Notes from the Reading:

 21st Century Students:
*are not the student our educational system was designed     to teach
*have not just changed incrementally from those of the  past...they have changed radically
*represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology
*think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors
*are all "native speakers" of the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet.


My Response to the Reading:

21st Century Teachers in turn need to create a sustainable community of learning by teaching their students the skills to analyze and synthesis information from divergent sources into a coherent relevant whole. They need to encourage a non-heirarchical spirit of cooperation and collaboration. They need to create classroom environments that allow students to add their strengths to the group  in order to create a whole that is greater than its parts, so that their students will be ready to work in the 21st century workplace. 

I was talking to a friend about the idea that our kids are digital natives while we are digital immigrants, and she directed me to a piece of writing with the title, "We, the Web Kids". 

I wanted to share it with the class, but it felt to important be merely added to the "Stuff to Share" page. So I decided to give it a page entirely of its own. To read it, click on the page "Manifesto for the Digital Age"

I also highly recommend the book:
Now You See It: How Technology and Brain Science Will Transform Schools and Business for the 21st Century by Cathy N. Davidson

To me the most insightful part of the entire chapter was when they answered the question "How do children get information?" with the sentence: Students have always been social.  I think the Web Kids of the digital manifesto would totally agree, they have learned what they know about new technologies by using them to socialize in some form- creating things to share. They do not read manuals but learn by watching each other and asking questions until they are ready to  apply what they have learned. Then they  learn more and become more "accomplished" as they use the technology to accomplish their social ends.


Notes from the Reading:
Understanding Learning-
Bloom's Taxonomy was updated in 2001 by a team of cognitive psychologists:

Combining the idea of the cognitive processes used to manipulate or work with information with the idea that there are different types of knowledge Anderson and Krathwohl  developed a two-dimension taxonomy of learning. 

1- Factual Knowledge: elementary knowledge of an subject including terminology and knowledge of details and elements.
2- Conceptual (declarative) Knowledge:
an understanding of the interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure (concepts) that enables them to function together.
3-Procedural Knowledge: an understanding of how to do something, methods of inquiry, and criteria for using skills, techniques, algorithms and methods.
4-Meta-cognitive Knowledge: is an understading of cognition in general as well as awareness and knowledge of one's own cognition.

The revision Bloom's Taxonomy also changed the labels from nouns to verbs and, more importantly switched level 4 with level 5 making Creating a higher level than Evaluating:

So Bloom's Tax. version 1.0
Level 1 Knowledge
Level 2 Comprehension
Level 3  Application
Level 4 Synthesis
Level 5 Evaluation

Lead to Bloom's Tax version 2.0
Level 1  Remembering
Level 2  Understanding
Level 3   Applying
Level 4  Evaluating
Level 5 Creating

My Response to the Reading:

I love the change in Bloom's taxonomy from nouns to verbs! 

 I also wonder at the cultural bias that lead to Bloom placing Evaluation above Synthesis, and the 2.0 version to value Creating over Evaluating.


Notes on the Reading:
Constructivism=
views learning as a process in which the learner activiely constructs new knowledge based on current and past knowledge
Project Based Learning= a constructivist approach that encourages learning in depth by allowing students to use inquiry-based methods to engage with issues that are rich, real, and relelvant to their lives.
Connectivism= an approach to learning that considers technology a key factor.



My question for the class on this chapter would be to discuss the  We, the Web Kids and then discuss the changes in Bloom's Taxonomy from  version 1.0 to version 2.0 

Note to self:
More on Bloom's Taxonomy 2.0
http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

Share this with class!!
http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s%20Digital%20taxonomy%20v3.01.pdf/65720266/bloom%27s%20Digital%20taxonomy%20v3.01.pdf


http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html
 
Notes on the Reading:

Are there any prerequisites to augmentative communication?
No, anyone who is non-speaking or unable to express themselves effectively through spoken language are candidates for augmentative communciation systems and devices.

Aided Augmentative Communciation requires a deveice such as a language board or a talking computer.

Unaided Augmentative Communciation involves only the body of the communciator and include pointing, facial expressions, and sign language.

