I'm hopeful!

My word! There has been so much going on this semester. I have learned a lot but have been so busy learning that I have neglected to document some of my experiences. I thought I'd take a minute to talk about the experience I had last week with the technology called Eagle Eyes, which uses five electrodes placed on an individual's face to track the movement of their eyes. This essentially allows them to control a cursor on a computer with their eyes. It's relatively new and is already opening a lot of doors. For more information about Eagle Eyes, you can go to eagleeyes.org, but for now I want to tell you about my experience getting an individual I work with in to test out Eagle Eyes. Here goes:

We started talking about Eagle Eyes at the beginning of this semester and I immediately became interested. Once a week, I take care of a 43-year-old woman with Rett syndrome, who lives with her mother who is in her 70's. Mindy does not speak, does not point with her hand, but simply cries out if she is in pain, like an infant, and it is then up to caregivers to guess what the problem could be. Since she has no language and cannot point, formal tests of intelligence have yielded no insight into Mindy's capabilities, and, consequently, we have no way of knowing what goes on in Mindy's head. Despite all this, Mindy has excellent eye contact. She often follows your movement with her eyes, an expression of intensity burning in them, while other times she seems to glaze over and is distant. So far we have not found a way to communicate with her even when she seems to be paying perfect attention to us. When I heard about Eagle Eyes for the first time, Mindy immediately popped into my mind. I knew that this might not work for her, but I knew I absolutely must try.

On November 24, Mindy, her mother Ruth, and I went up to Jordan Valley School and Mindy tried Eagle Eyes for the first time. I didn't expect very much, because, from my observations, it seemed that it might take some practice for her to understand that she has the ability to control and manipulate something outside herself. I was surprised to see how much Eye Painting engaged her. She seemed to focus on the star lines that followed her eyes. She only got one alien on her own in the next game before she got tired and stopped paying attention. When we were done, she seemed completely exhausted, and I think that it is probably safe to say that she has probably never worked so hard in her life. The steps we made were baby steps, but in watching how engaged she was with this device, I thought that this could be a great thing as we keep on practicing!

I am so happy with how the program has been designed, that everyone can do something on paint, that it's a "no lose" game. I do wish that there were more ways to customize the product, to put in things of more interest to the individual for initial testing. For example, Mindy loves bears and she loves High School musical, so if we could download a cursor online that had the face of Zac Efron, or that was a moving blackbear, we would be sure to get Mindy's attention. I think that in the future, this program is going to take off and the options will be endless. I really think that this is incredible, and the people who are doing this work have begun something incredible.

Choices, choices...

Goodness Gracious, it's been a long time since I've written. I have gotten so involved in how much is going on in school that I haven't taken as much time as perhaps I should to document some of the things that we are learning. There has been a lot going on, especially with the student that we are trying to implement a technology with.

What we are trying to do is teach our student, who is non-verbal, to use a rocker switch to say yes and no. Although the teacher seemed thrilled about this idea, it is proving to be more difficult that we anticipated. Before she can use a switch to say "yes" and "no", she has to understand the concept. To begin we decided to try to observe if she gives any indication of preference between two objects, one that we thought would be desirable, and another that we assumed would not be as desirable and see if we could determine any mode that she has of communicating her preference. However, thus far it has been very difficult to determine what an indication of her preference would be.

For example, if you shake a pompom near her face, she gets excited and starts to giggle, and if you hold a pen up in front of her face she usually will just stare, however if you try to ask her which one she prefers and you hold them both up to her, there is very little indication of what she would choose. It is only when we choose to engage her in something that we assume that she'll like that she shows her approval, but in that it is still guess work and not an actual choice being shown by her.

Our goal was essentially to have her be able to demonstrate her choices, her understanding, etc. but it looks like we may need to step back and teach her that she can make choices. I believe that this is a totally new concept for her. Any ideas how we might help her do this?

Pedagogy Schmedagogy? I don't think so...

