Genius Hour Post 1

Blending Technology and Classroom Learning

For my genius hour, I would like to explore different adaptive technological platforms for students with unique ways of expressing and demonstrating themselves in a free and safe environment. Shifting from older traditionally ineffective methods to more intelligent adaptive technology, which empowers students to sit in the driver’s seat and literally architect their own learning path. All Students learn at their own pace. I am interested in the type of technology which learns the learners. They gauge the true abilities of the students in order to utilize their strengths, while working on their weaknesses. If the student has superior grasp of some concepts while struggling with others, the technology will provide challenging material in their strong topics and guide them through their weaker topics. These technologies are there to interact with the students, rather than just spitting information at them in order to maximize learning with technology, rather than learning from technology. It will utilize the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) standards to empower the students to set their own learning curriculum and express themselves at their own unique pace. These types of technologies are not meant to replace great teachers, but they are going to support great teaching.

The reason I am interested in this idea is because I have always been a slow learner. I would eventually get there, but sometimes I won’t make it there in time. Most of the class would be ahead of me in the understanding of the material, while I would be stuck in something for too long. I am not saying that the entire class should be held back because of me. My point is that if there was a form of technology that I could have used in those times to get out of the hole I was in for such a long time and catch up with the rest of the class, it would have made all the difference in the world. Now, due to rapid growth in technology, I believe it is very possible to develop such interactive and adaptive technological tools. I also believe that many people have initiated the concept and made significant strides through the process. I want to look into that more in depth. I want to find more inspiring people to see where they have come in this field of study. I will spread their work on my blog in hopes of inspiring others, who visit my portfolio site. I want to explore current existing technologies that integrate such adaptive tools in order to gauge their effectiveness in achieving the goal that I envision for it to reach. In K12 environments, this idea can help many students, especially kids with disabilities and students like me. All of the students are unique in their own way, and they learn at their own pace, and they express themselves in their own independent voices. If these students get their hands on such technology, they can do wonders. The right lessons will be delivered at the right time. The students will succeed at a uniform speed, while conquering personal goals and standards. Everyone will be able to learn with technology together. As I said earlier as well, it will not replace great teachers, it will support great teaching. Instead using ineffective traditional tools and technologies, teachers will be able to effectively and clearly communicate with every student. They will reach each unique student through the same platform. It will unify and smooth the collaboration and communication between students and teachers.

In my opinion, many people will be interested in my genius hour research topic/question. This is not only geared towards special needs or disabled students, but all of the students, so it reaches a very broad range of group of interest. Many parents would be interested in such technological tools and platforms as well. Of course, they want the best for their kids. Even I wish I had my hands on such technology at an earlier stage of my life. For that reason, I feel like I owe to the society and the future generation of students to give them more adaptive technological tools that I did not get to experience with. In order to do my research and search for my inspiration, I will look for people with similar research goals on Twitter, Pinterest blogs, Google Scholars, etc. Some relevant groups and people to follow on twitter are @edtechdigest, @JoyKirr, @EdSurge, and @Jbseitz. Some relevant hashtags to follow on twitter are #adaptivelearning and#learningwithtechnology. For more great ideas like this, we all should explore genius hour topics of other people on Twitter, YouTube, etc. You have to be inspired first before you can become an inspiration!