Technology for All!!!!

There so much that can be said for the using of technology in the classroom, I know this course has open our eyes to the various possibilities that it affords, yet I am stunned by the article in the Sunday Guardian in which the ministry of education offices in Tobago, are yet to be notify as to whether the students of form one in Tobago are to receive their laptops, at all. If the government thrust is that of techno-savvy citizens ,it must be apply to all citizens not just the chosen few. It's this constant division that has cause the decline in the interrelation of the twin Islands. This to me is quite a simple matter which can be easily resolved, If children on both islands cannot have laptops at the same time, none should be given, since to do otherwise will simply raise a hornets' net, in which the fine citizens of our beloved sister island will again feel that the mother has given favor to the eldest child.
I am pleading to the Minister, to ensure that this injustice, not bear root in the strong holds of the claimed people's Government. Remember our motto" Together we aspire , Together we achieve"

THE WISE LITTLE HEN.

Now class I want you to watch this short film. At the end of it I want you to write a short review of the film. Remember you must answer the following questions to complete your review.

1. What is the title of the review?
2. What type of film is it? (comedy, horror , drama, science fiction)
3. What is the film about?
4. Who are the main actors?
5. What did you think of their performances ?
6. What is your opinion of the film overall?
7. What is the message in the film.

ENJOY!!!!!!

A Must Read!!!!

It would be remiss of me not to thank my lecturers for their patience and understanding. Your help really made the difference for me in this course, you made the challenging look easy. I must also thank my colleagues for their continued support, you guys really rallied and we got the technologies to work,while building each other confidence in the field. I would also like to thanks those who took the time to comment on my ,I learnt varying perspectives about technology and its impact on reading. I would also like to thank those individuals who gave me access to their blogs they are as follows: Khadine Ashraph (2), Siobhan Downridge (2), Vessena Mohammed (2), Dennise David, Victoria Cunningham, Esther Stewart, Shasta Pierre-Sambucharan, Angela Yatali and Michael Sutherland.

THANK YOU ALL !!!!!!!!!

In The Mirror

"I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . ." Michael Jackson(1958-2009)

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html

As I ponder upon the words of this song. I realize that Edrl 6004 was all about change. When I began this course, I simple saw it as another element that made up my sojourn to my final destination of achieving my Master's Degree. However it was this course that opened my eyes to my true function, that of being an agent of change. I was being empowered to enhance my students' learning, remove the fear that most of my colleagues associate with technology, and be the catalyst for the full implementation of the Ministry’s ICT policy paper within our schools. The course also made me look at myself as a learner, too often I could not rationalise technology being a tangible part of my everyday instruction, I continually argued that it did not seem practical. Now that I have grown a bit more techno savvy, I can see not only technology finding its niche, but see myself as an advocate for its employment.
Reading is a fundamental skill that is needed by everyone, yet we find within our school communities that there are many who have not mastered the art by the conventional means. Technology from what I have learnt, thus far is here to furnish these resistant readers with a viable alternative that they can easily manipulate so as to become participants in their own learning. To deny them this opportunity, would be going against the very fibre of education, which is to provide the learners with the tools necessary to develop into productive world citizens.

The impact of the Web on Reading.

While preparing my final draft for my web 2.o paper I came upon this article by Wendy Sutherland Smith, in which she clearly outline some of the some of the difference between that of conventional reading versus that of web reading. I admit the article had me a bit confused, since I believed that readers would employ the same strategies that they did to paper based text a to that of electronic text. The article on the whole presented some interesting facts.
Some experts like Birkerts, (1994) and Postman, (1995) both believe that with the integration of computer technology came the ruin of the English language. Surprisingly many researchers and educators stand firmly behind this statement. They propose that “texting” has bought about the demise of spelling and grammar structure. There are many who advocate that technology has done just the opposite.
As I read on, many students believed that they had to approach reading on the net with speed, while the approach to a conventional books, was much slower. They also quickly added that they found the internet to gratify their needs quickly while traditional reading was more laborious and time consuming. What was most interesting was that 90% of the students held the belief that books were the better authority on giving accurate information.
Finally she indicated that reading web texts required:
Non-linear strategies of thinking
 Use of non-hierarchical strategies
 Offered non-sequential strategies
 Use of literacy skills to understand multi-media components
Further studies indicates that web reading is interactive, with the reader able to add, change or move text which enables a blurring of the relationship between the reader and the writer.

To read the full article go to: http://ra.tapor.ualberta.ca/Resources/e-text%20reading/Sutherland%20-%20Weaving%20-%20RT%2055.pdf

Believe it or Not!

