Interactive Whiteboard Use

          The SMART Board is a form of technology that I was not exposed to until after high school. A few of my college classrooms had SMART boards but it was rare that the professors would use this tool to its full potential, so it always just seemed like a hightech whiteboard to me. Once I started graduate school at Teachers College I had more opportunities to become familiar with the SMART board and see what this form of technology is truly capable of. 

           

         Our last class was extremely useful because I have never been trained on how to use a SMART board, and most of the teachers I have worked with only utilized the basic components. Thus, I was completely unaware that this instructional tool had so many amazing features. This brings up an important concern that I know has been discussed with the other forms of technology we have been exploring; what is the point of investing so much money into educational technology if teachers are not effectively incorporating it into the classroom? If technology, such as the SMART board, has so many great learning tools and features, teachers should be familiar with them and know how to use them effectively and appropriately to promote learning whenever possible. However, I know that if I were currently a teacher, I would be just as guilty as those teachers that I just mentioned. I would be using it for its basic components and would probably have to spend a lot of time practicing and playing around with the SMART notebook before I became comfortable using it everyday. With that said, there were many points during class last week in which I felt excited about learning how to use it, but there were also many points where I felt overwhelmed. Since there is so much to learn about the SMART board I feel like it would be useful to take a training course or perhaps a webinar on how to get started. 

           I believe the SMART board is mainly a form of instructional technology but that it could be used as a form of adaptive technology as well. Teaching lessons on the SMART board takes learning to a whole new level, allowing the students to interact with the materials and view it from many different angles (this is of course if it is being utilized correctly and to its full potential). However, it could also be a form of adaptive technology due to its ability to manipulate the way in which information is presented. Additionally, it was mentioned in class that the writing tools could be modified, whole hands or fists can be used to select an option rather than a finger, and the screen can be lowered depending on the children’s’ height. These are just a few example of how the SMART board can be used as an adaptive technology, but overall I would classify it as instructional technology since the main purpose seems to be to make learning interactive for all students. Furthermore, when using the SMART board I believe the teacher must accurately gauge what her students are capable of, and what features may act as more of a distraction rather than a learning experience. This may change from child to child and also from class to class.

        While researching the SMART board and trying to find ways to incorporate this technology into my classroom, I came across the website listed below. It is called SMART Exchange and you can use it to find lesson plans that can be used on a SMART board as well as connect and communicate with other teachers. What I particularly liked about this website is that you can search for lessons that are correlated with specific standards, grade levels, and subjects. Then when you find a lesson you are interested in using you can download it right to your SMART Notebook. This website also has a training section in which you can access free resources and webinars specific to your needs, whether it be early education, English language acquisition, curriculum content, etc.

http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0

Web 2.0 Tools

The classroom I am currently student teaching in does not take advantage of incorporating multiple forms of technology in the classroom. Most of the technology we utilize includes, the SmartBoard, a document camera and computers or iPads for browsing the web or using basic tools such as Microsoft Word. Reviewing the web 2.0 videos and learning about all of these different applications that I was completely unaware of made me want to learn more so that I could take advantage of such tools, either at my current placement or when I have a classroom of my own.

Diigo
     As I learned, Diigo is very similar to tools like kurzweil and bookshare, but is unique in that it can be used for ANY webpage. Similar to those tools, diigo allows you to post comments, make sticky notes, and highlight text. I think it is great that when using this tool, all changes are saved in "my library," and can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. Additionally, the library ensures that changes made in this interactive tool won't disappear if you logout and then revisit the page. I think this is great for school schedules since subjects are usually restricted to one period per day. I also liked how the application is very secure and organized, allowing teachers to create different groups for different classes or as a way to differentiate material and assignments for specific students within the class.

Little Bird Tales 
    Little Bird Tales is a digital story telling app that can be used to create online books with artwork, photographs and voice. When I first saw this application I immediately thought it would be great for children in the lower elementary grades. I could see my fourth graders being enthused about it at first but then slowly loosing excitement with the tool. With that said, I do think this could be a great tool to use for read alouds or a way to document and display the students' work. I think that since this tool seems very clear and effortless, it could be utilized for a fun and interactive homework assignment that will then be played for the next day for the class.

Popplet 
    I have never heard of popplet before completing this assignment, but I have heard of similar tools. Popplet is a concept mapping tool that looks like a graphic organizer. I liked how you could share it with others and that it could be edited in real time. I do think this tool would be a great place to have students post their thoughts and ideas about certain topics. Since popplet seems relatively easy to manage, I think it would be especially beneficial for brainstorming activities or group projects. However, with this application I worry that my students that it would benefit most are also the students that would be most distracted by it and may start to use it for non-educational purposes.

