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Sunday, May 06, 2012

Assistive Technologies and Universal Design for Learning



Assistive Technologies are "assistive, adaptive and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities."  They are used inside and outside of the classroom to help people with special needs accomplish tasks. Assistive technologies may be as low tech as eyeglasses, curb cuts, large print, white canes or wheel chairs. They might also involve sophisticated technology which includes speech recognition software, hearing aids, text telephones, alternative keyboards, and Braille displays.

There is a whole community of parents and professionals dedicated to Assistive Technology. Spend some time reading and reviewing their discussions.

Universal Design for Learning is an educational strategy designed to address the needs of ALL learning differences. It is based upon the way that the brain works. It involves providing multiple means of representation, expression and engagement. This means that there are:
  • multiple ways to acquire information (e.g., reading, watching, listening, or doing.)
  • multiple ways to engage in the learning process (e.g., creating projects, exploring environments, or collaborating with others.)
  • multiple ways to demonstrate knowledge (e.g., creating videos, writing papers, and solving problems.)
This 5-minute video provides an easy-to-understand introduction to Universal Design for Learning:



There are many aspects of Assistive Technologies and Universal Design for Learning that educators MUST consider As teachers, we are legally and morally obligated to provide our students with learning opportunities that best accommodate their needs.

IDEA (The Individual with Disabilities Education Act) (article)
Parent's introduction to the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.

Differentiated Instruction and the Implications for UDL Implementation (article)
Explains the basis of Differentiated Instruction and how using Universal Design for Learning can personalize the learning experience for students.


From voice-activated software to customized laptops, technology can change the way disabled students communicate, learn, and play. Consider how you would use these as a teacher (and as a student.)

iPads in the Special Education Classroom
This is a blog run by a special education educator. This page is a treasure-trove of resources. It explains a variety of benefits of using tablets (yes, I know that it is iPad-based, but think "tablet") as computing tools for students. These are from the teacher's, student's and education's points of view. Explore the many resources in the right column as well.

Glenda Watson Hyatt's Blog
Ms. Hyatt has a thriving blog online. She has written a book and consults with educators on using technology in teaching. She also has athetoid cerebral palsy. This means that she has problems with muscular control. Glenda explores the many assistive tech apps that can be used to assist challenged learners like herself.  Watch her video, The Left-Thumb Blogger, to see how she uses assistive technologies to overcome her challenges. Imagine if you can offer this in your classes to your students.

Aimee Mullins: Running on High-Tech Legs (10-minutes)
In this TED archive video from 1998, paralympic sprinter Aimee Mullins talks about her record-setting career as a runner, and about the amazing carbon-fiber prosthetic legs (then a prototype) that helped her cross the finish line. (This a video of a presentation from TED Talks. We STRONGLY suggest that you visit TED.org to hear some of the greatest minds on the planet present their ideas and visions.)


photos: flickr.com/benson, YouTube.com and ted.com
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Wednesday, May 02, 2012

TPACKing Your Way to a Wild Learning Experience.

Used w/permission from tpack.org - rights free
Learning is about more than content or pedagogy or technology.  It involves the uniting of these forces to create a learning experience where content knowledge is presented through technology using a pedagogy that best fits the subject matter.

As if this wasn't enough to boggle an educator's mind, the context within which it is being taught must also be considered.  It is this context that determines relevancy to the student.

This is called TPaCK. TPaCK stands for
  • Technology
  • Pedagogy
  • Content Knowledge
Understanding the Premise: This approach derives from Lee Shulman's work in the 80s when he introduced the notion of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK).  Shulman (1986) says "pedagogical content knowledge is of special interest because it identifies the distinctive bodies of knowledge for teaching. It represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular topics, problems, or issues are organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented for instruction" (p. 8).

Pedagogic Content Knowledge by Dr. B -   A good way to learn about PCK is through Dr. Bilash's website. Review her work and watch her two short videos to see the connection between Pedagogy and Content Knowledge.  This may seem simple, but acknowledging the differences in the way a teacher understands content compared to a content expert is revealing.

