Thomas Suarez: A 12 Year Old App Developer

  

This kid is amazing! As I watched this video, not only was I impressed with his skills of app creation, but the fact that this twelve year old boy can stand up in front of a crowd of adults and speak with such knowledge and confidence is astounding! It really made me wonder how much technology might have played a role in his developmental and speech skills.

As I listened to this boy's talk, I wondered how many other boys and girls are out there that would like to create an app. I know that when I was a kid, I would see people paint a picture and then I would also want to learn how to paint a picture. My mother started sewing me costumes, so then I wanted to learn how to make costumes. So how many other students are out there actually WANTING to learn how to create apps and games using modern tech tools? I would have never dreamed of having my students create an application in the classroom. Now I am feeling that, over time, the process of app creation will be even more simplified for users to be able to create their own projects. Just imagine the possibilities! You could even make your own custom app as a teacher that would be specific to your classroom alone. I know that I am going to be looking into what app creation tools are now at my fingertips to utilize in my classroom in the future.

What do you think? How might you use app creation in your classroom? What do you think about teaching kids to create their own apps and games?

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkd9TWUtFm0

Communicating with Students Through Technology

I read this article on the NEA website mainly because of the title alone. I chose this title because I truly have a passion for technology in the classroom. I have always believed that staying current with new technologies, as a teacher, should be a necessity. We as teachers should not know less than our students when it comes to devices and resources that are available to our students.

The main points of this article basically state various resources and tools available to not only teachers, but to all students as well. The first point discussed was that the use of technology offers a new way to give feedback to students, parents, and even other colleagues. There is no longer a common need to bust out the “red pen” for grading. Instead of just giving small red pen notes on research papers, we can now have students submit papers in an online format where the teacher can then add detailed comments and feedback with ease. This is also good because it is not wasteful. The teacher can even give feedback using podcasts or personal videos that the students can access individually. The article also points out the very important uses of Google. Google now uses Google docs, which makes it easy for anyone with a Google account to create and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. This makes it easy to create works that are collaborative between students and teachers. The last point of the article goes over some specific tools to integrate different styles of learning. One app called Animoto easily creates professional videos for the classroom. VoiceThread is an app that allows students to give verbal responses to a question online for submission, like a spoken forum. There is even an app used just to take polls and surveys. Overall the article sums up that there are many new tech tools that are easily accessible to teachers for use.

I agreed with the points and information in this article for the most part. Many of the tools that were mentioned are ones that I have experienced using. I particularly agree with the use of Google docs in the classroom. Every student should know that this tool is available to them. I remember a time when only a handful of students in a class even had computers at home, and less of those students had a computer that had a full version of Microsoft Works which included Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Now if someone has a computer and an internet connection, but can not afford to purchase the license for those programs, they are not completely out of luck. They can create a free Google account online, and they will have access to those basic programs for use through Google Docs. They can then email and share those documents for various projects and assignments.
The only part of the article that I actually did not particularly agree with was the first quote: “It’s never been about the newest technology – a printing press, a computer, an app – but it has always been about the creative ways in which teachers use technology to meet learners’ needs. The challenge is in choosing the right tool for the task.” I agree with this statement mostly. However the part where it states that, “it’s never been about the newest technology” does not sit right with me. I think that any technology that is new must be tested and tried to evaluate its possible applications. We never know if it is a good tool or resource until it is thoroughly tested and tried. While all apps and tools that are available to us as teachers are not always appropriate for classroom use, I do believe that teachers should be pushed to consider the newest technologies simply because there are so many new possibilities at our fingertips! We only have to reach for them and think of ways to use them to further engage our students in the classroom, involve the parents outside of the classroom, and help our colleagues alongside our classrooms.

Article Link: http://www.nea.org/tools/52048.htm

UDL: A Way to Meet the Needs of All Students

Universal Design Learning is an idea that basically wants to help all students by breaking down learning barriers. These barriers are things that might keep a student from absorbing the material. All students learn differently, and we need to make sure that students are getting the access to different mediums they need in order to learn successfully. This video about UDL gives a good general overview and definitions about what UDL is and how it can help our young students.

This article about UDL goes into more detail about what these learning barriers are for our students.  There are several reasons that students can be struggling to learn, such as physical disabilities, emotional/behavioral challenges, learning disabilities, autism, attention issues, lack of knowledge, and language barriers. All of these things can contribute to a student not being able to really learn. However this does not mean that they can not! We just need to better understand our students so that we can help knock down learning barriers. Technological development can help bring down some of these barriers. Simple printed text does not do well with various students. But with digitized text it can easily be altered to change the size, content, and can even focus on just one section of reading much more easily. It also gives more access to these materials. UDL encourages instructors to use various media in order to represent the new materials for students. Teachers can use books, pictures, videos, interactive activities, art projects, etc. With all of these new learning materials the students will hopefully become more engaged overall in what is being learned, since more barriers have been removed. They must also be allowed to make their own mistakes so that they can learn to cope, and progress through it. The lessons must also be engaging, and must be encouraging students to complete it and get to the next one. One of the toughest things to work with though regarding UDL is making it work alongside state standards. Standards have to be taught and enforced in the school curriculum, but the teacher needs to make sure that their classroom is being run efficiently using UDL techniques. This will help their students to be more engaged and excited about learning in the classroom.

The Pros and Cons of the Flipped Classroom

The article "Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con" is an article that summarizes the good and the bad of using a flipped classroom setting. A flipped class is when the students are expected to read the book, view a lecture, or otherwise learn the content of their subject at home. Then they are expected to come to class with the knowledge, and then they can do more activities, have more teacher to student time to work through problems, and can have more interactions in the classroom. The pros of this method are that it centers the learning that is occurring around the students. They are able to learn more at their own pace, and can have more teacher help in the actual classroom. The cons of this teaching method are that the students may not all have the same access to technology at home, and it is not often convenient for the parents to have to take them somewhere for several hours a night just to use a lab computer.