Let's just hop right in to blog number seven and talk about the big elephant in the room which is Twitter. Something I never was able to be a part of. I just lacked interest, unless it was to look at AP testing memes because those are gold. When I first learned that I would have to make a twitter for EME2040, I was majorly confused. What the heck does a twitter have to do with education based technology? Boy was I mistaken. Not only have I looked forward to tweeting something new often, but, it's actually a great source of information, sometimes controversial. But that's what makes it interesting. The influx of educational accounts that I follow range from being interactive with their following in different challenges and links. I also really like how these accounts act as a source of news. They provide the educational news and they offer their views and opinions. It's a way to see how others perceive education and all it encompasses. I recently completed a Edutopia twitter challenge and got a large amount of notice from other people following the account, it was interesting to see how they felt about the things I was saying. I have learned so much about how to make social media informative from using twitter, and how to connect with other educators who may/may not share the same views as me; basically building a network. So far I have not experienced any problems with twitter. Smooth sailing!
A recent assignment we had to complete was designing a website. Let me tell you, this was actually so fun. Getting to pick my template, import pictures, and create under the persona of a kindergarten teacher was a hub for innovation. I liked getting to play with different fonts, and the freedom we had to create our own content. Putting in the Google calendar was a nice touch. It made things seem more legit, although I wish it would only stay on the week I made instead of being so legit and changing with the days, but that is just me being nit-picky. There were not many things that I didn't like about this assignment. The only thing that I would change for next time is how the website input some of my photos. It would be nice if they were more proportionate and matched the text more. But I realize that this is something I would have to manually do. Basically I'm lazy and I wanted the website creator to do it for me haha. In my future career, I now know a free website I can use, and how to use it, I definitely want an extensive classroom website. So the things I learned making this website will be helpful for the future when it's the real deal!
My website: http://msrayana.weebly.com
This week we are learning about Assistive, and Adaptive Technology. Which are the beautiful advanced creations that aid people with impairments or disabilities to make the tasks they are trying to complete easier, or just more attainable. These pieces of technology in classroom settings not only make learning easier... But by accommodating students who need it, they then can feel more comfortable knowing that they will be able to complete the work they are given just like the other students. It creates a sense of equity in the classroom which is so important for individual growth. I have never personally used any assistive or adaptive technologies, but I do know of students in the same classes as me who have needed longer time on standardized test, or a different color font for their essay prompts. Which was a setting in the computers that had to be adjusted, as well as text to speech processors. These things helped with issues as minor as headaches, or major inhibitors. Teachers usually tried to make the learning environment as nice as possible for all their students; which I really admired in Elementary/ High-school. Using adaptive technologies in a classroom of my own I think the hardest challenge will be explaining to students who don't need those technologies, why their fellow classmates do. Especially with how young I plan to teach, there will definitely need to be a conversation, so that the kiddos are aware and respectable!
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