Adding Technology to the PaCK: Acknowledging the connection between pedagogy and content knowledge, it is time to consider the medium through which this adapted content is presented/experienced. This medium is technology in the broadest sense of the word.  It doesn't have to "plug in." The best way to experience a Van Gogh painting is in the Musee de Orsay museum in Paris. If you happen to be visiting Paris sometime soon, that might be possible. If your future plans involve staying around the house a little more, then there are other avenues available to you. This is where you can use various forms of technology to fill the bill. You could enjoy Van Gogh's The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise through a Post-Impressionism book,  a Jigsaw Puzzlea 360-degree Panorama inside the church,
a tour of the church and town, Wikipedia, even through a unique java-blend.

Whatever technology you select, it is the intersection of Pedagogy, Content Knowledge and Technology within a Context that will carry the message for the learner. It will determine the topic's relevance to the learner and ultimately learners interest in remembering and using the new information.   

The key to the TPaCK method is examining the intersections between the domains. This would include Pedagogy-Content (PC), Technology-Content Knowledge (TC) and Technology-Pedagogy (TP). The most important point is the intersection of all of the domains TPC which we find at the middle of a 3-circle venn diagram.

This Low-Tech video explanation by RoyceKimmons is quite informative. He uses the 3-circle venn diagram to explain the relations of these domains.
 

 Here are a couple of other videos to help reinforce the concept.
The best place to find out about TPaCK is at tpack.org   This is an ever-growing website that contains a plethora of possible resources.

Are You Looking for The Source?
Thinking Creatively: Teachers as designers of Content, Technology and Pedagogy by Mishra and Koehler at SITE 08.  This is part 1 of a 3-part sequence of YouTube videos that describe the TPaCK from its creators.

Applying TPaCK to Digital Content
This theory is just great, but what about practical application?  I can't get my head around how to make this happen in my classroom.  I understand that I must teach World War II events using a pedagogy that is relevant to my population of students and that it should be conveyed using technology that is meaningful and engaging with my students.  But is there a formula?

Probably not!

Activity Types
There are, however, Activity Types that have been developed by a group of researchers including Judi Harris, Mark Hofer, Denise Schmidt and Ann Thompson. Activity Types are conceptual planning tools that assist educators in organizing and creating curriculum-based learning activities. Each activity type captures what is most essential about the structure of a particular kind of learning action as it relates to what students do when engaged in that particular learning-related activity (e.g., group discussion; role play; fieldtrip). They have been organized by placing them in taxonomies.


TPACK Taxonomies
Dr. Judi Harris and Mark Hofer wrote a series of articles about using their subject-based taxonomies for TPACKING classroom projects Learning and Leading with Technology.  (It is actually pgs 22 - 34.)

Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). “Grounded” technology integration: Planning with curriculum-based learning activity types. Learning & Leading With Technology, 37(2), 22-25.

You can find a succinct table of the Activity Types arranged by Format of Expression in an article entitled:

Instructional Planning Activity Types as Vehicles for Curriculum-Based TPACK Development (.pdf)
 
More Specifically: The hierarchies used for 7 different subject areas are found on the William and Mary School of Education Activity Types wiki.  

Here are some examples of how it has been done with a few lessons:

Using TPaCK to Teach Grammar in Middle School
 

Visit our WikiBook: TPACKing for a Wonderful Educational Trip 
It contains all of the wonderful work completed by the Tech Coordinating groups.
This is a unique way to publish authentic information with your students.

Happy Traveling through TPACK.

Z

Thursday, April 26, 2012

1-to-1 Pedagogy: Curriculum for the 21st Century Classroom - Hot Topics Webinar

What is this 1-to-1 curriculum all about?

Dr. Ping Gao and I will have an opportunity to share our ideas about Curriculum for the 21st Century with you in a Webinar that we will be giving on April 26, 2012 at 4:00 CST.

We will be discussing the need to rethink how education should be framed and explore some tools for making the changes.

