Blog Post #8

I think that PowerPoint is a great tool to support student learning at each knowledge dimension in particular lessons.  I cant remember a teacher of mine that hasn’t used PowerPoint to aide in instruction.  It is such an easy tool to use and it really can help get certain points across in lessons, especially explanatory and informational lessons.  For example.  If you were going to use Powerpoint, you should consider using the entire Microsoft Office Suite.  Office Suite includes all of their products, and they all work together flawlessly.  They were made to be integrated within one another.  You can easily switch from Microsoft Word, to Microsoft Publisher and then to Microsoft Excel and finish your presentation with Microsoft PowerPoint.  You can link these all together using hot buttons and links.  It is easy to switch between programs if you need to present something else like video, audio animation, graphic, or text.

Adaptive technologies are a great way to support learners.  I have had teachers and students in the past use adaptive technologies such as hearing aides and translators.  An adaptive technology is something that helps overcome a disability of some sort.  Ive never used an adaptive technology, but I have had classmates that are exchange students and handicap students that have trouble with speaking that use a handheld translator.  The translator really helped conversation move along easy.  They were a great help.  In addition I have had both teachers and classmates that wear hearing aides that helped them in the classroom.  I think a big challenge that I would have as a teacher with adaptive technologies would be making sure that my students were receiving the right kind of help and to the right degree of help.  I would want to make sure that despite their disability they were still being challenged and learning at an appropriate level.  I would want them to feel just like every other student.

This past weeks web quest was a learning experience for me.  It took a lot of time to create this assignment.  I wasn’t a very big fan of it because I feel like as a teacher I shouldn’t provide my students with websites for their own research project.  I think it is more of a learning experience for them if they research there own topic.  I also thought that it was very time consuming to create the website.  I could have just as easily gotten my point across if I were to create a document to handout on Word.  To improve my Web Quest skills next time, I might want to consider watching more tutorials on how to create them.  It would help me speed up the process of creating Web Quests.  If I choose to use these in my teaching career I would create Web Quests for any subject, because they can be applied to almost every subject area that I can think of.

Here are some screenshots of my Web Quest!

Screen Shot 2015-03-03 at 2.50.08 PM Screen Shot 2015-03-03 at 2.50.18 PM

And here are the blogs that I have responded to:

https://rachelsinclair4.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/blog-7/PA

Post 7

8 thoughts on “Blog Post #8

  1. sdb11j says:

    Power Point is a great tool i think in learning and teaching because you can use it to create so many different dimensions to learning. Using Microsoft office suite allows you to incorporate all these different programs into one presentation. I agree with you most on your point about instruction, because power point can use links, images, and diagrams easily to teach one topic.
    Adaptive technologies are important but I think need limitations. As you said hearing aids and such can be used to aide students who have a disability, but there is also students who use recording technology to take advantage of the fact that they can sell the information/lectures to students who would not come to class or would not pay attention.

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  2. stephaniesalkay says:

    I can agree that it would be slightly difficult to integrate adaptive technologies into the classroom, especially with making sure the student or students are learning at the same pace as the other students. I also liked how you said if you were to make a webquest in the future you would use them for all subjects. I would probably do that as well!

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  3. tcolacurcio says:

    I find it interesting that you thought students would learn more by doing the research on their own. I really enjoyed making the website (although I totally agree it was very time consuming), but I like your outlook on it. I think you see if so differently because you’d be using your website for research, while I thought of a class website more for posting assignments and important due dates. I hadn’t quite thought about using the website strictly for research, but you’re right in that it wouldn’t help the students learn as independently.

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  4. wsm13 says:

    I was mostly unfamiliar with adaptive technologies, having not seen them used before. I think it is a fantastic idea, but could cause some serious complications in the classroom, if you don’t properly manage the student’s needs

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