Journal #10 Re-Imagine Your Library with iPads

Re-Imagine Your Library with iPads

Summary

Advances in technology have shaped the way we live, learn, teach, interact, communicate, etc. Indeed, technology has restructure education in many different ways, and it will continue changing in the future. The article “Re-Imagine Your Library with iPads” by Lisa Perez is a perfect example of how new technology has impacted the way students learn. Five schools in Chicago were given the opportunity to be part of an experiment. The librarians from the five schools received 32 iPads and Mac computers so the students could use them. Librarians received training on how to use the devices and potential apps that could be beneficial for the students. The five librarians formed part of a program called Mobilary, in order for them to post data collected and receive more information regarding the devices. Librarians also learned how to use Google groups, Diigo, Google forms, and Google spreadsheet. After the completion of 75% of the program, each librarian received $1,000 to buy additional apps. At the end of the project, librarians realized that students were more engaged when they used the iPad; other benefit of using iPads was that it had faster access to the internet and they were more compact. The apps really supported students learning and they actually enjoyed going to the library and reading eBooks.

Did iPads make a difference in libraries?

A-Perez said, “We found out that using the iPad for our library instruction was a powerful way to engage students in a variety of reading, writing, speaking, and listening kills that address the NETS and the Common Core Standards in a way that are also motivational to the students”. It is evident that students do enjoy working with technology; it makes their learning experience more enjoyable and entertaining.

Is the use of iPads beneficial for all students and schools?

A-People can also say that students are going to get used iPads only. They would refuse to use actual books and that can be a problem because not every family here in the United States can afford to buy an iPad. It is good to use and implement technology in schools but we also have to keep in mind that sometimes parents cannot provide students with advanced technology. I also feel that teachers should never make it a requirement for all students to own expensive devices.

Perez, L. (2013, March). Re-Imagine Your Library with iPads. In ISTE. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-march-april-2013

Journal #9 Massive and Open

Massive and Open

Summary

In the article “Massive and Open” written by Karen Fasimpaur, the author talks about massive open online courses. Massive Open Online Courses also known as (MOOCs) is a new style of teaching and learning. Classes are structured differently, even though MOOC stands for online courses, some of the classes do require face-to-face interaction. The term “open” does not necessarily means that anyone can enroll in the course, some courses are protected with firewalls or passwords. Teachers from K-12 also started getting involved in this type of virtual interaction. Verena Roberts, an e-learning consultant, shared “MOOCs and other online professional development opportunities should be engaging and support teacher’s needs in their own classrooms”; she believes that these types of courses can benefit educators by engaging them in a more flexible way of teaching and learning. Other educators do not agree on the effectiveness of MOOCs, they say it lacks active participation.

Are Massive Open Online Courses effective?

I believe that it is a great way for teachers and students to extend their learning. It is flexible, affordable, and it’s a great way to provide an extra support for teachers and students, but I also believe that in order for learning to take place, there needs to be some face-to-face interaction. The reason of why I think that there needs to be more active interaction is because some people are visual learners and in order for them to learn they need to see teachers modeling examples. Also, people need hands on experience in order for them to implement and put in practice learned material. I believe that one of the main reasons of why many people drop out of these courses is because they see online courses not as serious as regular classes.  

Would MOOCs be more beneficial for elementary, middle, or high school students?

In my opinion, I believe that MOOCs are designed for older students because older students have more access to computers. Some high school students start working at this age and MOOCs could really benefit them because classes are more flexible and can take place anytime during the day. I feel that elementary school students need more modeling in order for them to learn and retain information.

Fasimpaur, K. (n.d.). Massive and open. (2013). Learning and Leading with Technology, 40(6), 12-17. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-march-april-2013

Journal #8 Adaptive Technology

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

An Augmentative and Alternative Communication also know as (AAC) is set of strategies that assist people with severe communication disabilities to participate more fully in their social roles including interpersonal interaction, learning, education, community activities, employment, volunteerism, care management, etc. Augmentative and Alternative Communication can be used by individuals who are nonverbal, have poor speech intelligibility and/or limited verbal expression.

