I. Topic: Educational Video Games: concentration on handhelds II. Partner: Katherine Kirby
III. Objectives of our project:
-Introduce video games as an educational tool
-Characterize educational video games by brand, price, and academic merit
-Illustrate advantages of educational handheld video games
-Demonstrate the ability and willingness of students to utilize these tools
IV. Project Duties:
-Research educational handheld video games: brand, price, academic merit (Kirby and New)
-Interview and record parents and educators (Kirby and New)
-Interview and record a student who has and regularly utilizes educational handheld video games (New)
-Interview and record a student who regularly plays non-academic based handheld video games (New)
-Interview and record a student who is unfamiliar with video games (Kirby)
-Edit and analyze the data and videos (Kirby and New)
Watch Deaf students at the high school. Write a post which discusses the topic introduced by these students. Also, post how technology can assist in merging hearing impaired students into classrooms.
The students in this video are deaf. The common perception that hearing impaired (HI) students (or similarly handicapped students) have to be taught differently and separately is becoming an outdated idea. These students show that they are not so different from their hearing classmates. They demonstrate that they have the same learning capacity as the other students. The one thing separating them from the other students is merely their inability to hear. Originally, the commonly accepted idea was that the deaf were unteachable due to teachers being unable to communicate with them. Later, the deaf were made to attend separate schools from the hearing. In these schools for the hearing impaired, they are taught by educators who either are also deaf or are fluent in sign language. To date, deaf students either attend these special schools or have interpreters assist them in public schools. With technology, more and more deaf students are being able to attend public schools. This technology goes further than the advances made in hear-aids and cochlear implants. Students with hearing-aids used to have to sit in desks that allow for the best view of the teacher, but even that doesn't account for the acoustics of the classroom differing from that of their home environment. An assistive listening system allows a HI student to hear the teacher clearly and breaks background noise. There are also TDD (telecommunication devices for the deaf) which allow for communication in caption/text. HI students can use devices that convert the teachers live lesson into closed caption. Teachers and fellow students could utilize a video dictionary to learn to communicate with the HI in sign language.With these devices, a word or sentence can be typed into the device and a video will interpret the word or sentence into the selected sign language. In the age of video lectures and Skype, the HI can see their instructor or the person they are communicating with. Each party could communicate through sign. With the increase in technology, we will see an increase in assistive technology for the hearing impaired.
I was assigned Ms. Galloway a.k.a The Thinking Chick. Magic Wand
She posted about things that have become obsolete to date and things that could be obsolete in 2020 (according to a list she referenced). She talked about how technology allows us to communicate without being in person, without being in the same general area, and without being bounded to a land line etc. She also commented on the list of things that was to be obsolete by 2020. She says that while some of these things may be possible to replace with technology schools are typically slow to transition into new technology. For example, just because we can use a computer to write doesn't mean we don't still find pencils and paper in classrooms.
I commented on how I agree that just because technology is available doesn't mean it is being utilized in schools. I agreed it would be nice to see the innovative educational tool, but the tools listed to be obsolete might still have a place in schools.
C4K #3 I was assigned Heremaia, who posted a video of a sea shanty for Talk like a Pirate Day. I commented: Yargh, Heremaia. I rather liked your sea shanty. Oh, to be a pirate on the high seas. I think your work with Hyperstudio looks great also. C4K #4 I was assigned Taite Turbo, who posted the following for his About Me post. HI my name is Taite i live in hobart and I’m 12 years old. I like to rollerblade Ive been rollerblading for 1 year. I ride motorbike a 125cc and a 110cc ive tryed a 250cc it was awesome . tahts about it so yeah bye!! I commented: I would just like to say that you sound like a pretty exciting kid. I would be to afraid to ride onmotorbike. I just learnt how to ride a bicycle last week. But I have been roller blading since I was little. C4K #5 I was assigned Shayne, who posted the following. "last week we watched cars to check how much friend ship lighting McQueen has at the start i gave him 3/10 but at the end i gave him 9/10 . ween it started he cold himself a one man show . in the middle he made a promise to mater and at the end he keep the promise and my best friend in the school Adrian Blake" I commented on how I like how the Disney productions typically include a moral lesson which can be taken from them. C4K #6 I was assigned Holden S., who posted "Optimists see the glass as half full, pessimists see the glass as half empty, realists see it as half a glass of water." in his Life post. I commented:I love lateral thinking. You have clearly taped your lateral side whether you know it or not- lateral nerd joke :). I have even started a collection with my friends that I hope to publish one day. My favorite that I made up is “You must appreciate rain to deserve rainbows.” C4K #7 I was assigned Vienna, who posted I want to be a teacher in my future because I love kids and I can teach them about red ribben week and if I have drugs around the kids they will start doing it too . Red ribben week is something to let you know that you should not have drugs. At the primaray school they have red ribben all around the school. Somethings that you should not have that is acohol. Acohol is dangerouse to little kids under 21. The other thing that you should not have is drugs because some drugs kill you or might get edicting. You also should not have sigerets because they are bad for your lungs you could get a disease. So do not have drugs when you are young or old. I commented:I also wanted to be a teacher since I was little. When I was in high school a was able to work with a youth program which went to a lot of schools telling students about how terrible drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes can be. We also talked about how peer pressure may change your mind about how bad these things are because others are talking about how it isn’t that bad. But it is important to always remember that these things are bad and try to stay away from them and help others stay away from them too
1. Ms. Cassidy's 1st grade class
This video shows how these students are learning early how to use technology in the educational career. They are learning how to outsource for information through using their website, wiki, and skype. I also like how they are using the Nitendo DS as an educational tool. My little sister, Skye, has every version of the DS to date. The latest that she has is the DSI. With each DS, she is able to do different things. Nitendo has a wide variety of educational games for youngsters and adults alike. Skye has games which build her math, reading, and writing skills. She also enjoys using the build in software to make and edit videos and pictures. She is also able to connect with others through her DSI. I think it is great to incorporate technology readily available to kids in their education. While most kids don't have a personal laptop to study with, they do have game systems and handheld system at their disposal. Why not make play time productive?
2. Skype discussion with Ms. Cassidy
In this discussion, Ms. Cassidy discussed how she actually got into using technology in her classroom and how it has grown throughout the years. I think it is smart to incorporate technology education in the education of children from at the start of their educational career. This allows them to grow with the technology. They are the technology generation. It is available to them; it would be negligent for educators not to use the best tools available for their students. Though I am planning to teach on the high school level and teach members of the military, I think the incorporation of technology would be similarly beneficial for those I will teach. I would encourage my students to outsource for information and utilize the technology available to them. When I teach the military as opposed to teaching on the high school level, the technological incorporation will obviously be different. The military is obviously made readily available to the most up to date technology. (Fun fact: Skype was originally developed for military use) They will have to use it in the future; so, it would be reckless for me to not make my students comfortable with technology. The same can be said for students on any level. This is a technology based age. People will encounter technology throughout their life. They will need to learn to utilize technology and become comfortable with technology sometime. Why wait? Students can benefit greatly from having these technology as a part of their education. Why deprive them of the advantage?
