Assistive technology can be a very helpful tool to use in your classroom. This provides many students with more options for learning, expressing their selves, and to help them develop skills more. Assistive technology will also help a wide range of students and abilities among these students and by doing this it will help your classroom to be friendlier and a nice learning environment for all kinds of children. Assistive technology brings the world to every student and the student comes more alive in the world.
In today’s world, the government feels that all students should meet high standards of learning. However, some individuals are able to meet these standards easier than others and others need more help to do that. Universal design is a step in the direction to help all students to have the same type of learning experiences just provided to them in different ways. It gives all children a chance to learn, but provides the help to do that. Universal means that all students have access to what they are learning by providing the accommodations needed for the wide range of differences a teacher will experience in their classroom. The Universal Design is a way to help to make the needs of many people in one type of technology. As the Universal Design website says, an example is one where you have a television that has closed captioning on it. So now, you are including more people in one technology who are going to be able to use it. You can have those who can see or hear use the same thing. Universal Design opens up more options for people by reaching to so many more students in the classrooms full of so many types of students (Universal Design).
The government is trying to do many things to provide everyone with the same chances to learn and have experiences. One of the things the government has done is added Section 508. Section 508 requires that Federal agencies provide electronic and information technology to everyone so those with disabilities will be able to use them. This is for their employees and the public both having access to technology that they will be able to use. Section 503 is an amendment to the Workforce Rehabilitation act of 1973. The accessibility by people means that all people are able to use the technology as efficiently as possible no matter what there disability is. The enforcement of this new law has been around since June 2001 and is a way to help all people have greater access to technology in Federal places.
The classroom is a key place where assistive technology should be included so all students have the same chances for learning or are able to have ways to reinforce, develop, or gain more help in other ways through the use of assistive technology. Tango and Flash is one type of device that is helpful to students. This technology is very expensive, but can be very helpful. It allows students a way to expressive themselves whether because they are non verbal students or just another way to reinforce the use of language. They are able to use pictures, words, and record their voice as well to develop sentences and phrases. This technology would be great for many different types of students.
Another type of assistive technology that might be really helpful for students is a variety of different types of art materials. You can have materials that have different types of grips to help students who have trouble holding the pencil, pen, colored pencils anything like that so they can hold it and use it as well. You can get numbers and letters that are bigger for children to use to paint with which is easier for them to hold or have fun with. There are also paintbrushes that come with thicker handles so children can hold on to them easier. There are so many different types of art supplies you can get to use with students that will help them in various ways and allow them to do the same thing as children who do not need these types of supplies.
There are also manipulative that you can get to use with children. These include things such as sandpaper numbers and letters or fractions pieces in various forms, things to help with learning to add using money and so much more. These things children can touch, feel, or play with in fun ways that help them to learn and reinforce what they are doing. These can be done through the texture as with the sandpaper, with games they can have fun, but learn at the same time, and with the things like fractions pieces that you can move and look at you are able to move them to see what equals each others. These things help student lean in various ways or reinforce what concepts they need to work on and are great and fun ways for students.
Another type of technology that would good for those with special needs is My Tobii. My Tobii really helps those who have Cerebral Palsy, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), High level spinal injuries, and Multiple Sclerosis. My Tobii is a portable eye-controlled communication device that is able to work in most lighting conditions, with or without glasses, and no matter the color of your eyes. Even those who can have serious head movements are able to use this without too many problems. This type of device would really allow your students who have these types of needs to be able to communicate easier than they can with computers or possibly even verbal. For more information about this devise please see the following links: My Tobii and More about My Tobii.
Assistive technology helps to bring the love of learning and the world to so many more people. Assistive technology for learning is so much more than having a computer at your hands. As I have stated in previous paragraphs there is so many different types of things that a teacher can include in the classroom to help many different learners and meet the many needs that children have. By including different things in your classroom, you have opened a world to students that they may have never been able to have before just through simple things as the art supplies or more complicated things as different types of computer software’s. Assistive technology in the classroom in various forms is very important to help students achieve all they can and have more options for them to learn from and succeed in school and in life. Assistive technology really is a helpful tool in the classroom.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
science unit
Science Unit
Weather – This unit will teach kids about the different types of weather there is. It will introduce them to what types of weather occur during the seasons and months as well as were it would be typical to find the weather. The student will focus on Maine weather as their primary part to learn about. The students will choose from a couple of different technologies to display what they have learned. They will use kidspiration, blog, comic life to produce their final project.
