EDT+674+Discussions+Questions

__Discussion Question 1 - completed during Weekend One__
What do you know about using technology with students? What do you want to know about using technology with students?

Since I am an Occupational Therapist, I only work with special ed students. Therefore most of my knowledge about technology focuses on assistive technology for the individual student with very specific needs. We are always looking for free or reasonably priced options for students. I work with students with varying abilities both physical and cognitive.

I want to know more about the options that are available and know more about technology used in education in general so that I can better assist the student with specific needs. I also work closely with teachers so I hoping that I can be a good resource for others also.

**__Discussion Question 2 - completed during Weekend One__ **
Look at the Essential 21st Century Skills List - Select one skill and discuss how you already meet this skill via your current instruction. Select another Essential 21st Century Skill that you may NOT already touch upon and project how you might be able to meet that need in future instruction. I would say that most of my sessions with students incorporate accountability and adaptability. As I usually work either with individual students or a small group, I work with students on improving their individual success on their IEP goals. In order to make changes, students need to be accountable and motivated to work towards meeting this goal. This can be very difficult with some students but always encouraged.

I would like to promote self-direction more in my students (especially the higher ability students) and of course, being able to transfer the information and skills I work with them on is of utmost importance for carryover and learning. Again, this can be very difficult with some students as their impaired cognitive skills make this even more difficult.

==** __Discussion Question 3 - to be completed one week after the Weekend One__ ** == Find a TeacherTube/YouTube video that you could use for instructional purposes and copy and paste the address of the video for others to view. Explain how you would use this with your students.  [|Word Q (Word prediction software instructions)] This video from Youtube could be used to introduce WordQ, a word prediction programd to students and teachers. We have several students using the software along with SpeakQ, a speak recognition program on a trial basis while we are waiting to see if we receive a grant to purchase it.

NOTE: Since there are so many videos to choose from, please avoid any repeats.

View two other students’ videos.

==**__Discussion Question 4 - to be completed Saturday/Weekend Two__ ** ==

To complete the KWHL- what have you learned from the readings, activities and discussions from this course about using technology with your students?

​ The information presented in this class is awesome. I really appreciate that the information and links will be available on your wiki after this class ends. By having the information available, I think that it will support ongoing learning. These classes provide so much information and a saturation point is reached during the actual class time on the weekends. I am so glad that we will be able to access the information past the end date of this class.

One of the things I learned in this class is how technology can be incorporated in multiple areas related to education. I like how the book presented the instructional strategies and how various technologies can be used in those areas. I also learned how to use various teacher tools like the gradebook and mail merge with letter and addresses, and rubrics. Although I may not use these activities right now in my job (maybe I will some day), it provides more exposure and information that can be applied to other similar activities. That sounds like "identifying similarities and differences"! As I become more computer literate and understand what's available, I am sharing this information with teachers and students who are also benefitting from the information.

It was helpful to learn more about our own instructional style using the questionnaire. This is so important to remember as we work with students AND other staff. The activities helped me to understand cooperative learning and how it could be incorporated into the classroom setting.