Incorporating Online Safety in Class

            I think that the 4 topics presented served as refresher courses to my digital safety knowledge. None of the topics were necessarily new to me, but a lot of the information presented was extremely refined and knowledgeable. So, at the end of the presentations, my understanding of online safety was expanded, especially the more technical and legal side of online safety. I was very refreshed to know that there are actual laws that protect us as digital users and multimedia creators. The one main theme that reverberated most with me was that of “netiquette.” According to Shea (1994) netiquette is “the etiquette of cyber space” (www.albion.com). This means there are certain behaviors that we need to exhibit while surfing the web, both for social purposes, but more importantly for safety concerns.
            I would definitely teach some of what we covered in class to my own students in the future. I believe students need to understand that they should use the internet responsibly. One of the most pertinent issues I think students need to learn about is cyber bullying. This issue is the one I would most definitely teach to my students.
             According to the American Osteopathic Association (2014) “cyber-bullying in the form of harassing text messages and derogatory posts on children’s Facebook or Twitter accounts is now commonplace” (www.osteopathic.org). I agree with AOA because I often talk with students about what they see on their social media. That being said, I would create a short class activity to help my students raise their awareness and refine their understanding of cyberbullying.
            Part of my lesson would include building a word bank that has definitions of cyberbullying. The word bank would be filled with student responses and I would facilitate discussion about majority of their responses. The other half of the word bank would be filled with ways that students could discourage or even put an end to cyberbullying. The completed word bank could look something like this:

CYBERBULLYING – HOW IT LOOKS	HOW TO STOP IT
Teasing Memes Posting unflattering pictures Dissing Calling you out Sh** talking Rumors Blatant hate	Get to know people more Stop being so judgmental Awareness campaign Peace rallies Don’t pay attention Ignore bullies Report bullies to authority Stand up for yourself

                       During this project, my group and I utilized two forms of communicative tools. The first tool was Google Hangouts and the second tool was Whatsapp for our mobile devices. I do not prefer using Wiggio because I do not like its setup. I feel that Wiggio is a bit cluttered and the video interface is not reliable. A lot of times Wiggio does not show the video feeds and the audio goes in and out. That being said, I think that Google Hangouts and Whatsapp are very effective tools. I would encourage my own students to utilize these two tools when I assign group projects to them in the future. Who knows, I may even assign a digital safety project too!

References

Osteopathic.org,. (2014). Cyber-Bullying and its Effect on our Youth. Retrieved 24 June 2014,
            from http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/health-conditions-
            library/general-health/Pages/cyber-bullying.aspx

Shea, V. (2014). The Core Rules of Netiquette -- Excerpted from Netiquette by Virginia Shea --
            Albion.com. Albion.com. Retrieved 24 June 2014, from
            http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Stars for Tools

★ – Technology tool does not afford user expansive browsing options. It has no educational uses. It is difficult to navigate.

★★ – Technology tool offers some browsing options. It has superficial educational uses or operates in such a way that diminishes educational uses. It is semi-difficult to navigate.  

★★★ – Technology tool offers wide range of browsing options. It has meaningful educational uses. It is user friendly and easy to navigate.

TOOL	RATING	LINK
Moodle	★★★	www.campus.uogdistance.com/
Firefox	★★★	www.mozillafirefox.com
Google Apps	★★★	www.google.com
Live Binders	★★★	www.livebinder.com
Wiggio	★★	www.wiggio.com
Ovoo	★★★	www.ovoo.com
Incredibox	★★★	www.incredibox.com
Goanimate	★★★	www.goanimate.com

The Value of Assistive Technology

            I think that the video does a good job in presenting the issue of students’ need for assistive technology. One of the key points I agree with most is the correlation between how early a student is introduced to assistive technology to how successful that student becomes in the future. In the video, at around 3:20, elementary students are depicted with assistive technology. The main types of technologies being depicted are speech production equipment. I believe this type of technology is very important to introduce to younger students who need it as early as possible. According to the Utah Parent Center, “Research shows that assistive technology (AT) can help young children with disabilities to learn developmental skills. Its use may help infants and toddlers to improve in many areas” (www.utahparentcenter.org). These areas include:

Social skills including sharing and taking turns Communication skills Attention Span Fine and gross motor skills Self-confidence and independence”

This means that the earlier a student with disabilities is introduced to assistive technology, the faster they can work on skills that will help them improve the quality of their own lives. So, constructing lesson plans with this in mind will greatly benefit the students. It could be as simple as modifying regular class lesson plans to accommodate students with disabilities. For example, instead of having the class all raise their hands at the same time to give an answer, a teacher could call students one by one so that the student with assistive technology has the time to create a response.
            Least restrictive environments is the issue that the video got me contemplating most because it does not really elaborate on the environments in which students are allowed into. This is why I was contemplating it the most. According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities the least restrictive environment is “a setting where a child with a disability can receive an appropriate education designed to meet his or her educational needs, alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate” (www.nichcy.org). In the video below, a specific case study is highlighted and focuses on a student who relies on assistive technology, but is allowed into an LRE. 

