AIMing for Digital Equity

What
This article covers the importance of having learning materials in the classroom that are accessible for students with disabilities. One of the authors, Gayl Bowser, is a retired special education teacher who has experience with disabled students and is a consultant on the topic of helping disabled students with technology. The other author, Joy Smiley Zabala, is an expert in assistive technology. Their combined knowledge on the subjects of technology and disabled students make them a reliable source for this topic. As digital media slowly replaces print media as the format for classroom materials, it is important to ensure that the new media is available in formats that disabled students can use. Digital media offers new opportunities for disabled students, such as audio text to assist students who are visually-impaired or have difficulty reading.

So What
Recent advances in education technology may turn out to be very beneficial to disabled students if teachers and administrators ensure that disabled students are able to access the resources available to them. Vision-impaired students can benefit from audio narration of textbooks or the ability to zoom in on digital texts.

 

Image from http://pastemagazine.com

Now What
One of the ideas in the article is the use of recording lectures so that students can listen to them as an audio. Hey, where might you have heard an awesome idea like that before? As a social studies teacher, I would seriously consider recording my lectures so that students who are struggling to keep up can listen to them at their own pace. The educational system has made a lot of progress toward meeting the needs of disabled students but we now have to make sure that the transition from print to digital media does not leave anybody behind.

Source:
Bowser, G., & Smiley Zabala, J. (2012). Aim for digital equity. Learning & Leading With Technology, 39(7), 16-19. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=2467

Crafting Digital Artifacts

What
Bernajean Porter's article, "Beyond Words," discusses digital storytelling. Porter goes into detail about the technical and aesthetic details of the craft, including the use of sound and how images should be displayed. A key point made in the article is that "People process visual information 60,000 times more quickly than narrative information," (Porter, 2006) showing the important of utilizing visual media when it is available. Porter is an author of two books on digital storytelling and has been a featured speaker on the subject at many events, so she seems to know the subject well.

Image from (http://alisocreek.net)

So What
The article's focus on technical and aesthetic details of creating digital artifacts is provides useful information that many students and teacher may not consider. In creating a digital artifact for education purposes, it is important to ensure that it can capture and keep the audience's attention while still getting the point across.

Now What
This article has refreshed my ideas on how to teach students who are planning to use video in their projects. You cannot expect them to be able to take some film and sound and create a good digital artifact with it, unless you provide them with some guidance on, as Porter puts it, the "grammar for images," (Porter, 2006) such as using images to convey an idea without having to blatantly say it in the narration.

Source:
Porter, B. (2006). Beyond words. Learning & Leading With Technology, 28-31. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=1436

Digital Storytelling In The Language Arts Classroom

What
This article by Glen Bull and Sara Kajder discusses the use of digital storytelling (video) in the classroom. It mentions how advances in technology, especially digital cameras and video editing programs, have advanced to make digital storytelling feasible for teachers and students. The authors lay out the elements of digital storytelling and the various aspects of it, including point of view, dramatic question, emotional content, economy and pacing. The article then lays out seven simple steps to create a digital storytelling artifact. Both of the article's authors work at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.

So What
Video technology has great classroom potential and this article not only explains why, but gives great tips on utilizing digital storytelling within the language arts classroom. It is interesting to read how creating a video can help students who are struggling with reading or writing, by using digital storytelling to form a connection. Creating a visual storyboard or recording narration can help students with literacy.

Now What
I don't plan on teaching language arts once I complete the credential program, but I still see how digital storytelling can be useful in a social studies classroom. The use of film clips and/or narration can help bring any subject alive for students who are visual or aural learners. No matter what subject I end up teaching, I would encourage students to incorporate video into their projects.

Source:
Bull, G., & Kajder, S. (2004). Digital storytelling in the language arts classroom. Learning & Leading With Technology, 32(4), 46-49. Retrieved from http://www.digitalstoryteller.org/docs/DigitalStorytelling.pdf

Helping Students Using AT

What
"Build An Assistive Technology Toolkit" offers educators a list of assistive technology programs and tools that teachers can utilize to help students who might need to use them. Several types of tools are listed, including speech recognition (which may help students who have difficulty typing) and magnification (so visually-impaired students can see the screen better). It gives basic details on how to install programs on a computer or license software through a schools' IT department.

Kelly Ahrens, the author of the article, serves as the director of technology for East Providence School District in Rhode Island. She has a firm grasp of the topic and is willing to share her knowledge with others.

So What
This article is useful because it provides information on helpful tools that many people may not be aware of. For teachers, it is important because some students may not have the same abilities as everybody else. Students who suffer from vision impairment, hearing loss or poor motor skills need not fall behind on tasks involving the use of technology, because the technology to help them keep pace with their peers is available.

Now What?
This article has informed me about assistive technology tools that I can make use of as a teacher to help any students I have that suffer from any sort of impairment. I will be able to help these students improve the quality of their work and increase their self-confidence. I am especially interested in the prospects of speech-recognition software.

