Augmented Learning
My intended purpose for the artifact that I created was to help the parents of my students better understand what we do out in the community. This is so important for my students because for them to master skills out in the community I need the parent's of my students to be on board with taking their child out in the community as well. The goal is for my students to show their parents that they have learned the skills to be appropriate out in the community. The hard part is that even when my students have learned how to be appropriate the parents still feel like it's just easier to leave them at home. I'm hoping with an artifact like the one I have created it will give the parent's the extra push to think twice about leaving their child at home. Most of the student's that are in my class don't actually live in Greenville. I thought linking my QR codes to the location of these different places in Greenville we go to could be beneficial.
Application: When making this artifact the one principle that aligned the most was the signaling principle. The reason why I thought this principle pertained to my artifact is because I believe signaled through the use of words, pictures and QR codes the importance of getting their child out in the community. If they running errands on a Sunday afternoon they can easily pull up this artifact and use it as a guide to help teach their child skills that are also being taught in the classroom.
Reflection: Learning about augmented learning was a little overwhelming at times to be honest. I really struggled to wrap my head around students with severe multiple impairments using this type of technology in the classroom. In my classroom having parents on board can be very difficult at times. Most of parents are low income households with low IQs. I thought any way I can help my parents be part of their child's learning would be beneficial for all. I did think about how awesome this would be in a general education setting or trades type classroom. I feel like teachers are so against students using cell phone in their classrooms. We as teachers must get with the times. Kids don't retain knowledge through paper and pencil anymore. It's just a fact even if we don't like it. I enjoyed really trying to think outside the box for my classroom. I downloaded the "layer" app and found a geo layer section that I also think could be great for my students. Basically anytime you are in the community it will pull up a restaurant, grocery store or bank with a certain mileage of where you are. You can click on those places and it will give you information. It's sort of like google maps. This week really pushed me to think about how advanced technology like this can be used in a classroom like mine.