What does the Participant Model for Collaborative Team Assessment entail?
*Assessment of a student's current communciation
      pattern
* Assessment of a student's needs across daily routines
*Identification of access barriers within the natural
      environment
*Determination of future communciation needs in
     these environments
*Selection and design of an augmentative
    communciation system
*Evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of the 
     augmentative communication system (ongoing)

What are the primary considerations involved in selecting and designing a student's Augmentative Communcation System?
*Symbols
*Vocabulary
*Access Method

My Response to the Reading:
Again in the myths and realities section- we see the re-occuring idea that using a crutch will inhibit a persons ability to walk, formulated here as:  augmentative communication will "inhibit" the development of normal speech and must only be used as a last resort.

I was pleased to see it addressed, and de-bunked by research.

My questions for the class from this reading is:
Have they seen the YouTube Video:
In My Language by Silent Miaow?

If not, it is on my "Stuff  to Share" page. I would enjoy a class discussion around the ideas that A.M.Baggs brings up.



 
Notes on the Reading:

What is the difference between learning to read and reading to learn?
Learning to read= reading instruction
Reading to learn= the ability to use reading to aquire new knowledge

What are the essential five areas of reading instruction ?
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Comprehension
Vocabulary 

How can computers be used to teach reading skills?
 Students with LD respond well to systematic, repetitive, engaging, and individualized instruction.

Phonemic awareness and phonics:
Effective reading applications will:
* highlight patterns  among sounds, letters, and letter-
    sound correspondence
*provide multiple opportunites for meaningful practive
*engage students through interesting,  interactive
    activities 
*allow for customization for individual differences.

Fluency:
The multi-media capabilites of computers make them an ideal technology for providing fluency-building activities.

Strategies to increase fluency include:
*modeling fluent reading then giving students a chance
    to read the same text aloud
*providing opportunities for repeated oral reading with
    support ( help with unknown words)
*providing opportunities to practice reading with a high
    degree of success

Comprehension:
Comprehension skills can be developed by applications which include text combined with embedded comprehension strategies such as:
*summarizing
*questioning
*clarifying
*predicting
*visualizing
*reflecting

Vocabulary:
Effective vocabulary instruction includes direct instruction on vocabulary items related to a specific text a student will be reading.
 
Applications with "authoring capabilities"  provide opportunities for teachers to add their own content to exisiting templates.
 
Engagment is essential for successful reading. Intersting material can motivate struggling students to overcome the difficulties in the reading itself.  The internet can help provide emerging readers with a wealth of interesting material.

Teachers can download internet material and modify it or manipualte it in word processing documents to accomdate the individual readers skill level.

Alternately subscribing to a leveled reading Web site can  make it easy to locate reading material that is  both interesting and at the appropriate skill level for their students.  

How can computers be used to help student who are reading below grade level compensate for their reading difficulties?
By providing access to the printed word thru
Alternate Formats:
e-Text
DAISY; Digital Accessible Information SYstem 
PDF Files
MP3
Large Print
BRF: Braille Format
 
And by providing tools to access alternate formats:
*text readers
*scan/read systems

My response to the Reading:
Although the entire chapter was filled with useful information I was most interested in the final section on decision making. I was particularly interested in the question: how does an educator decide when to switch emphasis from using technology to teach a student to read to using technology to help a student read to learn.

Often I hear people express a fear of creating "learned helplessness" and not wanting struggling students to "rely" on "crutches".
But the term learned helplessness was developed to describe the result of repeated failure, not of too much support.

I really appreciated the quotes from D.L. Edyburn who advocated for a success based strategy of providing students with the appropriate compensatory tools, with the knowledge that the experience of success is the goal- not the experience of overcoming educational hurdles, nor of failing.

I believe that if we want our children to succeed, we should not be afraid to give the the tools they need to do so.

My questions for the class:
Do you think it is possible to offer a student too much support? Who should decide when it is time to remove supports, if ever? Should a student be "weaned" from support over time or allowed to use the supports until they feel they no longer need them?
 
Notes to myself- copy:
Table 3.2 Applications that Support Fluency. pg.61
Table 3.3 Applications that Support Vocabulary  Development pg. 64
Table 3.4 Applications for Developing Reading Comprehension pg. 65
Figure 3.7 Using Technology to Adapt Text for Students who struggle with reading comprehension




 
My Notes from the Reading:
What are the Major Components of the Writing Process?

“Writing is a complex problem solving activity that involves thinking, planning , and decision making, in addition to the mechanics of transcription.”

