Ed. Tech

 Assistive Technologies      Assistive technologies are the law of "IDEA".  So what is assistive technology? It has two parts the assistive device and the assistive service. This excludes medical devices, such as a pacemaker, shunt, or implant. Assistive technology can be anything. Phone, tablet, smartboard, slant board, or pictures to help you understand better. Anything that can help a child's education can be considered an assistive technology.      The teachers students and parents must also understand how to use these technologies. If a child doesn't know how to use it they will need someone else to help them and guide them until they can do it by themselves.  Every child is going to be different as well. So, don't think because this worked for one student it'll work with the rest. You have to adapt and cater to every child's individual needs. 

 QR Codes      QR codes have been a huge help for easy access to links and applications. I remember back in school we never had QR codes for anything. I also had to look back and forth and type in the whole link for any games and websites we needed to go to and it was a struggle. Kids often type one letter wrong or need to remember a backslash, etc. The bottom line is it has become so much easier to scan a code and have it pop right open to the website for you with no hassle.      When it comes to the younger ages this becomes significantly easier and more accessible for them as well. I couldn't imagine trying to have a class of first graders all type in a long link to get to a webpage, you would be doing that all day. with QR codes it becomes a much quicker and time-saving advantage. It also ensures that every student is on the same page and not all going to a different website.      You can use a QR code for so many things. Q...

AR/VR      Virtual reality has come a long way in the past years. They keep finding new ways to make it better all the time, and it can only get better from here. Now can VR be helpful and a tool in the classroom?  Yes, absolutely As technology continues to advance using VR becomes a good skill to learn. it prepares students for a tech-driven future and will help them later in life as well.  VR also makes learning more engaging with VR students are going to be interacting with the lesson firsthand and have a better experience with it. it can also help enhance their memory retention. when you are in VR you feel like you are there and that is a lot more memorable than listening to a teacher lecture for an hour and taking notes.     There are also a lot of negatives with VR in the classroom as well. Cost is the biggest one. VR is very expensive especially if you plan to have one for every student then it becomes a big issue. another big issue i...

 The Maker Movement      Every year technology keeps improving and getting better. There are many ways that we can use technology in education. Do you remember the technology you had back in elementary school, middle school, or even high school? I never went to a fancy school, but we had the pull-down screens with the old huge projectors that always froze and glitched, the roller cart overhead projectors to show papers on the screen, etc. You get the point, technology has improved so much even in the past 10 years.      We now have interactive touchscreen TVs, interactive projectors, and 3-D printers, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Not only has technology itself improved so much, but also the way we can use it for education as well. With smartboards, we now have the ability to give a child many more hands-on activities, such as games, solving problems, watching videos, etc.      I think the newer generation of teachers has endle...