Equal Access to the Digital World!

Equal Access to the Digital World!

What does it mean to have equal access to the digital world?  First, we have to define equal access.  Under the federal Americans with Disability Act, equal access means protection from discrimination.  Under IDEA, (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), it means protection from discrimination and access to a free appropriate education (FAPE), regardless of one’s ability, and includes parental participation, special education services and procedural safeguards.  In the world of Universal Design, equal access means finding the right tool to match one’s ability. In other words, adapting the physical space to meet the physical/mental/sensory needs, and adapting the curricula to meet those needs.

In the digital world, equal access can be defined by resources and the physical/emotional ability to access those resources.  According to Ribble, there are nine themes of digital citizenship that create access to the digital world.  They are as follows:  “1. Digital Access – full electronic participation in society; 2. Digital Commerce:  electronic buying and selling of goods; 3. Digital Communication:  electronic exchange of communication; 4. Digital Literacy:   process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology. 5.  Digital Etiquette:   electronic standards of conduct or procedure.  6.  Digital Law:   electronic responsibility for actions and deeds; 7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities:  those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world; 8. Digital Health and Wellness:  physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world; 9. Digital Security (self-protection):  electronic precautions to guarantee safety." (Ribble, 2014)

This public service video is a nice marrying of the disability laws and digital citizenship. After viewing, have a discussion with your family to assure understanding of equal access to the digital world.  

Until my next blog : )

Ms. Gosse

References

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A88E4DH2asQ November 1, 2014.

Ribble, M. (2014) Digital Citizenship. Using Technology Appropriately.  Retrieved

November 1,   2014 from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html

Rose, D. (n.d.). Universal design for learning. Retrieved October 29, 2014, from 

http://udlonline.cast.org/page/module1/l138/

Schrum, L. & Levin, B. (2009). Leading 21st century schools: Harnessing technology for engagement and achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

(na)  Retrieved from the National Center on AD/HD, November 1, 2014 from

http://www.help4adhd.org/education/rights/idea

Educational Value of Social Media

Dear Parents,

As you know for the past two weeks, our classroom community has been exploring Colonization and Christopher Columbus.  Part of our journey with this Unit, is implementing the International Society for Technology Integration National Educational Technology Standards (NETS).  Your students will be using some Web 2.0 tools to write digital books, make collages and write an article using information from YouTube videos.  Read our class blog and preview the learning tasks your children will be accessing through our Weebly page:   http://msgosse.weebly.com/If you click on the BUTTON icon above the Twitter Bird symbol, it will take you to our Twitter page.  Here is a video to help you understand the "bigger picture":

Part of this technological journey is incorporating social media pages into our classroom.  I would encourage you to review our “safe use” policies with your student and review with them how to enter an appropriate post.  We have already reviewed and implemented these polices in the classroom environment per our discussions during Open House last month.  In the article Reading, writing, and research in the digital age, the author Kathryn Zickhur mentions some statistics regarding teens and technology use.  Ms. Zickhur’s report is part of the Pew Internet Research Project.  According to the author, 80% of teens use social network sites, 78% use cell phones, 37% use Smart phones and 23% use tablets.  Please review the slide show embedded in the article as Ms. Zickhur discusses in Slide 7 that “Mobile is the needle, social is the thread. How information is woven into our lives”.  As you continue through the slide show, you will see the data that has been gathered as we have become a more digital society.  Our students are learning information at a far greater rate than we did, and we must use all tools available to create equitable access to information and knowledge.  The link for the article is listed below:

http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/11/04/reading-writing-and-research-in-the-digital-age/  Should you have any questions or concerns,  we welcome face to face conversations, your phone calls, emails or posts.  Thank you for taking the time to review our class information with your student.  I look forward to our Colonization Unit. 

Kind regards,

Ms. Gosse

References

Zickhur, K. (2013, November 4). Reading, writing, and research in the digital age. Retrieved

October 24, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/11/04/reading-writing-and-research-in-the-digital-age/

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw October 24, 2014

American History Begins With Colonization

AMERICAN HISTORY BEGINS WITH…COLONIZATION

A WebQuest for 8^th Grade American History

This is a story of a WebQuest about American History which began with Colonization.  Imagine you are an explorer heading to the New World.  You will consider the following questions after previewing this video:  

Why did European countries want to colonize the New World, and what role die Christopher Columbus play in the exploration?

Why did Europeans leave Europe to start a new life in the colonies?

Images: Google; video courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsMGICONtb8

Educational Value of Animoto

According to McPherson, children prefer accessing online multimodal tools rather than reading or writing about a topic. (2008) In 2006, Animoto was developed in New York, using Cinematic artificial intelligence technology.  A group of film makers thought it would be a great way to increase the quality of videos shared over the internet.  It combines the visual and auditory (pictures and music) which resembles a movie trailer. (O’Shea, 2011)  Creating a video montage for the first concept of my colonization unit, the 3 G’s, God, gold and glory, scaffolds the Common Core “I can” statement of my students beginning to understand and describe the economic aspect of North American colonization (i.e. reasons for colonization, and the differences between the Spanish, French and British colonization).  The first essential question of our colonization unit is why did European countries want to colonize the New World?  This video montage clearly and simply answers that question.  

References

McPherson, K. (2008). Mashing literacy. Teacher Librarian, 35(5), 73-75. Retrieved from     http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/224875729?    accountid=3783

O’Shea, K. (2011).  Animoto.  Retrieved from        https://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/display/INSITE/Animoto, September 20, 2014.

Class Blog

The Educational Value of Wordle

Wordle, a Web 2.0 presentation tool, is defined by alphaDictionary as “a creative design composed of words”.  (2004-2014) Digital natives refer to Wordle as word clouds used in the classroom and other professional settings. (Prensky, 2001)  Historically speaking, according to Dr. Goodword (that is just his/her web name); the word “wortle” has been around since the 15^th century.  Somewhere along the way, the “t” was dropped and a new lexicon was born.  The Wordle created for our Colonization Unit is designed to introduce the vocabulary words used in the readings and YouTube videos.  By pre-teaching vocabulary to the students, their ability to comprehend the Big Ideas increases, assuring they will eventually make connections to events from the words.  In Universal Design for Learning, the Wordle is a multisensory tool, providing equal access for learners through the visual modality.  By using the primary colors in my Wordle, students who are color blind, dyslexic, have visual constructive dyspraxia or are challenged with depth perception weaknesses, students can access the vocabulary for the unit in different ways.  According to Wissick, use of the Universal Design model supports teachers in providing access for many learning styles and creating the opportunity to use web resources in the classroom setting. (p.3, 2004)  I would consider Wordle a Universal Design for Learning Tool. 

References

Goodword, D. (2004-2014). AlphaDictionary. Retrieved September 13, 2014, from http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/wordle

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. S.l.: Marc Prensky.

Wissick, C., Schweder, W., & Gardner, J. (2004). Technology applications to support diverse learners. 1-5. Retrieved September 13, 2014.