Week 13 Blog

Technology Based Rubrics
Technology based rubrics are rubrics that are created through online websites such as Discovery School or Rubrician. Through these sites the teacher can find or create rubrics to fit just about any assignment.
I think that specifically outlined rubrics should be mandatory for all college classes. Technology based rubrics would be very beneficial to most teachers. It would If there is one thing that I have had the biggest issue with throughout my educational career as a student, it would be the teachers who do not use a rubric. They grade based on their own feelings on a topic rather than grading based on a rubric that is utilized for all of the students.

Clicker Assessment Tools
Clicker Assessment Tools are relatively new tools to assess students quickly and "on the fly". A teacher can create a short or long assessment for students to participate in class. The students are assigned a specific clicker and the teacher can collect data on their response time and whether or not they correctly respond to questions. She can then go back and reteach the concepts that the students are having trouble with. Many students are afraid to speak out and acknowledge that they are having trouble grasping a concept in class. This is a great way to accomplish this without the students being singled out.

Inspiration/Kidspiration Software
I downloaded the Free 30 day trial to check this software out. How cool is this!!???!?!? I played with it a little bit with my daughter. She really liked all of the colors and that it was easy enough for a 4 year old to navigate. Learning software has really become a great way to reach all students. Students enjoy "playing games" on the computer. They have so much fun "playing" that they do not notice that they are actually learning important concepts. It is a great way to use technology to benefit them the most.

As a Special Education teacher, I think that I could use all of these items in my classroom. Technology based rubrics could be used to grade student projects and writing in an objective manner, however there must be room for a curve based upon their disabilities. Clicker based assessment tools could be used to make learning more fun by allowin the student to participate anonomously. In my current classroom, we are already utilizing several different online learning software systems. It is a great way for us to allow the students to have a break and "play" while still meeting the objectives outlined in their IEP goals.

In conclusion, I think that this course has opened my eyes to many different types of technologies that I never would have thought of using in my SPED classrooms. I will definately be using many of the things that I have learned through this class in the future.

References
Crismond, D., Howland, J., Jonassen, D., Marra, R. M. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson.