Mobile phones..

People today cannot leave the house with out their mobile phones, their whole lives are saved onto that one bit of technology, all their pictures and videos, documents and phones numbers, their emails and calendars. Their whole lives revolve around their mobiles and as our mobile phones are so advanced these days they're perfectly capable of holding that much information. From looking back at how mobiles were ten years ago it is extraordinary how much they have changed, mobiles were not capable of surfing the web or recognising your thumb print as a security precaution. Texting and ringing wasn't an issue for them but the only game the phone had was snake as apps and games were not created to download. Our phones today can open several different pages at a time, can ring a contact by the recognition of your voice, it can place a bet at your local bookies and even manage our bank accounts. The most recognisable phone brand that can be linked to all of these magnificent functions is Apple, Steve Jobs set out to create the 'Mini computer' and after countless attempts he succeeded, unfortunately Steve Jobs passed away and never saw the latest model of the iPhone be created, but has left behind a truly remarkable legacy, that is worthy of making the history books. Apple is now worth over $185 billion.

Technology now and ten years ago..

Everybody knows that technology has advanced massively over the last 10 years, but not many people know the actual extent. After researching, some differences of technology ten years ago to technology now are:

Ten Years Ago

• Many offices and organisations that were dependant on the internet usually had to 'lease' broadband from broadband providers, this would of been very expensive.
• Floppy disks and CDs were how you would of had to store data and files.
• Mobile phones were huge chunky bricks with LCD screens and a giant aerial.
• Social Networks weren't created.
• Many classes had to share a certain amount of computers in schools.

Now

• Broadband is available to all and is cheap, WiFi is also available and is free.
• Transferring files is now simple and you can use various different ways of sending data, e.g. email or social media, USB's can also be used to store data.
• Mobile phones are so advanced they are also known as 'mini computers'.
• Various different social networking sites are massively popular and are used by billions of people.
• iPads are now being given to each child throughout schools.

New Ideas..

Todays society is hugely impacted by social media and it is now becoming a part of our everyday lives. Instagram is a social networking site where you can only post pictures, no status' or word posts and I feel it would be great way for different schools or teachers to share pictures of their school grounds, their pupils at play, materials they use or even just a way to show the school off.
For example, once the teachers have asked for consent off parents, they could then take pictures of the days activities for a specific schools page or pictures could be taken of various trips the school has been on, their sports day or anything they feel would interest other schools. On twitter a person's page is open for the public to look at, similar to Facebook, whereas Instagram has privacy settings which only allow people who you accept to see your profile. Instagram is a fun way of sharing ideas with different schools and teachers.

Skype in schools..

Skyping in schools is a topic that I am hugely interested in and I think it is a wonderful idea. As Skype is a social networking site it is available worldwide and it's also totally free, which means everyone can use it.
As a child never in my wildest dreams would I think that I could have a French language lesson of an actual French person who may be set in Paris or have a history lesson off a historian based in New York's Museum of National History. Seeing this would amaze any child and the idea of it being brought into school is wonderful. A child would learn so much more this way than reading words from a textbook and I feel children would engage and be so much more interested if lessons were taught this way. Geography lessons could be taught by Skyping a different country for different geography lessons, with all the different cultures giving information, history and facts about their culture and how they live. With Skype, children's imaginations can become a reality and children will be able to travel the world without actually leaving the school premises!
If a teacher is off sick or on maternity leave, although children will be set a supply teacher, with Skype the children and their original teachers can interact and have lessons that way. Within Wales we have a reward system in many schools called 'Goldentime', this is when children are allowed to play in the playground or do whatever they please but I know if I were a child again, for my reward I would much rather Skype different continents.

Blog Review on a Special Kind of Class..

This blog review is based on the blog 'A Special Kind of Class' and focuses on children with disabilities. In my future, I would love to work with children in SEN and can hopefully get a career teaching in a SEN school so I feel this blog is valuable to me and my work.
When looking at different kinds of blogs, many can be similar to one another and they don't always stand out to me, whereas this blog did, with its bright colours and warming pictures, I couldn't help but smile when looking through the pages and posts on this blog. A Special Kind of Class was created by an individual teacher who has taught in SEN for over twenty years who works beside a speech therapist and physiotherapist. Her blog offers guidelines, tips, questions and answers all referring to SEN, it also has her email address if you ever wanted to email her for yourself. By her blog you can see she loves her job and puts her all into it.
Although she has many posts, her site also consists of seven separate pages:

• About Me
• Math (Gives handy tips on how to teach children maths).
• Reading (Gives handy tips on how to help the children read).
• Writing (Gives handy tips on how to show children how to write).
• Disclosure Info
• Shop (Can buy packs, bundles, books and journals all to help children learn).
• Freebies (Gives you free access to download different learning materials).

A Special Kind of Class is a wonderful blog that really does deem valuable to me, take a look for yourselves guys and I guarantee it'll make you smile too!

A true Inspiration..

Tedtalk is a website created for users to watch videos of talks on all kinds of different things, it's also completely free and is hugely popular. It also has a section where users can participate in online conversations and discussions on different topics, also including a section with details of upcoming conferences and events.
This is a video that I have specifically chosen as the details of the talk mean a great deal to my family and I. In this video Rosie King describes how Autism has always had a great impact on her life, through her school years through to her life as it is now. She also describes that although the knowledge of Autism is growing daily there are still stereotypes that come with discussions of it and this is a topic that I agree strongly with.
I have spent most of my life surrounded by individuals with Autism, my partner and the father of my son is one of those individuals. Although my partner's autism is minor, through his life he has still conquered and overcome so many obstacles to get where he is today. Through his early school life, he was always seen as the 'naughty' or 'disruptive' child, he had a lot of friends but he also made a lot of enemies during school and this was mostly with adults. This was due to the fact that it was not until he was 10 years old, that he was diagnosed with Autism. His everyday life was a challenge as he was painfully shy around people that he was not used too, practical activities became his release and more so his talent. After being diagnosed and having people understand what he was going through, his confidence soared and he has now became a fully qualified carpenter. Rosie also describes how her little brother and sister are severely autistic therefore they cannot talk, this is also something I can connect with as my younger cousin (aged 5) was the same. Luckily for him, he had a very early diagnosis, he had and still has a one-to-one helper who helps him through school and this has brought him on magnificently.
Rosie King is sixteen years old and I feel that she is an amazing young girl, her strength and knowledge is better than many other people and her confidence to use her abilities to help her achieve different things is truly remarkable.

IPads in the Classroom

Schools all around the UK are now bringing IPad into schools to help children learn their reading, writing and maths skills and are also teaching kids Science, Art and most other subjects. Apps are installed or downloaded to help try and engage children into learning more and tools such as Dictionaries and Thesaurus' are now being used on the iPad's, children are not using the hardcopy books anymore. So is giving each child an iPad to use in class a good/bad thing?

Pros

• Homework can be completed at home and sent to the teachers through email.
• Children who are off sick can still see the lessons they had missed that day.
• Children who do not have computer resources at home, have the same opportunities to children who already had access to the internet.
• Once work is completed, children can show the whole class their work by connecting it to the interactive whiteboards based at the front of the classrooms.
• When supervised by an adult, children may be able to download their own chosen apps that interest them but still have educational purposes.

Cons

• IPads handed to each child will become tremendously expensive.
• Parents may be obligated to pay money if an iPad is damaged by their child.
• Children may miss more school as lessons can be seen online.
• Teachers may start to only contact parents through email and if a parent does not have an email they may miss out on vital information.
• Children's attention may become distracted in class by the different apps on the iPads.

The topic of iPads in a school is one that many people will have lots of different opinions. Myself, I think the idea of iPads in schools is a good idea but it does raise my concerns to if iPads were to become a thing of the future, will our pen and paper become a thing of the past and will we still be able to individually write in neat handwriting?

 

Who said shopping isn't a girls best friend!?

