Equal Access to the Digital World

What does it mean to provide "equal access to the digital world"?

Dear Parents,

Being in school the 21st century has allowed a totally different learning environment to prior times. Students today are able to use technologies that their parent's teachers never even dreamed about having or using. Technology has allowed teachers to reach students of all different backgrounds, learning styles, and disabilities. Teaching in an urban school district, it is important for me to take into consideration my students access to technology at home. In order to compensate for a potential digital divide, students will always have time to work on projects that involve technology in class. Although I cannot guarantee enough class time to finish, there are always resources available for your students (such as the library at lunch or during a study hall).

While in the classroom, I am in control of student use of technology and I can assure that each student has access to a computer. However, just because a student has a computer in front of them, does that mean they will all learn from the same program? No. Each one of my students learns in a different way. It is my job to use programs for students that can be varied to best fit their learning style and learning needs. For example for a visual learner, I may provide them with a variety of visuals (PowerPoint, videos, diagrams). For a linguistic learning student I may provide them with an article of the material. For a ELL student, I may provide them with text to speech software to review an article. For students who have difficulty performing hands on laboratories, I may provide them with a simulation that can be manipulated on the computer.

Technology has allowed wonderful advancements in the field of education. Technology allows all students to succeed no matter their learning style or learning ability. If you have any questions about how your student is using technology in the classroom please feel free to contact me!!

Educational Value of Social Networks

Despite the fact that social media websites were designed to be a social environment, there are many useful ways to use such websites in the classroom environment. Due to the large demands for the use of technology in education, social media has become a popular classroom tool specifically for collaboration. Social networks provide a wonderful media for study groups and discussions to form (Casey & Evans, 2011). There are only 42 minutes to a class period, which may not be enough for all students to grasp the information. Students can go home, go on to our class Google Community page, and reach out to classmates for help.

Often, teachers and administrators are hesitant to allow the use of social networks because of the varying security features and not being able to constantly monitor action. As Casey & Evans (2011) state, "an element of understanding and trust is required." Our classroom Google Community page has been set to the maximum security settings. Only people within the community (myself, students, administration and confirmed parents) are able to see group members and posts.

Our Google Community page will have a variety of uses. To begin, I will post due dates to keep students on track with classwork, homework and projects. The community will also allow me to post additional resources for students to review. The community is above everything else, a wonderful place for students to collaborate on projects. In addition to the community, students will be able to create Google Circles which I will require students to include me in so I can assist them, as well as monitor activity. Another wonderful tool that is allowed by Google, is their hangout feature. This is a video chat, that I am willing to join with students. If students are involved with a study group, and they are stuck on a problem they can "conference call" me in and I can address their issue while they are in the comfort of their own homes.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to using social networks in education. It is assured that all students will abide by our district's internet policies, or they will be removed from the community. As a teacher, I will do everything to protect the students within our Google Community.


Click the link to check out our Google Community!



Casey, G., & Evans, T. (2011). Designing for Learning: Online Social Networks as a Classroom Environment. International Review Of Research In Open & Distance Learning, 12(7), 1-26.

Introduction to our WebQuest

Students and Parents of Ms. White's Regents Physics,
In a few days we will be starting a WebQuest on momentum in class. A WebQuest is an inquiry based lesson or unit that is done all or mostly on the internet. It is designed to keep students' interest as well as allow them to take responsibility for their learning. Students will learn and improve on their 21st century skills of creativity, collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. Students will navigate through various selected websites and learn about the different aspects of momentum, and I will act as a coach and guide the students through the unit. After learning about the basics of momentum, students will work to create a final project that will allow me to assess what they have learned from the WebQuest. Students will be acting as accident investigators and use their knowledge of physics to determine what happened during the accident. Students will determine the speed of the cars prior to the collision and whether the air bags should have deployed during the accident. This blog, as well as a social media website will be available to students as an additional resource. If there are any questions please feel free to comment below. Students, we will talk much more in detail about this project in class.

Check out the following link to view our WebQuest:
Momentum in Real Life

Educational Value of Animoto

Animoto is a great tool to use in a classroom. The program allows teachers or students to create short (or longer if you pay) videos. The program can be used to create short commercials that advertise a topic or argue an opinion. Animoto can also be used as a vocabulary strategy, which can be seen in my sample below. Within a topic, each student (or groups) can be assigned a vocabulary word. In the 30 second video they should be able to capture the essence of their vocabulary word. They can define the word and give real world applications of the word. All videos can then be posted to a common blog where the entire class can view them to learn or review the unit vocabulary.

Check out my Animoto Video on Momentum/Impulse!
 
Momentum WebQuest

Educational Value of Wordle

A Wordle is a wonderful visual for vocabulary words on a new topic. Wordle can be used to get an idea of main topics presented in an article. Students are able to copy and paste an assigned article into the Wordle program, and the program will create a visual that emphasizes the words that occur most frequently in the article. Wordle can also be used to make connections between words within the topic and among previous topics covered. Students are able to type vocabulary words into the program and transform a boring hand written list to a colorful cloud of words!

Check out my Wordle on Momentum.