"

The child's world is full of print,and sooner or later the child will notice it....Everything that children eat,wear, play with or pass in the streets has a sign or symbol." (Margaret Meek, 1986).
In this statement Mrs. Meek was addressing the concept of emergent literacy. This to be describes how many teachers today feel about technology, there are signs and symbols of technology every where, yet we as educators are in the group that wants to resists it at all cost. We at the very least fight,the opinions and views that "chalk and talk" is now considered "passe", that we are not the " only expert" in the classroom,and that we must use more "child-centered approaches" in our instructions. Yes, the introduction of blogs, wikis, pod-casting, e-books, digital storytelling and other internet tools will indeed change the face of educational instruction as we know it. Some will admit that there is the fear that these technologies will sideline them and in extreme cases even replace the need for teachers.
However, the truth lies in the adoption of these technologies. Once you have interacted with these web 2.0 tools one would realize that they have not been created to replace, but rather to enhance the teaching /learning environment. Whether you believe it or not, the fact remains that technology is here to stay, experience it and make it work for you or hide in its shadows. The choice is yours.

social book marking made easy

The whole idea of having my information organized and easily accessible made my "Delicious Account " my new best friend, this internet tool has made my life so much easier, I have all my information properly labeled and tagged , which makes this almost as good as a search engine. Social book marking allows the user to have access to information that they find on the "net". This was so useful during my web2.0 research paper. It was so easy to simple tag an article, a webpage, a blog and even pictures and have them saved in an area from which they could be easily retrieve d. To me this was one of the web 2.o tools that was easy to manipulate, saved me tons of time, since I didn't have to remember Url addresses for the pages of interest, I simply had to click on my delicious bar and all the sources that I needed were there at my finger tips. I must admit the more I use these tools the easier it is to accept that technology and education go hand in hand.

Digital Stories, this is the way to go!!!!!!

The old saying that "A picture tells a thousand words," is truly a reality with the onset of digital storytelling, just image you can relay events of your life without having to say much. I know,with this discovery , teaching story structure could be more interesting for the pupil, not to mention also easier on the teacher. I admit it would take a bit more work than than traditional instructions , but one must look at the benefits of using this as a strategy. One advantage that clearly comes to mind is that of motivation, I believe that digital story telling will pique the interest of children in topics that would usually not interest them. It would encourage critical thinking ,especially in the realm of the actual photo -taking, since the pupil would have to develop an "eye"and appreciation of their surroundings. It would also involve other skills such as story board development, brainstorming, discussion, sequencing etc. components of the cognitive element of reading.
Digital books would encourage the struggling reader to participate, since the soft-ware used is very friendly and would assist him at all stages of the project. Honestly I can't wait to try this in my classroom, even it means sourcing the materials/equipment needed myself. Our system is sourly lacking, since this type of technology would improve the grades of those children falling under 30%.

Yeah !!! E-books.

I would personally like to thank the creator of e-books, this tool is quite comprehensive, it can serve several masters and and yet maintain its true quality ,that of engagement. one of the many masters that it serves is that of the child. due to the nature of the tool, children of all ages will find theses texts appealing, they would be attract to them because of their colour, their sound and the ease in which they can be manipulated. Secondly, once children are properly guided , they can create their own books, this feature allows children to have a voice, since the topic, content,pictures,and sounds are of their choosing, in simple terms, E-books give children automony. which leads to my third point, which is that of motivation. E-books are excellent tools that would allow children to experience intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation.
In the case of the second master, the teacher, E-books are easy and effective instructional resource, which can be used to each all of the "fab-five" elements of reading. As an educator, it is imperative that the pleasure principal of e-books not be the only factor, that is to be considered in their us. E-books like a regular text ,must be carefully drafted with a fix objective in mind, must be relevant to its intended audience and finally must be related to some requirement of the school curriculum.

IT AND ICTS

I am still adapting to the concept of technology in the classroom. However while doing research for my web 2.o paper I came across The Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) Standards and Effectiveness Unit (SEU) (http://www. standards. dfee .gov. uk) belief about the teaching of IT in School. the following assumptions were made

• It should offer pupils the opportunity to develop IT capability including their knowledge and particularly an understanding of how to select an prepare information. this to me hinges not only on the pupils but on the teacher as well.
• It should help pupils develop their skills in using hardware and software to manipulate information during the problem-solving process. Here we are being asked to have some fundamental skill s not only in the handling of the software, but also to some degree be literate in solving minor hardware problems.
• It should support pupils in their ability to apply IT capability and ICT to the use of Language and communication. Again there is the need for the students to have some degree of IT ability.
• Finally it should provide pupils with the opportunity to explore their attitudes towards ICT and the advantages and limitations. it is therefore important that we expose our charges to all the elements of web 2.0 technology.
• As teachers we must assist them in gaining the knowkedge so that they can empower themselves .
  

