Developing a Class Website

As I reflect on developing a class website for my students and families, it seems at once both overwhelming and exciting! Overwhelming simply because there are so many new things that I've learned in this course that can be incorporated into a class site - voicethread, interactive spreadsheets, wikis, digital stories, blogs... What's most exciting is that I no longer feel that it's an unimaginable feat to create a class website. However, creating a site does seem intimidating as far as knowing the Do's and Don'ts of design, copyright, and privacy. Our text provides good information and better yet, the authors provide many resources for teachers who are thinking about designing a website for their class. Some sites that are worth checking out are: Freeplay Music, which is a copyright-free site with a wealth of music genres; Find Sounds, which a free search tool for a library of many environmental, animal, and musical sounds; Google Sites and Wikispaces for website creation; Jacob Nielsen’s Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design for guidance in designing your site and Web Accessibility Tips to make your site accessible for individuals with disabilities. I'd like to learn more about using alt to make graphic images accessible for the visually impaired. I'm unclear about what this is even after reading about it in the text, but I'd how to accomplish this in order to provide access. What's also helpful is that the text online companion provides links (chapter 12) for award-winning examples of classroom websites. They're fun to check out and it's helpful to look at the approaches used by different teachers.

As an itinerant special educator, my situation is a little more unusual than the majority of teachers. I'd like to use a class wiki (probably using Google Sites or Wikispaces as they both contains very user-friendly, attractive templates and they're free) for my students and their families primarily as a resource and, possibly in the future, as a means of interacting with each other, via a blog on the wiki. My vision of a future wiki or website is to have pages that share student work, study guides, links to a variety of resources for students and parents, relevant podcasts, and more, more, more. For example, I would like to have a resources page that provides links to find information about hearing loss, assistive technology, captioned media, scholarships for college, etc. I'd like to have another page that provides activities for students to learn about the parts of the ear, the process of hearing, etc. It would be helpful if I could include an embedded animated video about the process of hearing for a visual guide to a written explanation. Another page could provide activities to practice using auditory skills. The options are limitless. I suppose the ultimate lesson for me is that this course has enabled me to use these technologies to supplement what I do with students and provide more for them and their families, and in turn, more for me.

Using Visual Learning Tools in the Classroom

Honestly, I have to admit that I find Inspiration and Kidspiration to be extremely overwhelming programs - awesome resources - but definitely overwhelming for me! While I've used the basic graphic organizers you can find on Scholastic, Education World, or other similar education sites, I feel dazed perusing this site trying to get a handle on the basics. Inspiration offers an abundant amount of resources and options; so much that I feel I need an entire seminar just to learn how to use it properly and to the fullest advantage!

Any type of visual learning tool - whether diagrams, webs, maps, outlines, etc. facilitates learning and provides a non-verbal support to learning, thus using a different area of the brain to process and learn. Of course, visual learning tools are critical for students with disabilities because they provide a non-verbal reference for language and reading comprehension, as well as more abstract concepts. I can use any number of different types of webs/maps/diagrams/ outline to teach and reinforce: phonics,auditory discrimination, idioms, vocabulary, character traits, story sequence, parts of a story, comparing and contrasting stories, and more.

As I read about and researched online, per our text, all of the tools available for K-12 students, I couldn't help but wonder if we use enough of these tools to their fullest advantage for all students? I think, perhaps, visual learning tools are used more frequently in special education classes. Also, I think, many regular education elementary teachers use a variety of graphic organizers. However, I'm not sure visual learning tools are used as regularly with middle and high school students. I have to wonder, "Why"? Are older students perceived as "beyond needing visuals"?

Integrating Digital Images into Learning Activities

There is a infinite number of possibilities for integrating digital images into learning activities. As a special educator, I think that using digital imagery (both teacher-created and student-created) for learning is a critical component for students with special needs. Digital images provide students with special needs access to curriculum and a bridge to connecting the known (i.e., digital images of familiar people and activities to create a social story) to the unknown (i.e., rules for "lining up" behavior). One example of using digital images in the classroom is to create digital stories using PowerPoint. Digital stories are a fun, interactive way to engage a student in literacy, language,social, and speech activities. I can create experience books using photos of centers in the classroom, photos of a lesson, and photos of fieldtrips. I can ask parents to take photos of home routines. These pictures of familiar environments and activities provides an overwhelming abundance of literacy, language, social, and speech development opportunties. To make digital stories even more accessible, I can convert a story into a talking story by inserting a recording of either a synthesized reading of letter sounds, words, or text or my own voice to match the digital imagery of the story pages. Another way to use digital imagery is to use to print pictures that represent words (i.e., graphics from Boardmaker or another clipart program) on label paper. I can adhere these pictures above or below the words they represent on each page, thereby providing visual access for differentiated instruction. Other ideas using digital imagery to support access: class notes on Powerpoint with graphics provides visual access and associations; student-created sequence story cards with digital images, whether photos or graphics, provides a fun literacy and language-based activity; students collaborate to capture photos of living vs. non-living items for around the school campus for a science lesson provides a social, language, critical thinking activity;class yearbook using students' digital images of portfolio pieces, interests, fieldtrips, hobbies, etc. and include writing pieces to be an ongoing publication.

