Feb. 9th, 2013

I thought the online class using “Blackboard Collaborate” very useful and interactive! When I first entered the chat before our scheduled class started, I was worried I was not going to understand all its features, but after experiencing our session I felt it was a very useful way to hold a lesson. I can see this virtual classroom being the new way to classes. Soon, there will be no need for people to get out of bed for school, because everyone will be able to participate in class. This would avoid the limitations of not attending class due to a cold, travelling, having young children, etc. I’m not sure if my junior high school students could handle it yet, but I can see it being very useful to high school students and post secondary schools. I’m surprised Acadia University does not offer more classes through a virtual classroom. I guess, there would be some limitations with technology not functioning properly, but it is an amazing way for everyone to access an education and participate online through different modes of communication.
 

I really enjoyed all of the presentations today. Although all of the presentations were done using the virtual classroom, it was interesting that each presentation was still done using a different format (PowerPoint, blog, podcast). I was very interested and drawn to Tarah’s topic only because I grew up with two deaf grandparents that raised my father. They passed away when I was a child, but in my younger years I was able to learn some basic sign language. I have lost a lot of the language over the years, but it is something I have always wanted to learn again. I’m always amazed by those who are able to sign for hours and hours. It looks like it is something that can become exhausting after a while. During our conference in Florida, they actually had someone sign the keynote presentations to the audience and it was very nice to see them have this set up. I was also able to meet a specialist from the Institute for Disability Research and Training in one of my sessions at the conference who was able to show me some of the resources they have available to students who are deaf or blind. The website she directed me to that has many links and more information on how they are supporting students in their region is: www.idrt.com. As I mentioned in my last blog she also shared some apps available to support these students, such as Sign Story, Walking the Plank, Sign 4 Me, ASL Translate. Some of them do cost money, but they are very good prices for what you get from the technology.

I was hoping to be able to present my information today using my blog or the PowerPoint I put together, but unfortunately I was limited in the fact that my computers is not high tech with a working microphone. AGAIN, this is another reason why I should make the big move on purchasing an iPad or Mac Pro. I know it’s going to happen soon, just need to be financially setup to do so. So for now I’ll make do with the old HP, but mentally I have been convinced to buy the iPad because of all of its useful features. I can’t wait until the school board decides to invest in this as well.

Getting back to the virtual classroom, I think it is going to be the new way we hold or offer many of our classes in the future. Not only because it’s so easy to use, but because it truly is accessible to everyone and it avoids much of the intimidation factor that students face when being resistant to participating in class. The camera feature is also beneficial in the sense that we won’t lose all of the importance of being able to communicate in person as well.

I almost hope we are able to have another class through the chat room setting, because although I learned a lot in our session, I’m sure there are many more features available on it that I can learn.