Blog #8 How to Keep Up With Technology Trends

          Last week we toured the lab that showcased adaptive technology to help students at FSU with physical and learning disabilities. One technology that can be beneficial is the braille keyboard. I thought that it was such a unique and cool tool, allowing students who are blind to be able to type papers, homework assignments, etc. in the classroom.
         Although they are quite expensive, these keyboards will help students who suffer from blindness complete assignments on a computer more efficiently and quickly that they ever could have before. It also allows a teacher in a classroom to focus on even student at a time, instead of having to direct more attention to the student who struggles writing their paper because of the fact that they are blind and need more attention.
          A braille keyboard will also help theses students become more independent, and make them feel happier about themselves. Another awesome tool that is beneficial for students with physical or learning disabilities in the classroom is the smart pen. The smart pen records the class audio while students are writing down specific notes.
          After the class, if the student wants to go back and review their notes, they just highlight the notes with the smart pen, and the pen will play the recording of what the teacher was talking about at the time of that specific note being written down in a student's notebook.
          This helps students in the classroom who are unable to focus for long periods of time, as well as student who physically is unable to process a lecture the first time that hey hear it. These two tools were my favorite tools I saw at the lab, and I think are the most beneficial for classrooms.
          Powerpoint is a very successful tool to use in the classroom. When it comes to Bloom's Taxonomy (First time I've heard of this), students can learn each level of this by being taught powerpoint. The different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy are create, evaluate, analyze, apply, understand, and remember. For example, lets say a high school teacher is teaching their studetns about WWII by using a powerpoint presentation.
           When it comes to creating, students can create a powerpoint presentation  themselves about a specific subtopic of WWII after seeing an example from their teacher. This will help students to retain information and learn new things about WWII that is important to their curriculum.
          The next level is evaluate, and teachers can incorporate evaluating in their power points very easily. Teachers can place discussion questions or activities or a pros and cons chart of WWII in the powerpoint, and have students go up to the SmartBoard and write right inside the powerpoint, allowing them to hands on learn.
          The next level is analyze. Teachers can place practice questions for the exam on WWII in the powerpoint and have the students answer them. Teachers can also make a game such as jeopardy on a powerpoint, as a WWII test review, which would give the student a fun way to analyze the informatobn they need to know for their exam.
           After analyzing comes applying. So, having students answer an essay question about the benefits of WWII that is shown in the powerpoint gets students to use the information they learned in the powerpoint to help them answer an important question that will be seen on their exam.
          Next comes understanding. Teachers teaching WWII should put a question at the end of the powerpoint that students should have to answer, that sums up what they learned in class today about WWII. Following this, next class the teacher will ask their students to remember what they learned last class by using an AIM or do now activity, asking them to discuss hat they learned in the last powerpoint, to reinforce/make sure they took away the key points of the powerpoint presentation from the previous class. These are some of the ways students will learn from each level of Bloom's Taxonomy from powerpoint presentations.
          As a teacher, it is more important now then ever before to embrace the changes of technology, and to make sure that as teachers we follow new developments in the world of teaching when it comes to technology and its trends. These trends although very different will help revolutionize teaching, and it is out job as teachers to know what they are, advocate for them, and eventually attempt to have a chance to use them in the classroom some day.
         There are many ways to stay up to date with technology trends in the teaching world. One great resource that will keep you in the loop is  EdTech Magazine. What this magazine does is come out with articles that discuss new developments, potential trends, etc., in ed tech that can be used in the future. It also discusses every aspect of technology for teachers and schools alike that are important for teachers to be successful in teaching their students with new technology. Sources like these are great tools to use to make sure you as a teacher are up to date with the latest technology trends in the classroom.

EdTech Magazine