Technology.... Here to stay! Time to Explore!

Being in a self contained Autism classroom, most of my students are focusing on learning life skills and educational strategies at the same time. I created a lesson plan that focused on helping students master spelling and identifying a certain color. Seesaw and Spelling City were extremely helpful tools is helping me, help my students master these objectives. Seesaw allowed me to use activities already created about specific colors, while also creating my own end of unit assessment. Students were able to work one on one on their own device. My students love being on their device and find joy in learning that integrates technology. 

Technology comes in many shapes and sizes with many different purposes. Before this class I had a very limited amount of resources. Google classroom, kahoot, and blooket were my go to activities for students to use. Since taking this class I have explored many more sites that students love and really enhance their learning. This class has allowed me to find the why and best online practices for my students. I had never evaluated a site before, and man was that a mistake. If something doesn't support my students learning how can I justify it being a "good" source? Data speaks volume and needs to be taken seriously.

 

SeeSaw hit the world wide web in 2015, however it became very popular in 2020 when Covid shut in person schools down. This is when I discovered the tool and have never looked back. It is a all in one resource with on line and in person learning, communication, and an abundance resources all within a clicks range. SeeSaw would fall under the "S" or substitution on the SAMR model. Don't get me wrong SeeSaw is a great tool and vert beneficial, however majority of these activities could be done traditionally with paper and pencil. However, Seesaw allows differentiation with the microphone, video, and typing tools. 

Spelling City has been around since 2008, I found it in 2021 from word of mouth by a colleague. Many districts and or teachers have gotten away from spelling for one reason or another. Students still need to learn how to spell. Spelling is important for three main reasons "Communication: Spelling is a critical component of communication. Literacy: Spelling and reading skills are closely related and help develop overall literacy. Employment: Spelling quality has a direct impact on employment opportunities." (Best, 2017). Spelling city has been an awesome gamification tool that has got my students practicing their words and not even realizing it. "With 80% of workers in the U.S. finding it to be more effective than traditional training methods, students have also found it to be an integral element. In fact, it has the ability to improve student productivity by as much as 50%." (Peker, 2022).  I encourage you all to use gamification as much as possible! When discussing the SAMR model Spelling City would fall under the "A" or augmentation category as it provides much quicker feedback when utilizing the online spelling piece than a traditional pencil/ paper spelling test. 

These tools will benefit my students as it allows me to gain new ideas to try from other educators who have found success with them. It allows for differentiation to meet the various needs of learners. Students will also receive much quicker feedback than they would from traditional style methods. These tools make learning fun, which will engage students and create buy in to the information. In turn this creates meaningful connections increasing retention of information. 

References: 

Best, J. (n.d.). The importance of spelling. 3P Learning.

Peker, B. (n.d.). 5 stats that prove gamification boosts retention - storyly. RSS.