As I have reviewed various teaching strategies, I have found that the possibilities are endless. There are pedagogical techniques for every student with individualized needs. Subject matter can be taught by direct modeling and hand over hand strategies, or through hands on and exploration techniques. Students can be introduced to material through a book or a movie and then can practice and review knowledge and skills acquired through games. Scaffolding and having groups become experts on a topic are popular ways of teaching as well. The key to pedagogy is assessing the curriculum and the student’s needs. The most important thing is to find a way for the student to access the material in a way that is meaningful and memorable to them.

As I taught ESL last year I found that my teaching techniques changed many times during one lesson as I would use one technique for direct instruction, another for application, and a third to check the students’ recall of the information. I used all sorts of strategies from singing songs, to reading books, to direct instruction, to playing games, and to class discussion. Understanding the needs of the students and then actively seeking out techniques that would be most effective was crucial to my success teaching.

Internet Safety

After watching the videos on iSafe I was surprised at how much I did not previously know about Internet safety. I thought that I had been pretty careful in the information that I display on the internet, but I realized that I have broken a few basic internet safety rules before and realized that many of my friends had broken many and were compromising their safety if pretty big ways.

Before watching this film I did not realize how telling a screen name could be, for example, or how much personal information I am willing to give in a casual conversation such as what activities or organizations that I participate in. I was also so surprised at the amount of hurtful things people tell each other over the Internet. Some of the saddest stories to me were the ones in which the individual knew at some level what they were doing (flirting, etc.) but did not think through the consequences of their actions. As I watched these films I thought of my little sisters who are beautiful, smart, and computer savvy, as well as curious, naïve, and capable of oversight and lack of judgment at times like everyone. I realized how this is for individuals everywhere to be aware of the dangers of the Internet.

I also loved M. Russell Ballard's talk Let Our Voices Be Heard, I thought it made our standards and our purposes for them so clear. In it he stated that our biggest challenge is "to choose wisely what we listen to and what we watch." In it he also outlined the church's guidelines for safe use of Internet and the TV in which he included seven things that parents should do to help protect their family from the negative influences that can be felt. They are:

1. Hold family councils to decide media standards.

2. Spend quality time with children.

3. Make good media choices and set a good example for children.

4. Limit the amount of TV/videogame/internet time.

5. Use Internet and TV filters.

6. Have TVs and computers in commonly used rooms.

7. Watch uplifting media with children and discuss the choices they are making.

As a teacher I feel like it is important to teach basic internet safety guidelines for students before they are asked to use it. I think that basic information sheets should also be sent home to parents to make them more aware and if they are interested, conduct an Internet safety workshop.

As far as the guidelines put out on the church's website, I thought they were inspired and insightful council. I think that suggestions such as moving computers to more used rooms are things that anyone in the family could suggest. I personally went home and shared things that I learned with my family and they were pretty receptive. Good communication is crucial in overcoming any obstacle that families may face and so any member of the family can and should begin the Internet Safety dialogue with their family.

Voicethread

So this is an interesting technology. It is definitely a pretty accessible sharing tool. It is cool that it just runs through the comments for you or you can manually listen to the ones that interest you. It is also cool that you can zoom in and out easily although more zoom options might be nice. And the fact that you can add a comment even by telephone is pretty amazing! The only thing about this is I am not sure when I would use this since I don't post pictures for people to comment on very often, but it is clear that it is filling an important need and has done an excellent job at making it available to everyone. 'Nuff said.

Josh's Story

This story was so cool! From all of my experience working with individuals with disabilities, each has strengths and interests that can be channeled in good directions, but sometimes it is difficult to find something or some way to do that. This teacher found a way to give Josh a form of expression and she probably couldn't have done it without basic technological knowledge/the ability to think outside traditional methods and use the resources available. As far as the 4 principles of technology goes she exemplified all of them.

1. It should involve students: Josh was the one who was reading with the book worm. It was him pressing the buttons, him turning the pages, etc.

2. It should be an essential integration, not peripheral: Before Josh was characterized as "non-verbal", the Book Worm changed that. This CANNOT be described as peripheral, it was an important key to his success.

3. Focuses on the learning task not the technology: It was all about his love for books. The Book Worm was brought to make books accessible to him not just to play with a toy. They also said that since the book worm works with virtually any book children don't get fixated with the technology itself.

