It's about time!

p.s. I finally updated my blog background. It was still fall oriented until today (yeah, that time's definitely come and gone) so I decided to do a holiday one rather than just Christmas because considering how on top of changing the background I am...it may have stayed Christmas until Valentines or something. Not so great. So yeah, enjoy. And oh yeah.....HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Eagle Eyes

Eagle Eyes was the same as I had imagined it but also very different. I really liked how the electrodes are a lot smaller than they used to be. I can see how that would make a huge difference on children and smaller faces. It already pulled and stung a little when trying to pull off the stickers from our faces so I can only imagine those huge (and very sticky!) things they used to use. I liked learning how to apply the technology onto each other, and the students we tried it with, rather than just having it only being done to us. I think practicing applying to one another and having it done to us helped us realize which spots are a little more sensitive or where maybe extra tape needs to be used over the stickers.
Using Eagle Eyes was a lot harder for me than I first thought it was going to be. I felt like I really had to concentrate hard on where I wanted the cursor to go and almost over exaggerate where I was looking. I realize now, after talking about it a little more, that it could have just been because it wasn’t centered correctly and things like that. But even still it made me appreciate, even more than before, those students that we have seen who can use it so well. (Like Alex- see post below :)
I think Eagle Eyes is a very good technology and is a great concept, although like we mentioned in class last week, I know it’s also not a miracle technology that’s going to help every student. I do think Eagle Eyes is very beneficial for children and students with Cerebral Palsy and needs that are similar to that. For children who do not have full capability of their body (motor skills) and those who do not speak, Eagle Eyes is something that can definitely help them. It can help them make others realize that they truly are an individual with a personality and thoughts and not just someone sitting in a wheelchair who can’t talk. I think one of the most important things that I have learned from our CPSE 463 class is that we need to make sure to give everyone a fair chance at expressing themselves and for some people Eagle Eyes is the way they can do that.

Awesome technology is taken to Romania!

Okay, so I know this is happened awhile ago and I don't really know if this is really mine to share but I'm going to do it anyway...
So yes, I went to Romania about 2 years ago but it doesn't mean I stopped loving the children there. One of the boys in the orphanage, Alex, has cerebral palsy and recently created this painting basically with his eyes! One of my special ed. teachers let us know about it. Alex was just given the device Eagle Eyes (not to be confused with the movie) which is basically a mouse controlled by your eyes. So freakin awesome. Love it, love him, love Romania! Love technology and the things it does for people with disabilities!

iMovie

So today we started our project for the use of iMovie and can I just say that we had a hilarious time. Our movie is going to rock everyone's socks and even if you weren't there for the taping I still think you'll get, if not a hysterical laugh, at least a chuckle out of it. And for the even funnier parts (not all can be used) I think we'll use some as bloopers.
After class I came home and told my roommates about our video and they were like "oh, that's a good idea" and "that stuff totally happens" and one even joked that this should be something taught to everyone not just special ed. students. I'm excited to finish the editing process and make our video absolutely fantabulous!

Pedagogy

In class we talked about how pedagogy is
-the way you teach
-teaching strategies
-method for teaching

I found a definition of pedagogy that I really liked and noticed that Tati found the same one. It defines pedagogy as the "means the science and art of teaching; but it means more than that. It means the taking of young children, and, by means of both skillful teaching and wise training, leading them up to worthy manhood and womanhood."
I really liked that definition and applied it in a different way to special education. I kind of took it more as it doesn't necessarily matter so much what we teach them as long as we're teaching them to feel like worthy individuals.
I also liked what CEC had to say about pedagogy: "Pedagogy or teaching skill is at the heart of Special Education." I found this to be very true. Learning a lot of different skills or strategies is very important in special education, not all the children are going to learn in the same way. Some may need one-on-one instruction whereas others learn better from group learning environments. Children who need extra stimulation may need to do more physical activities integrated in their learning. The options are endless...it's just finding out what option works best for each student that may be more difficult.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”

