7 PowerPoint/Adaptive Technologies/Weebly

I have always loved making PowerPoint presentations. I was always very interested in the design and logic that went into it and now, from more research, I have a really good understanding on how to make my presentations as useful as possible. For example, I’ve learned that using a picture as the entire background of a slide, especially one that is relevant or can be related to the subject, enhances my audience’s interest and level of understanding as opposed to just a colored background and bulleted list of items. I have always hated when a teacher or fellow student wrote way too many words on one slide, especially since I am nearsighted and have trouble distinguishing small words from far away. I would use PowerPoint in a productive and stimulating manner in order to allow my children to hit every level of thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Adaptive technologies don’t only exist as a result from the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, they are here to make learning materials easier for all students to use. Students with physical disabilities may require a different input or output device. Input devices would include say voice recognition for students who may not be able to type, or a trackball for students who may not be able to sue a standard mouse. I actually used a trackball as a child on my computer at home because it is much easier to use as young kid. Output devices would include a text reader for blind students or a magnified screen for kids with sight issues. I still magnify many webpages or pdfs all the time because I have trouble seeing without my glasses, especially on a smaller device such as my phone. Children with learning disabilities can greatly benefit from these technologies as well. For example, kids with dyslexia can take advantage of spell check, although I think it’s safe to say that we all would have some trouble if we didn’t have spell check. We must be conscious of the design of these technologies and where you may need to accommodate for something, for example adding a description of a picture.

I had a great time designing a website this week. I found Weebly to be fairly easy to navigate and I took advantage of the many design options. I liked how it was very simple for the most part; there was not too many options for anything (except maybe the graphics, man those were hard to pick. They were all so beautiful!). I have confidence I could easily create a class website that is appropriate and aesthetically pleasing along with it being easily accessible. I specifically enjoyed making the icon pictures of the website the hyperlink instead of posting the website link.

http://emseme.weebly.com