Technology & Me

  Do you ever think about what kind of technologies we may have in the future?  I remember growing up watching the movie "Back to the Future", and seeing all kinds of things thinking that I would grow up and see flying cars and hoverboards in the future. Although that did not come true, many of those predictions did, such as video phones (facetime calls), wearable technology, such as apple watches, mobile payments, and more.  I'm sure technology is a fun thing to think about and predict as there is a wide variety of things that can be done with technology, and is still being discovered today. There are many things that have already been done with technology that we have seen happen before our eyes as well!  Education and Technology  I think that the biggest thing for me is how technology has played a big role in education, especially today, we see a lot of laptops and iPads at school. I still remember the time when we were not allowed to have phones in class, bu...

  Assistive Technologies (cont.)  Here is a quick recap from last week's blog post on what Assistive Technologies are : [ What is Assistive Technology? Assistive technology  (AT) is products, equipment, and systems that enhance learning, working and daily living for persons with disabilities. There are many different kinds of assistive technology that we can spot everywhere. There can be low tech, high tech, hardware, computer hardware, apps on our IPhones, customized for a specific person, and so much more.  There are many ways to find assistive technologies that work for different children and people. To find it there are also many resources online that talk about them and where you could possibly find some.]  What if I were to create one?  Some great examples of smart-device assistive technologies come from many apps that children and adults can use on their phone, to assist with whatever action they may need. If I were to create my very own assistive te...

  What is Assistive Technology? Assistive technology (AT) is products, equipment, and systems that enhance learning, working and daily living for persons with disabilities. There are many different kinds of assistive technology that we can spot everywhere. There can be low tech, high tech, hardware, computer hardware, apps on our IPhones, customized for a specific person, and so much more.  There are many ways to find assistive technologies that work for different children and people. To find it there are also many resources online that talk about them and where you could possibly find some.  Here are some websites that can be great resources :  Bridging Apps Edutopia Assistive Technology Resources Here is also a great TEDx video that is a great resource in a firsthand experience of someone who has a visual disability, and he talks about the resources that he has around him to help navigate through life with his disability.  Some App Examples that we can find ri...

  Have you ever seen that tiny little c in a circle symbol on multiple things and wondered what it is? That's what's called a copyright! What is a copy right? © For a simple explanation, a copy right is the legal right of the owner of intellectual property. Some examples of things that can be copy righted are books, articles, songs, photographs, sculptures, motion pictures, and more. In simple terms, it protects an artist's work, and those who would like to use that work and / or share it somewhere else must get the permission of the owner of that work.  Why should I know about this? It is important to know and learn about copy rights, because sometimes we will see something cool, and want to use it for our own purposes. With that, it is important to know what we can and can't use, because it is super easy to just copy and paste anything off of the internet. When we know what a copy right is and how to use it, it is a good tool to have to share content and art properly....

  Digital Literacy  What is it?  With a quick overview of what digital literacy is, it is defined to be something requires skills in locating and using information and in critical thinking. Beyond that, however, digital literacy involves knowing digital tools and using them in communicative, collaborative ways through social engagement. Although going into it a little bit further, it seems to be an umbrella term for many other aspects that go under it such as media literacy and informational literacy. I liked how professor Hiller Spires, a professor of literacy and technology at North Carolina State University, views it. Dr. Spires views digital literacy to have 3 different important aspects, finding and consuming digital content, creating digital content, and communicating or sharing it.  Finding and consuming digital content Finding and consuming digital content is very easy and very common nowadays. Communication and education seems to be almost all online now as ...

  Community of Practice :  Definition  [a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."]  This is just a simple definition of a "Community of Practice" that can be found on the internet. Although going a little bit more in depth on the idea, there are a lot of concepts that go into communities of practice. There are also a lot of things that can differ / impact a community of practice. It is based on the ideas of : community, learning, power, change, formality, and diversity.  Types of Communities of Practice :  There can be different types of communities of practice, and here are just a few examples.  * Professional Community of Practice  * Non-Professional Community of Practice * Knowledge Stewarding Community of Practice  * Helping Community  * Best Practice Community  * Learning Community of Practice  Source for this list :  Community ...