So, sadly...for whatever reason I have been unsuccessful at setting up an account with iSafe...maybe they don't think I'm safe enough or something for their site. j/k, man, I'm a nerd. but really, I've tried it about 4 of 5 times now but it hasn't worked. But, I did do the other reading for our "internet safety" assignment. I really enjoyed Elder Ballard's talk and it really got me thinking about how sad it is that so much media has become corrupt. I was babysitting my nephews this morning and one of them wanted to watch the Disney version of Robin Hood. Luckily, that's not a bad flick in any way shape or form but it made me think about how there have been inappropriate things found in Disney movies... whether it's quiet talking in the background (like in Aladdin) or cuss words in the movie or on the cover (Little Mermaid). I just don't get why some people can't let there be some wholesome movies...it just really goes to show that Satan wants to play his part no matter how small. One quote that really stood out to me from Elder Ballards talk was one that said "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Sometimes I think we all think, and I know I have been guilty, that there's nothing we can do about all the bad stuff being seen on television or distributed through the internet but that's not true. Even something as simple as not watching the scum on TV and telling others to do the same can help because the show won't get as good of number of people watching ratings. I also really liked the guidelines posted by the LDS church on internet and computer safety. My parents growing up always had our family computer in a main, high traffic part of the house and I think that is very important. If children aren't given the privacy to look at inappropriate things, they're not going to try. Having a filtering system is also very crucial... scum can just pop up even if you're not looking for it. And that's why it's also very important to talk to your children (or students) about it. Talk about what should happen if something like that does take place and how to handle it. Give warning and awareness to your children, students, and possible students' parents so that that type of thing can also be prevented when you're not able to be close by rendering your protection.

I LOVE AUTUMN!!!

I seriously love, love, love this time of year. Although, sadly this year autumn feels a little different than usual. It has been unusually warm until last weekend where it just rained a ton. What is it with Utah weather and how it's been skipping the in between seasons like spring and autumn!? oh, well...not too much I can do about it but enjoy what I get. So yeah, I love this time of year so I decided to change my background on my blog to represent that. Super cute. love it!

So...last week we were able to go on a field trip for our CPSE 463 class to UAAACT. Though there are some technologies that I've heard and learned about in just about every class this semester it's good to become familiar with them (thinks like Magic and Jaws). What I really liked about our field trip though was the fact that we were able to finally actually hold and try out a lot of the things we'd heard and learned about. It was good to see how they worked in person so we can better understand what would be suitable for one of our students. I love how much technology and all the different services that are out there for individuals with disabilities. I love all the advancements that are being made everyday. It makes me so happy that individuals who once may have been unheard and/or ignored can now use technology to help be their voice and get their thoughts heard.

So... not going to lie... every week, if not everyday, I find out about some new and exciting technology thing. But, sometimes I feel like there's so much that I'm going to get lost. I mean, I already have a blog, a wiki, delicious, voicethread, e-mail, facebook, uen, google reader, blackboard, and I know there's more but I can't think of the rest right now. Luckily, I have them all written down so I hopefully won't forget. But you know, I've realized that's just the way it's going to be. There's always something new out there and luckily I don't feel too overwhelmed by all the stuff I have but I'm just afraid that I'll forget about it and not use it like I could.

Last week we had Pamela Turley come and talk to us about my.uen.org I thought it was really cool and I like how useful it would be for a classroom. I think it would especially be useful in a special education classroom to keep in contact with parents so they know what's going on. It will help them be involved and therefore will hopefully help the student learn as well because the parents will know better what do at home as well.
Sherry also came and talked to us and the thing I think I thought was the coolest was the interactive whiteboard (Mimio). It can help with reading and gross motor skills... most importantly I think it will make learning fun for children.

oh yeah! and along with updating my blog background I also added a picture and "about me" information. finally!

new layout

So last week, my dear roommate Emily showed me a super cute website that has a ton of different backgrounds for blogs. So, I played around with my layout for awhile and am getting excited to change it again...the site had some fun halloween and fall layouts but I'm trying not to get to anxious for that time of year and am going to wait at least til a few days into October to change my layout to something autumny. We'll see though, maybe I won't be able to resist. Emily and I have been able to learn a lot from each other and help each other out in all different aspects for our IP&T 287 classes...thanks em! :)

Voicethread

wow, voicethread has so many different aspects it's crazy! I love all the different ways you can respond and participate. You can draw on pictures to help make a point, audio record something, type something....I feel like the options are endless. I feel like voicethread has something for everyone. Whether you're hard of hearing, have difficulty visually, or even if you're just someone that grasps things better if they're written out... voicethread is for you. I think voicethread is something that would be really cool for a family to keep in contact, especially if family members are all over the world, or even just the country. You could share pictures, thoughts, and ideas. It's awesome, really! that's basically what sums voicethread up.

