Blog #7: Twitter and Web Design

Twitter

My experience with Twitter has been enjoyable and easy to navigate. Before this class, I did not want to engage in Twitter because I didn't understand the educational information that it provides. Since I have used Twitter in this technology class, I have learned there are many ways our students can benefit from using social media! A few of these reasons include: receiving important educational resources such as "Twitter for Teachers", encouraging student collaboration, displaying how to market yourself for a future career or even how to market things you believe in, and lastly having a way to share interesting topics with your students (this could include creating lesson plans!) I am not currently experiencing any issues when using Twitter! 

Web Design

My web design was very challenging! I have never creating a webpage for anything, so the learning curve was something I experienced immediately. Through my web design, I created a safe learning space for my 9th grade AP Environmental Science students. I talked about the topics we will cover for March and I also shared important information on the field trip our class will be taking to Crystal River to visit the manatee sanctuary. The one thing I would do differently this time around is to experiment with the different web design websites before choosing one to begin my page. There were a few times where I did not understand the website enough that I didn't properly save my completed webpage and had to start over! I think a web design skill is something that is very appealing to future employers and shows that the designer knows how to market themselves as well as have a grasp on what the public wants to see! Putting thought into the colors, fonts and pictures is important and should directly correlate with the grade you are teaching.

Link to my website: https://mrs-joyner.weebly.com 

Assistive v. Adaptive Technology

Assistive technology is designed to help students who have learning disabilities. That student may have physical impairments, dyslexia or cognitive problems. Assistive technology enters the classroom to simply help them function in day to day class routine. An example of assistive technology is an electronic worksheet. Students who have dyslexia can use an electronic worksheet to complete their assignments. The worksheets provide practice and ai the students in reading words, equations and numbers. Some of these electronic worksheets include text-to-speech which is super helpful!

Adaptive technology refers to special versions of already existing technologies that provide enhancements or different ways of interacting with the technology. The adaptation helps students with a disability or impairment accomplish a specific task. My sister had to go to speech therapy at her school everyday until she reached middle school. In those classes, they used large print books in order to allow them to see, sound out and spell the words correctly. This is an example of adaptive technology! 

The problem I foresee when it comes to these technologies entering my classroom have to do with budget. The majority of them are expensive. It would be interesting to see the schools that include assistive and adaptive technologies into their budget or if it is up to the teacher to raise money for them.