ILP #2 - "Participation" - Accesibility Lab

Here are some notes from our class trip to the accesibility lab at FSU. It's a short description of what we did, mostly.

The first example of asistive technology were the various devices, and products for blind people. I thought the printed anatomy books were especially amazing. I have a friend with severe disabilities in his eyes, and he uses similar technology, and it made me extremely happy to see these products available for all the students.

I found the comprehensive nature of the technology lab to be really awe-inspiring, and I think that it really showed me that FSU has no problem putting out top dollar for their students to have every resource available to them. It made me extremely proud to be a student here.

#9

I personally like the idea of a flipped classroom. It seems like a really interesting way to flip the formula of the classroom. It also seems that it could be a new way forward for teaching that allows teachers to be in the classrooms for the most crucial part of the student's learning process; the part where they really wrestle with the material.

Here's a video of a couple teachers explaining why they "flipped" their classroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H4RkudFzlc

I really like the idea of Open Resources as well. I think that the textbook industry is absolutely inflated, and that the public education system suffers because of this. This means that the people get taxed more, and our government struggles to provide a quality education to our children because of one industries base greed. Its great to see a way out of that.

The hyperlink and actions feature, as well as the insert audio tab are new skills I learned from these assignments are awesome. I wish I was better at making the slides more aestehtically pleasing. Some of the pictures were ugly, but I enjoyed putting together the quiz and lessons.

#7

I'm pretty impressed by adaptive technologies, particularly the ways in which they help bring the education for students with serious disabilities up to par with the rest of the system. As Americans we are guranteed a quality and unobstructed education, I feel thats an integral part of the pursuit of happiness that was insured by the people who founded this country. In the past many students with disabilities were cordoned off from student's without any hindrances or even denied an education, but I see that we've begun to overcome that with our technological advances. That brings some joy to me knowing that a child with a disability will be able to pursue what is promised to all of us.

Anyways, I set up a website for professional use. It doesn't fit all of the criteria set by the grading rubric, but I tried to make up for that in other ways by adding links to places I have been published, as well as a gallery of inspiration where I'll add links and images that have spoken to me. I left a lot of room to grow, and I actually expect to use this going forward, and even upgrade my plan with weebly. I learned some pretty useful skills, just through learning to navigate and interact with simplified web building tools like this. I definitely want to get some more personal pictures up on the sight. Unfortunately I don't have any just yet, besides the one from my "Open" reading, but that'll change over the course of the week. I'm definitely going to shop around the other well known web development sites and see which one works best for me. It's important to have a homebase for your internet presence in poetry. I know I use other poet's websites a lot to keep up with what they're doing.

link: http://willandersonpoetry.weebly.com/

I've learned a few things from Diigo, mostly how to actually work Diigo. It was a little complicated at first, but I see the potential of the platform. I like that it can be used as a hive-mind aggregator of cool content for a project of group of people. I can see myself using this with a widespread group of people to explore the internet in search of resources for a research project, or in general just as a place where we can say "Hey! Look at this cool artist I found!"

ILP "Design" - Prezi

http://prezi.com/8ulooobdlwjd/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

I just made a presentation setting class guidelines, brainstorming tools, writing strategies, as well as in-class & field assignments to help jog student's writing muscles. It was fun!

#6

http://www.taylor.k12.fl.us/?DivisionID=15678

There doesn't seem to be any specific class pages on the Taylor County High School website, which can become a problem if you want to keep parents notified. This seems to be a serious failing on the part of the school and the teachers - but this is a rural county. Teachers are able to keep in touch with parents fairly easily, and may even be friends or past teachers of the parents.

I envision myself using collective, and collaborative, writing applications to congregate my student's works. This will allow me to effectively read and comment on creative writing pieces and keep up to date on editing and grading their pieces. This will help me become a better teacher, and I feel that it helps integrate technology into the classroom in very interconnecting and efficient ways that the books talks about.

I did not go to the technology sandbox :(

#5

My favorite Web 2.0 tool that I've experienced so far (mind you I don't have much experience with them) are wikis. I like the community experience, as well as the teamwork that the format supports. I also think that the responsibility of admining, managing, and contributing content makes for a great lesson in the subject of internet citizenship. This could be a useful way to introduce students to the social constructs nesecary for the internet to function.

