Journal 10

Disabled Bodies, Able Minds: Giving Voice, Movement and Independence to the Physically Challenged. Diane Curtis, Edutopia.org

This article is the most amazing one that I have read in this course. The accomplishments that were never before possible bring tears to my eyes. It is about assistive technology, and it has enabled communication for those who had no means of communication. It has enabled people with arms that don't work to play instruments that they never dreamed of playing. It has given a voice to those who didn't have one. It has allowed students that don't have full mobility to participate in classroom and school activities.

My favorite story is about a good-natured boy who does not have use of his arms & legs, but wants to play a musical instrument. He chooses the euphonium, which he can blow through, but without the use of his arms, he can only play one note. He patiently waits for his note and plays it with abundant enthusiasm. He inspires a school employee to search for someone that can modify the boy's euphonium, so that he can play more notes. Voila!! They find someone who designs a euphonium with a joystick that electronically instructs the valves to move. That boy is now completely in the band and able to play many notes.

Question 1: Do the costs outweigh the benefits for assistive technology?
Answer: In my opinion, there is no cost that could outweigh the benefits to both the individuals and our society for this type of technology. It gives hope to those who didn't have much before.

Question 2: In what ways, can I help insure that we can get funding for assistive technology?
Answer: Good, old-fashioned letter writing to our legislators and bringing awareness to the public on how much benefit assistive technology is to our disabled students would be a great way to get started.

Journal 9

Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Learning? Dave Nagel, The Journal, April 2008

This article had several good points. It states that due to our concern for protecting our children, we are actually inhibiting our children's access to Internet knowledge. They spoke to many teenagers who agree. There are many websites blocked by over-vigilant security systems, and too much "fear" on the parts of the administrators, educators and parents.

Mobile technologies are also on the rise. Administrators, teachers, students and parents all agreed that mobile technologies are here to stay, and that they would greatly enhance the learning experience. The best choice was of course, 1:1 laptops for all students. Well, they've definitely got my vote on that one!!

Question 1: Am I guilty of letting fear of the unknown guide my judgement on explorations for my students on the Internet?
Answer: In some ways, I am. I want to make sure that I have taken every precaution necessary to protect my students, but in some ways, due to my own ignorance regarding technology, I am definitely hesitant.

Question 2: How can I best benefit my students in this constantly changing world of technology?
Answer: I will simply have to do my homework and try to stay ahead of the game. I will explore the Internet on my own, as well as collaborate with my peers through some of the professional organizations that I belong to. The collaborative websites that we have been exposed to through this class will definitely be a great resource.

Journal 8

Meet the Parents. Matt Villano, Learning & Leading with Technology, Volume 35, Number 6, March/April 2008

Parent notification technologies are on the rise and are receiving a good "report card" by all who use them. Originally used for emergency notification, these technologies have replaced the old phone trees and dittos sent home to parents. Most of which were never seen or in the wrong language for all parents to understand.

The new parent notification technologies not only inform parents when the next parent-teacher conferences are, but they also let the parents know if their children are actually in school, tardy, what assignments have been turned in, what assignments or exams are coming up, etc. These technologies are enabling parents to become more involved in their children's education, and as a result of their involvement, the children are doing progressively better.

Question 1: Is this a feasible system for all schools?
Answer: This system would be ideal for all schools. It would be great if it could be implemented by our government, so that the schools wouldn't have to cut costs elsewhere. The possibilities are endless, and it is available in many languages, so that all parents can understand it with minimal effort on their part. They would be able to keep track of their child's education and team up with their child's teachers.

Question 2: What are the challenges?
Answer: One of the biggest challenges is access. Not all families have access to the internet or cell phones for that matter. They could utilize public terminals at libraries, but is that too much to expect?

Journal 7

Envisioning the Future of Education: Learning While Mobile., Mark Van 'T Hooft. Learning & Leading with Technology, Volume 35, Number 6, March/April 2008

In today's society, we are in constant contact with technology. On a daily basis, we have continuous access to the tools of technology - cell phones, media players and wireless computers. Students are learning as much outside of the classroom as they are inside the classroom. They are able to personalize their education as well as collaborate with their peers in ways never before possible. Technological tools allow students to be both static and mobile, and they also allow opportunities of both formal and informal learning.

MyArtSpace is an excellent example of a mix of both formal and informal learning while allowing students to be both static and mobile. Students discuss an open-ended question in the classroom then travel to the local museum to explore the answers to the question. At the museum they use mobile phones to collect representations from the museum that support their answers, then store them in an online gallery. The students can then access, modify and share their web galleries with peers.

Frequency 1550 is another amazing project that utilizes cell phones equipped with GPS devices to enable students to learn in new ways. The students compete to find a special medieval relic hidden somewhere in their city. The students compete against each other and use strategies to "win" this game all while learning and actually living history and exploring their community.

These are awesome examples of combining static and mobile learning along with formal and informal educational opportunities. The challenges to this type of education are familiar to out technological era. The participation gap caused by unequal access to technology is quite broad and is yet to be slimmed. The transparency problem makes it difficult to point out to students the many ways that media shapes and causes biases in the students' world. There are also challenges in ethics as well as fear of the unknown. Overall technology has and will continue to become quite an asset to educators.

