Tactile Picture Books

Image URL: https://www.colorado.edu/project/bbb/sites/default/files/styles/slider/public/slider/3doodler_edu_start_windsor-38.jpg?itok=IGs7sEYO

Throughout the readings this week about disabilities and looking at assistive technology, I kept coming back to the concept of tactile picture books. While there are some very helpful ideas for educators to create tactile books for early literacy, I was fascinated by the Build a Better Book project at the University of Colorado Boulder. This project focuses on providing students with the materials needed to build tactile picture books out of a variety of tools like 3D printers, cardboard cutouts, and conductive boards. These books could be used as learning tools for students with or without disabilities by providing multi-modal ways to experience quality books.

 

The applications of this are truly endless, but I especially see many benefits for visually-impaired students. This would be an important way to help students who are visually impaired by providing them with ways to both hear and feel books. After teaching visually impaired students I have realized how difficult it can be to get access to braille books (although the SC State Library has some great programs to help with this), and audiobooks are not every student’s preferred option.


This could also be applicable for students with other visual disabilities like color blindness, which hits close to home for me because my dad is severely color blind and I’ve only recently begun to understand how much that affected his reading as a kid. It is hard for him to tell what is happening in many pictures, so picture books for him were never enjoyable. Even early literacy games were not accessible for him. When he plays Candy Land with my kids, for example, he relies on my 4 year old to tell him where his color block is. I wonder how different his reading journey could have been with a tactile option like this.

Probably my favorite part of this project, though, is that students are involved in both the creation and the use of these tactile books. “Like other makerspace initiatives, Build a Better Book offers youth an opportunity to engage in critical STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) practices, such as design, fabrication, iteration, and collaboration” (Forsyth, 2020, para. 5). Talk about real world experience! Students grow their own literacy skills to create new materials. I am amazed that this idea is simple yet provides significant room for growth and creativity.


References:

Forsyth, S., Penzkover, K., Dalton, B., & Yang, G. (2020). Build a better book. Connected Science Learning. Retrieved from https://www.nsta.org/connected-science-learning/connected-science-learning-july-september-2020/build-better-book.

Project Overview. Build a better book. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.colorado.edu/project/bbb/.

Makey Makey Technology as a Learning Tool

Technology truly has endless possibilities! When evaluating various technology options, I was drawn to the Makey Makey tool. "The Makey Makey is an electronic invention kit for all ages! The Makey Makey allows you to take everyday objects and combine them with the interne" (Makey Makey, 2021, para. 1). By connecting alligator clips to conductive objects, students can control their computer's keyboard through the everyday objects. This technology supports project-based learning and can be used in a variety of classrooms with multiple applications.

Based on the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), the Makey Makey as a technology resource has the ability to provide a resource for high-level learning through five characteristics of meaningful learning environments as the technology becomes increasingly integrated in the curriculum. 

• Active: The Makey Makey is active by nature. Students are working with physical objects to produce a desired goal. Since students are given the flexibility to produce desired results in multiple ways using multiple objects, this can fit in the transformational category as students use unconventional tools. The tool could be used in different classes like STEM, math, or science to create new ways of learning material.

• Collaborative: Students can collaborate not only with peers in the classroom but also digitally with other student inventors. This particular tenant has many potential applications. Younger students may focus on collaborating in a class environment, working together to solve problems. Older students may be able to collaborate with the larger community and create specific projects that can be duplicated or complemented by work from students at other schools using Makey Makey. Collaboration is possible by also using tools like Youtube to reach a larger audience.

• Constructive: This category requires students to connect their learning to prior knowledge and then then build on that knowledge to create new meaning. This is a challenging piece for any classroom, and the Makey Makey offers ways to make this realistic. The tool lends itself to recounting prior knowledge since many of the tasks are unconventional. Lesson plans using the Makey Makey could be prescriptive and guide students through tasks step-by-step, but as students grow as independent learners they can be provided with more open-ended tasks that require use of prior knowledge to create experiments or outcomes.

• Authentic: Using the Makey Makey to apply learning to real world situations could become a regular part of lesson planning. For example, high school students have been working on accessibility projects using the Makey Makey technology. A sponsor teacher of one such project comments, "One of the biggest challenges for the math students was the lack of a concrete process for them to duplicate. But to be fair, it is also one of my favorite aspects of the project" (Cashing in on Design Thinking, 2020, para. 12). If students are given increasing autonomy as learners, the Makey Makey gives them the tools to be able to create real life solutions.

• Goal-Directed: By providing students opportunities to plan and monitor their learning throughout projects and then reflect on their learning, the Makey Makey technology could provide an important tool for this category. Makey Makey projects aid with goals-based learning because feedback is constant. Student success during a project means that the tool is accomplishing some type of goal, whether playing a certain note or creating a certain movement on the computer. This immediate feedback provides students with the tools they need to maintain high-level goals.

Helpful Links for Educators

Beginner Projects: As with any technology tool, students would need to be introduced to the components before setting off on an independent project. This link provides activities that could be used as an introduction of Makey Makey in the classroom. 

