Article #5 - Challenge Based Learning

After reading the article, I feel that it could be really beneficial for students in the classroom. I like the idea of challenge based learning in general. I feel that it allows students to creatively come up with ideas or issues that they feel passionately about and want to put action behind.

As a student myself, I have come across many issues that I feel should be addressed and aren't. Doing this project associated with the IT class for challenge based learning, I feel that I will be able to interact and pose an issue that I feel deeply about. In the classroom, students will be able to come together and create ways to show how passionate they feel about their issues. I feel that allowing students to take part in challenge based learning allows them to work on so many skills at once. It could involve anything from communication to the outside world to developing social skills by working in groups. Challenge based activities also allow for students to increase their technological skills in addition to reading and writing.

Overall, I think that the idea of challenge based learning is great, and I think that all students should be able to experience challenge based learning at least once in their academic careers!

Article 4 - Literacy Learning

Reading the article was very interesting, but learning about all the apps that are available to people is what peaked my interest. Nowadays there is probably an app for anything that you can think of pertaining to learning about reading and writing. I really appreciated the apps that were available for early literacy because it could help give younger kids an academic boost before beginning school. Back when we were younger, I can remember a very small amount of educational television and learning materials (hooked on phonics, leap pad....) that assisted with literacy. As a teacher I feel that it's our job to expose these great resources to families of our students and allow them to explore the "app world" of learning; especially since 1:1 time with students is one of the biggest problems in the classroom nowadays. The major benefit to having these apps is that they are easily accessible, and can be used in both the general population AND to assist those with special needs. Within the Special Education field alone, technology has allowed many students not to stick out in the classroom. If I were to have special needs, I would definitely feel better being in the general ed classroom with an ipad containing apps to assist with my learning, compared to some of the huge low-tech items that students may have to use in the classroom. Just like with anything else, there are always pros and cons to the use of technology. You don't want your student(s) to become fully dependent on the apps and technology to the point that it becomes more of a crutch than an aid. But I really like the idea of using the ipads in the classroom. And I can see the use of learning apps in the classroom as being beneficial to the entire classroom as well.