After careful consideration and stressing myself out by not being able to work my old and ruined laptop, I decided, as a belated birthday present to myself, that I was going to buy a new one. Problem is I couldn't decide which one to get..
Treading the aisles searching for the perfect one, I sheepishly approached the help desk to see if anybody could help me, they only had to look at my face to know that I didn't have a clue what I was searching for! I explained to Phil (I think his name was Phil), that I was a University student and needed a new laptop for all my assignments and coursework but didn't want anything too confusing or anything too big and bulgy for that matter.
After searching through the endless pages of laptops on the store computer, pink laptops, blue laptops, Macbooks, tablets, I finally found a perfect choice and I have now became a proud owner of the new Acer Aspire Touch and a whole lot of gadgets to go with it.
Its fascinating that my laptop is a perfectly normal laptop with a keypad but can also be used without its keypad as the screen is touchscreen and after all my nights stressing about how I'm going to manage, my lovely little laptop has taken the problems away! Although my boyfriend isn't too pleased as I won't share it with him!

Wordnik..

During education, you will come across some unusual and uncommon words, Wordnik is an online dictionary and thesaurus which is available for all to use when needed. Once playing around with this site, I have found it very helpful and quite fun! Nobody wants to be looking through a dictionary book to find a specific word, so being able to type your word in to the search bar to find its spelling and meaning, is not only easier but a lot quicker, nobody wants to waste time when writing an essay! Wordnik would be great if brought into schools and classrooms, children would find it easier, as I did, to find words and it may even interest them more than flicking through pages of a hardcopy dictionary. As children will also be reading the word's meanings as well as the spelling, children will understand the word more and Wordnik even shows children how to incorporate these specific words into sentences. This site can also show children examples of their specific words and as Wordnik also shows these words being used in books, this may help the child become more familiar with different types of books and may lead them to want to read these books themselves!

After using Wordnik I love it! I would definitely recommend this site to friends, family and other students.

 

 

Leapfrog

As I am a mother of a toddler, I always try my hardest to buy toys with educational purposes that my son can use to play with and learn from and have found that Leapfrog is great for this.
Leapfrog Interactive toys can now be found in all different shapes and sizes from interactive mobile phones, to laptops, tablets and cuddly toys but they all come with various different learning activities.

Children learn most of their creative, social and problem solving skills as well as other skills through play and this toy helps to teach young children these vital things without them even knowing. As Leapfrog is focused on a very young age group, I feel that pre-schoolers, toddlers and babies would advantage most from these toys and would enjoy them more than what an older child would.
With its multiple songs of counting to ten, ABC's and Nursery Rhymes or even its different coloured lights, it will certainly grab a child's attention. Leapfrog also offers a range of different interactive books, e.g. Thomas the Tank, Disney's Cars or Tangled to Winnie the Pooh in which you can sing or read along too using a special pen that talks when you press on words and pictures, this pen also shows a child how to write correctly.

Web 2.0 (Twitter) Pro's and Con's

Our days the web is used massively all around the world and has became a part of many civilisations everyday lives although many people think that the world wide web is all there is. Whereas, the world wide web (WWW) and Web 2.0 are two different things. Www has became the early days of technology as Web 2.0 now has more of an input amongst  internet users. The original plan for data on the internet put on by the world wide web was just being able to download and view the information. Now Web 2.0 allows user to have an input on what goes on to the sites they use by using some of the worlds more popular programmes, such as:

• Wikis: Sites which enable users to edit original posts, even if they are not the original authors.
• Social media: Sites which allow everyone from all over the world to connect with each other, these sites are normally free to use.  
• Mobile computing: Enables users to connect to an original source, wherever they may be as long as they are connected to Wi-Fi.

As with everything, Web 2.0 applications will naturally come with pros and cons. One example of this would be the application Twitter.

Twitter is a social networking site where everybody can interact with each other for free, people in society can follow their favourite celebrities, allowing them to see photos and posts that a celeb has posted. People can keep in touch with their family/friends abroad and companies can freely advertise their businesses by posting photos, videos and descriptions on their pages. These are called 'Tweets'.
But, some disadvantages of the social networking site Twitter are:

• As so many people use this site, there is always a risk of bullying, which in some cases has lead to serious precautions.
• The use of people imitating/hacking others, by using their photos, names and personal details.
• Can not always be sure that some profiles are reliable sources.
• Due to the number of people using the site, systems are known to crash or work very slowly.
• Can be very dangerous for underage users. 

Also, as using Twitter can be very time consuming this may lead to individuals dismissing themselves from society. It can also create problems such as fatigue, laziness and loss of confidence.