Thursday, May 28, 2009
My ePortfolio
I've just completed my ePortfolio and uploaded it to the Moodle. What a sense of relief and accomplishment. I really enjoyed ED451. First of all Dr. C is a great professor. She has a sense of humor, which makes class zoom right along. I love "Use your teacher voice." It has become part of my vernacular. And, ED451 helped me broaden my technology repertoire. I can do so much more than surfing the net and composing email. Anyway, I've attached the URL for my ePortfolio to share. I used Google Sites, which I initially found less than intuitive. But, I kept at it and finally figured it out. The "Help" forum really did its job. I hope you enjoy my presentation and that it will help future ED451 students. Here is the URL to my ePortfolio: http://sites.google.com/site/deveneciaeportfolio/.
Monday, May 25, 2009
My Multimedia Fish Tank Lesson Plan
Technology can be frustrating and gratifying; frustrating when I can’t figure something out, and gratifying when I do. I would spend hours trying to figure something out, and many times I would give up and look for another solution. Even when I find a solution, I think about my failed attempts and how I could have made it work. Well, this is the love hate relationship I have with technology. However, I feel more confident about my abilities. And, to complete this assignment, I approached technology with greater verve. The only stipulation was to use multimedia: more than one source. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on my experience creating this lesson plan, to include which NETS*T standard it applies to, what I learned, how I used new technology, what I liked the least and what I liked the best.
Although this lesson plan can satisfy more than one of the six NETS standards, I choose Standard II: Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences, which indicates teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology (International Society for Technology in Education ). My lesson plan is called The Classroom Fish Tank. The students were to design a fish tank for the classroom. They were to use multimedia, create a blog, with a visual component, and deliver a persuasive presentation using PowerPoint. This assignment allows students to see, hear and do, which supports the diversity of student learning. Having students work in groups and using discussion rather than lecture support a student centered environment. And, having students use computers and the internet, which many are quite adept at, supports the learning experience because it is something they enjoy. And, with students becoming more technologically adept, it is imperative that teachers plan their lessons with technology in mind.
Technology is also helpful in creating an enriched classroom experience for students with disabilities. I included a student in a wheelchair with limited use of his hands in my lesson plan. I did not feel it necessary to make many changes to accommodate this student since he could get around with his wheelchair and the use of a key board is well within in the physical limitations of many children in wheelchairs. Although objectives should be the same for all students, a teacher should be well prepared to revise the activities of the lesson plan to include the myriad of disabilities students may have. A teacher should learn as much as possible about the disability itself and about the specific abilities of the student. As in the film Enabling Dreams (Edutopia), technology can make a big difference in the learning experience of students with disabilities. And, whether or not a student has a disability, teachers should make a concerted effort to incorporate technology in their lesson plans.
As I mentioned earlier, I approached this assignment with greater verve. I really wanted to display more of what I learned, and that I explored other avenues to complete the assignment. There are three new things I used. I used a new program called Debut Video Capture with my webcam to create my introduction. I’m not pleased with the result because of the low quality of the webcam. I also used window’s movie maker for the clip at the end. I used photos rather than a video, and I incorporated some background sound. When I created my rubric, I wanted to embed the document in my website, which I accomplished with limited success. I played around with Scribed.com and Issuu.com. I eventually used Issuu.com, although both programs were easy to use. I found Issuu.com more intuitive to use. Speaking of the Rubric, I can say that what I learned and what I liked the best about this assignment is related to the rubric. Creating your own rubric is the best thing a teacher can do when planning a lesson. Because it makes you think about whether or not your objectives make sense. While creating my rubric, I had to revisit my objectives to make sure that I stated the objective in a way that made sense, and was what I really wanted to accomplish. What I liked the least was the frustration I experienced when I couldn’t make something work the way. For example, I wanted to use GoogleSites because the examples of the prior students’ were created on GoogleSites and they were visually appealing. Unfortunately, I could not find the same templates. I also could not figure out how to change the width of the text box. So, as much as it was frustrating, this lesson plan was quite rewarding. The most important thing I will take from this assignment is that we were required to model the use of technology to present the lesson.
