Blog Post 3

Technology in Special Education
This video was inspiring to me. I watched these special needs students overcoming tremendous obstacles with the help of a great teacher and some excellent technology. This video really demonsrates how technology can be applied in special education. The students in the video seemed to be very engaged in learning. The teacher explains how the technology that she is using keeps her students attention which helps them to stay interested and eagar to work. Technolgy not only helps the students it also helps the teacher. A special ed teacher faces tremendous challenges and by saving time he or she is able to teach so much more material.

How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism

I was very impressed in this video with the young boy using the toddler counting app. He could easily see and hear as his fingers were touching the i-pad screen. I have included a link to an app from the Apple store that I think I would use if I were teaching a Special Ed class.
Letter Reflex-Overcoming-Letter Reversals is an excellent app from Apple. It helps children with directionality. Some of the first concepts in early childhood that need to be understood are directions from left to right. It is common for many young children to have letter reversals. This problem may continue for longer periods of time for a special needs child. Letter Reflex helps children overcome letter reversals in a game format. It claims to be very user friendly. I think that children would have so much fun playing the game that they would be very engaged and would really learn in the process.

Garys-social-media-count
As I watched Gary Hayes Social Media change every second is was just amazing. The counter itself is an example of how far we have advanced in the world of technology. How it can track so much information at one time is hard to comprehend. The numbers that it represents is astonishing. The amount of people using Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube just to name a few is unbelievable.

It really tells you how much of our daily lives are joined together with social media and with the use of technology in general. As a teacher we will have to be a part of this ever evolving trend. Not only will we need to keep up with all of this new technology, we can also use it to our advantage.


Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This is another video that has enlightened me on how outdated our current education system is today. We as teachers need to be able to help our students to work smarter than harder. The students were holding up some signs with interesting facts. These are a few that i remember. Only 26% of what they are learning is relevant to what they will need after graduation. Only 18% of the teachers know their names. The average class has 115 students.

I know from experience being a full time students requires a lot of effort. I also know that I waste a lot of money on textbooks that I don't fully use. In the video the teacher writes on an old chalkboard: (What is missing?). He then writes: (videos, photos, animations, and networks). I think he trying to tell us that as educators we need to learn how to use technology to it's full potential. Today's technology offers unlimited tools and resources. We need to learn how to use those tools an be able to teach our students how to use those tools. Doing so will help them to be prepared for the future.