Paula+Spear

This is my animated avatar that will talk to you about my beliefs on technology standards!

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When completing the learning styles __survey__ it revealed to me that I was an auditory/language learner. I had a few suspicions that this might be the case, as I enjoy doing things like listening to __audio books__ and I have the tendency to read aloud when I am studying. I have done things such as tape recording lectures before and I’ve talked my way through problems, but working in a group and doing group discussions never occurred to me as method of learning for me. When exploring the cast website I found it to have many useful tools and tips for incorporating and helping one understand UDL. Although the website seemed to be well organized, I had a hard time finding things on the site, it did not appear to be very user friendly. I liked the virtual books such as the Teaching Every Student text. Not much came as a surprise to me while reading the book but I do enjoy reading about all the different technologies that you can use to make a curriculum more accessible to your __students__ like graphic organizers for the visual learners and e-readers for those who need larger text. The activities I did were interesting. They were a nice way introducing your responses to different situations and reflecting on your decisions to attain insight in your own personal skills and weaknesses. After some thought I realized that I have some good strengths, that I noticed are in line with my auditory learning style such as better understanding when hearing things. I also noticed I have a problem with written directions if I cannot read them out loud. The materials at CAST were, I believe, quite invaluable when seeking to explore differentiated instruction in your classroom. I knew quite a bit about UDL prior to this activity but I have never heard or seen this website until now. The CAST website and all the tools within seem to be a great thing to be in the toolbox of any __teacher__ interested in differentiated instruction. One thing I would really like to see in the CAST website is more stories like that of Donna Palley and her experience in making UDL a reality. I want to hear more UDL success stories and see what other teachers do to incorporate differentiated instruction in their real life classroom.

Assistive technology can come in all different shapes and sizes and can have many uses. There are technologies made for the disabled for many different circumstances and needs from the classroom, to the home and everywhere in between. As a an aspiring teacher for deaf __students__ I know that fortifying language is extremely important and reading and writing skills are crucial for deaf students as many who are sign language users do not get to experience the English language inside of the home. Wiggleworks seems to be just what the doctor ordered for a reluctant signer to __start__ reading and writing as it was visually engaging and appealing. Technology is an ever changing way to level the educational playing field (so to speak) for those who have different learning needs. Using different technologies such as e-readers or voice recorders can make all the difference to how accessible the curriculum is. While I have yet to personally work with, or witnessed other people worth with, assistive technologies, I hope that I may have the option to in the future to gain a better understanding of the benefits from a first person perspective. I am looking forward to the challenge of meeting the needs of all of my future students. In order to succeed in my endeavor, all tools must be utilized, especially technologies, so that special needs students can integrate seamlessly into the classroom of their traditional counterparts.

Here is the link to my digital story that I've created for ISTC 301 Class! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl_EqpWN_VQ

Student Podcast This podcast I completed is about tips for going to __a job__ interview! media type="file" key="Paula's Podcast.mp3" width="240" height="20" align="center"

I also have more information about myself in the Towson Student Webpages! Here's the link to mine: []

Here is a final reflection that I have written in regards to all the things I've learned in ISTC 301

Glogster Assignment Below is a glogster done I have worked on with Sam Hoffman about Left brain vs. Right Brain Theories of __education__. media type="custom" key="14056974" width="100" height="100" align="left"