Reflection #10

Before taking EDIT 2000, I was aware that technology was increasing within classrooms and schools systems but I was not aware of the great amounts of positive effects these technological improvements have on the future of education. The article that discussed project based learning opened my eyes the many different ways that technology could be used to teach. One of my favorite guest speakers talked about the smart board. In middle school, several of my teachers had smart boards in their classrooms, but I was not aware of all of the things that could be accomplished with a smart board. Students are much more likely to engage in learning when they interact and play games using the board. Overall, this class showed me the importance and necessity that technology plays in teaching modern day students.

EDIT 2000 was an enjoyable class. I liked that it was interactive and I felt as though I really learned many things about technology. Also, my professor, Justine, was passionate about the material she covered in class, making the class interesting. Something I would change about this course is the fact that I never knew how I was doing on my reflections. I would have liked to get grades back on the projects and reflections I completed before the end of the semester. I would definitely recommend this class to my peers! 

LAD Final Documentation

I enjoyed the LAD project for many reasons and I learned many things while completing this project. This project was extensive and forced me and my group to work together to enforce time management skills. My group created our website as a source for parents who believe their children might have a hearing or speech impairment. This website is a great resource for these parents because it contains information to help determine if their child in fact does have a disability in this area, provides information for the parent, encourages the parent, as well as providing interactive activities to show the parent what their child might be experiencing. This was a great final project because it encompassed almost everything we have done in EDIT 2000 thus far. It was a great way to end the semester! 

Overall, my group did not have any major problems with the project. The main problem we experienced was directing all of our parts of a website to parents. Some of the activities were more difficult to direct towards parents. Also, a technical error we experienced was trying to take the sound out of a video for our lip reading activity. Overall, creating our website went smoothly. My group worked well together and we did not have any issues with communication or with helping within the group. Make sure to give our website to any parents that would benefit from the information that is on it! 

Smart Boards in the Classroom

After reading the article, “The Rise of the Interactive Whiteboard in Higher Education,” my eyes were opened to the growing use of interactive white boards in schools and other educational institutions around the nation. SmartBoards are a great tool for teachers and students within the classroom. They allow for students to partake in a more interactive learning experience. Students are able to have a much greater range of ways to learn. SmartBoard also enhances the communication ways that exist between the teacher and students. Often times, students can become bored with just listening to a teacher lecture. However, the SmartBoard allows the teacher to present information to students in more effective ways.

            Although the SmartBoard is a great enhancement to schools and a student’s learning experience, there are several defects. As with any form of technology, a SmartBoard may not always work exactly how a teacher wants. Teachers should not be completely dependent on using a SmartBoard as the only way to teach because if the SmartBoard does not work, they will not be able to complete class that day. Also, many teachers are under informed when it comes to learning how to use SmartBoards and all of their properties or special effects. I definitely think it is worthy of installing interactive whiteboards in schools all across the nation. I think that the interactions and learning experiences that students experience and gain from using and interacting with SmartBoards will greatly enhance student’s ability to learn.

            The video below shows some of the ways in which a smart board can be used in the class room and serves as a great visual to the attentiveness and willingness students have to learn with a smart board. 

 

LAD Discussion

This past week we finished our entire LAD project. We added a video that does not have sound as an activity that will allow parents to have an idea of what it feels like to have to lip read. Also, we added last minute pictures and other things that added visual appeal to our website. We added a chart to the home page that serves as a reflection for the parents to complete as they journey through our website. They will fill in the date that they finished each activity on the website as well as any comments or questions they have. At the end of their journey through the website, they will submit their worksheet, allowing us to know the progress they had on out website. This week, we had great progress on out website, including finishing our project completely! 

Documentation Week 2/3

Over the past two weeks, we have made extreme progress on our LAD project. One of the main parts that we have been working on is from the show what you know section. We are in the process of taking the words out of a video and making an activity that will simulate for parents what it is like to read lips. This activity will hopefully open their eyes to the difficulty that comes with lip reading because many of their children have to lip read everyday. Also, we added a part in the assessment section where parents can leave feedback on the website. They can ask questions, post any concerns they have, and reach out for support and help if they need it. Last, we are working on finishing our author introduction. We each used sign language to introduce ourselves and say our name. We are making great progress on out website and should be done in the next week or so! 

LAD week 2

This is the second week that we have been working on our LAD project and so far, we have made great progress. We have completed our homepage – minus the author introduction – and the hook. We are currently working on creating several other activities that we will place on our weebley page that will be interactive for parents who believe their child might have a hearing or visual impairment. We have had a hard time finding a time to meet outside of the classroom to meet as a group. I think we are making great progress on our project! 

