Thursday, January 24, 2013

Blog Post#3

While the video and slide shows were very informative, I found that I knew the information presented in them. I have taken the required English Composition classes here at South. I hope am not making my instructors ashamed of my writing. In these classes we were required to critique our classmates work. I learned a lot especially in part two of English Composition with Dr. St. Clair. He almost killed me, but I learned a lot.
We were taught about how to write a fair and honest critique. Is the grammar correct? Does the paper make sense? Does it flow? Does the paper stay on point? Are the facts clear? Are they referenced properly? These were just a few that I learned. I took a lot away from that class. Time management was a major deal there too. I had to learn how much time to put in to research. (it can't all go in one paper.)Break it down. Be concise. Don't use fillers.

Assistive Technology For the Blind and Hearing Impaired.
I was and am very interested in assistive technology as my husband, daughter and mother-in-law all have varying levels of blindness. The Mountbatten is an exciting tool for children learning to use braille. This is especially true in that they can type the letter, hear it and for those who may have some sight they can see the braille letter on the paper and the "regular" letter on the screen. I like that it can be connected to a computer for several uses. The Ipad is very exciting. I have never seen one actually being used. I plan to show the videos to my family. It is so great that blind users can navigate through all the settings and apps. The teaching math to blind students who use braille video was very interesting. My husband and daughter have enough sight to use print albeit really large print, print none the same. So it had not occurred to me that braille runs across, math problem generally do not. Even if you didn't have the gadget you could buy tiles and put braille numbers on them. I am SOOOO excited to begin learning to use the smart board and all it can do. I have seen the Jackson Pollock video in Art for Elementary Teachers. I really enjoyed it. I love watching the kids "create" masterpieces. I can't wait to learn how and when I can incorporate these things into my classroom. The world is moving toward so much technology and so much is available. Why not use it in the classroom?

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
In this video Ms. Davis is teaching her students so much. I like that she is expecting them to "learn how to learn". Because not ever child learns in the same way. In using virtual worlds they can learn to "use what is available" to them find new materials using methods they may not have used before. Connecting students to other students across the globe isSOneat I hope I will have the resources to do this. Kids want to learn about new people and places.
This can open up whole new aspects of learning. For example , we do things in this way, well, in another country, students may do it differently. This may enable a student to "see" things more clearly. I am eager to learn how and teach how to use technology for more than games and social networking. A whole plethora of information is at their fingertips if only they know where and how to look. I can remember having to go to the library to do research. So, all of this is fascinating.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting, especially since you have members of your family who are blind.

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