Animals- The students will learn about the different types of animals that are found in the sea. They will each choose one animal to focus on and do their final project on. Over the course of the unit, they will also get brief introductions about different animals. Their final project will include them choosing from a web page or frames to demonstrate what they have learned about their animal.
Planets- In this unit the students will learn about the different planets. Each student will choose a planet that they want to focus on learning about. They will then choose to use frames or podcast to demonstrate what they have learned through visuals and audios. They will be responsible for gathering information by themselves, but they may choose partners for their final project and create on together. However, they must both be able to show that they both worked on it.
Earth Layers – The students will learn about the different layers of the earth. They will also learn about what is in those layers and what that indicates about the earth in that area at a particular time. They will use kidspiration to show the different layers of earth and key terms that go with those layers. They will then choose weather they want to use frames or podcast to create an interesting informational about anything they have learned about either the overall or one part of the earth layer to create their final product and demonstrate what they have learned.
Inventions – The students can choose one type of invention they want to learn about. They will then do research on that invention and find out what they can about tit so they will be able to do their final project. Over the course of the unit, I will talk to them about time lines of how times have changed as demonstrated by the various inventions they are learning about. They will then choose to create a web page, podcast, or use frames to create their final project about their invention.
The project that I would like to work on for my unit is the animal one. I really like this idea and want to work on thinking more about what I could do with students and how to make it into a great unit to do. I would like to do this for fourth or fifth grade.
Weather – This unit will teach kids about the different types of weather there is. It will introduce them to what types of weather occur during the seasons and months as well as were it would be typical to find the weather. The student will focus on Maine weather as their primary part to learn about. The students will choose from a couple of different technologies to display what they have learned. They will use kidspiration, blog, comic life to produce their final project.
Animals- The students will learn about the different types of animals that are found in the sea. They will each choose one animal to focus on and do their final project on. Over the course of the unit, they will also get brief introductions about different animals. Their final project will include them choosing from a web page or frames to demonstrate what they have learned about their animal.
Planets- In this unit the students will learn about the different planets. Each student will choose a planet that they want to focus on learning about. They will then choose to use frames or podcast to demonstrate what they have learned through visuals and audios. They will be responsible for gathering information by themselves, but they may choose partners for their final project and create on together. However, they must both be able to show that they both worked on it.
Earth Layers – The students will learn about the different layers of the earth. They will also learn about what is in those layers and what that indicates about the earth in that area at a particular time. They will use kidspiration to show the different layers of earth and key terms that go with those layers. They will then choose weather they want to use frames or podcast to create an interesting informational about anything they have learned about either the overall or one part of the earth layer to create their final product and demonstrate what they have learned.
Inventions – The students can choose one type of invention they want to learn about. They will then do research on that invention and find out what they can about tit so they will be able to do their final project. Over the course of the unit, I will talk to them about time lines of how times have changed as demonstrated by the various inventions they are learning about. They will then choose to create a web page, podcast, or use frames to create their final project about their invention.
The project that I would like to work on for my unit is the animal one. I really like this idea and want to work on thinking more about what I could do with students and how to make it into a great unit to do. I would like to do this for fourth or fifth grade.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Fairy Tale
Snowflake Flurry
Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, in the forests of Maine lived a girl named Gertrude. Gertrude was a plain girl. She had medium length brown hair and hazel eyes. She was only 5 feet tall and she longed to be taller than all her friends. She lived alone in a small cabin that was tucked away in the woods. The closet place around was roughly 3 miles away. Gertrude lived by herself and had very few friends. She loved to listen to the birds sing, watch the animals play, sit among the trees, and walk along the bubbling brook. She was very content in the forest because she loved nature so much, but even though she did love this she was growing more and more lonely each day because she did not have a companion of her own.
It was wintertime now and she would watch the snow fall and glisten as the sun shined down on it. The fireplace kept her warm inside the cabin, but outside she would be very cold from the bitter wind and freezing temperatures. One day the sun was shining bright, the wind had settled down, and the snow had settled on the ground so she could walk around easily out doors. Even though the nearest place was 3 miles away her friend Paul lived there. She thought that she would go visit him. She bundled up in her warm winter clothes and headed for her friends house. Gertrude was unaware at the time what this adventure would entitle for her.
