Response to Universal Design for Learning

I found chapter 4 interesting because I think it brings up valuable ideas that could help all teachers to make their lesson plans more inclusive of each student, no matter what his learning ability. There are so many more technological options available for teachers to use today than in the past and I feel that teachers should make it a point to learn about what is out there and what could make their teaching more effective. One possibility for teachers is to use math computer programs to help their students learn better. I think that math is a big subject area where there tends to be a lot of variation on skill level. It is also one of the most important subjects for students to master, and a computer program could definitely aid in the learning process. Teachers could find programs that teach the same skills, but at varying degrees of difficulty. Students that are better in math could do more complicated problems and maybe have timed games to see how many problems they can do in a certain amount of time, etc. to give them more of a challenge. Students that have difficulty with math could complete the lessons at a slower pace and answer easier questions. This could also be beneficial to students who need special devices to help them write or to see the problems. By using a method like this, students would not become as frustrated with the subject if they did not understand it, or bored if they already knew what was being taught. Although computers and other forms of technology cannot take away the need for and role of teachers, it can definitely assist teachers in teaching more effectively, and to all students, not just the majority or minority.

Response to Digital Disconnect Article

This section of the reading was entitled "Real and Perceived Barriers to Student Internet Use at and for School." One of its main focuses was the debate on whether or not teachers should assign homework based on internet activities due to the fact that internet availability outside of the classroom is not equal for all students. While this can definitely present a problem, I think that teachers could work something out at the beginning of the school year to help avoid the issue. For example, teachers could have students fill out a survey on whether or not they have internet access at home so that teachers have a better idea of how easily their students will be able to use the internet. For those students that do not have access, teachers could try to assist the students in finding other ways to access the internet.

PowerPointless?

I think that both the article and the NPR news report make good points about the pros and cons of using PowerPoint in the classroom. I agree that it is very easy for PowerPoint to simply become a tool for the teacher or student presentor to use for him or herself when giving a presentation. It is a great way for presentors to organize their thoughts and put together a coherent presentation. However, using PowerPoint this way does not benefit the audience at all. When a presentation is given in this way, it usually consists of a bunch of bored students staring at an excessive amount of slides that do not require the students to really think for themselves and that do not explain the information they are trying to present well. However, PowerPoint can be an effective tool in the classroom if the teacher knows how to use it correctly. PowerPoint can assist teacher and students that have problems organizing information for a presentation. They can also serve as a supplement to what the presentor is already presenting in another format. I think the key to using PowerPoint beneficially is to remember that information cannot simply be presented through lists and abbreviated bulleted points. While information can be organized this way, one cannot think about things in terms of lists. One of the most important parts of learning is seeing how things relate to one another. Therefore, teachers should stay away from presenting material to students just as lists. Secondly, one must always have the audience and the goal of the presentation in mind when creating PowerPoint slides. PowerPoint should always be used as an additional way of presenting information to make the points of the presentation more clear and it should get the audience actively involved so that students' attention does not wander during the presentation.

Valley of the Shadow, Andy Mink, and SOL's

I thought the Valley of the Shadow project was very interesting and well-done. I wish I had known about it when I was studying Civil War history because it seems to make the history come alive. It feels as if you are actually involved in the Civil War and not just reading about it.

The Valley of the Shadow project could be very helpful for the history SOL, focusing on United States and Virginia History around the time of the Civil War. The Valley of the Shadow project includes a lot of good information that students need to know for the SOL's. It is very important for students to have access to this core knowledge of the subject area. However, it is also very important for students to be able to expand on this core knowledge. They need to be able to use the information they have been given to analyze, draw conclusions, and make inferences. The Valley of the Shadow project is extremely helpful in these tasks because it allows students to see maps, records, pictures, and read primary source material, such as journals, from the Civil War period. These things give students valuable insights into what the time period was really like and allow students to practice their analytical and critical thinking skills. Students can ask questions and try to find answers to their own questions on the website, making use of inquiry-based learning. Through the different types of information available in the Valley of the Shadow project, students can also practice historical thinking because they will not simply be memorizing names and dates. When using the Valley of the Shadow project, students will be analyzing, interpreting, and researching the Civil War, not soley memorizing facts about it. These skills can be beneficial to students when taking other SOL's also, including English.

The Valley of the Shadow project could also help students with the Computer Technology SOL. Students need to be able to work with computers and know how to perform various operations on them for this SOL. The Valley of the Shadow project helps students with these skills because it is online and is very technologically savvy. Students can practice navigating the website, retrieving different sources of information from it, etc. I think practice is one of the best ways to improve computer skills and to learn more about computers.

The Valley of the Shadow project can also be used in different ways so as to be beneficial to both grade school students and high school students taking the SOL's.

Technology Autobiography

Outside of the classroom, I use technology all of the time, but mostly for simple purposes such as writing papers and checking e-mail. When I am living in Charlottesville, my computer is on almost every hour of the day, every day of the week. At home, my family has not stepped up to DSL yet and so I have to deal with slow and annoying dial-up every time I want to go online. This deters me from going on the internet somewhat. Nevertheless, whether at home or UVA, I never fail to check my e-mail every day, and I usually end up checking it much more than once a day. I am also a faithful user of AOL Instant Messenger.

In school, my personal experience with technology has not been very good, although it did improve over the years. In elementary school, I had computer class once a week for about 45 minutes. The "computer room" was a very large closet with barely enough room for anyone to move around in. We worked two to a computer, mostly playing games like Oregon Trail, Word Munchers, etc. Around 6th or 7th grade, we started to focus on more practical skills such as keyboarding and some kind of weird programming (I think), but I do not remember too much about that. 8th grade was actually a good year for technology use. My class put out a weekly newsletter that we had to type and format as a newspaper. We also learned how to do PowerPoint presentations and made use of them in class.

My use of technology improved even further in high school. There was a technology sequence as part of freshman year and sophomore year that took place for about two weeks each year. We learned how to work in Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Word, but the class was rather boring and I do not think I retained a lot of the information. I also had to have .5 credits of computers in high school and so I took a class in webpage development for a semester. We used Dreamweaver, learned a lot of neat things, and created several websites. During my senior year, I was editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper and we converted from the old-fashioned method of real cutting and pasting to using Pagemaker for layout. It was a very interesting time because neither I nor any of the other editors had ever used Pagemaker before and my teacher knew even less than we did. We all took a training class during the summer before that year, but it proved to be almost useless. We had to figure everything out on our own. Although this was difficult and a little time consuming at first, I think this was probably my best use of technology in school because it was practical, beneficial, and I learned and retained the most information from it because I had to learn it on my own. As far as integrating technology into classroom learning, besides videos, most of my teachers did not really use very much technology. There were a few exceptions, but none to single out.

I think that technology should play an important role in schools today. We are at a time when kids relate very well to computers, video games, and other electronic equipment. They get bored so easily and need almost constant stimulation. Technology can provide teachers with a way to vary activities and teaching methods and keep things interesting and fun. Technology has also made things possible that were impossible for teachers to demonstrate or show to their students in the past, such as what a cell looks like when magnified to a very high degree. Information that would have taken much effort and time to find can now be found at the drop of a hat through the internet. This can allow teachers to add a greater depth to their lesson plans. I think it is important, and will become even more important, for teachers to find ways to integrate technology into their lessons to enhance their students' learning so that they can get the most out of their educational experiences.