In Summary...

The course has come to a close, so now it's time to reflect over what we have learned. I really appreciated learning about and exploring the uses of the various online options for word processing, presentations, databases and spreadsheets. While I didn't find any of them to be better than using Microsoft office products, I did see the benefits to the use of the various online products. Google Docs was great for the group work assignments. I did introduce them to some of my students. It was especially useful to them when they wanted to work on documents at home and at school. I also showed it to a few students in my structured study hall, who were frustrated by the process of working on PowerPoint presentations as partners and not being able to just import a second person's work into the presentation. It's definitely a good option for those students who have Internet at home, but not Microsoft Word, or other Office products that we usually work with at school.
We used the textbook too, which I didn't find to be as beneficial. I found it to be a dry read and not something that captured my attention. Possibly part of the lack of interest for me was tied to the fact that there were quiz questions, short answer and essay to go with it, which raises anxiety for me. I found some of that to be seemingly redundant, although I may have been interpreting the questions incorrectly. I tended to leave that for Wednesday night, since I dreaded doing it.
Overall, the course was interesting, full of new adventures and kept me wanting to learn more.

Technology in the Future

This week's study was devoted to preparing our students for the technology of their future. If I had read the scenario presented in the text, even two years ago, I would have considered it to be a work of science fiction, authored by the writers for Star Trek, but now it seems pretty realistic. My school district is on the fast track to develop virtual classes, so I know the market for this kind of learning environment is out there. Also, with the IPhone, and ever smaller personal computers on the market, this method of educating our youth is more realistic and probable than we can imagine. The kids in my high school are quick to pick up on the capabilities and nuances of any new technological gadget.

That being said, I find that the glitches with this form of learning will originate with the staff and budgetary constraints. Teachers are not always open to learning the new technology and even when they are, they don't have the time or opportunity to master it and then teach it to their students. Even if the teachers do become proficient in the use of the latest technology, they often don't have access to it in school, for their own use, much less for their students to use.

Access is a huge issue for me in my school. I'm expected to teach a computer use and access course. I have computers and accessories that are so antiquated that they can't consistently, if at all, perform what currently is the most basic of applications.

InTime Site Video

I viewed a video that demonstrated a writing lesson being taught by a high school special education teacher. I chose this because I too teach high school special education. The video was titled, "Assistive Technology in the Writing Process."

Honestly, I was quite disappointed by the the lesson. First of all, because it was so obviously a staged lesson and not a learning environment remotely comparable to the one I teach in. There were 4 students in the room and she was only focusing on two of them. All four students were quiet, attentive and actively engaged at all times. My English class has fourteen special ed. students in it and their disabilities are as diverse as their reading and writing levels.

For the organization of the writing process the teacher had one student use Inspiration software. That is a program that I have used for many years, across all content areas. During the writing portion of the activity her students were using Co-Writer software, which again I have used for at least 10-12 years with my students. This teacher was not very familiar/comfortable with either of the programs and tended to prod students along by giving answers, rather than letting them be successful in their own time, with the assistive software. For proofreading purposes students used the Ultimate Reader software. This is software that I have used in the past, but currently do not have installed on my classroom computers. As I recall, when I did have it, it was beneficial only to the students motivated to perfect their own writing, but not those who were truly reluctant writers. Still, it would definitely be worth checking into and seeing if the district still has copies/site licenses for it and try it with some of my students.

One interesting strategy she used, that I will definitely try with my class is the use of the acronym COPS(C= Capitalization O=Overall Appearance P= Punctuation S= Spelling)for self-editing and peer-editing.

Spreadsheets in the Classroom

I have used spreadsheets for graphing activities in the classroom for years. Making graphs is very difficult for special needs students, so creating them with Excel has simplified that for them. As a bonus they are neat enough for the teacher to grade... Through exploration of spreadsheets on Google Docs and work with applying mathematical functions to the sheet, I've thought of some ways I'd like to try to implement spreadsheets with my students. The main one is to try to have them develop a basic budget sheet to work with during our personal finance unit. I will probably opt to have them use Excel spreadsheets for the activity, since I found Google Spreadsheets to be confusing and not as user friendly. Also, I won't have to deal with the school district filter system blocking my students from Google Docs on the days I'm planning to do the lesson, which is an ongoing frustration whenever I plan a web based lesson.