Her dog Tucker, a husky, went along with her. She tracked through the snow and falling in here and there. Every minute she would become closer and closer to her destination. Gertrude started to see the sky darken and soon the snowflakes began to fall. They were big fluffy snowflakes. She bent her head back and tried catching them in her mouth. Gertrude smiled brightly and thought that it was a wonderful plan for her to want to get out and see people. The wind started to pick up. She was having harder and harder time seeing. Smack! She bumped right into a branch. The smack sent her falling to the ground and she began bleeding. She tried to get up, but was unable to. She did not know what she was going to do and then she went unconscious.
Tucker started to bark. Roof, roof, roof! There was still no response from her. He ran through the woods and ran as fast as he could. Finally, Tucker stumbled upon a small cabin along the road. He clawed at the door while he barked and barked. A young gentleman opened the door and looked down at Tucker. “What do you want? Go away dog! Go home!,” said the man. Tucker however kept up until he finally decided to follow him. “Where are you taking me?” Finally they came upon Gertrude lying there in the snow still unconscious and bleeding from her head.
“Oh my,” said Ralph. He picked up Gertrude and carried her as fast as he could back to his house. Once he arrived, he settled her into his bed and called for help. However, he knew he could not wait for help to arrive so he did all he could to help her while they waited. “Where am I? Who are you? What happened to me?” He heard this faint, but beautiful voice say. He looked at her and began to tell her what he knew. “You must be my prince charming,” she said with a smile on her face. Then she laughed faintly and stared at him. “No nothing like that, I am just the one who found you thanks to your dog.” He stared at her and finally said, “But you are the most beautiful women I have ever seen.”
A year later during the winter the two of them were married. They like to laugh about the way they met and think that if it was not for the circumstances of the winter they may have never found each other. They lived in a cabin in the woods because they both agreed that it is the best place to live and it brought them together in even happier ways.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Podcast
This podcast is done by Ray who is a physics teacher and Hollye who is Spanish teacher. The two of them hosts The Tech Teachers show on Podcast and they have a blog site as well. Episode number 76 discussed a few different things about technology in the classroom and then some general discussions.The major technology in the classroom parts are described below.
One of the things they discussed was using MP3 players in the classroom. This would be the second time that Ray plans on trying it out in the classroom and he has 12 students in his class to do it with. The MP3 players in his classroom are used as a way to have auto content that they students can listen to outside the classroom. He also puts guided readings on it for them to listen to as well. Anther way that he uses them is to put PDF files or Keynotes on it and they can plug it into their own computer and listen to the information as well as using it as watching stuff on it at the same time. The one thing he found hard about using the MP3 players in the classrooms is without having computers there it is hard to have them do some things with them during class so they have been easier to use outside of the classroom where students might have more access to using them.
Hallye found a website that is called surveymonkey.com where you can create your own surveys for people to use and it will then take the data and make it in to data that you can read and use for information gathered from your survey. If you have a lot of students, this would be a good way to give them a survey and then the site compiles all the data from it and you can review the results without having to do so much work with it. Another technology you could use is Google apps which is Microsoft office stuff online where people can work collaboratively on a project and never have to find the same time to get together to do it. This would be great for groups of students to use because you can assign them projects and even if they do not have the time to get together as long as they have Internet access becks they can work on it and leaves notes on the page for their partner so no matter what time they have to work on it they can. If you are going to assign a lot of work throughout the semester, it is a great way to insure that your students will be able to complete the project and work with others on it.
I think that Podcasts can be useful in the classroom because they give students away to inform others about something or get more involved in a fun way with the education process by making their own Podcast that shows what they are learning or have learned at the time they do it. Podcast are something that any student can do as long as they can talk because all they have to do is talk about something and they can do it. This is where someone who wants a chance to produce their own "show" they could and they can have fun with it. It is something that students who do not think feel comfortable do other types of projects like arts ones would be able to do this and really show what they know about it. I am just not sure how easy it would be to actually bring it in the classroom to use, but the concept of using Podcast seems like a possible opportunity to put in the classroom and get students more involved in a different way then they already are.
Podcast to Support Literacy:Podcast could support literacy instruction by providing a way for students to show what they are learning. The students can speak about what they have learned about. The Podcast could be used in the classroom as a tool where students could listen to books being read to them, short stories, or poems and follow along with the printed the material. This would help the students be able to see the words in print so they will know what they look like, but also be able to hear the words as well and know what they sound like and how they are pronounced. The Podcast can be used to help students develop stronger skills in reading, but also with pronunciation as well.
Ways to use Podcast in Practicum:1.The students could create their own stories that they write up in class and then make them into Podcast as well. 2. The students could make Podcast that have to do with the Egypt projects that they are working on and use it as an information place for them to inform others about Ancient Egypt. 3. The students could use Podcast to make a short feed about what they have learned for their parents to listen to so they can learn more about what their child has been doing in the classroom. 4. The students could also use Podcasting in partners where they have to create stories together and make them into some show that they do together using Podcast. 5. The students could also use Podcast to create an informational thing about the types of things that they are learning in math class discussing shapes and angles and incorporate it into the project that they will have to do at the end of the unit.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Unit Project
Sixth Grade :
Language Arts Unit Project
1. Biographies - Learn about other people and then write about them using different methods. This will have them learning about other people and different methods of writing to enhance and improve their abilities. They can write different forms of writing such as a poem about the person or something important in their life, persuasive essay about why that person is famous or deserves an award for something, or a biography about their person. To incorporate technology into the classroom and this project the students can also writes their own blogs or make web pages that have to do with the person that they are learning about. They can also use the computers to gather more knowledge about their person and to create their web pages or blogs. They can also type up their smaller essays that they choose to do on their person. With the person they choose, they can decide to pick one type of writing to do and either the blog or webpage as their other piece for the unit.
2. Fairy Tales - The students will pick a few different fairy tales to read about and see what different ways the author writes the story and if there are illustrations how they are done. The students then will brain storm what type of fairy tale they would like to do. They will make a rough draft of their ideas and come up with what their story will say. The students will incorporate technology into this unit by either using Toon Doo to create cartoon like fairy tales, use digital storytelling by having the students bring in their own pictures from their life, but make fairy tale stories out of them. The students will pick which type they would prefer to do to make their stories.
3. Poetry - The students will learn about poetry by reading different pieces and then creating their own. The will learn about a few different types of poetry and then have the chance to create their own poetry modeling the different types they learn about. They can then use blog to post their creation online where others can read their work or they can create a Web Page that displays their pieces of poetry and add creativity to it as well by adding related pictures or information in a way that allows the students to show who they are and what they have learned.
4. Family Biography - The students will talk to members of their family about their lives and then write a short story about their family or a member of their family. They will take and write up the stories so that they will work on their writing skills and learn about their heritage at the same time. Then once they have finished typing up their personal story they can take this and decide how they want to create their own short cartoon using events and ideas that are in their paper that they have finished writing. The students will have learned about one type of books, about their family, worked on writing skills and creating their own biography on a person, and then take this and made a fun cartoon out of it.
5. WikiJunior- The students will spend time learning about the Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, and the Sons of Liberty. As they are learning about these they will take and make a web using inspiration that way they will organize their thoughts. They will then take this and type up the information that they have learned about the topic. Once it has been typed and approved by the teacher, they will then be able to put it on WikiJunior as the final step of the unit in their language arts unit. They are going to learn about this topic and then use the inspiration to create webs to organize thoughts and finally type it up and have it posted for others to read and use as information.
Language Arts Unit Project
1. Biographies - Learn about other people and then write about them using different methods. This will have them learning about other people and different methods of writing to enhance and improve their abilities. They can write different forms of writing such as a poem about the person or something important in their life, persuasive essay about why that person is famous or deserves an award for something, or a biography about their person. To incorporate technology into the classroom and this project the students can also writes their own blogs or make web pages that have to do with the person that they are learning about. They can also use the computers to gather more knowledge about their person and to create their web pages or blogs. They can also type up their smaller essays that they choose to do on their person. With the person they choose, they can decide to pick one type of writing to do and either the blog or webpage as their other piece for the unit.
2. Fairy Tales - The students will pick a few different fairy tales to read about and see what different ways the author writes the story and if there are illustrations how they are done. The students then will brain storm what type of fairy tale they would like to do. They will make a rough draft of their ideas and come up with what their story will say. The students will incorporate technology into this unit by either using Toon Doo to create cartoon like fairy tales, use digital storytelling by having the students bring in their own pictures from their life, but make fairy tale stories out of them. The students will pick which type they would prefer to do to make their stories.
3. Poetry - The students will learn about poetry by reading different pieces and then creating their own. The will learn about a few different types of poetry and then have the chance to create their own poetry modeling the different types they learn about. They can then use blog to post their creation online where others can read their work or they can create a Web Page that displays their pieces of poetry and add creativity to it as well by adding related pictures or information in a way that allows the students to show who they are and what they have learned.
4. Family Biography - The students will talk to members of their family about their lives and then write a short story about their family or a member of their family. They will take and write up the stories so that they will work on their writing skills and learn about their heritage at the same time. Then once they have finished typing up their personal story they can take this and decide how they want to create their own short cartoon using events and ideas that are in their paper that they have finished writing. The students will have learned about one type of books, about their family, worked on writing skills and creating their own biography on a person, and then take this and made a fun cartoon out of it.
5. WikiJunior- The students will spend time learning about the Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, and the Sons of Liberty. As they are learning about these they will take and make a web using inspiration that way they will organize their thoughts. They will then take this and type up the information that they have learned about the topic. Once it has been typed and approved by the teacher, they will then be able to put it on WikiJunior as the final step of the unit in their language arts unit. They are going to learn about this topic and then use the inspiration to create webs to organize thoughts and finally type it up and have it posted for others to read and use as information.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Belief in Technology
I believe that technology has a limited place in the classroom. I believe that you can use it to do some assignments on the computer like typing reports or looking up information. However, I do not believe that technology like cell phones, ipods, or anything like that has a place in the classroom. It is fine for them to have when they are other places, but I do not think that the classroom is a place where students need those things especially if they are in elementary school. Computers and limited technology like that can be helpful for the students to use, but others like cell phones it going to far and I do not think that they need to enter in the classroom.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Second Entry
I think that technology can be good in the classroom if it is used in a way that works well for students. After seeing the different sites about technology it does seem to be something that would help to engage students and even get them interested in class. Not only could it do this, but also make students who already enjoy class enjoy it more as well because they will be involved in doing something that they enjoy. They will be able to use computers were they can do a number of different things that involve their learning in the classroom. They could use blogs to show what they have learned in class by posting about it and then other students could commment on it giving feedback to them. They can also use the computers to type of essays that they have to do for class. Here they can learn how to write, but also how to use a computer at the same time like Mike Muir says in his blog (http://everyonelearns.blogspot.com/2006/04/do-something-disruptive.html). They can learn to write their essays and instead of printing it out they can learn to do many differnet drafts of it by changing things around easier on the computer. They will be able to learn many different skills at once.
However, I also see it as potentially causing problems for students and families to the point that students feel like they can not compete with other students. The different clips that we looked at expressed ways that teachers could use technology in the classroom that their students would enjoy and could also still learn at, but what about the children who come from poor families or from families that do not have different types of technologies that the teachers expect them to do assignments for in or outside of the classroom? What are those children and families suppose to do? It makes it unfair to ask them or tell them they have to have these things that their families may not want them to have or that they can not afford just because it seems to be the only way to connect with children or just seems like the best way for children to have more fun and want to learn in school. Cell phones are a good example of that, if we expect students to text and others to receive the information or to do an assignment in text writing we may have some who can do it and others who can not. Not everyone has a cell phone or can afford to have one, I certainly do not have one and not everyone knows how to write in text form. On the YouTube site we looked at, it said that you could have students find out the weather in other places by using the cell phone and give them bonus points for doing so (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=related). Students would be learning through the use of their techonlogy of cells to complete it. I do not think that this is an apporiprate use of technology in the school. Not only is it that, but what happens to students grades who do not have them. There is no need that phones need to be in school. They just become a temptation and disrupt the learning on the classroom. They should not be allowed at all. Having assignments that involve certain things that seems unfair and should be considered whether you ask a student to do that or not. In the younger grades, some of these things even make less sence to be used. If you do use them you need to be careful though.
What if you ask your students to use the computer during your lecture that you are given? If you are in the younger grades more likly then not you are watching what they do to make sure that they are on task and using the computer for what you have asked. However, what do you do in the upper levels like high school. Many teacher by then expect their students to pay attention and stay on task, so you have them use the computer or web for what you are teaching. You are giving instruction in your class and having them work as you teach. You do not know that they are staying on task unless you pay attention to what they are doing, but more likely then not you do not have time to watch what they are doing. The computers for this may not be good. One YouTube site talked about all the hours students spend on the web and what if part of this time is spent in class doing something other than what they are suppose to do(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o). It also said that the internet cost more then some people in a year, but we still expect others to use it or find a way to get to it. What if it is impossible to do so no matter what we provide for them? Not all people can have the same changes as others or get students where they need to go even if the parents should be able to find a way to do it and as a parent make it happen. If this was a realistic world it could happen, but it is not so we can not expect these things to happen. Yes, there are good parts to it and I think we can and should use them even if there are some things we need to be careful about, but we do need to be realistic in what we ask and expect students and families to be able to do and provide.
Technology can be great in the classroom and at home for students especially if technology is something that they love to use everyday. It can help them to become more engaged in school and learn to love it in a different way. I also think that even if you are not a fan of technology it is still going to be great for you to use. I know myself I do not really like using computers, but at the same time I know that they can really help my life out and make things quicker to find and access and use then some of the ways of the past. However, I think we also need to be careful of how we use it. We will have some students who love and can not wait to use, while we have others who want to have nothing to do with it. It is just the same idea as doing anything in the classroom and for assignments some students like some of them and some do not. You can not please everyone in the same way and that is why you have to find many different ways to get students involved, engaged, and to learn to love school. It will be easier with some then it will be with others of course. Even with adding technology in the school as another tool, I think it needs to be within reason what we ask them to do, keeping in mind age and what people can reasonably afford to have and that not everyone will have what we want them to use.
However, I also see it as potentially causing problems for students and families to the point that students feel like they can not compete with other students. The different clips that we looked at expressed ways that teachers could use technology in the classroom that their students would enjoy and could also still learn at, but what about the children who come from poor families or from families that do not have different types of technologies that the teachers expect them to do assignments for in or outside of the classroom? What are those children and families suppose to do? It makes it unfair to ask them or tell them they have to have these things that their families may not want them to have or that they can not afford just because it seems to be the only way to connect with children or just seems like the best way for children to have more fun and want to learn in school. Cell phones are a good example of that, if we expect students to text and others to receive the information or to do an assignment in text writing we may have some who can do it and others who can not. Not everyone has a cell phone or can afford to have one, I certainly do not have one and not everyone knows how to write in text form. On the YouTube site we looked at, it said that you could have students find out the weather in other places by using the cell phone and give them bonus points for doing so (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=related). Students would be learning through the use of their techonlogy of cells to complete it. I do not think that this is an apporiprate use of technology in the school. Not only is it that, but what happens to students grades who do not have them. There is no need that phones need to be in school. They just become a temptation and disrupt the learning on the classroom. They should not be allowed at all. Having assignments that involve certain things that seems unfair and should be considered whether you ask a student to do that or not. In the younger grades, some of these things even make less sence to be used. If you do use them you need to be careful though.
What if you ask your students to use the computer during your lecture that you are given? If you are in the younger grades more likly then not you are watching what they do to make sure that they are on task and using the computer for what you have asked. However, what do you do in the upper levels like high school. Many teacher by then expect their students to pay attention and stay on task, so you have them use the computer or web for what you are teaching. You are giving instruction in your class and having them work as you teach. You do not know that they are staying on task unless you pay attention to what they are doing, but more likely then not you do not have time to watch what they are doing. The computers for this may not be good. One YouTube site talked about all the hours students spend on the web and what if part of this time is spent in class doing something other than what they are suppose to do(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o). It also said that the internet cost more then some people in a year, but we still expect others to use it or find a way to get to it. What if it is impossible to do so no matter what we provide for them? Not all people can have the same changes as others or get students where they need to go even if the parents should be able to find a way to do it and as a parent make it happen. If this was a realistic world it could happen, but it is not so we can not expect these things to happen. Yes, there are good parts to it and I think we can and should use them even if there are some things we need to be careful about, but we do need to be realistic in what we ask and expect students and families to be able to do and provide.
Technology can be great in the classroom and at home for students especially if technology is something that they love to use everyday. It can help them to become more engaged in school and learn to love it in a different way. I also think that even if you are not a fan of technology it is still going to be great for you to use. I know myself I do not really like using computers, but at the same time I know that they can really help my life out and make things quicker to find and access and use then some of the ways of the past. However, I think we also need to be careful of how we use it. We will have some students who love and can not wait to use, while we have others who want to have nothing to do with it. It is just the same idea as doing anything in the classroom and for assignments some students like some of them and some do not. You can not please everyone in the same way and that is why you have to find many different ways to get students involved, engaged, and to learn to love school. It will be easier with some then it will be with others of course. Even with adding technology in the school as another tool, I think it needs to be within reason what we ask them to do, keeping in mind age and what people can reasonably afford to have and that not everyone will have what we want them to use.
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