Low/No teach Tool

There are a lot of things created in order to make academic improvement on students. One simple thing can make a huge difference on student’s learning. Students that are unable to operate a pencil correctly use pencil grids. Sticking or gluing small utensils that you can find in your home, for example rubber bands or pencil weights, can easily make pencil grids. These pencil grids will facilitate and improve student’s writing ability.

 

High Tech Tool

 

By using devices such as tablets, iPads, iPods, and computers students can make a great academic improvement. Parents instead of paying thousands of dollars to therapists to teach their kids how to read and write started using these devices that are as effective and beneficial as a therapy with a professional. The prices for these devices range from $100-$600. The price is worth it, there a numerous apps that can help students. For example, iSpeech is an app that incorporates text to speech and automated speech recognition.

Accessibility

Input Device

Input devices are those devices that are designed to help students with disabilities to operate a computer.

Hardware Tool

One example of an input hardware would be an Audio Headset. This specific device helps students to avoid distractions while reading or studying. Audio Handsets are equipped with a microphone that is attached on a flexible arm, allowing for hands-free use of voice recognition software.

 

Software Tool

A great example of accessibility software is the IVEO Hands-on Learning System. This software allows students to learn through touch, sound and sight. IVEO Hands-on Learning is equipped with scalable text display, two levels of spoken information, object file link, overlay printing, and zooming capability. All these features stimulate student’s learning.

Journal #7 PLN

Professional Learning Network

Networking is one of the most useful skills that you can develop in your college experience. This will not only help you develop your social skills but also your professionalism. A Professional Learning Network also known as (PLN) is a way to interact and learn by collaboration and developing professional networks not only with local teachers/professionals/students but also with people from all over the world. I had the opportunity to learn how to use a variety of PLNs, such as; Twitter, Diigo, and Classroom 2.0. As a future teacher, PLN will help by obtaining ideas from professionals from all over the world, it will also help me share my ideas and provide feedback.

Before this class, I was not really interested in Twitter. I thought that it was just a social network. I discovered that this specific social network lets you share innovative ideas that you can implement in your classroom. In my network I added my fellow classmates, teachers, school administrators, and students. In, May 8^th, 2013, I joined a group chat. The group chat was called #ntchat, during this group chat we discussed a really interesting topic. The topic for that day was PLN; we discussed different ways in which we can use different networks in order for use to obtain more knowledge as new teachers. These types of communities allow you to share ideas, lesson plans, strategies, and a lot of knowledge. At the same time you can receive feedback from educators from all over the world.

Diigo is another way to network with professionals. This tool makes it really easy for you to highlight, share, bookmark, and store researched information. One of the main features of this tool is that you can put a hash-tag in your bookmarks and share the information with individuals that have the same interest as you. 

I joined Classroom 2.0; it is a free site that allows you to share ideas with other “beginners”. It makes you feel confortable and that helps you to interact with other people that are also experiencing the same thing. The video I watched was very inspirational. It was a refection on what all college students experience at one point in their higher educational career.

Storify

Journal #6: Ten reasons to get rid of Homework (NETS-T 1, 5)

Journal 6: Ten reasons to get rid of Homework (NETS-T 1, 5)

Review

The Article posted by John Spencer talks about ten reasons to get rid of homework. He feels that homework assignments are unnecessary because; young children are busy, older children are even more busy, inequitable situations, kids need to play, homework creates adversarial roles, homework de-motivates, homework does not raise achievement, most homework is bad, homework teaches bad work habits, and it has a wrong focus.

Analysis

I do believe that sometimes homework is unnecessary and that sometimes teachers do give out too much homework. I feel that children also need time for them to play and enjoy their childhood. I agree that sometimes students do not do their homework not because they are too lazy to do it, but because they do not understand the material and do not have enough resources. I remember that when I first came to this country, I was not able to complete my homework assignments because I did not understand the language and I did not have any friends or family members that could help me with the translation. Teachers should keep and open communication with students and instead of judging them and punishing them with more homework assignments, they should talk to the students and find out what is going on with their personal life. But I also believe that students should have homework because it is a good way for them to practice what they learned throughout the day. Also, looking at the Asian culture, one of the main reasons of their academic success is their commitment to education and rigid study sessions.

