e-Tips and UDL

Dexter described “added value” of technology as “the particular packaging, delivery method, or combination of services in a product brings extra benefits than one would otherwise receive.” This article fits with the message that I took from the UDL. What I have taken from both E-tips and UDL is that technology has many advantages in the educational setting when they are supported by the school and implemented by the teacher who has considered the “added value” of the technology.

For me, the added value of using the internet for research or gathering information is the use of hyperlinks. With hyperlinks, students can gain connected information quickly and efficiently. For example, in an informational text with difficult Tier III vocabulary, a student could quickly identify the meaning of the word. This would be especially helpful for ELL students.

The added value for using blogging in a classroom is the increased collaboration for ideas and thoughts. In a traditional classroom, typically only 1 student might be sharing their thoughts at a time when having a whole group discussion. With the use of blogging, multiple people can share their own ideas and post responses and make connections to the original ideas. All people can read the posts. It provides a place for much more diverse, elaborate, and extensive conversation.

I believe Powerpoint would be a great tool for the classroom as a way for students to present information. Often when students have to do projects, they have they have to present them to the class individually. Students could put together presentations in a Powerpoint and post them to a blog or a class wiki. Then students could read the presentations quickly without having to wait for each individual presentation. There could be links in the presentation which would allow the students to gain additional information that could not be acquired in simply listening to a presentation.