Assistive Technology for Students with Deafness

The disability I have decided to report on is deafness. Deafness can limit a student's learning in many ways. The most obvious is that it can be difficult to communicate and understand what a teacher or peer is tying to communicate when the child cannot hear.  According to Nicole Agro of lifeprint.com, another way deafness can limit a student's learning is through communication because it is quite common for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to have trouble speaking. Deafness can also limit a student's learning because the student may "lack in self-confidence and feel isolated because they find it hard to communicate with peers".

One assistive technology that is used to help students who are deaf is FM systems. With an FM system, a teacher just talks into a microphone and the FM signals transmit the teachers words at a constant level. According to Gallaudet University, there are two different types of FM systems. The two different types of FM systems are personal and sound field. A personal FM system is paired directly with an individuals hearing device whereas the sound field is an increase in sound to a group of people. You can get more info from Gallaudet University here https://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center/info-to-go/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies.html

FM systems work in different ways because they can be used as a one to one device or as a one to many device. This means the instructor can use the FM system to talk to one individual student or it can be used to reach many students. Most FM systems have an audio range of approximately 50 feet to 165 feet. With an FM system, the user can also use this in a lot of daily interactions. More info on FM systems can also be found at https://www.hearinglink.org/living/loops-equipment/fm-systems/what-are-fm-systems/

As for the future of FM systems, I believe the direction they will go is improving the quality of the device and also making it more available for people to use outside of the classroom. I believe that this device will improve in the future by increasing the 50-165 foot range to a distance that is much greater. Overall, I just think the future of this assistive technology is just in the improvement of what is already here.


Sources
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/public-education-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-students.htm
https://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center/info-to-go/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies.html
https://www.hearinglink.org/living/loops-equipment/fm-systems/what-are-fm-systems/

My Voki

Here is the link to my Voki http://www.voki.com/site/create

Some of the benefits of using an avatar are that they give the online classroom a humanistic feel. They also can have a recorded voice so the students can hear a familiar voice. One risk is that in can loosen social restrictions that would be present in a face to face conversation.

Creating A Wiki Page

Overall I enjoyed creating a wiki page. I did not happen to run into many problems. The only problems I had were choosing what to create my page on and how in-depth I needed to go in. The only other problem I had was posting my page into the class wiki. I'm not sure if I posted it right away and didn't notice or what my problem was there.

As a classroom-engagement tool, I think wikis can be a great option. As an English teacher I could see myself using wikis in the classroom. As a class reading a novel I could assign students to create wikis about the book. They could create a wiki on a book and talk about characters, themes, a review, an overview and so on. We could also create a class-wide wiki on a book.

I enjoyed how when creating a wiki it was easy to add a picture and video to the page. I think it is important to have images and videos included with the post.

My Prezi

This is the Prezi I have created. I created it with the intended audience of potential employers and potential future students. I want them to get a good idea of who I am and what kind of teacher I would be. It touches on how I want to be a high school teacher and teach either English or history. The Prezi also includes a video I would show students if I were to teach English. I think the video would help the students understand the material better and would better help them to relate on what we read and went over in class.

My overall experience with Prezi was pretty good. I thought the software was easy to use. I also think this would be a great tool for students to use. One thing that I did not like about the Prezi software was the zooming tool while creating the individual slides.

Three Great Teacher Blogs

One teacher blog that I think is really cool is http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/. This blog has everything from podcasts to blogs to books. It discusses a wide range of topics and combines educational technology into the blog. It also gives tutorials on how to do things and is a great way for teachers to stay up to date on technology.

Another teacher blog I enjoyed was http://blog.williamferriter.com/. I think it is a good blog for teachers because it talks about a wide range of topics. I think it is good because it discusses things such as teaching policies, issues, and technologies.

One last teacher blog that I think it enjoyable is http://www.speedofcreativity.org/. This blog does a really good job of giving a look into what other teachers are doing. It also has a podcast that is really cool. Another great thing about this blog is that it shows teachers performing experiments with teaching tools that could help other teachers and their classroom's.

Welcome to my blog

Hello, my name is Clay Brown. I am from Minster, Ohio and plan on becoming a teacher. I would like to teach at the high school level, preferably juniors or seniors. I either want to teach history or english. Some of my interests/hobbies are sports, hanging out with friends, making people laugh, and playing cards. My favorite sports are football, basketball, and baseball and I am a big fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cincinnati Reds.

As an educator, my goals are to help my students succeed in and out of the classroom. I want to prepare my students for their next steps in life whether that be college, entering the workforce, or joining the military. I want to make sure they reach their potential as people. I also hope to teach them real life skills that they will use beyond the classroom.