One Web 2.0 tool I might use is Prezi - it's just such a smoother alternative to Powerpoint and I think that it allows student to have more creative freedom with their collaborative peer-education content. More freedom in assignments is something I feel is always constructive and allows students to excercise their minds more.

I really like the notion of "gameification," and the energy that education games brings to the classroom. Like even when I heard about Oregon Trail in class I got so excited! I played it for a bit and saw how strangely educational it was - but I never got bored of it. And its a great way to get an idea to really invigorate a educational concept kids

Post #4 (THE REAL ONE)

I didn't like twitter in the beggining of the class because of previous experiences in my personal life in which Twitter just seemed like an echo chamber.  So far twitter has been a distraction for me, and not incredibly beneficial. I've interacted with Dick, Tori, and Christina mostly, but this is primarily through GIFS of Action Bronson and other silly things. I don't see Twitter being beneficial in future careers.

The digital divide affects student success by making some teachers incompetent with crucial pieces of tech, and if the teacher is not knowledgable then the student cannot learn. One cause of the digital divide is simply age, and the lack of technological immersion that comes with being a millineal (or equivalant), As a classroom teacher I may experience technology that is simply out of my field of knowledge, or comfort zone. I'm going to have to simply get used to that and research the technology I'm using, as well as look into future tech.

I expect to use math programs the least, and writing applications and programs the most. Why? Mostly because that's what I'm educated in, and what I'd be best at. Also, writing classes at a senior level will need technological supplements to keep the classroom connected as a whole. The actual writing, as well as comments, will need to be utilized so that my students can grow as writers (and even humans)

#4

I feel most comfortable teaching children standard L4, or “Proofread and edit writing using appropriate resources.” I have a pretty good grasp on the conventions of the language as well as editing, and I feel confident in my ability to convey the staples necessary to become a proficient editor to others. One I could work on is RI7 – I have no idea how to use Excel, and I think I might never truly learn.

I like community based electronic resources, so I would really like to incorporate a system of blogs like we have in our class here. Especially when it comes to writing, I think that a network of students giving in depth feedback on pieces could be really useful. Of course that comes with concerns of digital citizenship in your pieces and in your comments on other student’s content. That’s something that a release form, agreements, as well as just me simply enforcing community rules could solve. I think I’d do best with 11-12^th graders. At that point writing styles and skills have become at least decent, and they are able to work towards goals, and comment as a unit of a community more effectively. The content can be dark (as long as its not blatantly offensive), and a certain amount of maturity is needed for that.

I learned a lot about improving the aesthetics of Microsoft word when I worked on my Newsletter alignment. I had a really hard time with the columns, but I was genuinely happy when I figured out a color scheme that worked and was simplistic. Next time I could become more familiar with the inner workings of the layout tab! I can use this in a future career to design more palatable handouts for a more enjoyable method of distributing info.

#2

I’ve used MS Word to write endless amounts of papers and writing assignments. As I came into the Creative Writing major here at FSU I have written more and more, but in general all of my assignments have used very basic features of the MS to get the job done. The assignments for this class are the most advanced use of MS Word that I’ve ever had to deal with. I’ve never seen a teacher use Word, except as a medium for assignments, or to hand out information.

               I worked as the editor for an on-campus magazine, and we used many resources to find copy-right free images. In highschool I did a research project on the holocaust, and while I didn’t worry much about copy right I was sure to cite each and every one. As a teacher I would definitely spend a day going over the intricacies of copy right, the laws surrounding it, and the consequences of breaking those laws. I’d run exercises using google search parameters to show them how to find free-to-use pictures and other sorts of media. Of course I’d show them how to utilize this media too. You have to show the world of content, and the possibilities available to them through it.

               Implementation is a mess of legal liability, social interactions, and responsibility on everyone’s part (school and students). If a child violates copy right law on school grounds is the school responsible because they are allowing the child access? Does the law pursue the child? Do they go to Juvie? Do they pay a fine or do their parents pay the fine? I think that the solution is to just instill a sense of serious responsibility and civil duty on the internet. Some loose code of morals, or a social construct, I think would work best. What about cyber bullying? If it is done outside the confines of the school does administrative staff have authority to doll out punishment? Should the responsibility of socially motivated punishment be meted out by the principal unless it happens on school premises. I think that this is a very grey field for admin – and personally I think that they should not be monitoring students’ online presence. If there is a problem with students outside or inside the school, the counselors of the school should handle that. Also how do you handle the destruction or vandalizing of school property, and enforce whatever rules you have set in place? I think it all comes back to a strict social code between students and teachers. Digital citizenship extends to the physical equipment, and that’s something teachers need to strictly enforce.

