SuperSibs!

When a child is sick it is natural for the majority of the parent’s attention to go to that child. However, this can often unintentionally leave siblings feeling left out. Since Child Life Specialists are responsible for the emotional and social needs of a patients sibling they need resources for this. SuperSibs! Is a website that provides support and resources for siblings of children with cancer. The website has a variety of applications.

One use of the website is for a CLS to use it in implementing programs with siblings. The website has a specific page dedicated specifically to hospital professionals who are assisting siblings that is located here. Having this resource available provides the CLS with support and it provides the sibling and their family support that is easily accessible at home.

Another beneficial factor of this website is the compilation it has of camps that are especially for siblings and their families. Siblings need support too so these camps are places for them to be able to express their feelings in an emotionally safe and supportive environment. It also allows the CLS to reference this so they can find a camp for a family that may not be in the area the CLS is familiar with. A special page is devoted strictly to sibling’s stories and voices. This page allows for other siblings to hear from their peers about similar situations and feel like they are not alone in their situation. This is beneficial to a CLS as well so that they can utilize the videos in the hospital sitting when a sibling support group or peer is not available for the sibling to speak with.

The website also offers additional resources if the ones on the website are not sufficient for the family’s needs which I think makes it even more valuable. 

Child Life Council

Finding online resources as a Child Life Specialist is hard. With the field being relatively new compared to other careers like teaching finding a reliable and useful source for all things child life is a challenge. That being said one website that holds a majority of answers to Child Life Specialists questions is the Child Life Council.

The Child Life Council provides a wide range of resources and support for CLS. They have sections that are broken down into what stage of the CLS process the user is in. The website starts with the student section, moving on to interns, and finally educators. Each section provides a comprehensive overview on the process, requirements, and need to know information for each stage. This is especially useful to UM-Dearborn students as our Child Life program is relatively new. The Course guidelines page details the type of courses that are required for students to sit for the national exam. In new degree programs it is always important to have a resource to check and make sure the requirements are being met.

Another part of the website that I think is extremely helpful is the Child Life Activities page. Being a CLS means you have to be creative. However, sometimes it can be difficult to come up with new and innovative ideas on a daily basis. So, when a CLS/student is stumped on what to do next the Child Life website provides resources to help. In addition to activities for patients they provide activities to promote Child Life. With Child Life being relatively new, exposing people to the profession is quite important. It is important for a variety of reasons but a main reason being if patients do not know what a Child Life Specialist is they will not know when they need one. The website details a list of activities to bring awareness of CLS in the workplace. These activities are broken down in categories for children, adults, or other staff members in the hospital.

I think that this website is an essential tool to be aware of for any CLS. They also offer a list of conferences and ways for CLS to maintain their credits which is imperative in being a CLS.

Online Learning Opportunities

    Virtual/online learning, full time online schools, blended learning open educational resources; these are phrases that may have only been heard of at collegiate levels of education just a few years ago.  Today however, they are readily seen at the K12 level.

    Virtual/online learning can be seen in 48 states and the District of Columbia, allowing children an opportunity to receive a full-time online learning experience, supplement classroom instruction, attended summer school or receive credits needed to advance or graduate.  When students are attending full-time, they are not attending any schoolhouse in the traditional way, they are receiving all instruction and earn credit through an online school.

    Blended learning includes both face to face learning in a classroom and online learning.  The way that blended learning is taught can vary from school to school.  I believe that blended learning is a good opportunity for students because of the various ways people learn.  Students are able to talk to their teacher face to face if needed and they are also able to work online.  The Department of Education website, also discusses “Open Education” (Technology, n.d.), and believes that “educational opportunities should be available to all learners,” and the goal is to create an open education ecosystem that “involves making learning materials, data, and educational opportunities available without restrictions imposed by copyright laws, access barriers, or exclusive proprietary systems that lack interoperability and limit the free exchange of information” (Technology, n.d.).  In this way all learners will have access to what is needed for an online learning opportunity.

    Here in Michigan there is a virtual school that is state run for middle and high school students who, through districts in the state, work with the virtual school to grant course credits and diplomas to students.

    Online learning is a great alternative for children to receive their education.  I am sure that it takes discipline of the child and their families to work online receiving an education, but I believe that it is a great opportunity for learners.

References:

Technology, O. o. (n.d.). Open Education. Retrieved from Department of Education Web site: http://tech.ed.gov/open-education/

Explore Better Teaching Methods

With time goes on, this semester comes to an end within a month. This is my first time studying in America. I learned a lot from this society to the study system to chatting with different people to visiting different places in America. I really cherish these memories. I also found out some points that the reason why the educational system in America is advanced. Parents give a proper space to their children to do what they want to do, and in the meantime teachers respect everyone’s personality that they allow students to do anything in class except breaking school rules. 

Although the educational system in America is better than that of China, but we also need to look forward, to have better educational methods. (5 School Technologies To Watch: Personalized Learning Is Here) So the key point of what the educators need to do is to enhance each person’s personality and then to encourage students to be specialists in the field that they are really interested in. Combing with the adaptive learning, mobile technologies and gamifications, students will have a customized learning experience. Just like the online classroom (Here's the Interactive Future of Higher Education: synchronous learning lessons.), students will put more passion and energy into the course what they chose.

The excellent teaching skill is a final goal for educators. With the development of the technology, educators need to think more about the teaching method which combines mobile technology with conventional ways together. We need to lead students to get passion to study and to guide them to find themselves in what they are really interested in. Using technologies can solve the conventional problems such as low-efficiency studying, no-interest in studying, same methods to teach every students and so forth. And education needs to change as fast as technology. The level of education depends the future of a country. So following trends of this era is a better way to enhance the quality of education.

"Smart" Devices for Education

If you have or have ever had or have an iPhone, iPod, or iPad you know that the device has some of its own apps. Every time I get a new phone, or technology of any sort I absolutely have to mess with all the settings and see what anything the phone provides me with. A lot of the apps that the phone provides I never use. Often times it is simply things I don't need or things I'm not interested in. A good example of one is the stocks application on my iPhone. I know nothing about stocks nor do I understand any of the numbers it reads. Unfortunately I do not have an option of deleting this particular app so it sits inside a folder named "Extras." 

I first had an iPod in 2009, at the time it was my first "smart" device. I was still carrying around a flip phone (which I loved). This was the best thing I have ever owned. I had 10 pages filled with different games, music, wallpapers, random pictures I would save, notes, & other random things. There has been huge changes since then. I currently have the iPhone 6s. I can't remember which update exactly involved some new apps, but I've had a chance to take a look at them. Some of which I have used as well, or played around with. 

Voice Memos: Now the name isn't  all that, but it could be a great use in class. I took speech last semester, it was about voice articulation. My professor mentioned that it was a good idea to record yourself speaking, and then listen to your own recording. Often times we think we sound good but we don't always notice our imperfections. A lot of us found that hearing ourselves helped us improve in our speed, timing, pronunciation as well as our breathing. Perhaps you don't have a speech class, but the voice memos app could help prepare for a presentation in class. Many times we are asked to present in front of a group and we get nervous because we don't want to say the wrong things. Recording your voice is sort of a twist on index cards. 

Keynote: This is basically the same thing as PowerPoint. You are able to create a presentation on this app. It of course has less tools and formats than you would get on a computer but it works just as well. You also have the option of emailing your presentation to yourself or someone else. You can send a copy in PowerPoint, Keynote or PDF format. This is a good app when you are on the go. It allows you to have the comfort of creating a presentation while you sit at the doctors for example. This is also a good way to study what you will say for specific slides as well. Saves the hassle of carrying your computer with you. You can even study on your break at work!

Pages: In this app you have an abundance of templates to pick from. It is similar to Word. In this app you can type essays, make brochures, business cards and so on. This is also a good to do your work on the go, although I recommend editing it on Word so you are sure everything is correct. It is a great way to start your essay. You can also use this to take your notes on or maybe rewrite your notes. It is a good way to study as you do other things. You are able to send a copy to yourself or someone else as a PDF, Pages, Word, or ePub format. 

I understand that many apps for iPhones cannot be downloaded on other "smart" devices. There is always similar apps that you can download. Maybe you can't use it to the full extent but even if you could take your notes in the "notes" app it could help you as well. Sometimes I randomly remember an idea for a project in class or an essay I have coming up, so it helps to write it down on my phone so I won't forget later. Also it is a rare time when my phone isn't in my hand. So the fact that these particular apps are on my phone motivates me to actually do the work just because I don't have to take out this huge device. 