LAD Documentation Post #1

This week, we have made a lot of progress on our LAD project. As a group, we’ve started putting our site together, including the home page, introduction video, and the hook page. We’ve begun researching for our topic and putting together powerpoints that inform parents about hearing disabilities and speech impairments. We have started making plans for what the rest of the project will consist of in regards to the I +1 Zone, standards, and assessments.

We began working on our introduction video at the end of class on monday. In order to incorporate creativity within the video, we decided to learn our names in sign language as well as how to say, “Hello, my name is.” Our video is not quite complete yet, due to time constraints difficulty in learning how to sign, and collaborating with each other on the best way to create our video.

 

I love projects!

I have never had an experience with project-based learning, however I believe this type of learning experience would have been very beneficial and effective throughout high school. It is important to make sure you are aware of the time commitment that is attached to project-based learning before beginning any project. These types of projects allow students and teachers to learn more about the topic in a hands-on way, allowing the knowledge the student gains from their experience to go deeper than if they had not completed a project.

Throughout grade school, I always enjoyed the projects that my teachers used to instill information into the students.  My teachers did a great job at thinking of projects that allowed me to think critically in a creative way. I enjoyed making posters and PowerPoints and other visual creations to display the information I was learning. Projects were also extremely rewarding once they were finished. I enjoyed looking back at a big project from a class and being able to visually see everything I learned. Although projects were fun and rewarding, a con that many students, including myself, have against projects is that they tend to be extremely time consuming.

If I were a teacher, I think that I would definitely include project-based learning within my classroom. Students are more likely to pay attention and succeed in my class when they are actively involved with the material not only in the classroom but at home as well. With project-based learning, students would be able to take what they learned at school and expand and learn more while at home. The only downside to project-based learning that takes place outside of the classroom and on the student’s time is the teacher’s inability to assist the student and ensure that he/she is on the right track with for the correct end result of the project. Overall, I believe that project-based learning is a great way to enhance the quality of a student’s learning experience.

Stop Animation Video Reflection

The application that I used to in my infomercial was iBooks. This app is extremely helpful in the learning environment because it makes learning more convenient, easier to access, and much less expensive. This application allows someone to download not only textbooks, but also any published book onto their smart phone or ipad. Individuals, teachers, and school systems are all able to use this application to enhance the learning environment by using the money and other resources that would be used to buy textbooks to purchase additional resources for the classroom.

 

 After learning about other teaching applications and websites, I have realized that there are many new technologies and resources that have been created to enhance learning. All of the apps that my peers advertised were helpful in learning. I think that the ladybug counting application would be very successful in assisting young children in learning how to count because it will keep the child’s attention while allowing them to play a fun game.  Vine, another application that classmates used to make a stop animation infomercial, was used to teach a math problem in 6 seconds. This is a newer application that many students have begun to use. If it were used in schools, students would most likely pay attention to the concepts they are learning because they are interested in the method in which the material is being conveyed.  The name the states application would be helpful for both a history major, as well as little children learning the states.

 I would recommend someone interested in making a stop animation video to ensure that the camera they are using is not only high quality, but also stable. My group tried to use a camera from UGA however the camera was not charged and we ended up having to use a camera on a computer. Even with this problem, we were still able to take pictures that were of quality to use in our video. Something that I was thankful for in this project was the program we used to edit the pictures and add music. I have never made a video or added music behind slides and the application iMovie made all of the editing extremely easy. Overall, I was extremely satisfied with this project and would recommend it to others!  

Augmented Reality

I think that using augmented reality would benefit many people. Augmented reality means brining technology and electronics into the classroom and using them to enhance learning. Educators can used these technologies as a tool that will prepare students for the real world and their lives outside of the classroom. Visual learners benefit from augmented learning due to the fact that information can be presented in additional ways that would not be possible without augmented learning and the technologies that come with this method of learning.

In the school system I grew up in, technology was used at a minimal level. My teachers would use PowerPoint or other methods to present the material but methods other than those accessible from the computer were not commonly used. We were not allowed to use cell phones and if our phones made the slightest noise during school, we were reprimanded. Because I was not introduced to much technology within the classroom, I am not positive of the impact that augmented reality would have had on my learning.

Augmented reality within a classroom has made incredible impacts on student’s ability to maximize their learning within a classroom. All of the new applications on tablets, cellphones, and computers have increased student’s understanding and interest in learning topics that may have previously been troublesome. Student’s attentions will be captured more effectively with the use of technologies within the classroom setting because these technologies are something that their generation is interested in. The use of augmented reality will allow both students and teachers to go deeper in their learning as well as prepare students to face the real world after school.