Author: jaimecarron

Assistive Technology & Equality in the Classroom

In this week’s class we learned about assistive technology and equality in the classroom. Technology can be very helpful in the classroom and assist students who need help with reading or writing. It allows them to feel engaged and a part of the learning as well as be independent with their learning. For example, using text-to-speech instead of struggling with the reading portion. Overall, this gives all students accessibility to have the same opportunities to grow. 

Digital Accessibility

I really enjoyed learning about digital accessibility because I have never thought about making sure websites and other digital platforms are accessible to people who may have loss of site or hearing. I think this is important to know so information is accessible to everyone. 

Accessible Video About Solitare

References:

Photo by Daniel Ali on Unsplash

This week’s class we discussed generative ai: how to incorporate it into classrooms and use it efficiently.  

Ai is a great tool and can be used in many ways in school settings. However, there are some limitations when using it. Generative AI can have many biases such as race, gender and geographical. This can make it difficult for students when using it. It also can give you the wrong answers or make things up. To avoid having these issues we should teach students to check AI facts and understand the biases. For example, when researching the Vietnam war AI has a bias towards the United States over other countries. Asking more direct questions could help avoid these issues.  

I have found Generative Ai to be extremely useful in other ways for school. Students can use it to help them narrow down big topics to generate ideas. As well as using AI to check their final copy of their writing. In addition, students can use AI to make study guides for their classes to save time and have more time to spend on learning the material. 

A helpful video for teaching AI to students

Overall, AI has disadvantages but knowing how to use it can help make it more of a beneficial tool! 

References:

https://unsplash.com/photos/a-close-up-of-a-pink-wall-with-glitter-sprinkles-mEawZ3YloK4

For this week’s reflection I really liked the flipped classroom model. This model is used by giving students pre class work to prepare for the lesson. Students are welcome to do this if they are feeling like they do not have a good grasp of the subject to feel more comfortable. In addition, students who feel they understand the concepts do not have to do the pre-class work. This is a wonderful way to help all students feel prepared and equal in the classroom. I think the strengths of this are giving students independence in their own learning and allowing them to feel prepared for lessons which can help students feel less anxious. A weakness could be students feeling overwhelmed with having to get the pre work done before class. This strategy is great however, it is not suitable for all age groups. I think this would be beneficial for grade sixes and above considering they are more mature and would be able to understand this concept. 

After watching the multimedia video, it is an amazing strategy and tool to add into classrooms.

https://youtu.be/g-sknUVq1mk?si=bXvGUfpXHC77tAWL

I remember my grade 11 bio class we would go through power points that would have photos and a paragraph of text and I would have to look at one or the other and try to type notes as fast as possible. I usually would not retain any of this because we were not able to look back and digest any of the knowledge. With the multimedia learning strategy, he discusses having photos that only relate to what the learners need to know, having photos and speaking about them rather than having texts, or allowing students access to the power points to go back. Overall, I would use the multimedia strategy in future teaching. 

Having video editing, screen recording and voiceover skills can be extremely helpful when teaching. These skills can help when you are away sick or if your class must be online. This can be used for any grade level, but the most effective grade levels would be grade 3-8. To make these videos engaging it would help to add more photos rather than text and add in questions throughout the video to keep your students engaged. 

My voice over and game!

References:

https://unsplash.com/photos/a-laptop-computer-sitting-on-top-of-a-white-desk-gNb1-SYL5G0?utm_content=creditShareLink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash