used for all students and subjects. This tool will make your students absorb the information that is presented because its entertaining. 

5. ooVoo
ooVoo is one of many video conferencing tools that I was introduced in ED271. This is the world's largest, independent application. It is a video chat and messaging application. With ooVoo you can video chat with up to 12 people at a time. You can send text, pictures, video messages and many more. This technology tool is packed with amazing features and one of the features that I liked about this application is you can share your desktop with the people you are video chatting with. This tool will be great for my classroom so students can video chat with the class if they are absent for the day.

6. Moodle
University of Guam created this Moodle site for a virtual learning environment. This provides a central space on the web for students and professors to meet and communicate. The features and functions of Moodle is geared towards the student learning (Michle, 2013). For some classes at UOG, Moodle is used for online classes. The professor creates a page for their class and students can view the syllabus, turn-in assignments, take quizzes and exams,  and their grades. For students who use Moodle for their online classes, it teaches them to be independent and diligent to check daily on their course(s).

7. Spaaze
Spaaze is not just a cork board to put your sticky notes on. This technology tool offers different items that you can put on this virtual cork board. On this virtual cork board you can bookmark and snippets for sites, have a running list of tasks, use it for idea collections, education purposes, and brainstorm. I use Spaaze because its free, collect information, self-organize, and you can share your ideas. As a future educator, I will use Spaaze for my lesson plans, parent newsletters, and collaborative teaching.

8. Wix
Wix is my go-to site in building a website. This tool offers visually impressive layouts that are designed for anything whether its for marketing, personal, education, blogging, online stores, or restaurants. The designs and layouts look professional and can viewed on mobile devices.It is user-friendly and easy to navigate through each tabs. Wix's designs are always up-to-date with the latest design trends.

These are one of the many tools that I learned from this course that I hope to use in my classroom one day. Goodbye Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel! Welcome to the latest technology tools that you can use for presentations.



References:

·      Allen, J. (2014).  4 Reasons to Use Google Drive. CoolHead Tech. http://www.coolheadtech.com/blog/4-reasons-to-use-google-drive

·      Popp, M. (2012).  5 Reasons Why Google Chrome Should Be Your One and Only Browser. Tech Norms. http://www.technorms.com/7787/top-5-reasons-chrome-best-browser

·      Stallings, J. (2014). Educator’s Guide to LiveBinders. The EduBlogger. http://www.theedublogger.com/2014/08/28/livebinders/#why

·      Matsil, Nirel. (2015).  11 Quick and Amazing ways to use PowToon in your Classroom. PowToon Awesome Blog. https://www.powtoon.com/blog/11-ways-to-use-powtoon-in-your-classroom/

·      Michle, J. (2013). 10 Reasons Why You Should Use Moodle. Blogger.com. http://chriswatchon.blogspot.com/2007/08/10-reasons-why-you-should-use-moodlemy.html

Raising our Students in the Digital World

Technology is changing the way we live our day-to-day lives. It is taking over society because everyone uses technology from toddlers to the elderly.  Technology is our backbone in today’s world that makes everything easier.  

Without technology, we would not have the World Wide Web.  The Internet is an ideal place for learning, networking, and entertainment.  Though the Internet serves as a valuable learning tool, students should be well informed by their parents or teachers about becoming “digital citizens. “ (Texas State, 2013).

Though the Internet is an ideal place to network with people, learning and entertainment but just like the world around us it can pose dangers if precautions are not taken. Cyberbullying, pharming, phishing, textual harassment, and sexting all have one thing in common which is that they harm people.  I believe that it is important to teach kids about Internet safety as an educator. According to eduTopia, with children spending time online at a younger and younger ages, it is vital to explicitly teach young children on how to protect themselves. (Hertz, 2015). As a future educator, we are going to see our students 7-8 hours a day what better way to  demonstrate and guide these student on become aware of what the digital world is all about. 

For me to demonstrate and guide my students on becoming digital safety, I would ask if they know the word "digital safety". Asking this question to the class can let me know where my students are in terms of knowing the word "digital citizen" and how to gear my lesson. If 50% percent of the class raises their hand, then I would show a short-video clip on Digital Safety. I choose this clip because it is short and the characters tie into the my student's age range. After viewing the clip, I would ask the class what they learned from the video and if they now know the term "digital safety".

