Digital Badge G: Chapter 10

America is a very culturally diverse country, as are the classrooms within our schools. As the textbook points out, "More than one in four youngsters are from immigrant families, and most of them speak a language other than English at home" (244).  In today's multicultural classrooms, there are many roles for technology to enhance the learning experience. Teachers can use technology to support their lessons. Teachers can use programs, some available online and free, to translate from many commonly spoken languages to English or from English to another language. As a future teacher, one whom only speaks English, this type of tool might be very useful in my classroom. Google Translate is one free version that is easy to use. If I want to greet my students on the first day of class, and I had a Spanish only speaking student in my classroom, I could easily use Google Translate for some assistance.



("Hello, I am your teacher Mrs. Matz.
I am very happy to have you as my student. This year we will learn so much!"- translated from English to Spanish using Google Translate) 

Another great way to use technology in the class room would be for creating word clouds. Word clouds are visual representations of text. While world clouds are not very in depth, they are visually stimulating and often do a great job of summarizing main points. Word clouds are one of many tools that are easily created and accessible online.   
The word cloud pictured here was created using a free online site called Wordle. Word clouds can contribute the universal design for learning(UDL). "UDL applies recent advances in understanding how the brain processes information to the design of a curriculum that can accommodate broad student needs" (250).  As a future teacher I am very excited to use technology in roles which will be engaging for my diverse students and will help to meet their diverse needs.

Storybook apps are now readily available tools teachers can use to further engage students while meeting the needs of diversity. Students can explore options within the storybook under the teachers guidelines. As a future teacher, I fully intend on letting my students utilize such tools. Storybook apps can be read like an e-book, or the text can be played like an audio book, and they are often visually stimulating as well. Some storybooks have options to further explore through "gaming" and even game playing may increase the learning experience.  Interactive electronic storybooks have many advantages which the text points out from reaching multiple learning styles, to creating an engaging mood, all while increasing vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. Scholastic Books offers some free online interactive books for younger students, including Clifford storybooks. Sites like this are interactive, can be used for small group activities and will address the specialized learning needs of many children.



Resources:


Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2^nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.