Blog #3

Peer Editing

It is necessary as a professional to have good grammar skills. Writing is an important tool in communication. If you have good writing skills, it greatly improves your communication with others. When you send an email, this might be their first impression. Peer editing can be very helpful. I have visited the writing lab many times. We know what we mean to say, but are we conveying this in writing? I don't know how many times they have looked over my paper and asked who are you talking about here or what is this about? and suddenly I realize, oh that doesn't make sense.

Peer editing is a great idea, if it is done in the right way. You don't want to be to picky. Remember to make positive comments. It is easy to see the bad in everything, but make an effort to find the good. Be specific when editing, give an example. Try to find ways to improve their skills, not just find their problem. Most people who are not good writers already know. The key is to help. Give them ideas to help improve their skills.

Assistive Technology

The MountBatten is an amazing piece of machinery. I didn't know something like this even existed. I found it interesting that it also teaches you how to read braille. If a teacher didn't know braille they could learn as well as the student. What a great way to improve communications for the blind.

Technology has come a long way. The IPad has opened many doors for people with disabilities. The VoiceOver feature on the IPad 2 is pretty impressive. My niece is sixteen and legally blind. She has really benefited from these devices. What used to be impossible is now made possible. She can communicate with her friends and learn things that would have never been possible a few years ago. The great part is she can be more independent. No one wants to depend on others for help. I think another great thing about the IPad is everyone has one. It doesn't look like a special device for the blind or deaf. How amazing is that? 

Professor Art Karshner, in the video Teaching Math To The Blind, discusses the difficulties blind have learning simple math. In most programs for the blind, the reading goes across the screen not up and down as used for math problems. His solution was a math grid with block  tiles, similar to a scrabble board. You scan the block and it tells you the value. I guess, I never thought how difficult it would be for a blind person to do math. This concept seems like it would work. It still would be hard, but it certainly would make it easier. Most people need a visual to do math. I think this could easily be incorporated into a classroom. It doesn't seem difficult to use.

Harness Your Students Digital Smarts

Watching this video made me feel like the first day of class with Professor Strange. At first, I was overwhelmed by his idea of teaching. It was so different and I was so scared. Sometimes, when we are afraid of something we run from it. Well...I am still taking the class, even though I was scared. I think the teacher on the video had some great ideas, but I'm still a little skeptical. I looked on the Eutopia.org website and watched a PBS called Digital Nation. It went back and forth between the pros and cons of technology. It discussed some of the issues Korea is having with addictions and treatment centers for phycological disorders caused by the internet. In Korea, they are now teaching 2nd graders how to use the internet responsibly. There were a number of studies done to compare so called "multitasking" and focusing on one subject at a time. The results were most students think they can multitask, but they were not doing as well as they thought. Technology is developing so fast it is hard to even do a study on it. By the time they complete the study, technology has created something else. A principal in New York said, technology is like oxygen and it makes school more sense to students. Technology has changed the world. On Edutopia Douglas Rushkoff said, "Ultimately, computer literacy must be a prerequisite to computer use. I'm not saying that they should know how to open a machine and fix it, but that they understand something about the algorithmic, expression-based platforms on which they are asking to spend so much of their time and energy. This is where schools should come in, exposing students to coding languages while also helping them to think critically about digital tools and virtual spaces." Hopefully, as an educator I can help educate students on how to make good use of technology.