TTCR Reviews

PBS Between the Lions
This is a child-friendly site that is colorful, interesting, and entertaining for the young student learning how to read. It provides many actitvities to develop phonemic awareness - games, stories, and video clips.For educators, there are lesson plans, literacy activities, handouts, certificates, and other resources. It's great for learners with special needs because it has both auditory and visual supports.

STARFALL
Starfall is another interesting, colorful, child-friendly site that provides a multitude of activities for phonics and phonemic awareness. There are great literacy activities for learning letters, phonics, beginning reading activities, and stories for fluent readers. Exceptional supports that the stories provide are text-to-speech (click the ear icon) for beginning readers and special learners; some stories also provide captioning for deaf students! What I also like about the site is that it provides great visual prompts for the student so that they know what to do next on the page.

Transforming Teaching Through Technology
This site provides a variety of Inspiration graphic organizers,word webs, semantic maps to develop vocabulary knowledge. The benefit of this site is that you have access to these graphic organizers if you or your school district doesn't have access to Inspiration or your free trial has expired. The page is nicely organized with categories at the top of the page so you can easily navigate the page and find what you need.

Spreadsheet Website Review

The Math Forum

I followed the link to The Math Forum from the On the Web text companion website. At first glance, the Graphs page is a great website that provides step-by-step instructions for creating spreadsheets that includes: How to Make a Bar Graph, How to Make a Pie Chart, Changing Fonts and Colors, Changing Icons to Pictures, and more. I thought I’d put the directions to the test to see if I could easily make a bar graph by following the simple directions. After several puzzling minutes trying to figure out where the Options tool was located, I figured I must have an older or newer version of Excel than the author. However, when I looked more carefully at the introduction on each page, I discovered that the directions were for Clarisworks spreadsheets, an extinct Apple word processing software. I believe it was renamed to AppleWorks in 1998. Unfortunately, this website and its simple, clear directions for creating various spreadsheets uses an obsolete software. I checked the dates of the website and it lists copyright dates of 1994-2010. While other information on The Math Forum is up-to-date, the link provided in our text leads us to archaic information. By the way, the same is true for another link provided in our text, Math Forum’s Introduction to Math and Spreadsheets. Perhaps some school districts still use ClarisWorks on their Apple computers? (Sidenote: Although the spreadsheet information was obsolete, I felt it was a great lesson in researching a website to check for current information as we’ve discussed in class).

INTERACTIVE SPREADSHEETS

This site was extremely educational for creating a basic interactive spreadsheet. The authour includes step-by-step instructions for interactive Excel spreadsheets for both PC and MAC users as well as many sample interactive spreadsheets that teachers can download and use with their students. I followed the instructions and created my first interactive spreadsheet! It's a site well worth using if you're interested in going beyond a basic spreadsheet to use for yourself and with students.

CREATING A GRAPH
Kids’ Zone

This site offers templates for creating graphs, a tutorial, a help page, and examples of each type of graph. When the graph has been designed, it offers the option of printing, downloading to a CD/USB/hard drive, or emailing the graph. As a teacher, I found that in order to create the graph I needed, it was necessary to spend quite a bit of time reading through the examples and experimenting with formatting the design, data, and labels. If you’re willing to play with the program, you can create an attractive graph for your own needs as well as teach your students how to use the templates.

SCHOOL SPREADSHEET SAFARI
ThinkQuest

This site is a classroom ThinkQuest about spreadsheets. The helpful information includes basic spreadsheet information, vocabulary and definitions with a labeled graphic, and a quiz to test your knowledge. The downside of the site is that it is outdated – written in 2001 – so, many of the links (i.e., in the Scavenger Hunt) no longer function. The Site Map link provides an overview of all the links, including classroom activities, and helps you navigate through the information. I found the directions on the activity pages a bit unclear and, at times, incomplete.