Your smart phone has many other educational apps that you are able to download. It all depends on your needs. Even an app like YouTube can help as well. There are many instructional videos that help you understand a possible problem area for you. Math for example, there are many videos that are able to teach you how to solve a certain type of problem. All you have to do is pull out your "smart" device and search for it. I think using our phones for education can be really great when used wisely and to its full extent. There are many possibilities you just need to look into it. I think it is also a good way of keeping you interested at the same time as well.

Situation and Improvement of Current Eduction in China

Why do we need to educate children? Why parents pay tons of money into their children’s education? Why students in China need to study from first grade to twelfth grade in compulsory?

The answer is simple: parents and governments want their children to be successful in the future. (The Only Metric That Matters in EdTech: Student Outcomes) However, the current situation in China is that students are forced to learn at school and they are under the tremendous pressure to pass the entrance examinations. (中国教育的现状与改革 & Google Translation) Students need to study knowledge in their textbooks and take frequent examinations to test whether they master what they learned. As a result, students have no time to do what they want to do because they have no time or energy to deal with other things except for learning the knowledge in textbooks. Finally, most Chinese students have an excellent ability to obey other’s demand to figure out a certain job without creating a blue ocean (Blue Ocean Strategy). The most Chinese people in a certain field are same because they accepted the same education before. That is the reason why Chinese always copy or imitate others’ efforts. So China need to change this situation.

Luckily, the technology provides a chance for China to reform the educational system. New Technology HelpingSchools Achieve Individually Tailored Education which means that although the dense population is a real situation in China, Chinese also can have a better education that respect each person’s individual development. The number of students in each class is around 60 on average. So using mobile technology is a better way for such a big classroom to learn. This is a direction of future education. China need to grasp this chance to become a more capable country.

Overhead Projectors/Visual Presenters

The first time I remember having an overhead projector used in class was in fifth grade. I remember using it for math, possibly for other subjects but math seems to be more clear to me. My teacher stood next to this somewhat bulky technology and taught us multiplication on it. She used transparency film, which is basically a transparent sheet, and dry erase markers. The dry erase markers allowed her to omit anything she needed to without the hassle of permanent marker. She also could have used more than one sheet if needed. I liked using the over head because it was much easier to see the handwriting on the screen.

Chalkboards are just messy, once you write on a clean surface, and then erase after, it just makes it more difficult to understand the handwriting on top of that. They also create unwanted chalk dust in the air, along with leaving your hands all chalky. Also if you sat in the back of the classroom or even in the middle it was difficult to see any handwriting at the bottom. I remember always looking over peoples' head. Transparency film usually comes in a huge pack, so it leaves less mess and is less time consuming, you just use a new sheet once you fill one. Way easier than having to erase what you already wrote, students are also able to perhaps revisit a sheet if they missed a part.

We also used an overhead in my sixth grade class in science. I loved it, my teacher always wrote the notes this way. Copying down notes has always been my favorite thing to do, so think I just genuinely enjoyed that half the room was dark and the overhead just made it way more interesting. I also felt that the students seem to pay way more attention this way. I think we are always mesmerized when a teacher uses a technology in the classroom. Digital visual presenters are sort of the more modernized version of the typical old school projector shown in the image above.

These visual presenters now come with an abundance of neat features. They are very useful features as well. We currently use a visual presenter in my math class. My favorite button on this technology is the freeze button. It is a really neat tool, my professor usually asks one of us to share our work on the projector. She lets us talk about it while the student stays up by the projector with her work. We revise a couple things to her work, then when she needs to go back to her seat she simply pushes the freeze button. This function allows the image of her work to be copied, the projector takes a picture of it and then it stays on the screen even though the student has moved her notes off of the projector.

This is a neat way to reference back to the sheet without having the student miss out on any other notes. It also has a zoom in and out button which is sort of self explanatory. It lets us view the image closer, or further. You can also connect the overhead to a PC, this way the teacher can actually go from her PC notes, to the projector. There are many different devices, all fairly similar. I will leave a link to the Samsung Digital Visual Presenter. The projector also comes with a user's manual that explains what is included and all the functions it has as well.

I think an overhead or a visual presenter can play a big part in education. It has many different uses and functions, the possibilities are really endless. I also strongly believe that it helps maintain the class under control and they are more engaged in the lesson or activity. I recommend that everyone give this technology a try in their classrooms.