Bridging the Digital Divide

Colleen Swain one of the authors of my article specializes in the integration of technology into the daily curricula and distance teaching and learning. Tamara Pearson the second author encompass issues of equity. In their article they talks about the importance of having access to technological devices and being able to use them as much as possible. They gives tips of when, where, and how to manage technology use in classrooms, and how to prepare teachers in using more technology. They also give various resources about funding for technological devices. In addition they mention how important it is for teachers to be prepared with knowledge in the use of technology.

 

I believe they make a good point about the importance of using technology in classrooms. When children have those experiences it is helping them with their development in creating more knowledge about manipulating and using computers or other devices. In addition the devices being used can bring greater benefit to children by them being more creative in doing projects while having access to more resources rather than just paper and colors. With technology children can use technology to make digital stories, videos, and very creative newsletters and presentations in order to present various topics. I liked that she provided the links and resources as to where schools can apply or get funding to purchase more technological devices; I thought that is very helpful for schools and teachers to look in to.

I hope in the future I don’t have to deal with not having a computer in my classroom or maybe not having a computer lab for my students. I think schools in the future might be better equipped with technological devices of all kinds. If not I can always come back to this article and look up some of the resources mentioned or I can do my own research online. But I now know there are positive benefits to using technology in my class as long as my students learn digital citizenship and proper use of technology I think we will be off to a good start.

References

Swain, C., & Pearson, T. (2001). Bridging the digital divide: A building block for teachers. Learning and Leading with Technology, 28(8), 1-13, 59. Retrieved from iste.org

Assistive Technology

 

As educators and teachers our main purpose is to make sure all students learn and gain knowledge of what we are teaching them. Being that said we should all be aware of the importance of meeting every students needs in the classroom. We all know that not all children learn the same way that there are many different learning abilities that children pose. In addition we need to be more aware of those children with special needs that also need to have their needs met regardless of their condition. One of the ways we can help them is with the use of Assistive Technology, which are objects or systems that increase or maintain the capabilities of people with disabilities, in other words these devices are specially designed for people with special needs and disabilities. Assistive Technology is tools design to help students with multiple learning styles as well as with physical challenges. They help students with class work as well as with their homework and projects. These tools can make things easier to understand and see when working with a computer.

The article explains briefly how to find some of these tool that are already in our programs and applications that we use on a day to day basis. I speak for myself when I say that I was not aware of those tools in my computer, but after reading this article I think I will give it a try and use some of them just to see how they work. Some of these tool include magnification to see documents in larger print to read better; on screen keyboard to type using the mouse instead of fingers, for those students with hand coordination disabilities; a voice narrator to read for you; speech recognition to write papers without having to type; language translators; mouse keys that control the cursor; and visual and sound notification when there are things pending for them to do.

The author also mentions about using the IT department to help you set up some of these tools and programs in your classroom or computer lab for everyone to use. There are many other programs you can purchase online or sometimes get for free if you go through your district. I have attached some links that have special resources in regards to Assistive Technology, these not only guide you through what it is but they offer other resources in regards to getting the correct help you need for your students. These sites are also very helpful for parents and it offers various resources for parents too, making it easy for parents to get the help they need at home too.

These following links are sites that are very resourceful for, parents, teachers, and students as well, I hope they are very useful in reading more about Assistive Technology.

1.  http://www.parentednet.org/assistive-technology

2.  http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/assistive-technology-education

3.  http://www.enablemart.com/?leadsource=137&gclid=CKPxoLS1iroCFdBxQgodThoA7Q 

“From Toy to Tool: Audioblogging with Cell Phones”

 

“From Toy to Tool: Audioblogging with Cell Phones”

This was an interesting article to read because I would never imagine a teacher allowing her students the use of cell phones in class. This article makes it clear how to properly allow the use of cell phones in class and how to prepare students to properly use the program. To resume in quick the teacher shares with us how she uses cell phones with her students to give them the opportunity to interview and do other projects using their own cell phone device. She gives them step by step instructions in how to set up their account and how to use the blogging sites and then be able to post their messages and recording they do with their cell phones. She points out that most of the students if not all carry a cell phone to school, so what better way than to put them to good use in their education.

The teacher also shares with us various sites to use blogging and the instructions as to how to set up an account and begin blogging. The instructions seem very simple and easy to follow so it shouldn’t be difficult to set up an account and in the plus side these are free sites you can use through Google and Gabcast.com. In addition she point out the positive and negative things about this program starting with not everyone having a cell phone, and data plan not enough. She mentions some solutions like maybe using home phone or class phone, and maybe teachers doing research and then purchasing cost efficient cell phones for those students whom don’t have one.

This program meets the NETS for teachers and students because the teacher is aware and teaches digital citizenship by informing students about copyrights, what is personal and should not be posted, how to keep students protected, and how to post things that are proper, along with the teaching the use of technology. I am very surprised by the way this teacher is implementing a toy for students in their everyday lives, into the classroom setting as a tool to learn and develop skills. 

 I don’t know if I will be able to use a program like this in the future but it does seem temping to try and plus in the future every student would probably be using a cell phone as a regular thing in their life so there will be no need to spend my own money. I enjoyed reading this article and had the opportunity to share it too with some friends and family.