Josh's story

So it's official...technology is awesome! After last Wednesday's class and after looking at things for this week's IP&T class I have been in awe about some of the amazing stuff that's out there. We learned about a bunch of communication devices that are out there now days and it blows my mind. I learned about things like Dinovox and Tango and now from Josh's story I learned about Bookwork and SuperTalker. Super Talker is nothing more than a sound board, which isn't very complex, but I think that is the initial thing that gave Josh the confidence to communicate, and the want, to communicate with others. I loved how intune the teacher was with what Josh was involved in. She could tell that Josh was interested in books and therefore was able to use the Bookworm. Not only did Josh use the book worm to follow along with the stories...he started reading them himself! He went from being classified as mostly "nonverbal" to talking and communicating what he wanted. Some people have said that giving children, or those with non or low verbal skills, a communication device will inhibit them from speaking on their own and they will use it as a crutch. Well, from this example from Josh, we can clearly see that that that idea is not necissarily true. yay for being able to get one's point across, communicating is awesome!

RSS feed...and lots of other new technology

So I successfully created an RSS feed today! I used google reader and I didn't really have any problems so that made me feel good. I was able to find a number of sites to subscribe to... some I don't know if I'll keep but for right now they're kind of fun and cool. I have the usual things like news and sports news. I also subscribed to enterainment news as well... it's always interesting to know what's going on in Hollywood and things like that right? I also subscribed to a health news page and my sister's blog. I'm excited to be a little more up to date with my sister's blog because she just moved away to Indiana with her new daughter and I love keeping up to date on their lives. Something else that I found, that I think is kind of cool, was through MSN. They had a whole page of different pages and things you could subscribe to through their website. There were 2 that I'm kind of excited about... there's a word of the day and a random fact of the day. It's not always updated but nonetheless it's kind of cool stuff. My friend and I were saying, this summer, how we wanted to expand our vocabulary-- talk about an awesome way to help do that, right!? oh, in case anyone was wondering... "mukluk" is a large boot. :) I'm sure I'll find for fun and interesting things to subscribe to but for now... I'm happy with what I've found. I'm exciting to test out this reader more and start using the internet the "good and fast" (yay!) as opposed to the "old and slow" way (boo!).
I will have to comment that even in just having this class for 2 weeks, it's opened my eyes open to a lot of new and cool things. I notice things more now and feel not quite so out of the technology loop now. I know there's still A LOT to learn (and that no one will probably ever be able to keep up with all of it) but I feel good about what I've learned so far.
I feel pretty confident on the things we've been taught so far and, like I mentioned before, I was happy I was able to help one of my friends that was having a hard time with the same kind of things. I've also started noticing when I'm on different sites whether or not it has a link for an RSS or if you're able to subscribe to it... like I said earlier...I'm sure there will be many more sites subscribed to on my reader.
Though I feel like I've learned a lot recently, I know there's a lot I don't know. One of my friends was over at my house today and was playing around with my computer trying to clean it up and fix our internet and stuff like that. I was able to observe him and learned things that I feel like I should know but obviously didn't. He taught me about home networks (I didn't know that you could have a common folder and share it between anyone in your network and therefore can access things from any computer if you put it in that folder). I also learned important things like defragmenting and different types of anti-virus programs. Alright, so I know this is a very general and broad statement but I've realized that there's just a lot I still can learn about technology so I guess the best way to state what I want to know is to say that I at least want to feel more computer savvy and feel like I know what's going on.

