Equal Access to the Digital World!

Each student has a unique learning style. No two students learn alike. There is no “one size fits all” method to engage the students in your classroom. Our twenty-first century students are digital natives, having grown up with technology at their fingertips. Providing equal access to the digital world in education is more than just handing students computers as they enter the school. It is about providing access to the tools to augment their learning in ways that engage them and help them succeed. It is about meeting the diverse needs of all of our students and allowing them to be successful in our classrooms. Equal access to digital technologies is based around the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines. (UDL Guidelines, n.d.)

http://youtu.be/FSHflViWRCQ (Universal Design for Learning, 2013)

Providing equal access includes, but is not limited to:

• Providing Text to Speech (TTS) software in the classroom or voice recognition software on laptops for students to utilize if they lack motor skills or are unable to type due to an injury or lack ability to use their hands.
• Allowing students options of tools to use for completion of assignments such as Glogster, PowerPoint, Animoto, VoiceThread, eMAZE, etc.
• Providing adaptive technologies such as keyboard shortcuts in place of mouse action.
• Presenting material in visual, auditory and kinesthetic methods.

Intrinsic barriers often exist for students to access these technologies out of the classroom, so as an educator it is my job to ensure that these technologies are available for use in the classroom as well as provide sufficient classroom time for students to utilize these technologies. Our classroom and WebQuest allow for provisions for adaptive technologies to be used. Students are afforded choices in how they present material and complete assignments in order to effectively engage them in the lesson and allow for all students to be successful.

Works Cited

UDL Guidelines. (n.d.). Retrieved from National center for Universal Design for Learning: www.udlcenter.org

Universal Design for Learning. (2013, June 5). Retrieved from You Tube: http://youtu.be/FSHflViWRCQ

How to Modify Window's 7 Text to Speech Settings. (n.d.). Retrieved from Dummies: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-modify-windows-7s-text-to-speech-settings.html

Types of Assistive Technology Products. (n.d.). Retrieved from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/types.aspx

Educational Value of Social Media

The debate over technology use in the classroom is not a new one. We have debated the use of the internet, standardized testing, and the teaching of evolution in the classroom,  to name a few. The social media debate is the newest of those classroom debates. According to a 2013 PEW Research Study, 95% of all teens use the internet and 81% of those teens have a social networking site. (Madden, 2013). Social Media includes the online platforms for Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Linked-in, Blogs, Slideshare, Flickr and other photo sharing sites, wiki’s, podcasts, and You Tube and other video sharing sites.

Social media helps students learn to collaborate. “Teaching students to collaborate and be team players is just one of the benefits of teaching social media that has been identified.” (Hagler, 2013) Additionally, Hagler states “Students with social media skills will be better prepared to find and get jobs.”. According to DeCoskey (DeCoskey, 2011)“when students are participating in activities online, they’re more likely to be engaged, and achievement rates rise”.

While there are many benefits to using social media in the classroom, use of social media use has been linked to cyberbullying and inappropriate relationships. However, Hagler states “Given the possibilities of social media misuse, teachers have the opportunity to discuss the appropriate use of social media. Teachers have the opportunity to guide students in being respectful and courteous to people online as well as in other settings.” (Hagler, 2013)

In the classroom, teachers can use social media in several ways. Social media extends the classroom discussion time by bringing the discussion home via social media sites. Blogs can be used to create online science portfolios and work on peer to peer collaboration. Facebook allows educators to connect with other colleague’s students, parents and more. Google Docs can be used to collaborate between group members. Podcasts can be created for recorded lectures and posted to iTunes or other podcasting site.

Using Twitter and the 140 character limit allows students to feel less pressure when answering questions. Twitter in the science classroom, bring in current science news, which is an integral part of science literacy. Additionally, students can follow current scientists and engineers such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, NASA, Nova, Scientific American, Smithsonian, and more. Students can also live tweet with astronauts from the International Space Station. “In addition to teaching the use of Twitter, teachers have the opportunity to teach students a theory which is based on a concept that will be beneficial to them in their future professional lives.” (Hagler, 2013) Using Wiki’s, students will learn the benefit of writing collaboratively. Creating their own You Tube or Vine videos allows students the opportunity to show their creativity and share the science that is happening in their classroom. (Hagler, 2013)

Our class Twitter account, allows students to connect with current science developments, connect with each other, respond to questions and receive fun and exciting news in the world of science and engineering that allow students to make real life connections.  Using Twitter in our class increases our student’s science literacy a key learning strategy in the NH K-12 Science Curriculum Framework and the Next Generation Science Standards. While teaching students to use social media, teachers have the opportunity and responsibility to help students develop other workplace skills such as collaboration and creativity while teaching students to responsible and professionally use social media.

