Blog Post #3

Peer Editing

Peer editing can be very helpful for students of any ages. It is editing your work with someone your own age, usually a classmate. Generally getting suggestions or comments from a peer can be better received rather from a teacher. The first rule of peer editing is to always stay positive! It is best to start off by pointing out something the writer has done. Next you need to make suggestions, but remember to stay specific and positive. Some areas to focus on are word choice, using detail, organization, and topics. The third and final step in the process is making corrections. Meaning that your check the person's paper for grammar and spelling mistakes, missing punctuation and incomplete or run-on sentences. Follow these instructions and you will be a successful peer editor.

There are a lot of mistakes that can happen when peer editing. What I mean is that people may not do a quality job in giving or receiving criticism. Some people can be a "Picky Patty," where they pick out little mistakes like lightly marked period at the end of a sentence or too much of a space between a comma and the following word. Some people often are a "Whatever William," meaning that he/she does not care about the process. They let the assistance go in one ear and out the other! Another mistake that can be made is an "Off-Task Oliver," and unfortunately I have been an Off-Task Oliver. Always remember to stay focused on the task at hand and there will be time later to talk about what else is on your mind.

Assistive Technologies

The Mountbatten is an incredible tool that can be used for the blind and visually impaired. Immediate feedback is important for slow learners and the Mountbatten does this. The machine allows the student to feel the braille that is type while audio feedback is given on what was typed. The machine can save files and also send or receive other files from a computer. This is such an advanced machine and should be used in any classroom that has blind or visually impaired students.

Students who are blind or visually impaired certainly do have a harder time in the classroom. The technology has incredibly improved in the past decade. Students today who are impaired have it a lot better than students ten, fifteen years ago. With the tools and technology they have an equal chance of learning and graduating school than students without any impairment.

The Mountbatten is an excellent tool for the blind or visually impaired, and should be placed in schools across America. But, I do realize that may be a problem with certain school's money situations. The math tool created by Professor Karshmer and USF, allows students that are impaired to easily learn math the same way a student without a impairment. To me this instrument would seem to be cheaper and more affordable for a school to buy. The iPad is the most accessible and affordable for someone who is blind. The settings is able to be changed where someone who is impaired may be able to read from iBook or use any learning app he/she may have downloaded.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis is from a rural town in Georgia. She is a perfect example of how teachers can use technology in their classroom to help students learn. She uses a variety of technology to help her students learn; from blogging, Wiki, and a virtual life program called Open Sim. Open Sim looks similar to the popular Sims computer game, but with Open Sim the students learn by teaching each other how to use it.

Davis and another teacher also created Digi Teen. This is a program where kids from different schools are able to study and teach each other digital information. They also created the Flat Classroom Project, which helps students study and experience trends in information technology. What Davis is doing is helping her students and other students around the world open their eyes to what it has to offer. That just because you are from a rural town in Georgia does not mean that you confined to that town.