Second Life with Autism

What an amazing video. This video is about how technology is being used to help people with autism communicate. But its not necessarily the way you think. They are using these tools to express there feelings on how their disorder is not a disorder, but a cultural difference. The National Autistic Society is worried about people viewing there disorder this way, because that may take away from the funding they receive.
I was amazed how autistic people are using Second Life to have their own autistic community called the Autistic Liberation Front. I never knew there was a group of people defending their autism. I work with autistic children every day and this type of thinking never occurred to me. It is very exciting to see that autistic people are using technology to give them a voice they may never of had.





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Students view of the future classroom

This article is about Web 2.0 from a students point of view. This student understands that the world is changing and that the way we learn is changing. The student then goes on to talk about online citizenship and how we all need to practice it. Each person is responsible for what they post on the internet. This person then goes on to say that the classroom four years from now will allow students to use resources they own, such as Ipods or cell phones. Four years from now every student will have a laptop. Not all students should be expected to blog or podcast. Every students talents are different. It goes on to talk about how students still need an environment to learn and interact. The classroom would be 20 minutes to show students what their assignment is and then they would access a educational social network.
It is interesting to read about a classroom of the future from a students perspective. I think students have a better grasp on how to use technology in the classroom than educators and administrators do. I especially enjoyed how this person put an emphasis on cyber-citizenry. That is an important aspect to think about as we evolved towards a more technological classroom.

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New type of search engine

The new type of search engine is called WolframAlpha computational knowledge engine. The goals of this engine is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. So if I type in Iowa it will give me everything there is to know about Iowa. Population, flag, state bird, and much more information. Also if I type in a mathematical algorithm it will give me the answer. Right know it is in Alpha form so information is limited. But that just means there is only 10+ trillion pieces of data. Just think of the kinds of benefits that can be gained with all the information you need in a click of a button. Just when you thought you couldn't get your information fast enough something else comes along. I see a real benefit for students and teachers, especially if it is a reliable source. One thing that did strike me is that you can do mathematical computations with it. I can see that being a real problem for educators. We still need to focus on how we get the answers as much as achieving the correct answer. I think that if information like this is readily avaiable then teachers will need to focus more on the problem solving techniques rather than just the anser. I wonder if that means the search engine will just give you the answer or give you how they obtained the answer. Only time will tell I guess.

WolframAlpha

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My Video Project!

My video project is a short educational video about John Adams. The video provides some basic information about his career in politics during the American Revolution. I think this video will help children learn because it is presented in an interesting format. It provides short and concise information but also important information regarding John Adams. The video keeps moving with the music underscore which provides a little entertainment value. The video also supports my thematic unit which is on the American Revolution. Here is another video that I found interesting:




Here is my video:

My Spreadsheet!

My spreadsheet supports my thematic unit on the American Revolution. This tool is developed to support previous things that have been learned in the classroom. By this time the students have learned that one of the reasons the colonists rebelled against Great Britain is because they were being unfairly taxed. The students are then given guidelines of how they will be taxed during a school week using various things in their daily routine. They will be taxed on paper, mild, and uses of markers or pencils. The spreadsheet keeps track of who is being taxed what and how much they have been taxed in total for the week. It is then put in a graph so students can see who has been taxed the most in the class. This unit should give the students a little feel for what the colonists went through. Here is an example of a lesson that utilizes Excel. http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1542.html


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