Math and Science Connection: This lesson plan provides a flexible option for connecting Math and Science in a sorting activity requiring critical thinking to classify while also providing possible extensions to include Biology material, advanced math formulas, and coding games. 

Sources:

"Cashing in" on design thinking: An epic collaboration project. Makey Makey Blogs. (2020, March 10). Retrieved from https://makeymakey.com/blogs/blog/cashing-in-on-design-thinking-an-epic-collaboration-project. 

Maclemale, R. (2021). Matrix. TIM. Retrieved from https://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix/. 

Makey Makey. Makerspace for Education. (2021). Retrieved from http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/makey-makey.html.

VR as a Learning Tool

The past few years have been full of change and adjustment. Closures due to COVID-19 have hit schools in different ways, and teachers are becoming masters at finding new ways to teach in these ever-changing times. Tame the Web’s blog shared some insight into how VR could be used as one way to adapt with the ever-changing climate of school. The idea of virtual field trips inspired me to look into different ways to use VR in classrooms. VR could be the answer to many of the complaints teachers have about lack of accessibility for students.

VR is becoming an accessible tool for schools thanks to cost-effective Google cardboard options that use cell phones with specific apps to provide a virtual experience. Youtube VR also offers ways for users to create their own VR experiences. There are many ways that VR could be effective as an education tool, and specifically social studies teachers could use this tool to eliminate barriers. Instead of traveling to many regions and areas to learn, VR could provide students with unprecedented access to different places. Historical artifacts may not be accessible in person; trip costs could be unrealistic for students; travel time could be a hindrance. While there is no replacement for in-person experiences, VR could provide access to experiences that otherwise would be impossible.

For social studies courses specifically, VR equipment could resolve existing complaints from teachers. Many teachers at my school complain about not having enough time to cover the standards, especially in world history. VR could give students the opportunity to explore independently while teachers provide additional support for other students in the classroom. The VR technology would involve some training, but teacher leaders would be a great way to promote this technology. As Educational Leadership points out, “Many master users can create practical, effective workshops for novices; teachers will also become more skilled as a technology rollout progresses” (Overbay, 2011, p.58). This technology could provide a way for students to have engaging new experiences and also opportunities for teachers to be leaders in their field.

Some resources suggest that VR could even be used as a physical classroom in some ways. After implementation of VR as a social studies learning tool, it could be used in more ways in the classroom. This may be the answer to some barriers that students face due to missing school or being unable to participate in the physical classroom due space concerns. As virtual school continues to be an option for many students, perhaps VR really is the future of education.

References:

Editor. (2020, June 29). Exploring New HORIZONS in VR. Tame the Web. Retrieved from https://tametheweb.com/2020/06/29/exploring-new-horizons-in-vr/. 

Google. (2021). Google cardboard. Google Cardboard – Google VR. Retrieved from https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/. 

Moates, C. (2021, June 30). VR is the future of education. VRFocus. Retrieved from https://www.vrfocus.com/2021/06/vr-is-the-future-of-education/. 

Overbay, A., Mollette, M., & Vasu, E. S. (2011). A Technology Plan That Works. Educational Leadership, 68(5), 56–59.

YouTube. (2021). Home - youtube vr. YouTube. Retrieved from https://vr.youtube.com/.

 

Fake News?

 I hear the term “fake news” often but was surprised by some of the commentary from the Liturgists Podcast surrounding this topic. While I know that I should be analyzing the media I consume, and I have tools to help identify truth from fiction, I can’t say that I actively analyze all information I consume. I tend to read the news, and I am very conscious of what sites I use and which articles I choose to read. However, I get much less analytical when I stumble upon articles scrolling through Facebook. Coffee is good for you? Everyone is moving to tiny houses? School sports are more dangerous now than in the 90’s? I might skim through these articles just to see what people are saying, even if I don’t necessarily give the article my full consideration. But as the podcast points out, just by clicking on an article I am giving it weight. As a school librarian especially, I need to be more aware of the information I choose to consume, remembering to be aware of the “healthy information calorie vs empty information calorie” (The Liturgists, 2017) challenge.

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Some of the resources reminded me of a conversation I had with my 6th grade students last year. They were all astounded by the “rice guy” picture and wanted to find out if it was real or not. Of course this was a great opportunity to teach about credible sources (and Photoshop!). Looking back I wish that I had incorporated the Big6 in the conversation, but we had a rich conversation about how they were using their school devices, what sources were credible, how to recognize potential false information and how to verify facts. Information is thrown at students constantly and most of them are seeking a way to sort through it all.

My school is shifting to virtual next week, and that is bringing up a new level of information-related concerns. I was excited to find some resources to teach digital citizenship in a way that can resonate with my students who are now learning virtually for a time. While I will not be able to address all concerns in one week, I hope to help my students specifically in learning to “manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources” (P21 Framework Definitions, p. 5). As our world is currently inundated with information (both true and false) about COVID-19 and other topics, I think this is a perfect opportunity for students to learn and practice digital responsibility. With more and more students having individual devices that they can use regularly, teachers in schools need to stay proactive to make sure that students know how to navigate the things they will face on their devices.