#1

In my opinion, a huge part of what influences teachers to use technology are standards of education, and the government organizations which determine how they teach children. It’s in the standards! It’s in the books! We have hybrid classes, we look up our grades online, there are a number of things that teachers are forced (for better or worse) to adopt to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Anything from a nation-wide education reform like No Child Left Behind, or a local event like a school receiving a technology grant can catapult teachers into accepting new and often useful tools. From there, it is up to the teacher to interpret how best to use the tools. Students don’t really choose to use technology in my opinion, they just use what the teacher and the learning standards sets in front of them. They may have a personal piece of technology like a PC to work and submit assignments on (like in our class!), or a communal resource that we use (like when Taehyeong uses the projector!). The point I’m making is students don’t have personal influences on the technology present in their classes, it’s determined by the higher powers in the hierarchy of the education system.

               I like the ISTE standards for the most part. They don’t focus on just making students increasingly efficient, but it seems that they really focus on broadening the perspectives and the tools for the student’s creativity. It empowers their personalities and interests, and avoids forcing them into narrow corridors of education advancement (COUGH COUGH STANDARDIZED TESTING). One standard that makes me happy is Student Standard #2 – Digital Citizen. I think that social constructs are important when you look at online manners and etiquette. We shouldn’t emplace some guidelines – let the court of social opinion deal with the rabble rousers. This standard insures that happens. One thing I’m not really sold in Teacher Standard # 2, “Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.” I just think we should be cautious about using technology for technology’s sake. If a lesson or activity can use actual physical tools better than available tech, then by all means stick to the tried and true.

               I don’t agree with the term “digital native”, purely for the fact that it sets expectations of proficiency on the people. I think whoever made the term was trying to make some catch-all phrase, and that’s just not how life works. When I was born, the internet had been around for a couple years already. By the time I grew up the first and SECOND generations of video gaming consoles were already aging. TV’s still had tin foil on the antenna. I’d say I’m a “digital native.” I still am not proficient with all of the mainstream tech of today, even though I’m a native, and I know many others share my experience. I see differences between the natives and immigrants, but largely because of how they apply themselves, not because of when they were born. Some older teachers I knew could use a computer better than I could, and some had to call the school tech support because they didn’t notice a student unplugged the projector as a prank. The impact its had on me is that I’ve realized technology is what you make of it. You have to have a competent user to not only interface with tech, but to know how to integrate it into the class room setting. I know I will have differences between myself and the next generations. There will be new tech I can’t even imagine, but I can do my best to apply myself and stay up-to-date with the emerging devices and techniques.

#0

As a child I was raised in an environment filled with technology, but only in some ways. When I was two, my parents got rid of TV in the house because they believed it wasn't great for the development of my brother and I. Of course we still had video games, so we managed to waste time anyways. Technology is addictive, its true, and all the little dopamine receptors light up whenever you get a like on Facebook, a re-tweet, or whatever your poison is. As I've grown older, and especially recently, I've come to hate the inescapable connection of technology. The invisible dependence it breeds is god awful, but I still realize and love the advancement I see every year.

I hope to learn ways to interface with technology in a way that is constructive. I want to see how I can use it to supplement, but not overwhelm experiences in the class room and beyond. Its the future of the world, and you have to stay at least knowledgeable about the progress of the world around you to survive/flourish. I hope to learn that balance, and carry it on.

I'd like to start off first by saying I do not like or trust this questionnaire. It's two sided, rings of pseudo-science, and lacks nuance that I feel decent pop-psychological quizzes have. With that out of the way - I think it does gives at least an inkling of a portrait of the person who took it. I do like having lists, I like doing things myself, and I especially like seeing new tasks done physically by someone else. I think this reflects through the results of the course as I am slightly visual, and learn best by analyzing processes and lists.