 

When my group and I presented on our assigned topic which was "Cyberbullying" we used Jilster to publish or present our work. Using Jilster was different from the rest of the presentations that we did together because it was a magazine of information on cyberbullying.  This presentation tool was convenient for my group because everyone can go in and edit all the pages. There was no limit on how many pages we can use for our magazine. Overall, this magazine that we my group and I  made can be picked up by anyone and be informed about cyberbullying.

This digital safety project was very helpful to me because of the different forms that can harm a person whether its stealing their personal information or humiliating them on the web. Some of the forms that were presented on were new to me such as pharming and phishing. Though the Internet has made our lives easier in many ways whether through social networking, entertainment or for learning purposes we still need to take precaution as adults and for our students.

Reference:

• Texas State: Texas School Safety Center. (2013). Digital Safety. Texas State: Texas School Safety Center. https://txssc.txstate.edu/topics/digital-safety/

•  Hertz, M. (2015). How to Teach Internet Safety to Younger Elementary Students. eduTopia. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/internet-safety-younger-elementary-mary-beth-hertz

Quality Education

Assistive technology is a device or piece of equipment that can help a student with a disability work around his/her challenges so they can have a quality education. These tools can also help them with their strengths. (Millstone, 2014) There are different forms of assistive technology tools to help students who struggle with listening, math, reading, writing, and motor skills (gross and fine). Not all assistive technology tools are high tech. They range from low-tech to high-tech tools. Low-tech tools are devices that do not require much training.  Assistive technologies that range in the middle have some complex features – electronic or battery operated. High-tech tools are the most complex devices that have digital or electronic components.

 In the video, “Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams” it shows how students with disabilities use assistive technology as their lifeline to communicate with everyone around them. It is their major foundation of life. The video shows that they start introducing these assistive technology tools at an early age to prepare the students with disabilities and to make it easier down the road.

In all of my Special Education courses, I am required to go into the classrooms and observe for a certain amount of hours.  I have seen students use their assistive technology to communicate with the teacher or their paraeducators. In one of the elementary schools that I observed, a student who has Autism uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to communicate with the teacher. This student used the AAC when transitioning from one task to another.  Augmentative and Alternative Communication includes simple pictures, gestures, phrases and pointing.

When I become a teacher, the steps I will take to create a revised activity to include students with disabilities will be to look at the student’s IEP (Individualized Education Program). I will look at their IEP first to see what is the student’s present levels, what goals does the student need to work on for the school year, and what assistive technology they use for their disability (Kid’s Health). After looking at the IEP, this will help me make some modifications to my lesson to meet the student with disability needs in order to succeed.  To help me meet all students needs I will find resources where it is at their level but still the same lesson as their peers.

As educators, we must be aware what type of students we have in our classrooms so we can accommodate their needs. We also need to be cognizant of what assistive technology is out there so we can help our student with disability get the right tool to get them quality education. Assistive technology is a major foundation for a student with disability.  When I become a Special Education teacher, I will advocate for my students to get the best education they need in order to succeed in school and post-secondary.  

 References:

·      Millstone, J. (2014). Assistive Technology: What it Is and How it Works. Understood for learning and attention issues. https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/assistive-technology-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

·      Kids Health. (2016). Individuals Education Programs. Kids Health from Nemours. http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/iep-teachers.html

·      Edutopia. (2005). How Assistive Technology Enables Dreams. Edutopia: What Works in Education. http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

What's Next?

            With schools incorporating eating healthy and make wise decisions on what to eat, I want to help my students who are in the 3^rd grade make healthy decisions. Schools play an important role in a student's way of eating because they consume at least half of their meals at school. If we provide the students healthy food choices or ways to make healthy decisions it has long lasting effects whether in the classroom or at home. Since these students are in a Special Education room, I had to break each step down to were they can fully understand the lesson.  

When I first started my lesson, I had to introduce what three types of cereals they will be using. Since most of my students were visual and kinesthetic learners, I brought in actual cereal for them to see and feel what cereal looks like. From the nutrition label I choose salt, fat, and sugar to focus my lesson on.  I used different methods to show my students what a nutrition label looks like through YouTube videos, pictures, and bringing a cereal box in with a nutrition label. Since my students are in the 3^rd grade, I thought using Microsoft Excel would be too difficult to create graph. So I did some research and found a website that is geared to students in the primary grades to create a graph. Before creating the graph, I had my students compare what nutrition label is healthy and unhealthy. I made them look to see what cereal had the most or least sugar, salt, and fat. They used the data collected and inputted into the graph.

