Ed Week Article, "School Adds Skype to Help Students with Disabilities"

By TaLeiza Calloway, St. Cloud Times (MTC)

posted December 29, 2010

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/12/29/mct_mnskype.html

This article touches on how a middle school in Minnesota has added Skype into their arsenal of tools to assist students with disabilities.

I think this is a great idea. Students with disabilities cannot always attend class, and the school district is legally held to providing the students with free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. By using this free Internet tool, the school is able to keep this student connected with the classroom and teacher, while accommodating her needs.

We are, indeed, living in a technological age, and we need to use the available technology to benefit students.

My “Favorite” Web2.0 Tools

When the internet was developed, it was mainly used as a a one-way communication tool, place to post and retrieve information. In the past few years, it has exploded into a whole other world. Web2.0 is a place to create, share, connect and most of all interact with the world. You no longer have to physically travel to another country to see it – you can go online and get real-time, live feeds to what is going on. You don’t have to go to a library and look through stacks of books to find a single piece of information – you can type in the information you are looking for and instantly be connected to billions of resources. “Snail mail” is slowly fading into history as families connect through the internet – they can not only talk to each other while on opposite sides of the world, they can see each other, too.  Face-to-face interaction is no longer required to live your daily lives, as everything you need, including education, is accessible with the click of a button.

Two Web2.0 tools I recently explored are 4Shared and VoiceThread.

4Shared is a free online storage space for all your files. You can store documents, photos, music, video, and books. You can retrieve these files from anywhere (including mobile devices), so there is no need to be tied to one computer or computer system. Better yet, you can also use 4Shared to share your files with others.  Because of the large file size you can store, there is no worry about attachment limitations through e-mail. By using a tool like this, you can make important files accessible to students, parents and colleagues, and they can retrieve the information when it is convenient to them. You can store the most recent copies of files, so students know when they retrieve the file, it is the most current copy available. This will save time looking through e-mails to determine if they have the latest copy. Accessibility to needed information is key in saving time searching, thus making time for learning.

VoiceThread is a really cool tool that lets you share a variety of files, from PDF's, pictures, documents and videos so you and your group can collaborate on the same content by leaving real voice comments on the file. Your group can use a doodle feature to draw on and highlight the file, and rewind and fast-forward videos,. This can be a powerful tool to use when you want to share one presentation for your class, but would like each individual student to comment on, or collaborate on, that one presentation. By putting it on the web, you are creating a workspace for your students to be able to access outside of class, and when they have time to do so. The particular project can then be shared in class, with parents, or be part of a student's educational portfolio.

I can see benefits of both of these tools in a educational setting, and am interested in learning the nuances of them in an actual classroom setting.

Piaget's Sensorimotor Stages of Development

A presentation by Jeff, Michiel and myself, using screenr to record our powerpoint presentation and collaborating by Google docs.

http://screenr.com/xtZ


We found this was a relatively easy process, and we were able to compose this podcast in under 10 minutes. This will definitely be something I can use in my classroom.

FaceBook Police

I have been seeing a lot of stories about how people in public positions are being not so smart about what they post on public forums. This one takes the cake...as of today...

Arkansas officials condemn anti-gay comments on Facebook

 Remember...what happens on FaceBook is published to the world.

Student Growth Chart

The students shown fell below the class average for the selected test scores. As this chart illustrates, even though they fell below average for the class as a whole, each student shows improvement over time. One student, Katherine, appears to have made a rapid increase in her score, and then decreased on the next test. As a teacher, I would want to look at this to determine the reason. I would also want to meet with each student to identify the reasons their test scores are increasing, so I can provide support them to continue in their upward trend.

This type of graphing was relatively easy and quick, and gives a great visual for the progress of students. When used in a classroom setting, it can give a teacher a quick insight to which students are meeting or exceeding test score expectations, and which ones are falling behind.

To view the Google spreadsheet and chart, simply click HERE.

Reflection of Ed Tech Standards

The Oregon Ed Tech Standards are trying to create a baseline of education and knowledge that all students will have when completing their education through high school. The standards recognize that we are, indeed, living in a digital world, and if you aren't technologically literate, you will be left behind. The Millennial Generation is the generation that is currently in primary education, that expects technology to be a part of their everyday life; they expect to see technology in school, play, and eventually careers. They cannot imaging a world without a cell phone, laptop or wireless internet. Due to this societal expectation, schools need to provide all students with an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge in technology, regardless of their socioeconomic status. By doing this, they are helping students gain the skills they will need to be successful in the digital world.

Some techniques I plan to use in my classroom is the use of podcasting to help middle-school students demonstrate their knowledge of mathematical concepts. They will need to successfully collaborate the use of video, audio, and the web in order to create the podcast. I will also be asking students to create slideshows and blogs, as my school district allows. I would like for them to have skills in using a variety of tools, so that they have the opportunity to see where their strengths and weaknesses are, and develop skills that will prove to be useful in their careers.

Technology is ever-changing and advancing, and it will be exciting to see what is available in the next few years, and how school districts have incorporated the use of these tools.

EdWeek Article, "New Projects Aim to Help Gay Teens Who Are Bullied"

By Lornet Turnbull, The Seattle Times (MC)

posted October 6, 2010

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/06/07mct_lgbt.h30.html 

This article highlights the problems that LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transsexual) students are facing in today’s schools. Though administrators are recognizing the problem, and the rights of all students, the bullying continues, even to the point some students have committed suicide. Some states, such as Washington, have passed anti-bullying laws to include bullying people because of their sexual orientation. Even with these laws in place, it is still up to school officials to enforce them. Schools around the country are starting to see this as a real problem, and have taken steps to enforce the laws and policies that have been put in place.

Dan Savage, editorial director of The Stranger, a weekly newspaper tailored to LGBT teens that face issues such as harassment, has started a project named It Gets Better. This project gives hope to LGBT teens by letting them know that things get better after high school (where they are primarily bullied in their teen years). Another project, Make It Better, has been started by the national Gay-Straight Alliance network. This project allows adults to make videos aimed at LGBT teens to deliver messages about what it is like to be a LGBT adult in their community.

In our Equity class this term, we talk a lot about the differences between students and consider how to help make education more equitable for them. Reading this article today makes me realize that we, as a class, have talked about all kinds of differences that can be variables in a students’ education, but we have not once really talked about sexual orientation. It makes me wonder if our class has just not realized that this is a factor in a students education, along with culture, family orientation and socioeconomic status, or if we are not ready to talk about it as a class because we, ourselves, are not comfortable with the topic. I know this is a very real issue for many students not only in our own community, but also nationwide. My hope for our class is that we will begin to consider and explore topics like this, in addition to the obvious barriers some students face, so we can become teachers who can teach to, and advocate for, all of our students.