Source:
Ahrens, K. (2011). Build an assistive technology toolkit. Learning & Leading With Technology, 39(3), 22-24. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=2270

Obeying Intellectual Property Laws

Image from Businessinsider.com

 What

Kate A. Thompson's article "Copyright 101" gives a broad overview of how copyright and fair use laws apply to teachers. It gives examples of how textbooks, videos and journal articles may or may not fall under fair use guidelines. Kate A. Thompson is a lawyer from Oregon who specializes in business law. This presumably gives her some insight into the laws regarding copyright and fair use.

In many cases, the law is common sense. For example, a teacher cannot make photocopies of an expensive textbook and distribute them to his students. This harms the publisher of the book and subjects the teacher to a lawsuit. However, a teacher may copy one article from a magazine for his students, so long as it serves an educational purpose.






So What

The articles, video or audio that a person creates is their intellectual property. In many cases, it serves as a legacy of their mind. It is ethically wrong to take intellectual property generated by another person and use it for yourself without providing credit.

It is important for teachers to respect copyright and fair use laws, as it models good digital citizenship for their students. More importantly, violations of copyright laws by teachers can expose themselves and the school they work for to expensive lawsuits from copyright holders.

Now What?
As a result of reading this article, I am more likely to consider how copyright and Fair Use laws affect my ability to use media in the classroom. I do not want to get sued and lose all of my hard-earned money. As an educator, I will seek to follow all applicable copyright and fair use laws and encourage my students to learn and follow these guidelines as well.

Source:
Thompson, K. A. (2005). Copyright 101. Learning & Leading With Technology, 32(7), 10-12. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=1556

Blogging History... For The Future?

Image from Social Media Magic

What
This article covers various formats of educational blogging, including individual student blogs, classroom blogs, collaborative blogs and staff development blogs. It was written for language arts teachers covering kindergarten to 8th grade. The author is Catherine Poling, an assistant principal from Maryland who spent eight years as an elementary school teacher.

So What

This article is significant for the way it lays out the differences between the types of blogs. I learned that students benefit in different ways from the different types of blogs. Individual student blogs would not be suitable for younger students but would help older students develop their reflective writing skills. Classroom blogs can increase the motivation of younger students and enhance class discussions. I would have liked to see more details on what sort of assignments could be given in individual blogs, though I understand that the author's area of expertise is elementary education and not as suited to that medium.

Now What

I think that blogging is a great way for students to develop their writing skills and interact outside of the classroom. Certain writing assignments can be completed via blogging, enabling teachers to read and grade them online and allowing other students to comment on the post. If I am able to teach high school history, assigning students to blog on assigned topics (either individually or as a group) and reply to other students who are also blogging on the topic would be part of my educational arsenal. I can apply the details of this article to that.

Source:
Poling, C. (2005). Blog on. Learning & Leading With Technology, 32(6), 12-15. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=1560

A Great Idea When It Was Written

What

The article covers the use of handheld computers, sometimes called personal digital assistants or PDAs, to create concept maps as an alternative to creating concept maps using paper and pencil or a traditional desktop computers. It details the experience of a group of ninth-grade biology students in Maryland who used Palm handhelds to create concept maps.

The article was written by Regina Royer and Jeff Royer. Regina Royer teaches educational technology courses at Salisbury Univesity and Jeff teaches biology at a high school in Maryland. Jeff is also an adjunct instructor in educational technology at Salisbury University. As both authors teach courses on educational technology, it follows that they have a strong interest in the subject that led them to pursue this study.

So What

The students in the study were Jeff Royer's students. During the spring of 2003, they created concept maps on paper, on a desktop computer and on a Palm handheld computer. The study found that most of the students preferred using the handheld computers over the paper because it was easier and faster to get the task done. Students also preferred the handheld over the desktop computer because of the handheld's portability (it did not require a trip to the computer lab).

Cutting edge Palm handheld circa 2003 (Image from http://www.mobiletechreview.com)

The teacher found that his students were more interested and motivated in the project than they were with the other methods. The only drawback was that larger concept maps could not fit onto a single screen like they would on a desktop, forcing viewers to scroll around to view parts of the concept map.

Now What

The article is from 2004. Handheld computers have become obsolete since then and have been replaced by smartphones and tablet computers, so the authors' statement than handheld computers are the future is somewhat painful to read. Putting aside that fact, the study does show that students are adaptable to using technology in the classroom. The touch screens and portability of tablets make them appealing to students who do not want to be tethered to a keyboard. Tablet computers could be used in place of handhelds once the cost comes down.

Future classroom use of the iPad? From ProjectGreenApple

This article did not provide any new revelations or open new doors to me, though it was probably considered an exciting new idea when it came out in 2004. I consider myself to be familiar with the potential of tablet computers in an educational setting, both to simplify tasks and improve student interest. It is just a matter of finding the right hardware and software; since this article is eight years old, the hardware and software mentioned in it is already obsolete.

If anything, this article made me think about how quickly the technology we embrace today can become obsolete by the next new, exciting thing to come along. It reminds me that as an educator, it will be important to keep constantly up-to-date on the technology available for the classroom.




Source:
Royer, R., & Royer, J. (2004). What a concept! using concept mapping on handheld computer. Learning & Leading With Technology, 31(5), 12-16. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Store/Product?ID=1629