Wikispaces

The first time I had to use Wikispaces was in one of my summer classes. At first it was very confusing not only to me, but to my whole class. Our teacher had to spend a long time showing us how to navigate around the page and find things. I thought I had understood how to use Wikispaces, then fall semester began. Two of my classes were on Wikispaces and I realized I had no idea how to use it, I just knew how to navigate around my summer classes page. It was definitely a learning experience and it took a little while to get used to, but once I did I realized how much I liked it over MSU's ANGEL website. Its really easy to use once you get the hang of it, and it allows you to personalize it and offers a lot of creativity in organizing it. For my CEP 452 class, we were required to make a website sharing things you have learned over the course, and you could use any program to create it. I decided to use Wikispaces to create mine because I really liked it and also I wanted experience with creating one, not just using it for a class. I am glad I challenged myself to create something on it because I ended up becoming a major fan of Wikispaces.

Click here to see the Wikispace I created for my Final.

Internet accessibility

Over this semester so far in CEP 452 we have experienced with a lot of different online features that makes online collaborating more accessible. I have to say that the program Elluminate! Live was the most fascinating program we used. While sitting on my couch, I was able to see my teacher, who was in his house, talking and communicating. Also, people in the forum could chat, doodle, and share various items. Another program that I found to be similar, and also intriguing, was Google Docs. Multiple people could be collaborating on the same doc, at the same time, and also using a chat feature. It is amazing to me how much I have seen technology advance over my lifetime.

These programs are very useful in classroom settings involving student-to-student, student-to-parent, and even teacher-to-parent relationships. I witnessed in a classroom a EI student that when feeling an episode come, would call his parents to talk to them and it would calm him down. I think that Elluminate! Live would be a great program to also use for this student so he could see his parents and talk with them via webcam. Also, via webcam teachers can easily talk briefly to parents at the end of each day on how their students were in class or about anything. I see these forums and programs being very useful as a future

What Teachers Make

I recently watched a video on youtube that was very inspiring, considering I'm a future teacher. Taylor Mali is a poet and teacher who preformed a poetry slam about what teachers make. In the video, What Teachers Make, Taylor talks about his reaction to the question he receives from friends "what do you make?" Teachers make a very big impact in a childs life in various ways, in which Taylor talks about some. Teachers are very important people, and I think a lot of times they go unappreciated. I think that all people, future teachers or not, need to watch the video. It is very inspirational and makes me eager to go out and start making a difference in children's lives.

Digital Texts

I have a lot of positive things to say about digital texts. For our assignment in class, I used a website that you could select the book you wanted to view. Then, you had the option to have it be read aloud or just read it on your own, at your own pace. There are many pluses to this. From experience of speech class in elementary school, I know that I had so much trouble with saying "r". The digital text highlighted the word being read aloud, which allows children to follow along and hear how the sound is being said. Then, students can go back and practice on their own. 

Another positive in digital texts I see, stems from personally not being a reader. I cannot follow lines for that long of a time without my eyes starting to skip lines or miss words. I prefer things being read to me because I am a much better listener than reader. I feel like a lot of students with ADD or reading disabilities can really benefit from hearing a book read aloud and would be able to follow it easily. 

I enjoyed finding out different ways for digital texts to become mp3 files. It gives me a lot of confidence that the future holds an equal education for all students, disabilities or not.