The lesson that I created for my class touched on their math skills. I would gear my next plan for this class will be on Health and Nutrition. I will like to teach Health and Nutrition in my class because the benefits of nutrition education can reach far beyond the classroom (Cobb). With this lesson, I will introduce them to the Food Pyramid and MyPlate by using songs that I came up with so it can stick to their heads. After making them learning a song for about 2-3 days, I will move my lesson into creating a collage as their project called the “Healthy Food Collage.” With this project, I will have students cut out pictures from magazines that are healthy food and make them post it on construction paper. As they are posting pictures onto the paper, I am going to have them sort out the foods into the 5 food groups such as grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meat section.

The information from the evaluation will determine if the lesson was effective for the students. It will also show me if the students mastered the skills they need to move onto the next of skills they need for the next grade level. This evaluation will indicate which set of students needs help and if they need that one-on-one support with the teacher. According to Edutopia, assessments and evaluation is an integral part of instruction. It determines whether or not the goals of the lesson are being met (2008).

 Using the ASSURE Model Lesson Plan gives teachers a template to use to plan out their lesson for the day or week. This assignment showed me ways to incorporate different techniques to include in my lesson. ASSURE Model made me break down what type of students I had in my classroom and what type of learners that I need to know in order for me to accommodate them or if I need to modify my lesson to meet their needs.  This activity in making a lesson plan will help me in the future as I become an educator.

References:

·      Cobb, P. (2016). Top 5 Reasons to Teach Nutrition Education in Your Classroom. Dairy Council of California. http://www.healthyeating.org/Schools/Tips-Trends/Article-Viewer/Article/521/Top-5-Reasons-to-Teach-Nutrition-Education-in-Your-Classroom.aspx

·      Edutopia. (2008). Why is Assessment Important? Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance

Our Future of Education in Technology

Our future of education lies with online learning. According to Educating exceptional children (2008), integrating technology into the classroom increases the student’s motivation to learn and it personalizes their individualized needs.  Students who play educational games online are engaged and help them improve their basic cognitive functions.  In Jordan Shapiro article (2014), he believes that blending learning will not necessarily take over lecture however it can be a supplemental time-tested pedagogical practices with new technological solutions.

My content area is Special Education and teaching mathematics in the classroom takes creativity and variety of instructional strategies because these types of students need frequent repetition and multi-sensory approach to instruction such as visuals, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic. According to EdTechReview (2014), with technology in the Special Education classroom it is very useful because the students have different types of learning needs that need to be met in order to make education successful for them.

 “Math Man” is an online educational version of the famous arcade game, Pacman.  This game is designated for 3^rd grade and up. This game covers the four basic operations of elementary arithmetic such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  These are the basic building blocks of mathematics. Without these skills, students will have a harder time understanding higher-level math in high school and in college such as algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus.

With this online educational game, I will incorporate this into my lesson because students who are in a special education classroom need frequent repetition for the skills they need in the future. This game has touched on one of the multi-sensory approach for instruction, which are visuals. Visuals help students with disabilities tremendously. “Math Man” has bright colors and pictures that stand out for students with disabilities to understand and keeps them focused. As a future educator, my students will need the basic math skills that this game provides. The purpose on why I like to include this online educational game into my lesson is that this game has no timer so my students can take their time playing this game and also it gives them chances if they mess up on one of the questions. With Special Education, we need to show data and how well the student progressed. With this online educational game, I can simply print the scores of each child and to see what areas they are strong in and the areas they need more help in.

Educators are always looking for new ways to make learning fun for their students. With this online education game, it can help students in the Special Education classroom understand the four basic concepts of math, which are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Though this is an online educational game that deals with these types of skills we should not heavily rely on one game to teach the class. There are a variety of other educational games out there to help students.

Resources:

·      Saxena, S. (2014). Integrating Technology in Special Education Classroom. EdTechReview. Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/news/855-integrating-technology-in-a-special-education-classroom

·      Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M.R., & Anastasiow, N., Educating exceptional children (Florence, KY: Wadsworth, 2008).

·      Shapiro, J. (June 2014). Benefits of Gaming: What Research Shows. KQED News. Retrieved from: http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/13/benefits-of-gaming-what-research-shows/

Country

Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their school and my Livebinders.

About Me

Hello! My name is Catherine. This is my third year at the university.