Annika Park: Technology in the Classroom

     SETT Framework is an important topic that I am glad I was able to do more research on and gain a better understanding of through this week's readings and videos. The meaning of this topic is essentially the steps that need to be taken before selecting assistive technologies for students. SETT, standing for  S - Students/Skills: Understanding the students' skills and their learning habits, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.  E - Environment: Focusing on the environment they're working in, as well as how this may be affecting their schoolwork and habits.  T - Tasks: Analyzing the tasks that the student may be required to complete and what could assist them with this.  T - Tools: The final step, choosing an assistive technology that may be best suited for the student.  After reading the document provided with the instructions for this blog posting, a few different topics specifically stood out to me the most. The first one being, of cour...

     XR (Extended Reality) can change a student's life for the better and improve their quality of life. Extended Reality describes technologies that can shift your reality and immerse you in different situations and environments. Inside the term "extended reality," there is a spectrum of technologies that you would describe as XR. One of these is called augmented reality, which means you are not fully immersed within the technology world, but it more so brings digital aspects into the real world. An example of this could be something like an app that allows you to try on glasses, or as simple as a filter on a social media app. The second term on the spectrum of extended reality is virtual reality. Virtual reality means it completely replaces our reality and turns it into a digital "fake" reality, immersing the user in a completely different environment, unlike the one they are in, an example being VR headsets. Finally, the last term that fits under the umbrella...

       For this lesson, I was able to learn all about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). These are technological tools that allow students who may struggle with communicating verbally or are unable to, to have the chance to feel like they are included and not falling behind the rest of the class. These tools can range from low-tech, like sign language, or high-tech, something like an app on an iPad that allows the student to click buttons that speak words out loud.  The first Augmentative and Alternative Communication technology tool I have chosen is a low-tier technology: picture boards/cards. Picture boards/cards can simply be a board filled with colourful visuals that are labelled to match the visual: ex, an image of a sad face, and the description saying "upset", or an image of a question mark, and the description saying "question". This makes it so the student can easily just point at the visual they believe would be best suited to the contex...

       This week's post is primarily focused on technologies that provide math support for students. This week has especially interested me as I was, and am, someone who struggles with math. A majority of the technologies I learned about were things that I wish I had access to in elementary, middle school, and high school. I feel as though if I did have access to them, I would've done better in math, or at least felt more motivated. Part of my biggest problem that fueled my bad grades in math was that I was afraid of it. I struggled with understanding the values of numbers, and I felt that I was constantly falling behind my classmates. In reality, I just didn't have the support that I needed or the tools that could help assist me with things like memorization and understanding values in numbers.  The first example of a math technology support I have chosen to delve deeper into is multiplication charts. Multiplication charts are quite self-explanatory. These char...

     The PowerPoint and readings this week provided important insight into the many different writing disabilities and the different assistive technologies and supports that can help students. Regardless of whether you are looking for a high assistive technology, like Grammarly, or a low assistive technology, such as a pencil grip, these tools are guaranteed to help a student requiring extra support in writing. As mentioned, pencil grips can be a wonderful low assistive technology for students who may be struggling with writing, or may have what is known as a "Graphomotor Problem". This means that the student struggles to use the small muscles in their fingers, which makes it difficult to move a pencil and write. This will be noticeable if the student is seen to be frustrated while writing, may be lacking motivation to write, or is seen to have messy handwriting. Therefore, with this issue, the right decision would be to offer the student a pencil grip. These make it easi...

     Students in the 21st century are lucky to have a wide variety of technological tools to support their reading. Throughout this week's discussions, class meetings, and readings, I have been able to learn more about these different tools and their advantages. Two of the technological tools that stood out most to me were Raz-Kids and Google Read & Write. Both of these programs, I have experience using throughout my education journey when I was a student, and I recall finding them engaging and especially useful.  Raz-Kids is an online program that assists students (usually K-5) with reading by providing online books that match the students' reading level, as well as comprehension quizzes, interactive activities, and awards students with points, to keep students engaged and motivated. Students who may be struggling with reading will be able to read books that better suit their level, and they will be provided with tools that can assist them, depending on what the...