ILP2 "Design"- Prezi

For my second independent learning project I turned my PowerPoint project into a Prezi. I did this to learn how to use Prezi, but also to compare the two programs. I realized that Prezi is not as user friendly as PowerPoint; however, it is a more creative, interactive, and interesting way to teach students information. I think the moving and zooming in and out of different content can captivate some students and gain their interest, I also believe that it could serve as a distraction for other students. It is something I would probably use every once in a while, but not very often because it took me twice as long as it would to make a PowerPoint of the same quality.

Link to my Prezi:

http://prezi.com/ig5dutcb7lzw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Blog Post 8

In a lesson on poetry, I could use PowerPoint to support the lesson while utilizing Bloom's Taxonomy. For the remember level, I can have students create a slide that has a list of types of poems that they know. For the understand level, I could assign each group with a different one of those poems and have each group explain (on a different slide) the components of their respective poem type. For the apply level, I could have each group write an example poem (of the type they were assigned) on its own slide using the knowledge they learned on the previous slide. For the analyze level, I could have the students exchange poems and explicate the poems. They can then organize their notes and findings into a "smart graphic" chart on another slide of their PowerPoint. For the evaluate level, the students could evaluate the purpose of poems and how they have been used throughout history by making a slide with historic examples and explaining them to the class. For the create level, the students could compose a jeopardy game on PowerPoint to test the rest of the class about the components of their groups respective poem type.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com

This site offers tutorials and reviews of the best free sites and apps for teachers and students. It is regularly updated so teachers can discover new technology trends easily. It is also helpful because the author offers lots of advice and help on how to use and implement the technology in the classroom.

Blog Post 7

Adaptive technologies are different types of technology that help assist and support students (and anyone) with disabilities with common tasks that you and I might take for granted. The podcast talks about using different input and output devices to help students with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy. It talks about the option of a joystick for those who can't type or effectively use a normal computer mouse as an example. The book breaks up the different adaptive technologies into many categories to farther understanding. I have met several people with visual disabilities that use adaptive technologies to do things like magnify the font of something so that they can read it. I think the main challenge of using adaptive technology in the classroom is learning to use the program effectively as well. Many of these technologies need extra material in order to be helpful. If a screen reader is reading a power-point presentation with pictures on it, it cannot read the pictures aloud. The teacher would have to provide supplemental descriptions of every picture they include in the document and properly insert them so that the screen reader knows to read the description of the image.

I had no clue how to create a web page before doing this assignment. I learned that Weebly is a free website that can be used to make your own web page online. I liked that the website was very simple and easy to use and figure out. I did not like that most of the pictures that are on the site itself have to be payed for. This is easily worked around by finding images on google images and adding them in. This can be used to create a classroom website in the future. Classroom websites can improve organization and communication with parents and students. I can improve in the future by familiarizing myself with the website and learning how to do more than just the basic functions.
http://eme2040lp.weebly.com/

Before working with Diigo, I was unaware that anything like it existed. I learned that students, coworkers, etc. can collaborate with each other and bookmark, highlight, and make notes on important webpages and share them in one place that can be easily accessed by a group. This can be very useful when collaborating with my fellow teachers. We can share useful articles on lesson plans, teaching strategies, or games and then give each other insight on our own personal connection to each article. Students can use this technology similarly by sharing articles and taking notes/ giving feedback when working in a group or on a group assignment.