Avery+Pritchard

media type="custom" key="12702256" This is my Voki ^

This is the html page I made for my ISTC 301 course in Spring 2012.


 * This is my CAST Reflection:**

1. In completing the Learning Styles survey, I learned that I am an Auditory/Verbal learner. I learn best by interacting with other students in group discussions as well as listening to lectures. This doesn’t surprise me because I’ve never enjoyed reading from textbooks. I find it much harder to learn the material without it being put in a different way than the textbook displays it. The survey results suggested that I record audio of lectures to improve my study skills. I think this would be very helpful because teachers often assess material that is put into their own words and it’s easiest to respond if you can remember how the teacher put it.  2. Overall I enjoyed exploring the CAST website. I liked that it had a variety of ways to display the material. This allowed it to follow exactly what it was teaching about. The UDL Principles help teachers remember that students have very different learning styles and therefore information needs to be portrayed in various ways. This is exactly what the website itself did with words, pictures, video, and audio.  3. I found it interesting that there is scientific evidence that children have different learning styles. Chapter 2 explains how learning is distributed among the brain and how certain students are stronger in certain areas of the brain and weaker in others. This gives teachers the undeniable proof that it is necessary to teach for diversity in the classroom. I’ll incorporate this information in my teaching because with students who have special needs, I will see many different abilities and disabilities, and I will have to adjust work to accommodate to those needs.  4. I really enjoyed the activity with the picture identification. I liked seeing how the eye movement changes when you’re looking at the picture with different goals in mind. It challenged me to think about how I look at and observe things. I learned that I looked at the picture as a psychologist would because I focused on the expressions on their faces. The activity with the task completion what a bit more difficult for me. I had a harder time seeing the difference in the brain networks.  5. I think that any approach to differentiated instruction is important, but CAST has a very well put together plan to apply these techniques. The models in CAST such as the lesson plans and books are very good materials that teachers can use and apply to their own classroom materials. They give examples of how to go about reading a book to have the greatest effect on students. CAST shows teachers different ways to reach out to their diverse learners in ways that they wouldn’t have thought of themselves because they already have a personal learning style.  6. I would like to see maybe some ways to teach concepts that will prepare students for standardized tests. I know this would be difficult as each state has a different standardize test. But I also know that there is a push for students to achieve in standardized tests and I think that it would help to show examples of how students should examine questions that they might see on such a test.


 * This is my Assistive Technology Reflection: **


 * 1) I learned that there is technology that can allow non-verbal students to communicate. I understand that the inability to communicate is very frustrating and makes those people feel like they have no purpose. To give non-verbal students the ability to communicate is like giving them life and purpose. This is an amazing technological advance.
 * 2) I was particularly impressed with the band student who played the tuba using a joystick. As a band student myself, I can really appreciate the way that they adapted an instrument to that particular student’s needs. Though I won’t be music teacher in the future, I want to remember that it’s possible to do almost anything with assistive technology.
 * 3) Technology has the potential to create assistance for almost any physical need and will continue to develop just as quickly as they continue to make new iPads.
 * 4) I am a substitute teacher and I’ve been to a variety of schools and have taught in a variety of classrooms with students of all ages. In one specific classroom that I taught in, I was privileged to work with a student who was almost deaf. She had a headphone set connected to a microphone that she gave to me to use as I taught. I had never even thought of using that type of assistive technology but it was so fascinating to me to be able to help her learn in that way.
 * 5) I’m preparing to become a special education teacher and I know that I will face a lot of challenges with physical as well as mental disabilities. I have confidence that assistive technology will continue to progress and make physical disabilities seem almost nonexistent. Without having to worry about physical disabilities preventing my children from learning, I will be able to focus more on controlling and developing their mental abilities.

This is my Glog >media type="custom" key="14271590"

Virtual Field Trip Reaction: I really enjoyed the virtual field trips that I looked into. Unfortunately I couldn't get access to the whale field trips, but I found the other sites very useful. I know that this class is purposed to help us branch out and use a variety of technology that we can integrate in our classrooms someday. Virtual field trips are such a unique way to present information and they're very interactive. Students of any age have a very short attention span and don't enjoy listening to lectures. Many of these lectures could be transformed into a virtual field trip that the students are interested in exploring. The way these virtual field trips were formed was very clear and straight forward. Every link/interactive button fit it's purpose and covered all of the material necessary. I know that my future students, being a Special Education major, will need a variety of ways to learn the material being taught to them. I've said before that I've noticed how much students with special needs enjoy computers and interactive technology. I plan to utilize virtual field trips in my classroom frequently.

This is my Digital Story Telling on youtube @

 []

This is my final reflection:

There are so many benefits to using technology in education. It is difficult for this generation’s teachers to adapt to the use of technology, but it is beneficial to reaching out to this generation’s students. Technology has drastically advanced in this century, even decade, not just in computers, but in cell phones, iPods, and internet capabilities in general. Children in this era grow up with televisions and computers readily at their fingertips. Communication has transformed, often viewed negatively, to be primarily through electronic devices. Because of this, the easiest way to communicate from teacher to student is electronically. Many schools have interactive white boards, white boards use “smart” technology to allow the user to navigate through screens with a stylus. They also allow the user to write on documents and highlight important information right on the screen. The transformation between reading from a textbook and reading from a screen is negative to the non-native (not technology savvy) generation, but it is very positive for the native (technology loving) generation. There are also ways to present information through video, such as a “Voki” which is like a computer animated person. Though the same information is presented, the fact that it comes from a cartoon rather than a live human being is more interesting to students these days. There are also various types of virtual applications to lessons such as virtual field trips or virtual dissections. These technological advances may seem scary to teachers who are used to the “old fashioned” teaching styles. But the fact is that students are changing and they’re becoming harder to reach with a pen and paper. The best way to reach them now is with a screen and a mouse. If we want our students to learn, teachers must make the effort to adjust and adapt to the new way of teaching, communication, and life. Isn’t that what the Universal Design for Learning is all about? It is also important to note that the same technologies they will use in school are very likely to be present in their careers in the future.