Digital Badge #G

Creating culturally relevant curriculum and instruction:

Photo Credit to Keoni Cabral on Flickr

I always thought students benefited from connecting school assignments with the issues and concerns they are experiencing of their own everyday life. I know I was this student it was easy for me to remember and learn new information by things I connected them to things of reality. I guess I can say I am like this now. I write my essays papers and recall information around my life experiences. I found it easier to talk about a topic when you are going through it than it is to talk about when you can’t relate to it. We are all so different and come from many different backgrounds and cultures. That I feel this is why it is hard for some teachers to teach to different populations of people. Sometimes not having a full understanding of something can make you not want to leave your comfort zone because you can’t see the unknown. It thinks it takes a special teacher who can organize teaching and learning to achieve multiple outcomes at the same. That way students not only get the textbook knowledge but, they also get the knowledge of society as well. Sometimes I know personally speaking things that were happening in my life when I was young clashed with the textbook it made me want to be the person in the textbook more. So that I did not have to face reality at home but, as the school day started to end I knew in the back of my mind that I had to go home. I think knowing who you are is a major factor to successful succeeding it make you feel complete. I think some students do need to be able to see the importance of both so school does not seem like a fairy tale compared to life when life does not come together like a textbook. This I know may seem unrealistic but, to a kid coming from an inner city school this is reality.

Universal Design for Learning:

Photo Credit to lloydcrew on Flickr

 How will schools serve all  students individual learning needs.I I recognize how the brain process information play apart in learning that is why some children are left or right brained users. I realize this concept from my son. How we as people process information to accommodate not only board students but also to accommodate students with short attention spans like my son. Maybe this will be a way to hold his attention if he had more than one way to see things especially if he could get multiple means of engagement. This says to me interactive activities. This says to me less time talking more interaction activities with students. My son’s teacher tells me he has a short attention span; he has a busy body that will not let him focus. He told me he did not want to hear her talk anymore he got tired of listening. All I can see how universal designs of learning could increase learning opportunities for all students. By it being universal the curriculum should target every background of each student in addition to their strengths, needs, and interests. This I feel could help stop students from feeling different when it comes to the barriers of learning so student face. I personally want to know more about how  our 21^st century schools implement UDL's into curriculum. 

Interactive Electronic Storybooks and Storybook Apps:

Photo Credit to heraldpost on Flickr

 Early childhood toddlers love the storybook Apps. My children had Leap Frog read along when they were young and the loved it. They also had vetch learning aids.The rewards were numerous they were stimulating and fun, encourages the use of imagination, and provides information and knowledge. For preschool children listening to stories is a powerful emergent literacy activity which promotes the development of beginning language and interactive communication, and provides a platform for acquiring reading and writing skills. Listening to different kinds of stories helps the child learn new words, develop longer sentences, and combine information logically and sequentially. Currently we are experiencing exciting new developments in the availability of story books on computer, described as computerized or electronic books. Stories read aloud by the computer  particularly those incorporating recently improved technologies in voice and sound, graphics, and memory capacity, provide a powerful experience for any child. I think this targets every part of the brain and students are actively engaged in the activity they are reading.

Electronic story books are particularly effective examples of the use of technology to include children with disabilities in activities that occur naturally within their environment. With the support of Assistive Technology and adaptive access techniques, computerized story book reading also provides a powerful equalizer in the classroom. A child with special needs such as the loss of motor control due to cerebral palsy can independently enjoy "turning the pages" of a story book along with their typically developing peers. A child who is visually impaired can have the text enlarged or can listen to stories while turning pages. The development of alternative access methods has paralleled the evolution in electronic storybooks in general, and new techniques to overcome access issues are constantly becoming available.

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.