Blog Journal 8

My experience with Twitter has been very interesting so far. I have never had a Twitter account until this class, so I think it is really cool that I am getting to learn about this type of social media along with all of the other things we are learning in this technology class. There are huge correlations between what we are learning and what I see on Twitter. From using Twitter, I have learned that a person doesn't have to use social media just to benefit themselves and gain followers and likes. Instead, professionals can use Twitter in order to learn more about their profession and get opinions from people that are in their same position. I have also learned how to interact well with people on social media, tweet them, and respond to their tweets. There are many benefits to using Twitter. One benefit is the fact that a person can connect with others just like themselves so that they don't have to feel alone in their profession. Twitter connects people from far and wide into one spot on the internet so that they can have conversations and share information. Another benefit of using Twitter is the fact that there is no lack of information to be found. If a person is looking to find more information on a certain topic, they can just follow a page that focuses on that topic. They can also participate in Twitter conferences and chats. I am not experiencing any issues with Twitter. Everything is quite simple to use, and I feel as though people have been very receptive to my tweets. 

The Web Design assignment was very interesting, and I had a really good time creating my own website. I also gained some skills while working on this assignment. One of the skills I gained is how to use the software, "Weebly". I had never used this software before this assignment, so I had to teach myself how to use it in order to create my website. Another skill I gained is utilizing C.R.A.P. design principles to create the most visually appealing site possible. I made sure to only use a few fonts and to space paragraphs and pictures out well. Something I liked about this project was the fact that we could use our own creativity to make the website how we wanted. I loved being able to choose the colors and pictures I wanted to utilize. One thing I did not enjoy about this assignment was how we had a lot of parameters to follow. These parameters made the task tedious and a bit less enjoyable, even though I still liked the creation of the website a lot. I think in the future, I could improve the website by spending more time on it, adding more information, and putting some interactive elements on the page, such as a slideshow or buttons. What I learned from this assignment can be used in my future career because I learned the fundamentals of website design. Now, once I become a teacher, I can be confident in creating a class website. I will know how to place information to be visually appealing, and I will be able to use the website to put important announcements up for parents and students. 

link to my website: http://msdepurysclass.weebly.com/

Assistive and adaptive technologies are wonderful technological advances that can be used to benefit and support learners. These types of technologies are used to help students that have disabilities, either physical or mental. This technology allows for disabled learners to use technology in a way that is beneficial to them so that they can learn in (almost) the same way as students without disabilities. An example of assistive and adaptive technologies is voice to text dictation so that students that don't have the ability to see can still participate in writing papers or projects online. Another example is word processing formats that allow for spell check and proofreading so that students with disabilities such as dyslexia can have an equal opportunity at writing a coherent paper. I don't really know of anyone that uses these technologies except for the people that live at the nursing home my mom works at. These people don't have the same eyesight that they used to have, so they use functions on their phones and tablets to enlarge the words they are reading. I feel like there are some challenges that are involved in using adaptive technologies in the classroom. One of these challenges is the fact that the teacher must learn the technology before introducing it to her students. This technology might take a while to fully learn and understand, so there would be a time issue, and disabled students might fall behind their non-disabled peers. Another challenge is the fact that the technology might take up more space in a classroom. There might be less room to move around freely in the classroom which could be frustrating for all. While there are some drawbacks to these types of technologies, I still believe they should be implemented where they can, so that all students can learn with an equal advantage.