Let's give this project a Web 2.0 facelift

From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0...Oh the possibilities!

 

 

 

In the summer of 2013 in our ITIS online learning experience we were tasked with creating a telecollaborative learning project using Web 1.0. The project that I designed was a website titled "We are your classmates." It is a publication website where students will be able to log onto and upload a published ready piece to be displayed. Students are encouraged to write up to 3 sentences about either their influence for creating their piece, design process to create it, and/or their feelings about their piece to share with viewers.  

 

 



The purpose of this project was to get students excited about displaying their work globally, as well as, advocating and being confident in themselves no matter their disability. Students will be able to compare and contrast what other student's living with disabilities are doing and can learn how they feel about their lives. Students will also have the opportunity to express through writing or literary prose how they want to share their message with the world.

 

Instantly there are a few ways that implementing Web 2.0 tools could enhance this project and make it more accessible for students with disabilities. Especially because writing is an area of high difficulty for students with disabilities, through adding Web 2.0 tools students would be able to still display work pieces but in other mediums. I propose allowing students to collaborate by also posting a Podcast or a Digital Video onto this collaborative website so that students can showcase their thoughts in more forms.

 

It is always amazing to see how the simple implementation of technological tools both Web 1.0 and 2.0 can strengthen learning opportunities for students with disabilities. Students in my opinion will be much more engaged if they know they have a greater option for sharing on this "We are your classmates" website. There are possibilities for a large number of students than with just Web 1.0 tools.

 



Lights, Camera, Action!

Quiet on the set!!

 

 

Digital Video Editing and creating is an area in Education where a teacher has to be savy about designing. Prior to implementing this innovative tool into lessons the design has to be well thought out. The constraints of time can turn this useful tool into a not so useful one. Luckily in my teaching culture our schedule has 90 minute blocks...plenty of time for an in-depth lesson to take place. Unfortunately though my students are not very capable to learn for 90 minutes at a time, due to their need for frequent breaks and rewards. Digitial Video Editing has seen small success with my students though...just last week we created a video using Movie Maker that was a movie trailer on a novel we had just finished reading in class. I decided to do this culminating activity to wrap up the unit versus a SMARTBoard interactive exam, per usual.  



I was amazed at the results my students produced. Granted this final project took 3 class periods versus one but it was also 3 class periods that my students, who have severe intellectual disabilities, were able to be engaged for 60+ minutes at a time. They were creating, synthesizing, encoding and decoding information. It was a sight to behold. Lots of adult guidance and prompting was required but what was even more interesting was that several students truly took on a leadership role during this activity. These students were students who are typically more reserved and less engaged in class. I will certainly be using this tool again. 

Technology and Autism

Technology for Students with Autism

 

 

In the 21st century where students of the Netgeneration are constantly communicating at high speed levels, accessing large amounts of information at their fingertips, staying connected, and processing much quicker it actually opens up a door for students with disabilities. One of the aspects that is most difficult for the student population that I work with is "fitting in." Social skills, relating emotionally, and engaging in conversations are painstakingly hard for students with disabilities most times. The innovative technological tools that are available in today's society have opened up a window of opportunity for my students.

 



 

Carrying around an iPAD to use in order to check a class schedule, keep point systems with a behavior plan, type assignments, or even use a social skills app to put nerves at ease before starting a social conversation all appears "normal" in the 21st Century. This technology affords my students need to have a visual schedule, use a behavior system, and getting assistance with social conversations. All stored in one tool that is "in" style wise. Gone are the days of stares with students who carry around Velcro visual schedules, star chart behavioral systems, or a social story picture book on how to spark a social conversation. Technology has greatly enhanced the lives of my students with disabilities and I am very excited about what the future holds for them and all of these new "tools."



The Social Network Connection

Are students too connected? Is Social Network running their lives...

Social networking is when "groups of people with common interests, or like-minds, associate together on social networking sites and build relationships through community." Social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and many more.

 

Students of today’s Netgeneration society use these sites at high rate speeds and constant times throughout each day to stay connected and up to date on the new trends and data. Students use these sites on their mobile phones and tablets. As teachers we could ignore this trend and keep it separate from school, but in my personal experience teaching in a high school and coaching high school girls’ sports I know that we are losing this battle. This generation is constantly on their phone, especially with the BYOD to school policy in FCPS students make it harder for us to keep them off these sites.

 

Maybe there’s a happy medium teachers and parents can find with young teenagers involving social networking. There can be educational opportunities for these sites. The first that comes to mind is teaching students the right way to post on these networks. They need to learn safety and networking responsibility. Many students are passionate about using these sites, so the question becomes how can we tap into that passion and use it in the classroom for a benefit? Students needs to first understand a healthy balance in these networking sites. I’ve seen firsthand that students check the sites obsessively and post things that aren’t always beneficial to their character or well-being, thus failing to realize the privacy issues involved. It’s apparent that not all parents are covering the duty of teaching teens about the importance of what they post on social network sites and the privacy issues involved, so it’s up to we educators to take the responsibility and step up to the plate.  

