Techno Kids Article

In the article Teens and technology – a good match? addresses the onslaught of electronic media and the effects on teens. The article has several good points as it analyzes behavior, usage, school interactions of, and parental involvement. Many good points were brought up including:

• 8 – to 18-year-olds devote an average of about seven and a half hours a day…using entertainment media
• the electronic media glut…have made it more difficult for parents to keep tabs on what their kids are doing
• the time kids spend consuming media constitutes more than a full workweek
• multitasking in the adult workplace leads to inefficiency and increased errors
• about half of heavy media users get fair to poor grades in school
• the family unit is not what it used to be
• television and computers shouldn’t be in the kids’ bedrooms
• cyber-bullying occurs
• having students with technological capabilities is the key to making the project work (school related)

There were many good points in this article. I agree that student’s do waste a lot of time using technology inappropriately in the classroom. This is a behavior issue and not a problem with technology. I feel that as educators we should be addressing the behavior instead of blaming the tools we use. We should incorporate technology whenever we can and help students learn the value of appropriate use of it. A number of them think that it is perfectly okay to surf the net or text during class. If they truly feel that this is “alright” to do at work and at school, how will this affect their future as contributing members of society? We need to help guide students in the right direction with appropriate use of technology so it can benefit them the most.

Social Web Final Reflection

At the beginning of the semester, I signed up for Edutopia so I could join a Social Studies social community. I read articles and comments by other participants, but did not “speak up” myself. I ended up switching my teaching area from Social Studies to Special Education and joined a Special Education group in Edutopia.

After some digging around on the site, I found some interesting articles that will help me in my new field. I recently read an article about the rise of autism and the challenges facing schools because of it. A member of the Special Education group I am a part of has an informative website that gives helpful tips on behavior plans for students with autism, effective classroom set ups, and written plans for classroom roles and responsibilities. From this site, there are links to lesson plans and other useful resources when working with students with autism.

I’ve introduced myself to the Special Education group and saw that it’s a friendly one. There are other teachers like me who are qualified in more than one field. I found this interesting; maybe they discovered (after getting their initial teaching certificate) that Special Education was their calling to.

Even though my involvement in this social community has been brief, I see it as being a valuable resource when I start my Special Education career next school year at Craig Elementary. I have a feeling I’m going to need all the resources I can get! :o)

Teacher Tia Edutopia

IEP TECH

My IEP plan worked on multiple levels. It set out a World War I project for my students that helped strengthen their abilities to gather information, properly site references, and to make an effective podcast. At the same time, I was able to use Jing to screen capture what needed to be accomplished for those who were not in school due to a school function. For all teachers who use technology as a tool, I highly recommend setting up a Jing account. It is free and it makes communicating with absent students a breeze! Here is an example of this project demonstrating a students podcast, how I set up the lessons, and screen-capturing using Jing.

Final Reflection

Digital Story

The journey I've been on this year made for (what I feel is) the perfect digital story. It's been such an exciting journey that I enjoyed mapping it out and taking a moment to appreciate what I am accomplishing. Here is my Digital Story Map.

Digital storytelling is an exciting learning tool that I plan on using in the future. It gives students an opportunity to share about themselves while learning something new. It provides a broad range of creative options and allows students to express themselves as individuals. In special education, this tool would be useful for students who are visual learners with low reading skills.

In addition to being a great tool for students, it will be an asset for me as well. I can use digital storytelling as a way to communicate with students.

I had some challenges learning about this type of storytelling. One difficulty with this project was using my pictures without being invasive of anyone with special needs. Instead, I chose some of my favorite school pictures from this year and randomly lined them up for the background. I'm going to miss all the wonderful friends I made and will always look back on my students with a warm heart. Here is my Digital Story and rubric.