Due Wednesday 5/27 - Tech Trends and Education

The following materials support our discussion of Technology Trends & Education. While there is no formal quiz over these RWLDs, they will prepare you for several topics that we'll be discussing in class. These can also be useful resources to support your extra credit blog or final presentation (ideas for improving the use of technology in your unit).

Read: Stumbling Blocks: Playing It Too Safe Online Will Make You Sorry

Watch: Hack the Debate, a short video (2 min) about how Current.tv and Twitter teamed up to hack the presidential debates in 2008.

Read: It’s Not JACK in the Box, it’s RAVI!, a blog post by Bernie Dodge about how some fast food restaurants are using call centers to handle their drive-thru lanes.

Watch: Disrupting Class - a (2 min) video excerpt from Second Life about social learning (from North Carolina Virtual Public School - ncvps.org)

Watch: Second Life with Autism, a short video (4 min) about how persons with autism are using Second Life. (FYI: the full Amanda Baggs video referenced is here.)

Download the 2-page PDF handout: 7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Worlds (from educause.edu)

Read: Listening to Themselves: Podcasting Takes Lessons Beyond the Classroom (from Edutopia.org)

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• Eight key issues in understanding Australia's National Broadband Network (rossdawsonblog.com)

Due Tuesday 5/26 - Assistive Technologies

We will be reviewing the issues that students with disabilities must confront. As teachers, we are legally and morally obligated to provide our students with learning opportunities that best accommodate their needs.

IDEA (The Individual with Disabilities Education Act)
Introduction to the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. Please read through the whole page.

Universal Design for Learning
Explains the basis of UDL and how it will support learners in achieving their goals.

Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams
From voice-activated software to customized laptops, technology can change the way disabled students communicate, learn, and play.

Assistive-Technology Tools: Keys to Learning for the Visually Impaired
A teacher at Boston Latin School demonstrates the latest devices for helping students who have visual impairment.

Aimee Mullins: Running on High-Tech Legs
In this TED archive video from 1998, paralympic sprinter Aimee Mullins talks about her record-setting career as a runner, and about the amazing carbon-fiber prosthetic legs (then a prototype) that helped her cross the finish line. (This a video of a presentation from TED Talks. We STRONGLY suggest that you visit TED.org to hear some of the greatest minds on the planet present their ideas and visions.)

AbilityNet GATE
Read the opening page and review the software solutions that are listed in the box on the left side of the page.