Open Educational Resources

In the  this youtube video about OERs it definitely gave me more insight of what open educational resources were. In the video it explains that open educational resources are resources that use the internet to share and spread educational content such as a textbook library  or a high school tutor for a class. These open educational resources  also allow students to learn their professional skills at their own pace. In addition in the article of 7 things you should know about open educational resources, the part that caught my attention the most was the implications for teaching and learning using open educational resources, one example of this is that all contents of education will be available online for free in the near future.  I will definitely be expanding and implementing open educational resources into my future classroom, while exploring on this topic I realized that books on audio such as from learningally.org  could be one form of OERs, which are especially helpful for students with disabilities. From learningally, in my future classroom i can show the children's parents how to get books on audio when teaching to students with learning disabilities. I know from my experience using these types of OERs have helped improve my learning. 

Flipped Learning

In this video of Flipped Learning it explains that flipped learning, is learning in which the Individual students watch the teachers podcasts and can learn on their pace. This also lets the student pause, rewind, fast forward, and play the teachers lessons anytime they need to. The article of The Truth about Flipped Learing is pretty insightful for possible drawbacks of flipped learning. One example of a drawback of flipped learning is that videos should not be assigned as homework. The possible outcomes of this type of learning can cause more student interactions as well as change the way teachers talk with parents about how the child is behaving and learning in the classroom. The article How The Flipped Classroom is Radically Transforming states that children who learning slowly such as ones who have learning disabilities can learn better in a flipped learning classroom because interventions can be implemented to the students needs. Another great article is called Flipped Learning Sure Sounds a lot Like Special Education  which states about ways flipped learning is used such as high engagement.  The greater implications on teaching and learning and my specific teaching future is that, I will be using this method for some of my teaching, because it seems to be pretty effective.

 

experiencing group

The last activity we did in sedu183 was a 21st century group project with technology. I don't normally like working in groups because i prefer working alone on projects most of the time. However the group that I was in made me realize that group projects can really work out for the better. The Google documents that we shared helped us stay on top of the whole project so that we all knew what to do, and how to complete it. This method of communication to my group was helpful. When it came to writing the paper. A group meeting with the others in my group had helped all of us, know who was doing which section of the paper, which in turn flowed smoothly, unlike when it came to putting together the presentation using Prezi, it was more difficult to meet together as a group. Overall, the group experience wasn't too bad. I also enjoyed working together with the peers that were in my group.

PowerPoint - ugh

The recent activity done in sedu183 class was a PowerPoint project, of a lesson plan. while doing this project I learned that PowerPoint 2010 is completely different from older versions of PowerPoint. Also i learned how to write a narrative for a lesson.  I learned how to do a lesson plan and then I created it. Which was a new experience for me, but very fun to learn using PA standards to create the lesson. This will help in the future for the classroom. Presenting to my peers was fine, but i realized i could have done  more to my PowerPoint, however I am not an expert  using the newer version, so I got confused on how to hyperlink to slides. The other projects that I saw were unique especially the history one, because it was completely different than the other two that i saw, which were lesson plans on with teaching special education students how to write.

Two More for the Roll

The first blog that I found to be interesting is the Special Education Law Blog.  This blog discusses a closer look at the special education law. It will also be very helpful with understanding special education even more.  It is a great blog to look into if going into special education.

The second blog that I looked at was a Kids Craft Blog. I know when I become a teacher,I will be spending time searching for crafts to do in the classroom. One of the posts on this blog has a craft for kids, so that they can tell time. It looks fairly simple and will definitely be useful  for teaching.

My Beliefs about Technology and Learning

Technology is ever changing these days, especially for teachers and the way they teach to students. However for young children I believe that technology is going too far overboard.  I believe that young children should learn the way we were taught instead of by being taught with some form of technology such an Ipad. It is ok for children to learn the basics of how to use a computer for learning. However I think that their communication skills and other learning skills need to be put to use to properly learn for school, before the high tech technology is introduced.

Important to Me

One particular subject of Education that is important to me is the special education spectrum of Education. Ever since my senior year of high school, i have always wanted to teach children. particularly in the special education field. If it wasn't for my special education teachers I've had throughout the years, I wouldn't be where I am today. I want to help children succeed the same way my special education teachers helped me succeed.