Among many concepts and education philosophies based on new technology, it is important to differentiate and balance the benefits and disadvantages educators and students face when it comes to the use of computers and other electronic tools. New concepts are welcome in modern classrooms. In this post three of these concepts will be displayed bellow.
Techlnology-based libraries facilitates access to resources without the search process of physical material; instead, a quick data search using keywords, filing order, or links helps the user to locate the needed source instantly. As long as a balance to promote interest in (books and) reading habits is established, techlnology-based libraries give the opportunity to educate students about managing electronic data, and the use of such information, in a way that inquire thinking, problem solving, and critical thinking are applied. A related concept to techlnology-based libraries is techlnology-based textbook. This concept, not only facilitates a more economic distribution of textbooks, but it also opens doors to educators who truly want to make a difference by being the authors of their own material. It is a revolutionary learning tool, since it permits remote access, modifying, and sharing; it can be interactive, and may include formats like audio and video, allowing visualization of the material.
Smart devices are making education easier in several ways for exceptional students. It is worth to mention how an iPad, mirroring the teachers computer screen, is used to personalize the learning path of a student with sight limitations, who now has the chance to have an individual close-up to anything that could be projected on a white board in class. Within the same concept, softwares applications like Nova Chat, installed to a Samsung tablet, with a bluetooth speaker adapted in the back, serves as a communication device for non verbal students. Nova Chat offers quick access to common expressions by tapping on icons and buttons on a touch screen, and a keyboard for regular typing; it also features editable buttons, which can be customized to prompt new words or messages.
Although published on October 18, 2012, the following video describes how, and why technology is included in modern classrooms. Please, click here to watch this short video.
Although published on October 18, 2012, the following video describes how, and why technology is included in modern classrooms. Please, click here to watch this short video.
Technology in the classroom simplifies the learning process and provides adaptable tools to suit students' diversity.
The information provided in this post is not only credited to Transforming Learning with New Technologies, by Robert R. Maloy, Ruth-Ellen Verock-O’Loughlin, Sharo A. Edwards, and Beverly P. Woolf, but to observations and in-class experiences in elementary schools in Naples, Florida, in Collier County as well.
Yay! You got your first post on your first blog!! :) Congratulations
ReplyDeleteThe points that resonated with you are good ones - ones that you'll likely build upon over the semester's time. You did an awesome job in finding a relevant video, too - excellent!
The things to work on for the next blog post: 1) Your writing needs to be more reflective in nature - rather than providing textbook information, write about that information as to your personal experience or how you envision it might be in your future classroom - use the Connect, Extend, Challenge prompts on the assignment page to help you think about what you read and then write about it. Reflective writing may use the words "I believe" or "I think" (unlike academic writing, which you will use in your Discussion Topic posts).
2) Rather than hyperlinking your video, only embed it right on the blog as you have done, but also provide APA citation of the resource in the Resources section.
3) Try adding a Creative Commons licensed photo to provide more visual to your blog - it is tough to just read text these days of multimedia.
4) Add a short introduction and conclusion and separate out all concepts (plus the intro and conclusion) into individual paragraphs for easier reading. Also edit for spelling/typo errors - there are some obvious ones.
5) Create a Resource section where you list all of your resources in APA format - in this case, you credited the book but it isn't in APA citation style. You wouldn't add your "observations and in-class experiences" in the Resource section, but you might reference that in your writing. For example, you might write that "In my observation at a Naples elementary school, I saw technology-based textbooks in action...."
Overall, a good first post - keep up the good work. :)