Khan/Koller Review

Khan Review:

I was a little reluctant before visiting the site because math isn't really one of my strong points. I figured math online wouldn't be much better, but after looking through the videos I realized how simply he breaks down mathematical concepts. If I wanted to teach in the school system I would introduce this to my students. The videos are actually really easy to grasp and you can always pause and rewind if you need further clarification. I can definitely see more online courses in the future considering that I'm in a online class now. I believe things will only continue improve with technology and education.

Koller Review:

 

Exploring the coursera course offerings I was primarily interested in the business and educational professional development courses. Unfortunately, Columbus State Community College does not accept coursera transfer credits. I think it would be interesting to take a course that you're really interested in and also from a prestigious university like Harvard. Of course I believe that some courses may be challenging than others just like with any other online course. I think MOOCs are definitely revolutionary to the education world because it allows people to access higher education and become more informed on a subject that matters to them.

Ohio DL Schools

Out of the five schools I would pick for my child to attend it would be the Ohio Virtual Academy. There is something about how the website presented itself to me and all of the wonderful characteristics of the school it presented. One of the biggest things that made me gravitate towards this DL school versus the others is the curriculum. The curriculum is more individualized and the students can work at their own pace. I also like that some of the classes can be used for college credit.

Out of the five schools that I wouldn't want my child to attend would be the Virtual Community School of Ohio, based on the website alone, I felt as if it was a site with not a lot of effort put into it. I didn't see anything with accreditation on the site and it was lacking a lot of information that most parents would like to see on the first page. 

Assistive Technology

The disability I chose was visual impairment. According to nichy.org we learn so much visually and when a child experiences visual impairment it can impair their world of learning. While other children may be able to read books, look at pictures in the books, or follow along during story time the visually impaired child can not do the same. Depending on the severity of the visual impaired they may need help moving around the classroom and doing the simplest of task such as picking up a cup. According to The University of British Columbia some struggles of visually impaired children are:

1. Delayed motor skills
2. Difficulties with language and communication
3. Adaptive development: such as tying their own shoes, seeing if their socks are matching, and etc.
4.Social and emotional issues

The first assistive technology that can be used is a screen reader, which the American Foundation for the Blind describes as a software program that allows the blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer. More information can be located here: http://www.afb.org/prodbrowsecatresults.asp?catid=49Basically the visually impaired students are listening to software on the computer system that the educator is relaying and inputting. Instead of trying to read things from the white board or chalk board.

The second assistive technology that can be used is a magnifier which enlarges the print of text for students with low vision. More information can be found here: http://www.familyconnect.org/parentsite.aspx?FolderID=21&SectionID=77&TopicID=356&DocumentID=3872
I believe the future of assistive technology for visually impaired students will increase with the digital age and the way that technology is continuously advancing. There is a story about a young man named Sina Bahram who is developing an app called TIKISI (touch it, key it, speak it) which essentially allows visually impaired people to use the internet without looking as the computer will read everything back to you. There is more about the story here: https://www.learningally.org/blind-researcher-helps-define-the-future-of-accessible-tech/








Resources:
nichy.org
blog.ubc.ca
afb.org
familyconnect.org
learningally.org

Blog Evaluation Activity

1. What is the name of the blog you reviewed? Please include an ACTIVE link to the blog here.

The name of the blog I reviewed was Ms. Stephanie's Classroom and the link is http://sbaxter4teach.blogspot.com/

2. Is the style of the writing in the blog you reviewed suited to the blogger’s intended audience? In other words, is the writing professional enough for a teaching blog? 

The bloggers writing style is extremely professional and targeted to her audience. She is very inviting and you can tell through her writing that she is passionate about what she's studying.

3. Are the colors/fonts appropriate? Are there things that are distracting about the blog that need to be changed (ie. Pictures/images too large or too small, hard-to-read font, distracting backgrounds, etc). Are Vokis in the right place (they should be only on the sidebar).

I love the overall template that the blogger uses. It syncs perfectly with her writing style and the education theme. It's not distracting at all, it's actually really inspiring. 

4. Is the spacing and layout easy to navigate? Are there “repeats” of posts? Does the flow and direction of the blog make sense?

The blog flows smoothly and there are no repeated posts. As I previously stated above, the layout/template fits perfectly with her theme. You can tell that she put a lot of effort into her blog.

5. Are correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar used? 

There is correct punctuation, spelling, and grammar used throughout the blog.

6. What is your overall impression of the blog?  (Include any suggestions you may have for improvement. If you have any questions or additional comments, please include them here).

My overall impression is that the blog is off to wonderful start. I truly don't have anything negative to say about this blog. The colors, the layout, the theme/template are wonderful and flow perfectly with a education blog. Great stuff!

Picmonkey

Picmonkey is a site that I frequently use. I love the free touch ups and effects that can be used. Using picmonkey is fairly easy and self explanatory for me. I created my headline banner for this blog in less than 5 minutes with picmonkey. One of my favorite things to use on the photo editing site are the overlays and their collection of free fonts. It's nice to be able to turn to a photo editor that is browser based versus having to add a program to your computer. I can get almost the same functions as photoshop. Overall picmonkey is something that I will continue to rely on for my photographs.

My GoAnimate video

School by KatriceK on GoAnimate

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