Drop box!

    Dropbox.com was my favorite thing we've used this course so far.  I have never seen such a tool.  It is cool to know that whenever I created a document or pdf file on my computer it will automatically go into dropbox.com.  It is a great tool for collaborative work in which we are using it.  I submitted my newsletter and so did my other group mates and it was easy to see everybody else's work.  Not only could I see it but we could communicate about each other's newsletters in one document.  It was like we were with each other just writing our comments.  Dropbox.com is a tool I see myself using in the future.  I can create tasks for my students who can than work with other students on certain papers, activities and much more.  Not only can they get feedback from other peers they can do projects together.  I like this tool and this assignment a lot.
     The online sign up is also a great tool.  It makes it easy for parents to see what activities are going on and to sign up for anything they desire.  For my sign up I created a sign up for all the field trips my class would go on.  I needed a two chaperones for each trip, a teacher assistant, and somebody to supply snack.  If I were a parent I would love this tool.  Not only can I sign up for what I want but I can sign up for something different each time.  I can also see who is going on what trip and base my sign up off of that.  Since I put this sign up on my newsletter my parents would know what is going on and when.  The newsletter is a great way to get word out their about our classroom.  The newsletter I sent out was a welcome newsletter.  It described what would go on the newsletter once school was in full effect.  I feel this was a good idea because every parent wants to know what is going on with their children in the classroom. 

Social Story

     This was a difficult task for me.  I have a Mac at home and didn't have access to a different type of computer.  My video is a social story about crossing the street.  With the animations and music it has edited the video a little weird but it is all their.  This was a difficult task but the idea and outline of crossing the street comes across in the video.  This tool could be very helpful for students who need to look at something while reading to fully understand.  As I said walk their was a picture of a child walking, stop their is a stop sign, and look left their is a person looking to the left.  This helps children to understand what the word or phrase means and gives them help with knowing what to do in the situation.  If a child has trouble understanding certain actions a picture helps them.  Instead of hearing look right and left and having difficulty than can look at this social study and understand what the action look left and look right mean.  Overall I think this is a good tool to use in the classroom.  You can use it for any type of student and in any situation.  A social story can have any topic and can be used in any way you want in the classroom, with any technology available.
     "Require a more intensive intervention to make gains in the social area.  For students who have difficulties initiating and maintaining interactions, teachers can implement more structure in the environment to gain a student's interest and encourage peer interactions."  Throughout this article by Cori More it describes that children are constantly interacting with their environment and through this they form opinions and concepts about the world.  Children tend to learn by imitating actions and cuing into subtle social cues.  Their are those children who have trouble acquiring social skills and this is why social stories come into play.  Delays in social skills can not only affect a child inside the classroom but outside as well.  Social stories "can meet the diverse needs of learners by combining visual cues with verbal cues."  These are highly looked upon because they gain independence, increase engagement with peers, and decrease disruptive behaviors.  They especially help social and academic skills.  One great thing about social stories is that they are created for specific students.  This helps meet the needs of each individual learner.  It creates extra practice of skills and increased communication between parents, teachers, and children.  Social stories are important for students with disabilities because they take complex skills and break them into smaller components that are more easily understandable.  "They engage children, using information that is directly related to each child's unique experience."

How To Cross the Street

Google Document Experience

      Google Doc’s is a cool way to share information with your peers.  This was an interesting assignment where each group member had a different topic but once each group members posts their information it will be like one topic.  Each member read the whole article but individually summarized their own section.  Summarizing was a topic in my area so it is cool to see the information come to life.  I summarized the important information in my section of the article as others will do too.  Once you read over the entire Google Document you will get a clear vision of what the whole article was about.  This is a very informative process.  If you miss something others can always go back in and edit your writing and even add more.  You can post at anytime and about anything relating to the topic.  You can post questions, ideas, concerns, or just whatever you are thinking.  It is a great way to get students involved with the not only the topic but other students as well.
      This could value with any classroom assignment.  We did something as simple as reading an article and summarizing different parts.  Each student got a separate part and made one article about the whole thing.  This could be done in many different ways in the classroom.  For example instead of writing a research paper on your own, you can incorporate many different students in it.  This helps to add different views and outlooks on the same topic.  If you write one body paragraph another student can be writing one at the same time, and post it to the same place.  It is a great collaborative tool that helps students come together as one.  

