I think the sociocultural perspective was utilized significantly in this course as we learned by interacting with other students and sharing our own perspectives and ideas. Rather than learning from a textbook or through a structured lecture, we learned by actually doing and creating something meaningful through different displays. We were able to present our collaboration with each other through these activities. I think it is more beneficial and promotes a good learning method. In addition, by interacting directly with our materials and projects and by reflecting on it throughly each week, we were able to more successfully remember the information and know how to apply it later on.

I think this is a very important statement because without group member's constant communication and being on the same page, creating a complete and cohesive project poses to be a challenge. It is necessary that group member's provide each other with honest critiques and continue to reflect on their work to make the project the best they possibly can. It is sometimes difficult to critique another person's work. It is helpful to offer suggestions and possible improvements, while including their initial idea so it is not disregarded completely.

This is a very optimistic statement about the powers of AI. I feel as though the use of AI in a classroom could be beneficial and could aid teachers in helping students solve problems. However, it discusses AI tailoring to each student's learning style, which have been proven to be a myth. I struggle a lot with what AI inventions could actually do in a classroom and also fear the biases and racist algorithms that go along with AI. In addition, how does this affect lower income areas? There will be a problem of both accessibility and sustainability. These must be considered before the implementation.

In my teaching philosophy, I highlighted how important accessibility is. How does an educator expect all students to learn or benefit from a tool or lesson that is not inclusive and fails to present accessibility features? It is very essential to use the universal design for learning framework because it can benefit or be used by all learners, no matter if they need additional features or not. When I think about UDL, I often think about an example of a ramp going up into a building. Obviously, the ramp helps make a building more accessible for wheelchair users, but it can also benefit and be used by everyone else in the community! A universal design is essential everywhere, but can often get overlooked in the classroom.

I think creating group norms is a very essential part to making it a safe space for all group members. This way group members are all aware of the expectations and rules. Groups can constantly reflect and change the group norms but having them set up at the beginning is helpful. I recall an activity from a few weeks ago where we all added digital sticky notes on a website with group norms we should follow. An example was making sure your camera was on when you are in a breakout room. This way no one has to question the expectations and knows exactly what to do. This activity was helpful in our own course and I can see myself doing the same thing as a future educator.

In another class I am taking this semester, COMM 212 (Cultural Codes of Communication), we talk about the differences between objectivism, pragmatism and interpretivism a lot. I appreciated seeing the exact definitions for the terms too and it will help me understand the content of my other class even better. All of these words make me think about the idea of subjectivity, which means that everyone interprets things in their own ways based on their own prior experiences, perspectives and cultural backgrounds. No two people can see things the same exact thing and it is essential that we value other people's perceptions of their own reality, even if it is different than our own. It is necessary that we accept everyone's perspectives so that minority groups are not underrepresented. I believe there is no objective reality and appreciate the ideas of pragmatism and interpretivism in this article.

Last semester, I remember learning about the different types of learning theories that various digital tools support. Digital tools that support the cognitivism theory allow students to learn how to apply information better and commit it to long term memory easier, which I think is more beneficial. I think apps like Kahoot and Quizlet illustrate the behaviorism theory as when you get something wrong you learn the right answer, but not necessarily why. These types of apps call for more rote memorization which is not nearly as beneficial in the long run. Educators should seeks digital apps and tools instead that support the cognitivism theory so students can apply their learning and not just memorize the correct answer.

I think having multiple options for students to present their work is very important. In high school, I feel like teachers were not very flexible with multiple assignment options, but I feel as though in college there are more options with how to present your work. I especially notice this in my education classes, which makes a lot of sense, because these professors obviously believe in having multiple options because they know it is beneficial. I think it just makes the most sense, and as long as the students learn the same information from it, why should it matter how it is presented? Also, students can figure out which way they learn best.

I think this is a very important point because teachers should not use "technology" just to use "technology". In other words, they should make sure the app they choose is accessible and will actually "redefine learning". If lessons are better without technology, then they should not force the use of digital tools because there would be no point. Instead, teachers should only use technology when it can really transform their lesson or the student's learning.

I find this so shocking. I had never really considered how different communities would view digital tools in different lights as I just assumed everyone saw them as beneficial. It is sad that these Asian students are stereotyped by their teachers, and are disproportionately suspended because of teacher's bias. The fact that they assume the Asian students are going to use technology, that could really benefit their education, just to cause problems is really sad and unfair. Teachers may be more hesitant when using tech in the classroom then, and it is denying them opportunities to use helpful tech in school that could really assist in learning.

I think this idea is so important! Creating accommodations or new accessibility features is not just helpful for people with disabilities. They can serve as useful tools for anyone regardless of their abilities. If the accessible features can make everyone's time using a tool easier, why is there a lack of emphasis on creating these features? Tool creators may not prioritize them to begin with because they do not value people with disabilities as much as they should, but they need to realize these features can help everyone.

This reminds me of my 8th grade science class where as students, we were able to learn the information for the chapter in any format or way we wanted. Basically, the teacher would give us a list of assignments with different point values for each. For example, we could listen to her lecture for 10 points, listen to a podcast for 15, complete a JogNog tower for 30 points, or do a hands on lab for a certain amount of points. All she would require is that we completed 200 points by the deadline. There were about 300 points available, and it gave us students the opportunity to work on finding what learning style worked best for us. Everyone also seemed to like that class, because they could go at their own speed and do what worked best for them to learn the material. I like how she incorporated some of the activities as whole class ones too, so if you needed or wanted more support or input from peers, you could participate in those ones. I personally liked the structure of class and feel as though I learned a lot about the subject of science, but perhaps even more about myself as a learner. I was able to develop new skills and ways to study in the future. Also, it was helpful in preparing us for doing more independent work in high school.

Until today, I was never familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy. I found it very interesting. I think it is important to know that specific apps and tools are specialized towards certain levels of the taxonomy. I thought specifically about Quizlet, a tool I use a lot to study, which has options to customize how you want to learn. Whether it is by flash cards, multiple choice, matching or games. You can also choose when you need to learn the information by and whether you need the information for long term or short term memory. I think this feature is awesome as students can accomplish the goals they need to. However, I worry that many students, including myself, often just choose the short term memory option, which perpetuates the trend that students remember information just purely for the test, than never think about it again.

This is super important! I feel as though having students agree to terms and conditions about privacy is not enough. Parents should also be able to make the choice whether the student can use the app especially if they are younger students. Younger students may not care or understand the importance of privacy and just hit "accept" to get access to the application right away. Parents are more likely to weight the risks and advantages of an app.

I once saw a TikTok specifically about Google's ad personalization. By going to the link, https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated?hl=en&ref=my-account, you can see which assumptions Google has made about you through your internet activity. They base the ads you see on your activity, and it is frightening how accurate it is. For example, Google knows I am a female between 18-24, that I am a college student, and enjoy the beach. There are about a hundred other identifiers you can see that Google uses through this link. I think it is pretty scary that Google knows all this about me just by tracking what I search for or watch on the internet.

I thought this video did a great job highlighting the various disabilities and the ways that accessible technology can help in their everyday life. I think it is important to note however, that not every person with disabilities may fit into one of the four categories mentioned. People may experience multiple kinds of disabilities. For example, my sister has a rare genetic disorder that leads to cognition and communication problems as well as troubles with physical movement. I thought of her while watching this video as she uses an augmentative and alternative communication device that allows her to communicate with others. Due to her limited hand use, she has an eye gaze device where she is able to use her eyes to look at icons and words that she wants repeated. She uses a program called Sonoflex which is similar to Proloquo2go, which is mentioned in the video. This video allowed me to reflect on the type of the device she has and whether the various suggestions to make technology accessible applied. I realized that her device does allow her to use picture symbols to create messages and she can communicate through her eye gaze. I learned about a lot of great suggestions to look out for when choosing accessible technology for my students in the future.

I think making programs accessible and intuitive for all is really important! When I read this sentence, I thought about UDL (universal design for learning) because having a design that is approachable by all people is really important for creating a good platform. People of all abilities should be able to access a tool, and it is important to note that these special features to help people with disabilities, can in fact help everyone.

An undo button is necessary in programs! Adobe Spark video has no undo button and I found it very frustrating while trying to work on my project once. I remember by accidentally deleting a whole text box, and it all the words I had written were gone. There was no way to retrieve the text box. To prevent this from happening again, I created a Google doc to keep on the side so I could write the information I was writing on Adobe Spark and retrieve it easily if it happened again. If this simple undo button was added to this platform, it would make life so much easier!

Although my sister with disabilities does not attend college, she attends a day program for adults with various disabilities. When her program shut down in March 2020 due to COVID, it was very chaotic. At first, the program offered no online instruction because they were so unsure how to handle the switch, causing these adults to not have activities for the day. They were not able to communicate with each other, leading to lots of isolation, which was difficult for my sister. Eventually, the teachers started doing Zooms for them, but it proved difficult as most of the adults needed an aide or an assistant there to log them onto the Zoom, type in the chat, and mute/unmute. Of course, the program was trying it's best and used the resources available, but I think a lot about how it is too bad there was no a better option for them. There were no completely accessible programs that would allow them to do it more self sufficiently.

This is the principle I thought of when reading the other article!

I never knew this was a feature until reading this! I think that this would be a great resource for educators to get tips from each other and learn about new resources for their students in the classroom. I am more familiar with one of the new features called Twitter spaces, where users can join chat rooms and talk with each other in real time. However, I am not sure whether these "rooms" are monitored or can be private. I feel as though both Twitter chats and Twitter spaces can be useful resources for educators. It is simple enough to find what information/material you are looking for as you can just search for a chat/space with a hashtag.