Karen, from Vancouver school district gave her insight on supporting student learning in terms of educational technology. Karen feels strongly that everyone can access technology and it can be adjusted to suit anybody. Technology has multiple open-ended apps for students to learn and enhance their learning . Furthermore, technology is a safe tool and is a great tool for making mistakes and reflecting from them.
I personally utilize the app Grammarly for my essays because it helps me catch those hidden mistakes. The app is a safe and easy tool to use. Karen states that buttons like undo or spelling error often helps students visualize the mistakes they have made and further helps them reflect on those mistakes, so they do not repeat them again.
Something that resonated with me was the “Book Creator” app that Karen stated is her favourite. It is a simple tool where you can create eBooks and publish them. You can create any type of books like picture books, chapter books, journals, textbooks, and even photo books. It can be used through iPads, computers, chrome books, and the internet. I thought the app was pretty cool as I looked on the internet on how it was utilized. I would love to use this app in my future classroom. I would love to create books based on my lessons for my students to see what I did as a teacher. Students can also practice their writing skills by writing a journal or practicing their spelling words on their own. It allows students to learn best in a way that works for them because the student can create their own book and in their own style. A great presentation by Karen 🙂
Grammerly is a great idea, and something I should consider using for my own assignments. I agree with you and really appreciate how wide of a range of apps she presented, and once again emphasized that apps should be used to help you not hinder you
Looks like we all agree that as educators, we need to find apps that help us and work for us and not use things that make our busy jobs even busier. I also think that Book Creator is awesome! It seems like an awesome app to get kids engaged in the writing and editing process.