      As I started this document I was the first to post about my topic.  I will check back to see if other students have information about my topic they want to include.  I will see if their are any comments or questions about my topic, and than I will continue to read other posts from my classmates.  It is cool to see their point of view of the article after I have read the same one.  

Debrief - Module 7

       My first web quest was successful.  This web quest was easy to follow and had links that explained everything it was talking about.  If you were reading and thought of a question in your head the next link would answer it.  As I was reading John’s case study I felt his pain.  To be a teacher and having to grade papers must be a pain in itself.  But to be blind and have to do it is on another level.  It seems that their are multiple resources and tools made for those in his very position.   One website I found that was really interesting was called Ability Hub.  This is a tool that can read anything on your desktop.  This includes items on the menu, words on a spreadsheet, numbers on a website, even graphical items.  If John has his students submit papers online or even use a scanner he can easily hear the papers out loud and make his corrections.  This seems like a great AT resource created for those like John.  I would use this in my future special education classroom because their might be a student that has John’s disability.  Their also might be students have more severe disabilities or mild disabilities.  This web quest helped me gain several resources for not only funding but for tools I could potentially use in my classroom for those with special needs. 

      One important thing that I learned about Assistive Technology is that funding can be hard to get sometimes.  This could be a huge factor in wether or not a student has the tools he or she needs in the classroom to continue learning.  This could put students behind or even at a standstill when it comes to learning.  Funding is a very important aspect in AT since it can be very costly sometimes.  Without funding most Assistive Technology assets will not be able to be used.  As I read John’s case it stated that sometimes charity functions can be helped to fund for these tools.  This is a touching idea and would be worth every penny that people donate.  Special needs students have the ability to be educated just like every other student.  They should be able to get whatever technology they need to do so.  
      Before reading about Augmentative and Alternative Communication I didn’t have that much insight on it.  Everything that I read on this article was helpful to me and gave me a lot of background knowledge.  Something I learned was that some students with autism and down syndrome speech may not fultill their communication needs.  This was news to me considering I thought that if they had their speech and it was provided in a way just for them that would be enough.  In this article it explains other ways that can have important benefits.  These techniques include picture, symbol, alphabet, and word boards.  Signs and gestures, speech generating devices, and specialized computer systems.  This main thing I got out of this article is that teachers will need to know how to help their students use AAC effectively and efficiently.  If teachers do not know anything about this topic or how to implement it, it will have no result at all.

  

Using Social Media In The Classroom

        I think social media is a good tool to an extent.  As a college student I have seen the pros and cons of Facebook everyday.  Yes, it is a fun and exciting website for students my age and for older people to stay in touch with family and friends, but is it anything more than that?  Facebook can be used for educational tools if done so in the right way.  I believe social media can destroy students but can also teach them as well.  If used in a classroom enviorment social media and Facebook usage has to be carefully and strictly monitored by the teacher.  The internet can be easily abused, and can have harmful affects on students.  The amount of information you can find on the internet during school related activities can hurt a teachers assignment.  When using social media it is imperative that students understand what they are doing and what they are researching.  I feel this is why students need to be involved in social media.  They as well need to know the risks it can involved, the harmful predators out there, and all of the crazy things they can see and find online.  If a student is more educated about social media, Facebook, and the internet than they won’t be so foolish to fall into bad ways on the internet.  If a teacher uses Facebook and social media in the right way than this should never be a problem.  Students are learners just like teachers are and they need to understand how the internet works especially in an instructional way in the classroom.  Many pro’s come along with Facebook.  You can interact with everybody, you can post whatever you want, and you can gain followers to see what you are posting.  This can be a con at the same time.  You can harm somebody's feelings, post false information, and post illegal things as well.  According to EducationWorld Risk #2 is cyber bullying and #3 is online predators.  These are two reasons for most suicides in teens.  Just recently their have been news reports about young children committing suicide because of bullying through online websites such as Formspring and Facebook.  Things that others say online can be the most painful and harmful statements.  These are two huge pro’s of using social media in the classroom.  Another pro and risk would be #4 invasion of privacy.  Anything you post on the internet is now there forever.  You can never delete it, get it back, or make it go away.   Facebook for educators is a pro for social media.  You can create Facebook pages that help educate your students through a positive light.  Only comments about certain subjects, pictures that go along with the topic, and discussion forums for a specific assignment.  Most teachers are moving toward this type of social media and it has been positive.  Some ways educators can use Facebook are encouraging students to follow Facebook’s guidelines which is a pro because this will help students stay focused when they create their own private Facebook not involved in school assignments.  Promote good citizenship in the digital world, this is a key factor in social media.  If a student knows his or her boundaries on the web, they will hopefully keep it peaceful and at an appropriate level.  Many educators have Facebooks.  These are filled with professional quotes, pictures, and even advice.  This is a great example of social media to use for educators, teachers, students, and learners around the world.  

An idea to use Facebook for could be for a science project.  Say you have to write down everything you eat, the amount of calories, and the amount you ate of that food.  If you had your own Facebook this would be an easy way to keep tract instead of writing everything down.  Every student loves using the internet and the computer, so why not keep track on there.  Students love making new status’s on their Facebook’s so this could be a perfect assignment for a science project.  Every time a student eats or drinks something they will make a new status with the information needed for this assignment.  They will create a Facebook just for this activity and keep it going for one week.  After that week the students can than all alternate with each other and browse through each others.  The teacher can than just collect the links and grade the assignment.  This is a cool way to do a project and to also communicate with other students and their findings.  

Another example could be for an english class.  If you are reading a book you can have one Facebook for each class.  You could post discussions about each chapter, specific terms, questions, and more.  Each student will have to post their findings and their answers on this Facebook page.  This way each student can view other student’s posts and they can communicate with one another.  They can submit assignments and make it a more fun way than just submitting something to the teacher.  Students love social media, so why not incorporate it into the classroom. 

Examining Web 2.0 Tools for Students with Disabilities

The tool I choose from Larry’s site is Fotobabble.  It is an application where people can post photos along with an audio description.  This is a great tool for educators, teachers, and learners because it helps those to practice speaking english, and any other language.  It is a simple tool students can use to help their speaking skills.  It is easy to use, but also has a tutorial video just in case.  Their are student example’s on this website as well if anybody wanted to browse before they made their own.  

In a general education classroom setting a student with a disability could really benefit from this tool.  Some students who have ADHD and have trouble focuses on normal school work and reading books could use this tool in a variety of ways.  They could have the book recorded while having pictures of each scene up on the screen.  This could help students stay focused but while still learning and covering all the material needed.  Another example could be students who have trouble speaking proper english.  They could look at a word on the screen, hear the word being said, and than repeat it themselves.  They could than make their own fotobabble and continue to record until they get it right.  The neat thing you could do here is continue to create multiple fotobabbles and over time you could see your improvement on your speaking.  The amount of things you could use this website for are endless.  You could teach a student with a brain injury who has trouble remembering things from the past.  You could put up pictures of past experiences with a description speaking as the pictures go by.  This is a great tool for a student with a disability.  Students with disabilities often take longer time to finish activities and go through school curriculums.  This could help students travel faster because it is a tool that is always readily accessible for their use.  If they are blind they can hear this, if they are deaf they can see this.  It is a tool that can be used for any disability because it has multiple features, and can be used in many different ways.

I chose this tool because it is a great way to help you in a classroom.  It can be used to present pictures to parents and students.  It can flash times tables while shouting out answers.  This is an upcoming tool in the Web 2.0 world because it is fully online and technology savy.  It is based on the 2.0 design system and has brought technology to a whole new level.  This tool would fit perfectly in any classroom, any bedroom, and be used on any type of handheld or computer device.  This tool is the new technology and it is only going to get better from here.

http://www.fotobabble.com/

http://www.fotobabble.com/m/WklIaGdCbFJZdlE9