Reflective Post

My experiences while taking this course EME 2040 was informative and insightful. Before this course I was unaware of all the different uses technology could provide to make learning easier and more fun. For instance students that have exceptionalities are able to use certain technologies to boost their learning.  A DynaVox which is a device that aids in communication by using a child's gaze or stare towards a specific photo, tablet speaks for the child. There are other devices that help those with hearing and other impairments as well. There are also innovative apps like Google Translate that can help ESOL students learn English. Using these technologies opens so many doors to students and how they are able to learn. I'm excited for the opportunity to introduce some of these technologies into my own classroom to assist those students that may be struggling.  

I thoroughly enjoyed most of the projects such as the Web Quest and Teacher Web Page portfolio. Learning to develop an internet based project where students can learn to navigate the web and do research, while meeting objectives. The Teacher Web Page was my favorite! Creating a web based portfolio and highlighting important things such as favorite classroom lessons, personal knowledge gained from this course, site students will enjoy and a note to parents while allowing flexibility to be creative was a blast! The Website Review was another project that gave further insight to evaluating software and checking its credibility, something I will use in the future.

Overall I would say this was a good course for anyone to take. It's very informative. The textbook was helpful but not nearly as helpful as the video instructions left by the professor in specific modules. I'm a visual learner so being shown step by step how to do something is the best way for me to learn vs. reading from the textbook. In particular I did not so much enjoy the group projects assigned but I understand they were necessary to the course syllabus. Communication between group members can be complex or none existent, along with disagreement of certain tasks,  this makes group assignments all the more difficult to complete.  I also enjoyed discussions and Blog Post as they gave me the opportunity to express my own opinions and be more creative using digital tools. 

Photo credit to Denise Krebs via Flickr

Resources:

Dynavox, T. (2015). Find Help in Your Area. Retrieved May 03, 2016, from http://www.dynavoxtech.com/products/maestro/

E. (2010). Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams. Retrieved May 03, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXxdxck8Gic

G. (2015). Google Translate vs. Retrieved May 03, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06olHmcJjS0

Krebs, D. (2011, November 25). Technology Use. Retrieved May 03, 2016, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdkrebs/6400358699/in/photolist-aKzvE4-dp73ZJ-qeP4jq-96xaAD-97EgwY-97EgJh-97Ba4t-97B9Sc-97EfWL-97Egnf-97Bafe-97EgWh-qXE9mv-kV4dCy-dsGro5-rbaqWr-9jbeZy-qgDGqC-qWauEZ-aPFZzH-qwGjuc-6aPwhV-74VJRV-oki2x-9XuoKD-7b7TBK-m2SWHp-5A6F8L-dtwDQZ-8ihv2X-niZagA-dL7YXG-obJZ5v-rKq1x-5D99ge-nKQQnQ-rBbQnX-6U3m4v-dL7YVb-6be1eg-iQ4UwC-4y2npG-qULZcT-6ELEQc-8vEXcj-5SPNJc-9BVnBh-8ZVT9P-zbVmjs-nEQT6R