Assistive Technology

I read the articles that were assigned to us to create a storyboard, these articles compromised of information that I found to be quite informative . The item of news that struck out , was the concept of using E-books as "Assistive Technology" which according to the IDEA-The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, is "any item, piece of equipment ;or product system, whether acquired commerically or off the shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase ,maintain or improve, the functional capabilities of a child with disabilities."

It is therefore my belief that any form of technology simple or complicated can indeed enhance any child ability to learn. I suspect the fear that most teachers have is in the application of the these technologies. I truly realize that as teachers we must not use the tools being taught to us in in our ICT class as just another course in which to pass ,but rather we must understand that these tools must become second nature to us if we are truly to be of service to the nation's future generations of learners.

here I have placed a link to a video that demonstrates a strategy where students are allowed to take charge of their comprehension of text.

A Seattle school uses a technique called Reciprocal Teaching that’s designed to improve reading comprehension.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid30687306001?bclid=0&bctid=5545222001
peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeR4yvnfOFA


I believe it is important that we have an idea of what students think about literacy, the above video tells us what they consider to be literacy, what they believe is missing in the school system, the different types of literacy and the roles they play in the lives of the students. Please pay close attention to what is being said. As reading specialists we must aim always to listen to the voices of our charges.

peace

mapping

The use Inspiration to create diagrams and documents is definitely a plus for any student. there are several benefits that can be derived from creating a concept map. 1. It allows students to identify the main ideas in a passage. 2. It allows to to clearly identify the links /details that would suppoert the main idea. Due to the layout it would allow them to brainstorm ideas that further support those already given the text. It allows them to create a visual structure of their ideas, while allowing others to have inputs.
As a teacher It can be used as an instructional tool, in which pupils are allowed to see the flow or sequencing of ideas. It can be used as a model which students may follow to structure their thoughts, thereby gaining meaningful insight into what they are reading.

My New Experiences.

This does take some getting use to, so far I have design a blog page , designed a wiki, commented and edited a wiki, and now I am adding another blog to my page , this has happened all in the space of three weeks. The speed of technology is amazing. These activities are really fun, I now admit, but they take a while to really get a handle on. Could you just grasp the idea that my kids in school really doing their work via the internet? They would never want to see a copy book or a pencil again. I can't really blame them wikis' are so interactive . I write something now and it can be edited by one of my peers as soon as I am finished. I think my struggling readers would really get a "kick out of this". My one concern , however is the ability of the present school system to use this technology to their advantage, I hope this opportunity to enhance our children's learning is not placed in the background and forgotten, for it would be a real "shame."

READING 101

I am currently a teacher at Belmont Boys' Roman Catholic School, where I am assigned to the senior department, usually the S.E.A. class. My interests are music, , love soca, sport mainly cricket , football and basketball. I was recently introduced to baseball by my husband, at first it seemed like a difficult sport to understand , but I getting a handle on it. I love a "good trini lime" It does matter if it at home, at friends or simply "hanging" at any one of the local pubs. .
At work I am know as the "Planner" I simply love organising fun activities for the pupils and staff at my school. I believe its so important that children see not only a long term goal to their learning, but they must experience some immediate reward for the work they are putting in. I mainly organise competition, where the houses compete either in the academic realm or sporting arena for the coveted prize of "House of the week". This not only encourages the students to be more active in their school work , but it also encourages the staff to work harder as welll since they too see the fruits of their labour. this is one of the many reasons for which I have chosen to become a reading specialist, I believe that children who find themselves under performing within our system of education are not unable to learn , rather they simply learn differently. It is therefore up to us the educators to devise various strategies in order provide new routes in which these children can learn. I believe that I can indeed be a part of that transformation that is sorely lacking in our system today.



Reading as an art.

Too many teachers look to reading as simply the calling of words in a rapid succession, for many this is the standard by which many a reader would be judged. The time has come for reading to be seen as art. Teacher s must understand that like an artists children must be taught the fundamentals of reading. One may ask what are these fundamental or basic skills? In order to answer that we must look at the processes involve in begging reading, One it impossible to teach reading without introducing students to the alphabet. The English alphabet is made of 26 letters, puipls are taught the sounds associated with these letters (about 44 sounds). When these letters are combine they form words, pupils are taught in some cases to recognise the words on sight , while other s they are taught to "sound the letters out" in order to state the specific name of the word. As a beginning reader the ability to understand and perform this function is most basic to the art of reading.
As teacher it is important that children be taught these basic steps in a comfortable encouraging environment, where the instructors is well versed. It is important that the above condition be adhered to, since the outcome may impact negatively on a child's ability to become a competent reader in the future.