PRESENTING TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH: NEW TECHNOLOGY

TO AID IN EDUCATION

By: Patrick NobleFor W200 Prof. R. Grimes

Due 5/3/2011Click on the arrow to go to the Menu!

Menu/Table of Contents

Assistive Learning Technologies AT (Cont.) AT Personal Reflection

Podcasting Podcasting (Cont.) Podcasting Personal Reflection

Blogs Blogs (Cont.) Blogs Personal Reflection

Conclusion

Assistive Learning Technologies

Assistive Learning Technologies (AT’s) are tools and technologies that have been developed to help students with learning disabilities or difficulties in certain topics. This includes all fields, such as math, science, reading and writing. Some useful tools would include things such as audio books, in which “a student who struggles with reading but who has good listening skills might benefit from listening to audio books” (GreatSchools, 2011).

greatsschools.com- Assistive Technologies

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Assistive Learning Technologies (Cont.)

This is an interesting technique, in which a student’s weaknesses are noted, and their strengths are taken into consideration for how to help a student learn new material. It’s also important to remember that “AT doesn't cure or eliminate learning difficulties, but it can help your child reach her potential because it allows [them] to capitalize on [their] strengths and bypass areas of difficulty “ (GreatSchool, 2011). These technologies aren’t meant to compensate for learning issues or promote and environment in which a student doesn’t need to work for their education. Instead, it simply makes it so that the student doesn’t have extra difficulty with acquiring information.

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My Personal Thoughts on AT I was surprised by what is now considered

assistive technologies, for example, GreatSchool’s website said that devices such as the Amazon Kindle or an iPod with an audio book app are considered AT’s. That opens up an entire field of fairly affordable electronic devices to the ability to aid students in gaining new information.

I also never knew that these technologies encompass all fields of education. When I was in elementary school, the only things we had were audio books to help students get through books they had trouble reading. Technology sure has come a long way!

These technologies are no longer just available for single devices; they now have whole websites available to use-many for free! One piece of software is a tool that has an instant link to online dictionaries, thesauruses, and references (for students who have trouble spelling or writing), available at Clever Keys .

Apple iPod: another music device, or a potential tool for learning?

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Podcasting

Podcasting “allows you to download files via a feed (such as RSS) onto your computer and MP3 player. These files can be music, talk shows, interviews, discussions, news… the list is endless. However, there is more to it than that: The significant characteristic about podcasting is that you can subscribe to a series so that it automatically downloads on to your computer and MP3 player.” (PCReview, 2005).

Websites that support these functions include YouTube, Voice Thread, Audacity, and Phonecasting, to name a few. There are quite a few sites available that utilize podcasting.

PC Review: What is PodCasting?

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Podcasting (Cont.)

Podcasting is very beneficial from an education standpoint, as a teacher can do something such as upload a podcast for their class to watch. This can be helpful in several instances, such as in a case where an instructor is unable to attend class for a day but has to give students important information.

Not only can teachers use podcasting, but students can also use them to upload projects and homework to a website.

Podcasting is on a steady increase in usage; it’s popularity is in small part to the fact that you can download the podcasts directly to any mp3 player, so you can listen to them practically anywhere you want to.Menu Next

My Personal Thoughts on Podcasting

It may sound odd and not profound at all (it was to me, believe it or not), but when I originally heard about podcasting, I actually thought that it was only available for iPods. It turns out that they are, in fact, available for any and all music players.

Additionally, the ease at which you can get podcasts is astounding to me. You can get them from most popular music and video websites, and you can set them so that you automatically download any new podcasts from certain authors, meaning that you can almost instantly get new data from whomever you want to (teachers, students, etc.)

It’s popularity has grown far faster than I ever expected. When I heard about it in 2001, I figured it would be another fad that would fade away. Ten years later, mp3 players have become much cheaper, and more people everyday are using podcasts, making their popularity exponentially more important than I could ever imagine.

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Blogs

A blog is an online log that acts like a journal. It can be written by a person or a group of people, and can be used for just about any topic imaginable, from people talking about how their day was to celebrities talking about things they do. The possibilities really are endless.

There are literally hundreds of blogging sites, with a few popular ones including Blogspot, and WordPress, just to name only a couple.

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Blogs (Cont.)

Blogs, just like podcasts, are another effective tool that teachers can use to keep in contact with their students and keep them updated on current class discussions, relevant world topics, and assignments.

Not only can teachers and students use blogs, but they can also be open to the public so parents and other teachers can view what is being taught classrooms other than their own.

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My Personal Thoughts on Blogs

Once I learned of blogs and read up on how to use them, I think that they are probably one of the most promising new technologies to help teachers educate their students. Not only can teachers post information, but this seems like the fastest way to get feedback from other people since you can just post a comment under the current topic posted on the blog.

Blogs are very accessible to most people who use them since they are a basic text style interface, so students shouldn’t need any special instructions to learn how to use them. Additionally, there are probably some older teachers who have no idea how to use newer technologies, so easier to use applications like blogs can be simple enough for those kinds of teachers to use them.

Blogs allow students to show some of their own creativity, since you can customize many aspects of their personal blogs.

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…Unless you want to see my Conclusion!

Conclusion In conclusion, I think these three fields of

technology are making great strides in the field of education. They are giving students of all kinds access to a proper education. Not only do they help students with disabilities utilize their strengths to gain knowledge, they also give regular students the ability to communicate with their instructors in a timely fashion. Additionally, they can also get information from their teachers without having to be in a classroom.

The End!That was so good, I’d like to see it again! (Menu)