Buesgens

Rebecca Buesgen's page

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**Learning Style**After taking the "learning styles assessment," I found out that I am an Auditory learner. This make complete and total sense to me because I have always learned the most while sitting in a lecture taking notes on what the teacher is telling me. It has always been very difficult for me to learn by reading a textbook or a hand out and while reading it becomes a lot easier for me to comprehend what I'm learning if I read out loud to myself. I have spent the last three years in college passing my classes merely off of the notes I take in my lectures. I haven't thoroughly read an assigned chapter for any of my classes but yet for some reason I still do wonderfully in my classes. In several of my biology classes, when I've had to learn a specific process - like how signal transduction through G protein coupled receptors works- I would look up a video presentation of it on youTube so that I can have it explained out loud to me. It is just a much simpler way for me to retain information. **UDL Reflection** The UDL program seems to be a great asset to both students and teachers. It provides very simple ways for teachers to adapt their lessons into instruction that can encompass all kinds of learners. It is hard for every student in a class room to learn material at the same rate or in the same way – teachers need to take this into account when preparing to deliver even what may to seem to be the simplest material. The CAST website is a great place where teachers can learn to use the principles of UDL and it provides great tools that teachers can use in their very own classrooms. The electronic version of **//Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age//** was also a big help in not only understanding UDL but also how UDL can be incorporated in the class. The most interesting thing about **//Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age//** was how much emphasis was put on neurology- how the brain works. I never had really considered that a sound knowledge of how a brain can process different information can make a teacher more prepared to teach his or her students. Knowing brain function can also help a teacher to understand the different styles of learning and teach lessons accordingly. The two activities that I participated in were interesting. I had a hard time understanding how they related to teaching until I realized their purpose was to help me understand the different parts of the brain. I’ve been there a few introductory psychology classes so the assignments were just a refresher on the biology part of behavior and learning but I can’t really say that I learned anything about my strengths or talents from these activities. They were more of a lesson to me about how the brain works than a reflection on myself. Over all I think that the CAST website is great. It is a strong tool in teaching a diversity of students and I plan on using the information I’ve learned from this assignment as I enter the class room to teach students of my own.

**Assistive Technology** This assignment really opened my eyes to how diverse the severity of disabilities that use assistive technology is. I used to think that assistive technology was for extremely disabled students – like those who are paralyzed and can’t use simple technologies that the rest of us take for granted – like keyboards, or telephones. It turns out that assistive technology can be used to solve even the simplest/most common disabilities – larger print for those who have minor difficulty in seeing. I was particularly impressed with the Apple website. I’m impressed that a company that is so integrated into the American way of living has developed a strong line of assistive applications for iPods and laptops. It’s quite obvious how assistive technology can help students with special needs. Disabilities make it hard for students to do assignments that other students would find easy. Technologies such as the ones described in the websites and videos of this assignment try to make up for the functions that students can’t perform themselves. These technologies make students who are usually at a disadvantage gain an ability to be on par with the rest of their peers. This not only will improve their academics but it may also improve their confidence and self esteem.

In Elementary school I had a girl in my class that was partially deaf. She had hearing aids and the teacher wore a microphone around her neck that was linked directly to the hearing aids. This technology helped her not only hear the teacher’s lecture but it also helped the hearing aids to focus on the sounds that really mattered. Obviously this helped my peer understand the teacher without the assistance of an interpreter.

As a teacher the most important thing that I learned from this assignment that will stick with me as I enter the professional world is the great diversity of assistive technologies and disabilities. Disabilities can come in any shape, size, or intensity and I need to be aware of this because a student may seem normal on the surface but may actually be having huge difficulties. If a student is doing poorly in my class, it may be a good idea to look a little deeper and see if there might be some disability that could be improved upon by the use of assistive technology.

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**Virtual Field Trip Reflection** This is an amazing tool. I think it is not only a great way to grab the student’s attention but also for them to soundly learn the material. I also believe that this can be a tool used in any class. With several of the other projects we’ve done or tools we’ve looked at I find it a little hard to see how I can incorporate them into a science class room and I felt they were geared more towards maybe English or reading class. But I can definitely see taking an astronomy class on a virtual field trip to a planetarium or doing an anatomy lab on the bones with the site that was provided in the instructions. As I am planning on teaching a lab science, biology, I could use a virtual field trip as a lab. As for the assignment, I learned so much about the whaling industry. First of all I had no idea that America ever had a whaling industry. I knew that there is still an industry in Japan, mainly because I am an avid fan of Whale Wars on Animal Planet, but I had never thought about what the United States had used for light before gas. I guess I just assumed it was a leap from wax candles to gas and oil lamps. As much as these whale lamps helped the lives of Americans during this time I still have a hard time excepting the fact that they justified the killing of whales to gain this luxury. Granted, I may be a bit bias because whales are my favorite animals (especially Orcas) but to know that this country had a direct effect on the endangered status of these fantastic and unique creatures. However, it was interesting to see the inside of the industry despite my personal grievances.

Podcast Assignment media type="file" key="Buesgenspodcast.wav" width="300" height="50" align="center"

Digital Story Telling Video []

Final assignment- Course Reflection