4. Facilitates learning activities that would be more difficult or impossible without the technology: Josh could not read or even be understood in his speaking. This technology was the way that he could learn that. It was what engaged him and gave him the confidence to speak out.

Honestly, this is a very cool story, I wish that all teachers were this good at finding ways to get around a students disability and into their learning capabilities.

Better than Eagle Eyes?

In browsing the internet I ran across a product called MyTobii P10 which seems really cool to me. It is essentially a computer that can be set up and plugged into a wheelchair, an outlet, or a separate battery and is controlled through your eye-movements. This seems like a very ingenious technology because it is light weight and the movements are very precise. This is a similar technology to Eagle Eyes where the user moves the cursor with their eye movements, however unlike Eagle Eyes this does not require you to wear any electrodes to track your movement you just pug it in and follow a moving dot for 10 sec and you are ready to go. It works with glasses, in low lighting, and is not disrupted by head movements. In short, this is AWESOME!

Easier than I thought!

Something that I really liked from this weeks lecture was how simple it can be to get a grasp on the resources that are available to us. A lot of the time technology can seem like an unnecessary addition to an already large work load, but if you keep up with technology it won't seem so daunting. The films making RSS and Wikis such simple concepts showed me that a lot of these resources are very accessible. I especially like the class discussion concerning the Principles of Educational Technology and TPCK, because these outline why and how technology in general really should be used in the classroom and it is always for the benefit of learning. It made balancing technology and teaching doable.

TPCK Reading Assignment

1. The TPCK model refers to three types of knowledge (K) and their different combinations. First there is Technology Knowledge which is the knowledge of how technology works and how to use it, thus a computer technician may be an expert in this field. Next there is Pedagogy Knowledge which includes the knowledge and skills required to teach, so an excellent teacher would be an expert in this area. Finally there is Content Knowledge which refers to whatever subject material that is being taught, thus an expert in this field would be a historian, musician, mathematician, etc. However the idea behind this model is that these types of knowledge should ideally be combined. So, the PCK combo would be the skill to teach the given content effectively, the TPK combo would be the ability to teach with technology enhancing your lessons, the TCK would be the combination of technology and content expertise, and finally the TPCK model would be the skill to appropriately and effectively combine all three.

2. The essential tension is the fact that all three in different ways will be interacting and by nature adjustments in one area will need to come because of the other. Thus if your content changes the type of technology and style of teaching may need to be adjusted, and vice versa. Essentially it is that all affect the others.

3. An understanding of all three types of knowledge and then also of how they intertwine.

4. It is clear that teachers must first gain an understanding of how technology works and how to use it. I think though that most important is that they understand the potential application to their students and they must be comfortable enough using it to know when it would be appropriate and useful.

5. Emphasis on competencies and checklists are problematic because 1. technology is always changing, so specific knowledge about a program quickly becomes outdated, 2. most programs are not designed specifically for education so once again the knowledge simply of the program is insufficient, 3. the specific needs of a classroom and the way a teacher teaches is all subjective so one list will not serve all, and 4. teaching teachers what they need to know, does not teach them how to use it appropriately in their classroom.

6. Technology-by-design, seems to me to be a very practical use of technology in the classroom. The technology is there to help you in creating your framework for your classes, and then the technology is integrated at times when it will be specifically used and not introduced in long tutorials at the beginning of class. Instead of forced use of technology it is used in specific ways to enhance the class objectives.

7. I do agree with his idea of teacher education. I think that one of the biggest responsibilities or skills of a teacher is to be able to adapt. There is not one right way to teach, or one type of knowledge one must acquire, rather teachers must gain a good foundation of knowledge and resources to use but the important thing is for them to gain the ability to reason and choose what will be most effective in that specific setting.

I'm hoping!

After the first day of class I understand what we will be studying much better. I really look forward to developing the skills I will need to help the students in my classroom by understanding my resources as a teacher. Equally I look forward to learning about the resources available for the students in my classroom. I have heard about so many individuals being helped by an Eagle Eye or a word processing computer, etc., but my knowledge regarding these technologies is very limited and I want to know what's out there for my students. I look forward to this course.