A Cognitive Process Model of Writing

Flower and Hayes (1981) composed of:
·         the task environment
·         the writer’s long-term memory
·         the process of writing itself

Task Environment:
 “All those things outside the writer’s skin, starting with the rhetorical problem or assignment”

Writer’s Long Term Memory:
“Stored knowledge, not only of the topic, but of the audience and various writing plans”

Writing Process:
“Planning, Translating ,and Reviewing”

Current Educational Theory:
Writing as a 5 Process Cycle

·         Prewriting
·         Drafting
·         Reviewing
·         Editing
·         Publishing/Sharing

My Response to the Reading:
The Process Model of Writing
Flower and Hayes (1981) :

In the homeschool world we have long been cognizant of the need to separate the act of composing from the mechanics of writing.

 The world of the ET includes the addition of the task environment: the idea that in the classroom a student needs to successfully complete an assignment that has not been customized to their own ability WHILE being involved in a social arena in which they are able to compare their own ability to those of their peers and form opinions or anxieties about themselves (or the task) based on these comparisons.

Note to Self: Print a copy of the Flower and Hayes Article for Thesis Research!

Flower, L., & Hayes, J.R., (1981) A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32(4), 365-387.



What Kinds of Problems do Students with Disabilities have with Writing?


 Students with learning disabilities find writing overwhelming.

·         Students with LD may not plan because they do not know how to plan.

·         They experience difficulties in the transcription process, both spelling and handwriting, and these struggles affect the overall quality of their writing because cognitive resources devoted to transcription are not available for higher-order processes.

·         Revisions can become limited to the correction of mechanical errors.

Students with other kinds of disabilities face other obstacles to writing- primarily with the mechanics for most physical disabilities, although the language aspect can come into play with SLD and hearing disabilities.

Note Taking deserves special notice:
While it does not involve pre-writing and revising
It does require:
·         multi-tasking and cognitive switching
·         the ability to organize ideas
·         the ability to distinguish what is salient from what is not
·         the ability to write fluently and speedily

Which technology tools can address problems with
pre-writing activities, and how?

Graphic Organizers:
·         Think sheets
·         Concept maps
·         Templates

Questions: Will we have a chance to explore Inspiration Software in class?

Which technology tools can address problems with drafting, reviewing, and editing, and how?
Drafting:
·         Typewriters
·         Word Processing Applications
·         Word Prediction Applications
·         Custom Dictionaries
·         Auto-correct
·         Speech Recognition Applications
              o    Dragon Naturally Speaking
              o   SpeakQ
              o   MacSpeech Dictation

Reviewing
·         Text-to-Speech

Editing
·         Spell-checks
                o   Phonetic based dictionaries
                o   Talking spell-checks
·         Thesauruses
·         Grammar checkers
·         Homonym finders
·         Text correction software
·         Track changes /Insert Comments

The older form of Microsoft word had a summarize tool…does the current version have one that I have just not found? If not, are there any applications out there that will summarize text?

Which technology tools can assist with publishing or sharing of students work?
·         Printers!
·         Class newsletters/newspapers
·         Multi-media presentation applications
·         Story writing programs
·         The internet:
            o   Blogs
            o   Discussion boards
            o   Instant messaging
            o   Wikis

I love the digital storytelling idea  on pg.44

My students have used power point to make simple reports with text and images but the idea of starting with a story or script and then adding multimedia to make it come to life is another avenue to explore…especially in task based Executive Function Thinking Therapy.

 I am curious to see Prezi how easily Prezi is to use…

Which technology tools can address problems with note taking, and how?
·         Portable note takers
·         Smartpen
·         Braille note takers
·         Application with captionist and second display
·         Capturing devices

What else, in addition to appropriate technology selection, is essential to improve the writing of students with disabilities?

Best Practices for using At to improve student writing takes a three pronged approach:
·         instruction on the writing process
·         training with the tech tools
·         training on how to use the teach tools to enhance the 
           writing process

Print a copy of Fig.2.11 pg. 51
The Writing Wheel from Teaching the Writing Process to Students with LD by Scot and M. Vitale 2003 , Intervention in School and Clinic, 38(4) p.222

Awesome graphic!

Note to Self:
Print a copy of Table 2.2 pg. 45
Linking Technology Tools to the Writing Process