Jodi Picoult: House Rules

I am a fan of the Author Jodi Picoult due to the suspenseful notion of her plots along with the way she writes each of her books from each characters perspective and at the accumulation of the plot each character becomes introduced with the others.  Her newest story is not only intriguing but it relates to a new topic that has been on the rise in society: the idea of Autism and its other spectrum of Aspergers.  This story follows a boy who has Aspergers and is involved in a crime scene which ends in being convicted of murder.  While the story is fictional the feelings and thought processes of the characters are very real.  This is a very enlightening story which supplies the thought processes and lifestyles of a person with aspergers.  There is even an insight into the thought of his mother, brother, and lawyer which help to show how other people are affected by the diagnoses of aspergers and the change of lifestyle it causes to develop.  As there is a growing view of Autism and learning to be done on this newer form of diagnosed disability books and interviews like these are a great help to opening peoples views and helping others to be more accepting of people. 

“Picoult is at her razor-sharp best with House Rules. It’s both a tender look at the depths of a mother’s love and a searing examination of how we treat those who are different, and whether we expect them to play by the same rules.”

— BookPage

“Picoult’s research is impeccable and she deals intelligently with charged questions about autism and Asperger’s.”

— Publishers Weekly

New Types of Portable Technology for Many Uses

Through my class I was introduced to an article about a new form of technology.  This comes through using ipads and ipods in the form of assistive technology for children and students in classrooms.  Not only are there many applications that can be accessed and used for different situations, but they are also very easy to store, are portable, and very light for younger students.  As defined by Andrea Prupas: Assistive technology is a broad term for any device that helps an individual bypass the challenges associated with their disability. There are multiple categories of assistive technology, designed for different populations and different purposes. The assistive technology that inov8 Educational Consulting uses can be divided into two categories: “learning and educational aids” and “augmentative communication aids.” Learning and educational aids are specifically designed to help an individual actively engage in the learning process and overcome academic difficulties. Augmentative communication aids are technologies that provide individuals with an alternative method of understanding or communicating language.  Assistive technologies must meet the specific needs of an individual that requires it, and not the other way around. Our key guiding principle with assistive technology recommendations is: person first, technology second. It is very interesting to see these new types of tecnology that can be used in many different situations and with the wide array of downloadable applications, there are many new amounts of information that students can access. 

Another type of assisted technology that could be considered along these realms would be the new nook.  This is a type of technology that can help students who struggle with reading because it bring books into computer form for students who have trouble reading.  The text can be many different kinds and allow for students to zoom in if they have trouble with reading.  This also allows for portability and ease in storage.  

Alternate Attendance

Out last lab session, due to bad weather, we had the opportunity to attend class via video chat. This was very interesting in that students who weren't directly in the class could still see and hear everything that was going on and even comment when they wanted to contribute.  This could be utilized in different classrooms from having attendees from different locations to allowing students who are shy or have disabilities to also contribute and attend a class.  This is defiantly one type of technology that allows for freedoms and extra types of attendance.

The wonderful world of Skype

Last class we were able to talk to a guy via skype.  This guy has asperger syndrome and was labeled while in school.  It was very interesting to hear his personal story about how much he struggled in the social aspects of school and continuing on into his life now.  He has many aspirations for life but is disability or "way of life" as he sees it has held him back.  I think that it was amazing that he was able to use skype to communicate to use and give a glimpse into his struggle in life.  I was very grateful to get a view of this syndrome but also that he worked to put his anxiety and troubles aside to be able to talk with us.  I think this type of look into students issue on a personal level is helpful in working with these students on a personal basis in classrooms and also in life.  Without this insight many teachers will struggle on how to relate and adapt classroom structure to help and not hold these students back.

Digital Texts Leading Us Into The Future

After reading articles, seeing usages in schools, and discussions, I am still stuck on the ideas of digital texts.  One side is that they are very helpful with students who are learning impaired, struggle with reading or writing, or have seeing problems.  This is all helpful in aiding these students and the teachers curriculum, but what about the other ways of learning.  All types of learning need to be done in order to create repetition and understanding of a topic.  This can be done through reading, listening, group work, work sheets, or other comprehensive activities.  So it is important for a teacher to use this new technology but to also find ways to help a student hands on and to still take part in other forms of learning.  Another down side is that some of these technologies can get expensive and it can be hard for a school to supply students with the use of these or not enough for all students; how do you decide who will get to use them then?  I have seen students listen to tests through mp3 players because of their low reading level. This turned out to be a very good thing that was more of an aid in reflecting information then helping teach it.  Also a part of me who is old school gets tired of reading on computer screens and so that is when hard cover books are nicer.  Either way there is always two sides to every thing and all types of technology usages depend on the diversity of students and the situations present. 

Why We Need To Teach Technology in School