Final Post - iPads & Autism

Hi Guys --

This will the final post to our blog.  Thank you so much for all your contributions!   I leave you with a great (short!) article about using iPads with autistic students.  There was a segment on this on 60 Minutes as well ... the video is embedded at the end of the article.

iPads & Autism: Can Technology Help Kids Communicate?

Have a great rest of your semester.

-Jessica Millstone

Using media

In discussing how we can incorporate play and media into our classrooms, the overarching themes seem to be how we can best organize and simplify directions, so as to avoid distractions and remain on task. 

            In the MacArthur Foundation Report on Digital Media and Learning, they mention the fact that digital media has truly restructured the way that our students play.  Their socialization has increased two-fold, and it seems imperative that we find a way to incorporate aspects of the peer to peer social networking they do on a daily basis into our classrooms.  If we utilize the new gaming technology in an educational format, then our children will be excited to learn new information in an informative and relatable setting.

            Furthermore, in assessing the peer to peer learning that occurs through new media or technology, Will Richardson comments on the fact that students seem motivated to learn through each other’s autonomy, sometimes to a greater extent than through the teacher’s lessons.  He says, “Kids respect other’s knowledge online because their knowledge and expertise is transparent in ways they haven’t been in the past.”  In this way, kids can relate to each other’s interests and connect around shared passions.  If we, as teachers, can find a way to incorporate this sense of autonomy and exploration into our classrooms, than we will truly be making the most out of the ever-expanding technological world that we live in.  

UDL - Sydney Linder

There is a direct, clearly defined, and inclusion-oriented trio of principals that make up the definition of Universal Design for Learning, they are: (1), to support recognition learning, by providing multiple, flexible methods of presentation; (2), to support strategic learning, by providing multiple, flexible methods of expression and apprenticeship; and (3), to support affective learning, by providing multiple, flexible options for engagement.

In my teaching practice I believe that I integrate UDL with new media in several ways. One example I can think of is using the SMART board with students when editing their essays one-on-one. Some students find that marking up their essays makes them feel disoriented and confused. For students with organizational issues, seeing their essay in large format up at the front of the room, pulled up on the SMART board, puts them in control of editing their work at my suggestion. Oftentimes I pull up a student’s essay without changes, and have the hard copy in my hands. That way, once they have gone through the essay with me, they have seen it evolve in front of them, and have been in charge of making those changes, we can go back and look at the paper copy to deconstruct my notes. This method, I believe, falls under the principal of supporting diverse strategic networks by providing opportunities to practice essay writing and editing with supports, and by providing ongoing, relevant feedback.

In another exercise I have been working on with students, I asked them to create an image in Photoshop of an Ancient Greek character they picked from our reading. This is a multimedia assignment. The students choose a character, create an image in Photoshop, and then create a proportional puppet of that same character. Some students have an easy time exploring Photoshop, and working in the program through trial and error. Other students find it non-intuitive and challenging regarding their attention and focus. My cooperating teacher and I chose Photoshop because the students will also have to create their yearbook page using that program and we wanted them to have experience with it before that project begins. I found the Rose reading on the CAST website very helpful when considering setting clear goals for this assignment. The students were very concerned with how their images looked, and given the difficulty of the program, I was able to articulate that: the goal of this assignment is to learn about Photoshop and to gain experience with the program. Clearly defining this for the students allowed them to feel more at ease about the aesthetic of their work.

Digital Games vs. Traditional Games

I am torn between both sides of the fence of Digital Games in the classroom. As I said during the presentation on Monday, I strive to incorporate the skills that may get lost by using digital games in the classroom. When the Singapore Math spokeswoman brought up the point about lagging skills due to this younger generation not playing traditional board games, I got very nervous. I had never even thought about that! Lagging math skills because kids weren't counting places on a gameboard? I had never thought about that. So, as I said in the presentation, it just makes our job as educators that much more important and relevant to bring in the skills we value into the digital gaming world. I find that my students who struggle with attention perk up the second I turn on the Smartboard. While I would LOVE for them to have such a tuned in attention span during more "traditional" or less exciting lessons, I am going to capitalize on that moment where they're plugged in and teach them as much as I can. This is what makes us educators and assures that computers, technology, or games could never take our place. As I read this article, I kept the recent NYTimes article about the school that bans technology in my head. Everything is relative, and every side can be argued for: I think it is our job to understand what speaks to our students the most and find ways to teach them the skills we value through that channel.

Technology is Here to Stay

Considering the fact that this is the last blog post for this class, I would like to talk a little more broadly about technology and the next generation. Has anyone seen the video ‘One year old mistakes magazine for a broken iPad’? The title itself says it all. Most recently we seem to talk about the young kids these days and how they never knew a world when there wasn’t an Internet, or Facebook, etc. Now, we also need to envision a time when young babies will think that every thing around them should be ‘animate’ or swipe able, i.e. ready to be customizable according to their own desires. I’m pretty sure that talking appliances and fully digitized homes are coming to a neighborhood near you. Will these kids in the future be saying, “what’s a magazine”? Or “I don’t read magazines (or books) because they are lifeless, inanimate objects”? Maybe they already are?

Either way, this momentous wave of change is upon us so as parents, teachers and citizens in general, we have to cobble together a plan of how to use this technology in a positive and constructive way. I appreciate the MacArthur Foundation Report on Digital Media and Learning for the fact that it acknowledges that there is a type of learning that happens when one uses social media. I hear most adults point their fingers and say “what a waste”. But it is not the platform itself that is the problem; it’s how people use it.

However, I also feel that, even though it’s up to the adults to figure out innovative ways to use new platforms, there should also be a responsibility for the creators too. For the purposes of learning, I hear many comments about how teachers need to figure out a way to integrate technology into the classroom, and we should certainly do so, but what about the creators of these platforms? Shouldn’t they, as responsible citizens, consider making an educational mirror image of their platforms for use in schools? If they know that children are literally getting addicted to these games (like World of Warcraft) and websites (like Facebook), shouldn’t they step up to the plate and create a “sister” version that can harness content curriculum and join that with children’s interests? I don’t think it’s “anti-capitalist” to say that these companies are making a ton of profits off of children so why not invest some of that profit into the education of the next generation? I’m sure these companies would find a way to profit anyway.

Well, I hope I didn’t digress too much. As a future teacher, I can wish all I want that a company would hand me the perfect technological platform to educate my students but that would be futile. I am fully ready as a teacher to embrace technology and use it to a child’s advantage. This will include iMovie, Garageband, Powerpoint, blogs, wikis, Voicethread, Google Lit Trips, digital story telling, cell phones and much more. Thanks for a great class everybody!