Seeing with your Ears - Video Test

Word Processing Reflection

After reading the Word Processing chapter, I learned a lot of new information, tools, and ideas to use with students. Word processing is useful for both teachers to use for their own work (lesson plans, contact logs, IEPs and 504s, activities, handouts, etc.) and with students (journals, research, essays, activities). Some new ideas that I'd like to integrate into my work with students are the editing tools - i.e., inserting comments directly through wp on student's research drafts and essays, using soundwave inserts to create an auditory skills activity, wp journals rather than written journals; readability statistics for materials to use with students and for analyzing their writing; evaluating grammar and spelling in student's writing piece with grammar check OFF! Another feature that I love is the Auto Summary. This feature allows for so many options. The teacher can modify digital text for special learners or any student in general. The teacher has control over the length and format of the summary (highlight key points, abstract form, new document, or summary alone). This can be used for students to get practice in summarizing skills - main idea and supporting details. I have found that using word processing for literacy activities creates high interest for my students and motivates them to work harder and do well on assignments. I'm eager to incorporate these features into our work.

WebQuests

Education World
WebQuest
My Five Senses: A WebQuest for Grades K-2

Awesome Library: Deaf and Hearing Impaired
Provides links for various types of resources: organizations, multimedia, news, papers.

Described and Captioned Media Program
Full use of our FREE-LOAN accessible media library. This library is to benefit students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. Qualifying applicants include K-12 school personnel serving these students, their families, and others whose use of the media benefits at least one such student. Teacher and interpreter training program participants and staff also qualify. View thousands of items on the Internet or receive DVD copies through the U.S. mail!

Adding Digital Images to our Blog

Review of Digital Nation

Review, February 2, 2010
PBS FRONTLINE, Digital Nation
Produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin
Written by Rachel Dretzin and Douglas Rushkoff

Digital Nation is a documentary that takes an in-depth look at the pros and cons of the technological entrenchment of our society. It explores technology in our daily lives at home, in schools and colleges, in the workplace, and even in the military. It discusses the characterization of today’s youth as digital natives, where as today’s adults who use technology as digital immigrants. It’s a fascinating view into the world of technology and where we are heading in the 21st century. As a digital immigrant, it evoked hours of pondering the “good versus the bad” of a digital nation and more contemplation regarding my own digital skills and the education I need to pursue in order to become more technologically savvy as an educator of digital natives.

There was a fascinating exploration into the issue of the ability to multitask. Rushkoff and Dretzin poll MIT students who feel as digital natives that they are extremely successful multitaskers. They have multiple devices on and windows open at the same time. They feel it’s unfair for professor to restrict or limit use of technology because they’re capable of doing everything well. Dr. Nass of Stanford University is researching the brain of multitaskers and their ability to multitask. The results indicated that, “virtually all multitaskers think they’re brilliant at multitasking…” and what they found in reality was that “multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking: they get distracted constantly and memory is very disorganized. Recent work also shows they’re worse at analytic reasoning and we worry that we’re creating people who are unable to think well and clearly.” MIT students interviewed admitted to being unable to clearly write and using disconnected thoughts in separate paragraphs while using other digital media. Professor Sherry Turkle of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self says of her students that they have “done themselves a disservice by … believing that a multitasking learning environment will serve their best purposes. There are important things you can’t think about unless it’s still, and you’re only thinking about one thing at a time … I teach some of the most brilliant minds in the world. There are just some things that are not amenable to being thought about in conjunction with 15 other things.”

Critics of technology in education, such as Professor Mark Bauerlein of Emory University and author of The Dumbest Generation, suggests that students aren’t as academically capable as they were before they became digitally “distracted”, and in fact, academic achievement in reading and writing declines as they become more “wired”. Another critic, Todd Oppenheimer author of The Flickering Mind, suggests that digital media is short attention span information and creates “instant gratification education: a thought comes to you, you pursue it; you see a website you click on it; you want to hear music while you’re studying, you do it”. He believes that this digital bombardment “bifurcates the brain” which prevents it “from being able to pursue one linear thought… and teaches you that you should have every urge answered the minute the urge occurs.”

Proponents of technology in education feel that there is no turning back from progress and we need to speak the same language as our youth who is growing up in a digital world. When Jason Levy became principal of a secondary school in the Bronx riddled with gang and violence problems, low attendance, and failing scores, he turned it around with technology. He purchased laptops for all students and technology is a required component for each class. He described technology as “oxygen and no one would argue to take oxygen from kids”. Levy believes that being wired helps kids make more sense of school and gives them the skills that they need for future employment. The statistics are quite impressive: violence significantly decreased, daily attendance over 90%, reading scores increased by 30%, and math scores increased by 40%.