Five Reasons of why Students Need Homework

 

• Need to review what they learned throughout the day

• Shows student’s commitment
• Makes them remember what they learned
• Projects can be fun
• Lets them explore their creativity

Spencer, J. (2011, September 19). Ten reasons to get rid of homework. Retrieved from http://www.educationrethink.com/2011/09/ten-reasons-to-get-rid-of-homework-and.html

Journal #4-"Join the Flock" and "Enhance Your Twitter Experience"

Journal # 4- “Join the Flock” and “Enhance Your Twitter Experience”

Summary- In the article “Join the Flock,” describes the benefits of taking part in a PLN community. It is a great idea to connect with other professionals through social networks. Twitter is a great place for educators to interact with other teachers. In this social network teachers can ask for support or share teaching strategies that enhance student learning. In the article “Enhance Your Twitter Experience,” I learned how easy is to use and manage a Twitter account. You can collaborate and share useful information with colleagues from other parts of the world. She also shared that thanks to Twitter, she had the opportunity to meet important professionals that presented in her classroom. She shared a formula that tells you how much input one should put in Twitter in a regular basis, 70% of the time should be spent in sharing information from other people, 20% of the time should be spent on commenting and making opinions about different issues and the last 10% chi-chatting with other people.

Question #1-What are some of the advantages of using PLN?

I think that when you get involved in a PLN community you have the advantage of learning from different professionals. You have the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world and share your thoughts about different issues that affect of benefit our daily life.

Question #2- Are there any applications that make Twitter easy to manage?

There are many different resources/applications that can help you manage twitter accounts. For example Hootlet, TweetShrink, and TweetDeck.

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the Flock!. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-march-april-2013

McClintock Miller, S. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-march-april-2013

Journal # 3 Students Need a Digital Driver's License Before They Start Their Engine

Journal # 3 "Students Need a Digital Driver's License Before They Start Their Engines" (NETS 3 & 4)

Summary- The article “Students Need a Digital Driver’s License Before They Start Their Engines” talks about the importance of teaching students what to do and what to avoid when using the Internet. I think that it is a good idea to train students how to use the web. I remember when I first used a computer I did not know anything about plagiarism and the legal implications that came with it. Actually, college was when I first learned how to cite information from the Internet. If we can have students learn all that before entering to college, it would make it easier for them to do research and to avoid problems. In this article, I also learned that some students started using the BYOD options, I think that students engage more in devices than books. The only problem with this option is that not a lot of students own tablets or iPads.

Question #1-When is the best age to start implementing the Digital Driver’s License project?

I think that the DDL project should start in high school or middle school. I think that elementary schools students do not really need to be trained to surf the Internet. Students start using technology in middle school and high school.

Question #2-What could be some of the implications that come with the Digital Driver’s License project?

In my opinion, some parents do not really want their kids to be exposed to the Internet and that could be a problem. Parents are afraid of sex predators and want do not want to have their kids close to the Internet without supervision.

Swan , G., & Park, M. (2012). Students need a digital driver. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-march-april-2013

Journal # 2 Learning without Borders (NETS 2-5)

Journal # 2 Learning without Borders (NETS 2-5)

Summary-The article shared very useful information about a different type of virtual interaction with students from a different country. I think that it is a great idea to make students familiar with different cultures. I think that if teachers would of start teaching students about different cultures from a very young age, this world would be very different. We should teach students to learn, value, respect, and cherish other cultures, by doing that we would eliminate a lot of problems associated with racism and stereotypes. I think that what these teachers are doing will really benefit the students from both countries and will prepare them for the future. They will not only learn to be more open-minded, but they will also learn how to interact with students from other countries and to share their ideologies, goals, and compare similarities in both cultures.

Question-Do students struggle to understand each other’s cultures?

I think that students do struggle when they try to understand other cultures because I also had the same problem when I came to the United States. I remember that when I came here it was hard for me to incorporate to a new lifestyle. I imagine that these students might face similar challenges but with the support and guidance from they teachers they can make this a great learning experience.

Question-What are some of the implications that teachers face when making this type of classroom virtual interaction possible?

In my opinion, they might face implications such as school and district regulation. But I think that it’s a great idea to incorporate different cultures and adopt new and innovative teaching techniques that will benefit students in the future.

References

Sue Anderson, S. A. (2012). Learning without borders.Learning and Leading with technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/l-l-december-january-2012-13/feature-learning-without-borders