Focus Question:
How can teachers use technology to create universally designed classrooms?
Creating universally designed classrooms requires a teacher to do one of two things: change the classroom environment or change the way he/she would deliver the curriculum to their students. I learned that there are three different "toolkits" a teacher can choose to use for his/her classroom: low-tech, middle-tech, and high-tech. (Basically, different levels of technology.)
Tech Tool:
Since I am a math geek, I did appreciate the Tech Tool in this chapter - online calculators. I LOVE ONLINE CALCULATORS!! They are super convenient. Although "extra-large" calculators come in handy as well, I do not have to worry about carrying that big thing around if I have some sort of technology on hand like a smart phone or a laptop. I do love online calculators but I did not like the resource that was provided in the book. I understand that the larger calculator will benefit those students with visual issues, but there's no color and no way to create graphs. (Unless it's a huge graphing calculator, but those things cost an arm and a leg!
One of my favorite websites is called Mathway.com. You do not have to subscribe for basic math problems, but if you would want the step-by-step directions there will be a fee. There are so many things you can do on this site - from graphing quadratic equations to figuring out a simple fraction. This tool can easily be used effectively within a classroom setting. It's free and safe for all students to use, even special needs students. I would recommend it to any teacher.
Summary:
Chapter 11 basically taught us how teachers can take advantage of technology and use these tools with all types of students, even special needs. There are are so many tools out there that a teacher can use to further help her students understand the material like: handheld spellers, electronic calculators, speech-to-text software, and interactive storybooks. These tools are aids to further ensure that students needs are being catered to. These digital tools are effective and are proven to help students comprehend the material better.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the online calculators - like any tool, it might have more to do on the appropriate opportunity to use them, i.e., not valuable for everything! Good share on the mathway website, too!
ReplyDelete