Monday, March 14, 2016

7- PowerPoint, Adaptive Technologies, Web Page Design


              PowerPoint can be a very useful tool to support student learning in a particular lesson. At the first level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, knowledge, I would present my student’s with a slide on terms and key information they need to recall before the new lesson. The second level, comprehension, has to do with translating information. In the PowerPoint I could include a short video clip that demonstrates the definitions and key terms being used in context. Application is the third level and it can be applied in the PowerPoint through multiple slides containing specific examples of the subject. The analysis level is used to differentiate things. As the teacher, I would include a PowerPoint slide asking the students to explain the difference between two similar, yet different, components. The PowerPoint can also contain multiple articles from various sources that allows the students to synthesize and relate all of the information together. At the end of the PowerPoint I would have a section for evaluation. This would give my students the opportunity to gather all of their thoughts on the subject and then reflect on it. Higher-order questioning would be important to evaluate how well the students comprehend the material.

Adaptive technologies are used to support diverse learners. Students who have physical disabilities and cannot use a mouse, type, or read can use different output or input devices to allow them to operate a computer. An input device they can use voice recognition software instead of typing. An output device that can be used is a braille printer. Students with dyslexia or other learning disabilities can use spell check programs to help them write papers. The textbook mentions text-to-speech programs which provides auditory feedback to what they have written. This can be extremely useful for students with a visual impairment. I have not used any of these technologies and I do not know anyone personally who has used them. I hope that sometime in the near future I can see, in person, how these adaptive technologies are used and how they enhance every students learning. There are some challenges that could come with using adaptive technologies, but the positive effects they have on learning are worth the challenges. Some challenges I perceive happening include lack of time, financial support to provide the expensive technologies, and making the student user feel comfortable using them.

              While working on the Web Page Design assignment, I learned how to change font size, font color, and header pictures. But the overall best skill I learned was how to add a questionnaire. I loved being able to add this to connect with parents and get feedback about chaperones for the field trip. Sending papers home can usually be complicated, especially with students who may misplace or lose their papers before their parents see them. This weebly feature seems to be so useful in communicating with parents and I think I would definitely use it in my future career. A web page seems to be extremely simple to operate and update and is the perfect way to connect the physical classroom with the home classroom. I really liked the format of weebly and all of the different customization tools that it contains. There really wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this assignment. It’s my favorite one so far! Check it out! http://savanaheme2040.weebly.com/

1 comment:

  1. I think you were the only student to add a questionnaire. So professional!

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