Prezi 
   When choosing what tools I would like to incorporate in my classroom, prezi was probably my least favorite. Prezi reminded me of a more complex version of Powerpoint that would take a while to learn how to use effectively and become comfortable with its options. The feature I liked the most was the ability to use freestyle options for adding text and images. It seems as though there is no restriction as to how you can incorporate text and images in this tool for presentation purposes. Despite that, this tool did not seem like something I would want to use in the classroom. This may be because I immediately labeled it as being too complicated but I also believe that the intentions of this tool were not created for an elementary student. It reminded me of something that would be used in a business like atmosphere to streamline presentations while giving it a creative edge. I do see this being a beneficial tool for high school students or college students, but I do not believe it would be as beneficial in my fourth grade classroom. 
 
Titan Pad
    Since I am a huge fan of Google Docs I immediately loved learning about Titan Pad. Titan Pad seems like a great tool for collaboration and is very easy to use. While using Titan Pad you can see the evolution of the document and can work in real time with your group or others that you have shared the document with. I loved that there are colors to differentiate users. When I noticed this I immediately thought of how my students are current editing and revising their narrative writing pieces by using colored pencils to indicate changes that must be made before publishing. Rather than bringing home their writing notebooks I thought this would be a great tool for the students to use before publishing their stories. The teachers or parents could also have access to these documents and would be able to make necessary revisions. The color discrimination between users would show who changed what and the the history option would allow users to see when these changes were made. The only negative thing I could say about Titan Pad is that a person can delete another group members comments. Otherwise, I think Titan Pad could be used as an awesome collaborative and educational tool.

Voicethread 
     I had never heard of Voicethread or anything like it before, but it looks like a great interactive webinar tool. My initial reaction was that this tool would be a great resource for online classes. Voicethread is a cloud based application, like many other application that are coming out these days, and works like a slideshow. It is accessible in a multi-modal format and allows users to make comments through the microphone, webcam, text, phone, or by uploading audio files. Thus, this tool would be useful for a range of different learners. 


Stixy 
   Stixy definitely seems like a fun interactive tool. It reminded me of a combination of Popplet and the dashboard of a mac computer with widgits and sticky notes. Although there are some great features of Stixy, such as the ability to share with others and upload documents, photos, and pdfs, there also seemed to be many negative aspects. The layout of this application would probably be overwhelming  especially for students that may already struggle with organization. Also, it does not seems to be easily condensed or transferrable into another format such as, microsoft word.

Kurzweil and Bookshare

Bookshare

            The Bookshare webinar presented by Cherie Miller was extremely informative and easy to follow. Before this webinar I was completely unaware that Bookshare even existed and I am now very excited to add this accessible form technology to my list of classroom resources. A few of the features that I loved about Bookshare are that free memberships are offered through OSEP awards, its library is constantly being updated with over 2,000 new books added every month, and there is a library specifically for post-secondary content. Additionally, Cherie stated that if a student wants a book that is not on Bookshare, they should contact the company and they will add that book to their library. Even though this may take up to 14 weeks it gives teachers and students the opportunity to plan in advance and does not restrict any student from reading any book he or she may desire.

            What struck me by surprise is that there are strict eligibility criteria to access Bookshare. As stated in the eligibility qualifications, students with autism, emotional disorders, ADHD, ESL and ELL’s are not qualified unless they have an accompanying disability that affects their ability to read standard print. I was also curious if schools or teachers that had access to this software were restricted to only provide it do the student in the class with the eligible disability, or if it was accessible to the class as a whole. 

          

Kurzweil

         Kurzweil is another program that I did not know existed before taking this class. After watching the videos and reading about the main features of Kurzweil I was immediately drawn to the fact that it supports reading, writing, and study skills that incorporate the core principles of universal design for learning. I also liked the emphasis on promoting instructional differentiation without curriculum differentiation. I think it is extremely important to ensure that our struggling learners are not falling behind with the necessary skills and knowledge they need to progress through their educational careers. 

Student Learning Profiles

            Kurzweil would be a great educational tool for a student like Michael who has difficulty completing assignment with multiple steps and who needs support for abstract concepts, directions, and any use of figurative language.  I believe the multi-sensory approach would be extremely beneficial for students like Michael and would address many of his unique needs.  Some of the features of Kurzweil 3000 that would be helpful for Michael are the ability to slow down and speed up when necessary, have segments read aloud, and the use of the American heritage dictionary for immediate definitions.

            Another student that would benefit from the use of Kurzweil and Bookshare is Rebecca. Rebecca has a hearing impairment as well as a language based learning disability that has negatively affected her background knowledge of certain topics. She also struggles with the structure of language, which is why Kurzweil and Bookshare would be great educational tools for Rebecca. Bookshare allows for 4 different ways to read, including, multi-modal, large font, auditory, and Braille. Students like Rebecca would most likely benefit from the multi-modal reading format or the auditory option. This tool combined with Kurweil’s options of an immediate dictionary and word prediction would help with Rebecca’s receptive and expressive language issues as well.