Adventures in WebQuests and learning about Assistive Technology

In terms of how the WebQuest we had to complete for class went, I’m a little unsure. I enjoyed it, sure, and I certainly learned a lot from it, but part of me is walking away uneasy for I am not 100% certain I completely it properly. Setting that fear aside, and focusing solely on the walk-through of the WebQuest and information learned, I think it was an excellent resource. It ultimately seemed like a scavenger hunt, but we just needed to find all the information needed on the website provided. It was frustrating that many of the links didn’t work or that the sites we were linked to were down due to the government shut down, but other than that I think it ran rather smoothly. I may use something like this in my future classroom for it is not that challenging of an assignment but it requires thought and interest to provide good answers. If I were to set up a WebQuest like this for my future classroom I would set it up similarly to this one (though of course links would be up-to-date and accessible, something uncontrollable here) so that all the students would need to do is look through this particular website to get their answers, but they’d also need to think thoroughly about the answers they’re going to give.

I felt I learned a lot about AT/AAC but mostly from the perspective of how it works legally. I have some knowledge of AT from previous classes as well as my current job as a teacher aide in special education classrooms, so more so I was just learning of different specific devices that exist (like the one-handed keyboard). But legally, I wasn’t really aware of any of those mandates or laws (like the Assistive Technology Act which provides funds to states to establish AT centers, provide protection and advocacy, and establish low interest loan programs for AT) or the rules required by employers. I was aware of the anti-discriminatory laws that disallowed discrimination against a student or possible employee because of their disability, but I was unaware of how much responsibility falls on an employer to provide resources for their employees. Being aware of this could certainly help me with future students who are ready to transition into the working world. 

Facebook in the Classroom?

I’ve already discussed how I think using the internet is going to be a pivotal part of our job as future educators – the uses and necessities of it are only going to grow over time (though, as mentioned in many of the articles we read, of course we need to be capable of wading through the trash and finding the treasure). But when I looked at our current topic of the use of Facebook I paused.

I’m personally a little iffy on which side I am on. I’m still leaning towards I do not think Facebook should be used in a classroom, but much of what I’ve read as well as what Dr. Budin has told us has made me reconsider. As she said, Facebook is the second most used site on the internet. It makes sense that we should want to use and harness Facebook for all of its uses and possibilities. This, of course, is referring to students over the age of 13, for as mentioned in the article ‘5 Best Practices for Educators onFacebook’ by Sarah Kessler. Also used in that article was the excellent idea of using a Facebook group or page to get information to students. A group is an excellent idea for older students because it’s something you can make very private, while a page is also a great idea because you don’t necessarily need a Facebook to go onto a page and keep track of it. The group can work to communicate with students to make sure everyone is on the same page. While the page can be used to get information to all students, like the example used in Kessler’s article was a University of Miami professor’s idea of having a page on his field research to  post about findings, post videos and photos, and post about weekly trips. Though, if a teacher wanted to avoid Facebook, a blog is a very similar way to do all these things listed – the only difference is is that Facebook is one of the most used sites and would be seen by more people.

But, as mentioned, there is some things a teacher needs to keep themselves aware of so the students don’t tread into unwanted territory. The article ‘Risks Involved in Integrating the Internet into the K-12Curriculum’ by Bernie Poole really outlines a lot of these risks. Though, I do think personally this article could have focused a lot more on the solutions than the risks, as many of these risks (such as online predators, cyber-bullying, inaccurate information, etc.) are all issues we’re all very aware of but don’t really have a set solution for. The only real solution we have at this point is to discuss with our students these risks and monitor 100% of what they are doing.

I think, personally, in my future classroom, I would mostly avoid using Facebook. But as it and the internet evolves over time I may change my mind. Because really, there is so much we can do with Facebook. As seen in the article ‘100Ways You Should Be Using Facebook in Your Classroom’ there really is an incredible number of ways you could use Facebook from an educational standpoint. Some really basic ideas were things like to use it to make announcements, to share interesting websites, to post homework, etc. I think if I were to use Facebook in my classroom I would use the above mentioned ideas, as well as perhaps something more involved like what we are going to do eventually  in this class – have a topic and make a page that will need to be kept up-to-date and such. It really is a good idea that require research, time and thought, and especially if my students were older I think this would be a great thing to use.