We're live on the air...Podcasting take one!

Podcasting in Education...the good the bad and the ugly

For those of you who have not heard about this not so new anymore technological tool, Podcasting, as termed by Will Richardson, "is the creation and distribution of amateur radio, plain and simple." Podcasts are mostly presented by your everyday person talking about things that interest them with sound effects mixed in. One simply needs a digital audio recorder to create an MP3 file, a blog, and something to say. I recommend using Audacity for school projects as it's a free download and easy to use program.

 



After creating a podcast of my own in grad class the other night on a momument in D.C. for travelers to come visit I began researching other ways that teachers and professors use podcasts in education to get me brainstorming of how this medium might be used in my own classroom. I came across one of my favorite sources, EDUCAUSE review journal online and became caught up in their articles. Teachers use Podcasts for students to discuss book readings, brainstorm about presentations, teachers Podcast about scholary articles and weekly reviews for students to listen, and the list carries on.

 

 





 

I'm still not set in stone on if this tool would be useful for students with Intellectual Disabilities but I've often thought how neat it would be to Podcast to parents of my students. I know that often parents mourn the loss of being able to have discussions with their child about his/her school day or what they are working on in class. Maybe creating Podcast episodes about what we did in school weekly reviews might be a special treat for parents to tune in for. Just a thought...Podcasting might get a take two after all!

No school because of a winter hurrican? No problem...let's Wiki!

 

No school because of a winter hurricane? No problem...let's Wiki!

I must admit that I was not very familiar with wikis prior to this semester in ITIS. I was even a bit skeptical when we received the ITSOPedia assignment to due in lui of Winter Storm Pax hitting the Northern Virginia area causing class to be cancelled. After using the tool quite a bit and learning the affordances of it though I must share that I am quite fond of this tool now. When the storm hit and we were assigned to post on the wiki I was ecstatic.


I enjoy that everyone can see who has posted, edited, and added what and at what time so that there is never any group animosity for "slacker" group members. When one can visually see what others are posting and when I think it strengthens group cohesiveness. I also enjoy how one can post files, work on various pages, and create a collaborative site and feel like a knowledgeable contributor. I've been able to use this tool with my advocacy group with much ease and do prefer it to Blackboard because you don't have to have several threads open at once to access what you want to see and work on in the wiki.

Using wiki's in the classroom is an area I am still brainstorming on. Will Richardson shares with us that: "A wiki is a type of website that allows users to easily add and edit content and is especially suited for collaborative writing. That means that on typical wikis, anyone can edit anything at anytime. Fun! Because of how open most wikis are, many educators find them a bit tough to deal with."

But how can I get students suited for collaborative writing. We are currently doing a unit on editing our work in English class and I thought, if it were adapted enough, students might be able to go on a wiki site and edit works that needed fixing or that did not have correct information. It could help students strengthen their editing skills but also covertly show them the uses and purpose of wiki's. If anything we do know the usefulness and effectiveness of this collaborative tool as it enabled our cohort to have a very engaged and productive class period even with 16+ inches of snow!

A Blog about Blogging...

Why blog?

I am quite surprised at myself for having entered the blogging world. I follow several blogs and have for years throughly enjoyed reading them and getting caught up in the world that they blog about, but I never envisioned myself blogging. I guess I always thought that I had way too many interests and honing in on one topic would be hard for me, or where would I find the time to blog...or even who the heck would want to follow my blog?

Thinking about blogging in the education world and diving into the Blogosphere head first has enabled me to see this tool in a new light. Blogging affords so much more than sharing your personal story/interests to an engaged audience. Blogging expands the walls of classrooms, it can facilitate reflective thinking, teaches students how to organize their thoughts, gives a voivce to students who are more reluctant to share in class, supports database learning, helps students take ownership, and fulfills the new literacies students need to survive in our information age society.

 

 

Creating opportunities for students to blog in my specific content area might be a stretch but not impossible. I've already begun brainstorming ways in which blogging could take my educational career to a new level. I could create a blog for the parents of my students and blog about various Special Education services, laws, accomodations, modifications, etc. Helping to educate my parents and prepare them for life after their child leaves high school is something that I am very passionate about, and something that is quite scary for parents who have children with Intellectual Disabilities.

 

 

I could also start a blog for my basketball team or even my Professional Learning Community where we could post comments about meeting topics, game film reviews, team goals, technology tricks and tips. It might give a voice to those who don't normally share in meetings and could teach my athletes the importance of filtering what they are saying online. The opportunties are endless for blogging and I must admit publically that I am in full support....I'm a blogger, dear Abby!