Here are some links to the resources we have shared.  If you don't find something important here that you think should be included, just add it in the comment section below.

Watch our hour-long webinar. We have participants from Oklahoma, Arizona and around Iowa.





Watch this Slide Show on SlideShare
Included Videos:
Included Resources:
  • Iowa Universal Constructs - The universal constructs identified following an analysis of the competencies and habits of mind needed for future successes in careers, college and citizenry.
  • Technology Integration Matrix  - Florida Technology Integration Matrix creates a 25-cell table that integrates 5 types of Meaningful Learning Environments (Jonassen et al) with 5 levels of Technology Integration (Apple Classroom of Tomorrow).  Filled with 100 short videos of best practice examples for Math, Science, Social Science and Language Arts.
  • TPACKing for a Wild Learning Trip - This is a link to a resource page that I created for my students when they were studying TPACK. It is filled with a plethora of resources about the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPaCK) model.
  • Book: From Fear to Facebook  by Matt Levinson  Pub: ISTE
    Exceptional book where a school administrator chronicles his many adventures while directing a school into a 1-to-1 paradigm. Must read!!!
What ideas or accomplishments or resources would you like to share about 1:1 curriculum?  Please share them in the comments section below.

Z & G

Laptops After Hours . . .


What do our laptops do when we leave the room to go home?

Here is a short stop-action video that was created by some students at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.  This story, Two Laptops: A Conversation, is about a couple of laptops discussing the implications of being energy conscious. My favorite part was when they left their work room and then moved over to the computer lab where they sat in chairs to work on desktop computers. Really?  Computers are spending their off hours working on other computers?  We geeks REALLY need to get a life.

I hope that you enjoy this as much as I did.  What do you think?  Have your students watch it and then respond.

Z

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Blabberize Yourself


Are you looking for a way to bring excitement back into your students' writing? Has writing become a process that no longer is attractive for your students?

Have them write scripts for their Blabberized pictures. Doesn't matter if they are people or animals or Martians. Blabberize.com is a site where you can upload a photo and create settings that will enable the mouth to move.

All that you do is upload the photo/picture.  Identify the area that you would like to have move when you create the animation.  Here's a hint. It works best if you pick the whole lower jaw so that it looks like your character is really talking.

Looking for a quick video on how to Blabberize?  Here is one made by one of my students.


How do you use Blabberize?  Can you direct me to an interesting collection of unique blabberized pictures?  Please answer in the comments below.

Z

Friday, April 13, 2012

Engaging Learning Using Emerging Technologies @ IACON 2012

What a wonderful opportunity to speak to the IACON conference in Altoona, Iowa.

Today, I am going to be talking about how we can engage our students using many of the tools that we have online today.

To begin with, our Twitter Hashtag is #IACON2012

You should be able to find the tweets using this hashtag by clicking here.

We also have collaborative notes.  This is a Google Page that is open to the world to edit. It could be more selective, but we are all good people - right? You can find this page at tinyurl.com/iacon12notes 


Readings, Watchings, Listenings and Doings (used by Dr. Z now or recent past)
This are blogs that contain multimedia resources that are to be reviewed and used for the various modules for classes.

Undergraduate: 
Graduate:

Apple - iBooks Author

Diigo.com

WikiBooks

Emerging Instructional Technologies wikibook

TPACKing for a Wonderful Educational Trip wikibook

Audio Feedback to Students

AudioBoo.FM 

Gaming

3DGameLab - Boise State University 


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

1:1 is NOT Enough

We have the privilege to join Iowa's leading educators at the 1-to-1 Institute. This is the third year for this event.  It has been a great success. This year I believe that there are over 1,000 attendees.

We have a whole team of UNI folks who are sharing their ideas.
Using QR Codes in the Elementary Classroom - Joshua Mitchell, Nelson Rokke, Robin Galloway and Dr. Ping Gao.

Here's the schedule for the conference. 

I will be sharing my ideas about how improving education will require much more than just buying hardware for students. Here is my presentation along with some links to the resources that I discuss.