            In conclusion, I believe that assistive technology is extremely important to students who have disabilities. It’s really the most effective means to helping students with disabilities live as normal of a life as possible and more importantly it aides them in creating a future career. However, though assistive technology itself is important, how early it is introduced and what type of learning environments students with disabilities learn in is just as important.

References

Nichcy.org,. (2014). Considering LRE in Placement Decisions — National Dissemination Center
            for Children with Disabilities. Retrieved 24 June 2014, from
            http://nichcy.org/schoolage/placement/placement-lre

Osteopathic.org,. (2014). Cyber-Bullying and its Effect on our Youth. Retrieved 24 June 2014,
            from http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/health-conditions-
            library/general-health/Pages/cyber-bullying.aspx

ELN TOOL

http://www.edudemic.com/next-generation-lab-notebooks/

I think that this is a pretty innovative tool. I think it can be extremely effective in a science in math class. For English class, however, I think using it for brainstorming activities can definitely work. From my understanding, the ELN tool allows for students to create easy-to-navigate diagrams. In an English class, students can create concept maps in accordance to the stories we've been reading and whatnot. This will allow them to access their concept maps and modify them as class discussions develop.

Learning Through Online Gaming

            Our group chose a game that was produced in part by the Nobel Peace Prize educational website. With that fact established, I naturally had high expectations of the game before I even tried it. The game is called “The Blood Typing Game.” I think that the idea of using games in the classroom is a pertinent one and demands more attention from community leaders. Ostenson (2013) states that video games offer students a new middle-ground where complex literary thoughts can be extracted (p. 71). I highly agree with Ostenson’s position.
            However, “The Blood Typing Game” does not initially encourage any deep, purposeful outro or introspection that could lead to any literary thought. The game is quite simple, not to say that simplicity is equivalent to mediocre. However, it is because of its simplicity that our group was able to create a solid rubric to grade the game. I did not have any difficulty offering insight on what the rubric should cover because the game itself was not complex. A simple rubric for a simple game seemed the most logical to me.
            The Blood Typing Game is a game that engages pre-existing knowledge about blood types. The game play is very simple and requires only the player’s mouse. The player moves things around and accomplishes tasks. In the game, the two main tasks are 1) Blood typing and 2) Blood transfusions.
            Because the game is geared toward a Science class, it poses no real use in my content area, which is English. However, the game does have elements of a narrative in it. For example, the game mode that our group focused on offered a background story for the patients being operated on. The use of a background story in the game set the precedence for the actual gameplay and attempted to infuse the gameplay with purpose beyond playing for playing’s sake. Though I have no use for this game in my content area, a Science teacher who assigned the game to their student may be able to capitalize on the game’s narrative element to include a little English in the lesson.
            A way that the Science teacher could do this would be by having students create a fictional short story about one of their patients depending on the results of their games. The students will be engaging their knowledge of Biology and English at the same time. This type of infusion promotes cross-subject learning and comes at the benefit of the students. The students utilizing technology in the classroom is also helping them with their digital literacy. According to Hicks and Turner (2013) “students need to critically consume digital information, create and share across time and space, collaborate to solve problems, and maintain flexibility” (p. 59) Digital literacies provide opportunities for students to acquire and master these skills.
            In conclusion, I think The Blood Typing Game is a very good game for a type of Science or Biology class. It’s important to note that the subject matter of the game means it is most appropriate for higher grade levels such as junior or senior in the high school. Overall, the game is engaging, easy to use, and offers room for cross-subject learning.

References

Hicks , T., & Turner, K. (2013). No longer a luxury: Digital literacy can’t wait. English
            Journal, 102(6), 58-65.

Ostenson, J. (2013). Exploring the boundaries of the narrative: Video games in the english
            classroom. English Journal, 102(6), 71-78.