Edutopia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2009, from Assistive technology: Enabling dreams: http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video
International Society for Technology in Education . (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2009, from National Educational Technology Standards: http://www.iste.org/
Although this lesson plan can satisfy more than one of the six NETS standards, I choose Standard II: Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences, which indicates teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology (International Society for Technology in Education ). My lesson plan is called The Classroom Fish Tank. The students were to design a fish tank for the classroom. They were to use multimedia, create a blog, with a visual component, and deliver a persuasive presentation using PowerPoint. This assignment allows students to see, hear and do, which supports the diversity of student learning. Having students work in groups and using discussion rather than lecture support a student centered environment. And, having students use computers and the internet, which many are quite adept at, supports the learning experience because it is something they enjoy. And, with students becoming more technologically adept, it is imperative that teachers plan their lessons with technology in mind.
Technology is also helpful in creating an enriched classroom experience for students with disabilities. I included a student in a wheelchair with limited use of his hands in my lesson plan. I did not feel it necessary to make many changes to accommodate this student since he could get around with his wheelchair and the use of a key board is well within in the physical limitations of many children in wheelchairs. Although objectives should be the same for all students, a teacher should be well prepared to revise the activities of the lesson plan to include the myriad of disabilities students may have. A teacher should learn as much as possible about the disability itself and about the specific abilities of the student. As in the film Enabling Dreams (Edutopia), technology can make a big difference in the learning experience of students with disabilities. And, whether or not a student has a disability, teachers should make a concerted effort to incorporate technology in their lesson plans.
As I mentioned earlier, I approached this assignment with greater verve. I really wanted to display more of what I learned, and that I explored other avenues to complete the assignment. There are three new things I used. I used a new program called Debut Video Capture with my webcam to create my introduction. I’m not pleased with the result because of the low quality of the webcam. I also used window’s movie maker for the clip at the end. I used photos rather than a video, and I incorporated some background sound. When I created my rubric, I wanted to embed the document in my website, which I accomplished with limited success. I played around with Scribed.com and Issuu.com. I eventually used Issuu.com, although both programs were easy to use. I found Issuu.com more intuitive to use. Speaking of the Rubric, I can say that what I learned and what I liked the best about this assignment is related to the rubric. Creating your own rubric is the best thing a teacher can do when planning a lesson. Because it makes you think about whether or not your objectives make sense. While creating my rubric, I had to revisit my objectives to make sure that I stated the objective in a way that made sense, and was what I really wanted to accomplish. What I liked the least was the frustration I experienced when I couldn’t make something work the way. For example, I wanted to use GoogleSites because the examples of the prior students’ were created on GoogleSites and they were visually appealing. Unfortunately, I could not find the same templates. I also could not figure out how to change the width of the text box. So, as much as it was frustrating, this lesson plan was quite rewarding. The most important thing I will take from this assignment is that we were required to model the use of technology to present the lesson.
Edutopia. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2009, from Assistive technology: Enabling dreams: http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video
International Society for Technology in Education . (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2009, from National Educational Technology Standards: http://www.iste.org/
Thursday, May 14, 2009
13 Disabilities
The following is information obtained from: http://old.nichcy.org/pubs/genresc/gr3.htm
Children and Youth Aged 3 Through 21. The IDEA lists 13 different disability categories under which 3 through 21-year-olds may be eligible for services. For a child to be eligible for services, the disability must affect the child’s educational performance. The disability categories listed in IDEA are:
autism,
deaf-blindness,
emotional disturbance,
hearing impairment (including deafness),
mental retardation,
multiple disabilities,
orthopedic impairment,
other health impairment,
specific learning disability,
speech or language impairment,
traumatic brain injury, or
visual impairment (including blindness).
Under IDEA, a child may not be identified as a “child with a disability” just because he or she speaks a language other than English and does not speak or understand English well. A child may not be identified as having a disability just because he or she has not had enough instruction in math or reading.
How Does IDEA Define the 13 Disability Categories?
The IDEA provides definitions of the 13 disability categories listed above. These federal definitions guide how states define who is eligible for a free appropriate public education under IDEA. The definitions of disability terms are as follows:
1. Autism...
...means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects educational performance. Characteristics often associated with autism are engaging in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to changes in daily routines or the environment, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term autism does not apply if the child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has emotional disturbance, as defined in #5 below.
A child who shows the characteristics of autism after age 3 could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria above are satisfied.
2. Deaf-Blindness...
...means concomitant [simultaneous] hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
3. Deafness...
...means a hearing impairment so severe that a child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
4. Emotional Disturbance...
...means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
(a) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(b) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(c) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(d) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(e) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance.
5. Hearing Impairment...
...means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but is not included under the definition of “deafness.”
6. Mental Retardation...
...means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently [at the same time] with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
7. Multiple Disabilities...
...means concomitant [simultaneous] impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in a special education program solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blindness.
8. Orthopedic Impairment...
...means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly (e.g. clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g. poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
9. Other Health Impairment...
...means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that—
(a) is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and sickle cell anemia; and
(b) adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
10. Specific Learning Disability...
...means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental retardation; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
11. Speech or Language Impairment...
...means a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
12. Traumatic Brain Injury...
...means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not include brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
13. Visual Impairment Including Blindness...
...means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
Children and Youth Aged 3 Through 21. The IDEA lists 13 different disability categories under which 3 through 21-year-olds may be eligible for services. For a child to be eligible for services, the disability must affect the child’s educational performance. The disability categories listed in IDEA are:
autism,
deaf-blindness,
emotional disturbance,
hearing impairment (including deafness),
mental retardation,
multiple disabilities,
orthopedic impairment,
other health impairment,
specific learning disability,
speech or language impairment,
traumatic brain injury, or
visual impairment (including blindness).
Under IDEA, a child may not be identified as a “child with a disability” just because he or she speaks a language other than English and does not speak or understand English well. A child may not be identified as having a disability just because he or she has not had enough instruction in math or reading.
How Does IDEA Define the 13 Disability Categories?
The IDEA provides definitions of the 13 disability categories listed above. These federal definitions guide how states define who is eligible for a free appropriate public education under IDEA. The definitions of disability terms are as follows:
1. Autism...
...means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects educational performance. Characteristics often associated with autism are engaging in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to changes in daily routines or the environment, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term autism does not apply if the child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has emotional disturbance, as defined in #5 below.
A child who shows the characteristics of autism after age 3 could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria above are satisfied.
2. Deaf-Blindness...
...means concomitant [simultaneous] hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
3. Deafness...
...means a hearing impairment so severe that a child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
4. Emotional Disturbance...
...means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
(a) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(b) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(c) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(d) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(e) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance.
5. Hearing Impairment...
...means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but is not included under the definition of “deafness.”
6. Mental Retardation...
...means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently [at the same time] with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
7. Multiple Disabilities...
...means concomitant [simultaneous] impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in a special education program solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blindness.
8. Orthopedic Impairment...
...means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly (e.g. clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g. poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
9. Other Health Impairment...
...means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that—
(a) is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and sickle cell anemia; and
(b) adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
10. Specific Learning Disability...
...means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental retardation; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
11. Speech or Language Impairment...
...means a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
12. Traumatic Brain Injury...
...means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not include brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
13. Visual Impairment Including Blindness...
...means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Here is my Technology Tools Assessment. There were eight tools we had to assess, four of which were mandatory: Delicious, Firefox, Google Aps, and Moodle; the other four were of my choosing: DimDim, Weebly, TokBox, and LiveText. I used a scale of one to five, five being best.
Uploaded on authorSTREAM by deveneciajoseph
Uploaded on authorSTREAM by deveneciajoseph
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Enabling Dreams
Enabling dreams is a truly heartwarming video of how assistive technology has improved handicapped students’ lives. It’s an important video because it shows what handicapped students can accomplish with assistive technology. It also raises the question of revising lesson plans to include handicapped students. The biggest difference I see in a revised lesson plan is to ensure active participation of the handicapped student. The objectives should be the same. But, the delivery should take into consideration the physical limitations of the handicapped student. In my ASSURE lesson plan, I had students record the number of times they can bounce a tennis ball every ten seconds for two minutes. If the handicapped student could not use their hands, I would have him/her record the results or count out the ten second intervals. Another idea is to add an objective to show how the handicapped student was involved in the activity by creating a video. Assistive technology can help handicapped students overcome their disabilities. And, with revised lesson plans, can help narrow the gap between handicapped students and physically able students. It can also help physically able students better appreciate the struggles handicapped people have to overcome on a daily basis.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Internet Safety Presentation
Today we presented our website on internet safety. The url is: http://safetnet.synthasite.com/.
Please check it out and let us know what you think. It was designed with non-savvy parents in mind who could use some basic information to keep their kids safe.
Please check it out and let us know what you think. It was designed with non-savvy parents in mind who could use some basic information to keep their kids safe.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
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