woes and "oh!"s

So the internet hasn't been working this weekend so that's been kinda frustrating. It's kind of hard to do homework for a class that requires a lot of stuff to be done on the internet when the internet is being lame. I think the internet problems are over (for now) though...hallelujah! There will be more updates to come then.
Also, something kind of cool. I have a roommate that is an elementary education major and she is also taking IP&T 287 this semester. Her class, however, is an online class so she doesn't get to benefit from all the awesome in class explanations. So this week I came home one day and she was complaining about how hard her homework is for was for one of her classes. I asked her what class and she said IP&T 287. I asked her what she was having trouble with and she told me she didn't understand how to set up an RSS feed. I just told her to look up the lovely video "RSS in simple english" and she was on her way! Her technical woes were over and she was then a happy camper. See....isn't technology great!? Thank you mr. man for creating those videos!

whoa! so much technology!

Yesterday's class was kind of an eye opener for me. As I sat there in class I realized there's A LOT about technology I don't know. Luckily this realization didn't frighten me too much... it actually made me a little more excited to learn more. The simple videos we watched about RSS and Wiki's were quite entertaining and made it seem like those things aren't really that hard to use. I guess we'll see once they finally get all set up. One of the girls in my group (Ashlee, the sweetheart) has already set up a wiki for us. I've figured out enough to know that I'm now part of the wiki group but as for really using it...yeah, that'll take some time. But it's all good cause that's what life's all about right!? learning!

TPCK Reading

1.

Content: The actual subject matter that is to be learned and taught
Pedagogy: the process and practice or methods of teaching and learning
Technology: both commonplace, like chalkboards, and advanced, such as digital computers.
PCK: (Pedagogical Content Knowledge). PCK exists at the intersection of content and pedagogy. It represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular aspects of subject matter are organized, adapted, and represented for instruction. The content knowledge that deals with the teaching process, including the ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others. PCK identifies the distrinctive bodies of knowledge for teaching. It represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular topics, problems, or issues are organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented for instruction.
TPK: (Technological Pedagogical Knowledge) The knowledge of the existence, components, and capabilities of various technologies as they are used in teaching and learning settings, and conversely, knowing how teaching might change as the result of using particular technologies.
TCK: (Technological Content Knowledge). The knowledge about the manner in which technology and content are reciprocally related. Teachers need to know not just the subject matter they teach but also the manner in which the subject matter can be changed by the application of technology.
TPCK: (Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge). Technology, pedagogy, and content overlap to lead to four more kinds of interrelated knowledge (the 3 definitions above). TPCK is the basis of good teaching with technology and requires an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of the problems that students face; knowledge of students’ prior knowledge and theories of epistemology; and knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge and to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones.

2. Dynamic equilibrium is another way to say essential tension. The traditional view of the relationship between the three aspects argues that content drives most decisions; the pedagogical goals and technologies to be used to follow from a choice of what to teach. However, things are rarely that clear cut, particularly when newer technologies are considered; and that’s where the tension comes from.
3. TPCK represents a class of knowledge that is central to teachers’ work with technology. This knowledge would not typically be held by technologically proficient subject matter experts, or by technologists who know little of the subject or of pedagogy, or by teachers who know little of that subject of technology.
4. Teachers need to be trained to use technology and acquire a basic understanding of most used programs. Not only being trained to use new technologies but using technology in the classrooms will help teachers become more comfortable with it.
5. Some of the reasons that emphasis on competencies and checklists of things can be problematic are because of the rapid rate of technology change; inappropriate design of software; situated nature of learning; and an emphasis on what, now how.
6. Design-based activities are used to help teachers develop the deep understanding needed to apply knowledge in the complex domains of real-world practice. They also make a nice bridge to many of the models of project-based learning. In the learning technology by design approach, emphasis is placed on learning by doing, and less so on overt lecturing and traditional teaching.
7. I agree with Shulman’s argument about teaching because I also believe that a teacher cannot be taught very specific things that they will use with every child. Not all people learn the same and therefore teachers need to be able to be flexible in their learning and teaching and grow and think through new experiences.

I've successfully created a blog!  This blog will contain reflections and/or questions regarding my IP&T class... happy blogging