Digital Nation went on to explore virtual technology applications. At The Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, Jeremy Bailenson’s research is funded by the government, marketers, and even the military. Results of their research showed evidence that advantage one gains in a virtual world, such as winning a negotiation, actually carryover to the real world once you’ve left the virtual reality.

The Army uses a “soft sell 21st century approach to recruiting modeled, in part, on the Apple store” at the Army Experience Center (AEC), located in the Philadelphia area. Kids 13 and older can play XBOX and PC gaming stations for free. While the recruiters are not allowed to recruit kids under 17, they chat with everyone and answer questions. Critics and protestors of the center accuse the Army of “blurring the lines between game and reality, virtual war and real war.” Those who run the center defend their approach by saying that kids are smart enough to know that virtual war games are nothing like going to war in Iraq. They state that the Army know what the youth in America like video games and that’s why they provide the experience in the AEC. Noah Shachtman, Contributing Editor of Wired, states “The military understands that if they can’t embrace today’s digital youth, they’re never going to recruit the kind of soldiers, kind of airmen, kind of marines that they need to have for the next century.”

Other fascinating applications of virtual reality explored in Digital Nation were virtual simulations used by the military to help soldiers and veterans who suffer from PTSD. The Virtual Reality Therapy program is piloted in about 40 centers across the country and is reported to have promising results. Again, the military is one of the leaders using digital and virtual technology. The pilots of predator drones sit on a base in Las Vegas piloting their drones that are flying 7,500 miles away. Critics of the drone program suggest that there is too much detachment in this type of warfare and drones aren’t capable of distinguishing civilian from threat. Noah Shachtman of Wired comments, “Going to war has meant the same thing for over 5,000 years. Going to war meant that you were going to a place where there was such danger you might never come home again, you might never see your family again. Now compare that experience to that of the predator drone pilot. You’re sitting behind a computer screen, shooting missiles at enemy targets, you’re killing enemy combatants and then at the end of the day, you get back in your car and twenty minutes later you’re at the dinner table talking to your kids about their homework. This disconnect of being at war and at home is very tough for the human mind to wrap itself around. We’re finding that some of these drone pilots actually have combat stress and PTSD even just like the units physically deployed into Iraq and Afganistan.” It's surprising to learn that pilots who are functioning in a virtual space are experiencing PTSD.

Virtual worlds are at the leading edge of digital technology and are quickly becoming a faster, more efficient, and budget-friendly alternative for many companies. Digital Nation profiles Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life. Second Life is described by Rushkoff as “an immersive, 3-D online universe.” In this virtual world one makes an avatar; a character who may look exactly like you and lives in the virtual world as that person. Rosedale states that he created Second Life to solve the problem of alienation and isolation in the world today. In the virtual world, he thinks that people are nicer, more polite, more connected and social, and behave much better than they would say, in an email or instant message. Rushkoff says, “What struck me most about Rosedale was his confidence that he could solve the alienation modern technology has helped to create with more technology.” IBM is an example of one company that is using Second Life with its employees. It was striking to see an IBM office park in New York that was built in the 1980’s for thousands of employees. As Rushkoff toured the building it was eerily quiet and empty. None of the employees had been laid-off or fired. They were all working from home or traveling for work. They use Second Life to stay connected to work. What Rosedale sees in virtual reality is the re-connection - “With virtual reality, unlike the internet, you’re not alone anymore”.

Professor Sherry Turkle of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self believes that technology is not inherently “good or bad; it’s powerful and it’s complicated. We have to take advantage of what it can do, learn what it can do, but also ask, What is it doing to us? We’re going to slowly, slowly find our balance, but I think it’s going to take time.” Professor Henry Jenkins of USC comments on the 21st century use of technology and our ability to cope and adapt. He says, “What we are seeing is a period evolution. At the end of the day, we’re better off as a society if we go at this with a sense of open-mindedness and exploration.”

I thought that this documentary was a powerful insight into 21st Century use of digital media. I learned a lot about the technologies used in the world. I was bothered by the story about kids addicted to technology in Korea and wondered if it's a problem here in the U.S. and other areas of the world. I found the applications of virtual world to be fascinating and somewhat disturbing that virtual world is beginning to replace face-to-face meetings and contact in the business world. From a educator's perspective, I think that we need to provide technology use and learning daily with our students. However, technology can't and shouldn't replace human contact. It is through our interactions with people in which we learn, practice, and refine social skills, communication skills, values, morals, and ethics.