Works Cited

DeCoskey, R. (2011). Should Schools be Using Technology. Retrieved from Business 2 Business: www.business2community.com/social-media/should-schools-be-teaching-social-media-051782

Hagler, B. (2013). Value of Social Media in Today's Classroom. Journal of research in Business Education, 14-23.

Madden, M. (2013, May 21). Part 1: Teen and Social Media USe. Retrieved from PEW Research: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/part-1-teens-and-social-media-use/

Qualman, Erik (2014) #Socialnomics 2014 Retrieved from You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxpa4dNVd3c

WebQuest Introduction

How do everyday items come to be? How do engineers get from thought to thing? The products of engineering are all around us. From the paperclip to the fork to the pencil, each item in our everyday lives was created to solve a problem. 

Henry Petroski, an engineer and science historian states "It is imperative in the design process to have a full and complete understanding of how failure is being obviated in order to achieve success. Without fully appreciating how close to failing a new design is, its own designer may not fully understand how and why a design works." In other words, "form follows failure". We need to fail in order to achieve a successful result, or try and try again. 

Simple solutions such as a pencil were developed as a re-engineering of an existing item, the Roman stylus. James Dyson, modern day inventor and engineer, re-engineers everyday items from the vacuum to hand dryers to the fan. 


For our WebQuest, you will define a problem in your everyday life and engineer a solution to solve it. You can design a new product or re-engineer an existing product to make it better. Our WebQuest will take you through the steps of the engineering design process, through trial and error to the final design presentation that you will present to your fellow classmates. 

Sources:
Petroski, Henry, 1992, "The Evolution of Useful Things: 
Petroski, Henry, 1996. "Invention by Design: How Engineers get from Thought to Thing"
Dyson, N.D.  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEDKBFjGOT-zdxU9RApxDA

Educational Value of Animoto

Animoto allows you to create short videos or photo collages set to music about a particular theme. Animoto is "flashier" than a tradition powerpoint slide. It is limited in length to 30 seconds so choices of images need to be specific as the video needs to convey the project theme in a short time frame. Animoto is a great tool to engage the students of today who have a quest for instant gratification and do not like to sit through a long presentation or lecture. Animoto allows you to personalize their videos through choices in music tracks, themes, and selection of photos surrounding their topic theme.

My video below, focuses on our WebQuest on Engineering Design. This video is an introduction to our WebQuest assignment to get you excited to brainstorm everyday problems and solutions. We will use this as our jumping off point for our classroom brainstorming session. After watching my animoto video think about how you might create an Animoto video or other short video about the theme of your engineering design project.

 
Engineering Design

Student Assignment: Student Shark Tank
Do you have what it takes to impress the "sharks"? Create a 30 second animoto video to pitch your project idea. Think about using PicMonkey to create images for your Animoto video.

SOURCES
www.animoto.com
www.pickmonkey.com
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/using-animoto-technology-integration-activities.shtml
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/bringing-lessons-life-with-30885.html

Educational Value of Wordle

A wordle or a “world cloud” is a visual representation of task with the most common words weighted or amplified. Wordles transforms a group of words into a graphical representation.  It can be used to depict the most common responses to a survey or as a representation of the most commonly used words in a paragraph. They can be used to define patterns in data that might otherwise be missed if reading a list. Students can use wordles to edit papers, by seeing the most commonly used phrases or words in their writing or for remembering vocabulary. Wordles can be used in brainstorming to focus ideas. Wordles allow students the choices of layout, colors and fonts so they can be personalized.  However, wordles should be used of every application. Before inputting text or data into a wordless it should first be proofed or edited, otherwise the wordle results might be taken out of context. Additionally, words should be consistently uppercase or lowercase and the list should be individual words rather than phrases.