Question 1: How will I prepare and educate my students concerning the Transparency Problem?
Answer: I think that just pointing out the media biases may be enough for older students to understand that they need to form their own opinions. Showing the discrepancies between true life and the portrayal of how life should be lived by the media may also be helpful.

Question 2: How will I combine both static and mobile learning in my classroom?
Answer: I think educators that stay on top of current happenings in their field can certainly discover and invent many ideas to keep education both static and mobile. I also think that informal and formal learning are both necessary to truly learn most subjects.

Journal 6: RSS

I have chosen RSS as my technology from the Classroom 2.0 website. I have to admit that I am quite intrigued by this technology, although I am not sure that I fully understand it yet.
In simple terms, RSS is a way to subscribe to blogs, news sites and podcasts. When something new is posted you are informed that there is something new. You have to have special software, called an RSS reader in order to receive the new content. You subscribe to certain sites and blogs, then your reader summarizes or sends the entire new information to you, whenever new information is added to the blog or site.

If you find a blog or site that you enjoy and would like to stay abreast of current happenings, you would subscribe to it by simply hitting the RSS icon ("") on the blog or site. This is a really great tool for everyone, but especially for teachers. It is a great way to learn new content from certain blogs and websites without spending numerous hours searching to see if anything new has been posted. I am currently researching whether or not to use a web-based RSS or a program-based RSS. The discussions on the Classroom 2.0 website go back and forth and are mostly about which to use. I like "free", but there are always downfalls.

I have included the Wikipedia definition because I know that my explanation doesn't quite grasp the potential of what RSS can do for you.

According to Wikipedia, "

RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts.^[2] An RSS document (which is called a "feed" or "web feed" ^[3] or "channel") contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays.^[3]

RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator". The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

Basically there are two types of RSS readers: 1)Web based, such as the Google Reader. 2)Program based. There are lots of RSS reader programs you can download to run directly on your computer. In either case these RSS readers give you a handy interface to simultaneously monitor your favorite feeds from multiple sites and sources.. Just follow the directions for each reader.

The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats:

• Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
• RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
• Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91).

RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved since March 1999,^[4] the RSS icon ("") first gained widespread use in 2005/2006."

Journal 5

Making Field Trips Podtastic! Use of Handheld Wireless Technology Alleviates Isolation & Encourages Collaboration, Aliece M. Weller, John C. Bickar, & Paul McGuinness, Learning & Leading with Technology, Volume 35, Number 6, March/April 2008

Imagine knowing that your students have learned all that it is possible to learn on their next field trip to the museum. Imagine also that you have instant assessments available to prove that they have learned the information available throughout the museum's exhibits. Well, you can stop imagining. Several students from the Harvard School of Education have created podcasts to use on handheld computers to enhance the field trip experience. These are interactive podcasts that allow digital photos and videos to be taken, audio interviews to be recorded, notes to be recorded, additional information to be accessed via the internet and assessments to be made before the student can go on to the next exhibit.

Their initial field tests with students show that the students increase their time on each exhibit, getting the full benefit of that exhibit and increase the amount of depth of engagement with each exhibit.

Question: When will this be available to the general public and when can I gain access to them for my students?

Answer: I would like to find out how to go about getting this for our school. We have ample funds, and it would be such a great tool for every grade. What an awesome concept. I will try to contact the authors, and give a copy of this article to our IT person.

Question: Would this be difficult for teachers to program according to each classroom's needs?

Answer: The authors give the technological guidelines and tools necessary to create this awesome tool. They state that is user-friendly and simple for the teachers to program.

Journal 4

Mind the Gap; It's a high-speed, high-def, Wi-Fi world. But not for everybody, Cindy Long, NEAToday Technology Divide, March 2008

Most students today are so digitally connected that it's hard to imagine that there are still 30 million American homes that do not have a computer. Most of these homes are at or below the poverty level. The educational disadvantages are onerous for the students growing up having computer access only at their school or the local library. These students do not have time to explore the Internet and find out all that this digital age has to offer. They have to concentrate on how to use the computer instead of how to learn the lessons.

Teachers across the country are finding ways to get their students the Internet access they need to better their education. In Nevada, one teacher used the older computers that the school was getting rid of to pilot a 1:1 laptop program. His students will not be technologically-challenged when they go off to high school.

A small rural community was transformed by access to high-speed Internet. Only 14% of their students went off to college before the Internet access, now 78% go to college.

It is apparent through these and other stories in this article that access to the Internet has the power to change the future, especially for disadvantaged students. It's up to us to get it into their hands.

Question 1: Should Internet access be available throughout the United States regardless of income?

Answer: The answer is a simple and resounding yes, the logistics are the difficult part. Older computer donations and rural Internet access is one way to start. After school centers are another answer.

Question: How can we as educators insure computer access to all of our students?

Answer: We can make our computer labs available during after school and before school hours. We can also partner with the local libraries for basic computer classes for all students.