The EdTech Thoughts (T.T.T): Learning Apps/Resources to Improve Learning

concepto de ocio, niños, educación, tecnología y personas - niño sonriente con tablet pc y portátil en casa con doodles matemáticos

Learning is a process and is happening all the time. It is unique to each individual. Each student has their own way of processing information. It is important for the teacher to be able to help and motivate students to allow them to achieve their learning goals. There is a variety of different ways to help students and teachers. Consider the Universal Design Learning framework that teachers can use, followed by three learning application resources that could students improve learning.

So, what is Universal Design Learning (UDL). Universal Design Learning is a framework that help guides teachers with their diverse class. UDL helps decrease barriers and improve learning. Universal means curriculum that can be used and understood by everyone and learning is the recognition of the what, how, and the why of learning (UDL at a glance ,2010). UDL provide multiple means of representation such as presenting content and information in multiple media, providing varied supports, using graphics and animation, highlighting the critical features, activating background knowledge, and supporting vocabulary so that students can acquire the knowledge being taught.

Now that you know a bit of what is UDL, what are some learning application resources that can help students improve their learning? One example is called Snaptype. This learning application is allowing students to take pictures of their homework and have the opportunity to type in the answers instead of writing it. It also helps you create different folders for different subjects. You can also customize a colored background. It also allows them to type their answers instead of writing and it helps fill in the gaps for struggling writers. In my opinion this learning application follows the UDL guidelines. It motivates students by giving them an opportunity to engage in learning, helps students think how the information can be presented, help express themselves fluently, and can reflect on their comprehension and understanding.

Another learning application is Google Classroom. This application is good for students and teachers because you can actually see the teacher live and you can see all the work that the teacher provides. Not only that, the teacher can give you feedback instantly such as sharing files between the students. Google Classroom can be engaging but the teacher needs to provide a motivation to the students and make sure the information is presented correctly and effectively, so that the students can express themselves fluently when interacting with themselves and the teacher. This application is good because it requires an interaction with the teacher.

The last learning application is called Read and Write. I believe this is a wonderful application that can be added to computers. This software is good for students to use because it builds their confidence on learning and on understanding the lesson materials. This application can read to you, highlight words, and contains text to speech, and dictionaries with both text and pictures. This application does so much for students and helps them with their learning styles.

Overall these learning applications are useful for students and teachers. I will provide some videos below of what each learning application does.

Snap Type