ECED 640/EPSY 523 Multimedia Portfolio: April 2017

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

What learning seems worth exploring further?

There are so many students who have ADHD. We want to know more about ADHD. We want to find out what strategies could we use with them. We want to know how can we support them inside our classrooms. We also want to find out at what age should the child be diagnosed for ADHD and what characteristics should we look for in children that might exhibit ADHD behavior. We also want to know various strategies that we could use with kids whose parents don't support medicine.

Neuroscience Articles Group Review - Rachel, Janet, Stacie

Neuroscience Articles Group Review - Rachel, Janet, Stacie

Why did your group decide to use a particular type (or types) of media over others to collect artifacts? Did it work out as you anticipated? Why or why not?

Each member in the group decided that writing a response and answering the three questions was the most effective way to respond to this particular assignment.

The questions posed lended themselves to needing a proper written responses, and that an image could be added as a supplementary piece (Stacie and Rachel also added in an image/word map.) We have noticed that the three of us are more comfortable with literary response techniques, so that we can get our whole point across and "spell everything out for you." None of us want to splice words or be misconstrued.

All three of us also numbered our responses and answered in them order, again ensuring that we all "properly completed" the assignment.

Suggested next step is to use Pictocharts to explore new modalities.

Bilingual Brain

"Why being bilingual works wonders for your brain" - Guardian Article
Mind Map by Rachel

1) This piece gave a detailed overview of the benefits of speaking more than one language. According to the author, Research suggests we may be predisposed to speak more than one language and that doing so brings health benefits, such as delaying the onset of dementia. It touches upon the super languages, the brain of a multilingual person, and even a psycholinguistic approach.

2) For educators from early education through high school, this article supposed that there is a benefit to the instruction of more than one language and that students who speak more than one language have the ability to do better in school and test higher. This also shows that there are also learning applications for adults, that those who speak more than one language retain the capacities for learning longer, and well as stave off the developmentally detrimental effects of disease like Alzheimer's.

3) This resource had a good deal of research and obviously has a bias toward multilingual speakers, yet across the globe, being at least bilingual is normal! It is only in America that speaking more than one language is uncommon.

Your Baby Can Ready!

1. Your Baby Can Read is a program that promises to help your baby learn to read earlier than normal. They provide information about how a baby's brain is forming thousands of synapses a second, and purport that parents can use this window of opportunity to expose them to reading sooner using this program. The idea is that the child will sit in front of a television, see a word, hear it pronounced, then see an image of the word in action. For example, the word CLAP will appear on the television, then the word "clap" will be spoken by someone in the program, then an image of a baby clapping will appear. Supposedly, this is all tied together in a way to make the baby read the word clap.

2. The implications of this product is that if a baby sees and hears a word, paired with the viewing of the word in action, that they will learn how to read. This product also implies that every baby who is exposed to these stimuli at once will learn to read.

3. The amount of assumptions behind this product are kind of astounding. Just because a child sees a word and hears it, does not mean that they are actually interpreting the letters, reading, and understanding the meaning behind it. If you show a child 4 shapes, such as four circles in a row, then say "clap!" and start clapping, and you do this enough times, they will clap the next time they see four cirlces presented to them in a row. This is the same idea behind your baby can read. It does not teach phonemic awareness - it presents a sound and an image. The babies become conditioned to perform an action or speak a word upon the site of memorized "shapes" or letters. This product may expose children to more vocabulary at a younger age, but it is certainly not teaching them to READ.

Baby Einstein

1. Infomercials for "Your Baby Can Read" claimed that babies could start reading as early as 9 months old with their program. The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement that the company behind "Your Baby Can Read" - Infant Learning - would agree to judgements over $185 million (the company's gross sales as a result of the program) to resolve charges filed by the FTC. The charges alleged that the program had no scientific evidence.

2) This resources can serve as a cautionary tale that just because a company claims its program is educational, doesn't mean that it is! It's important to always do your own thorough research, both as a parent and as an educator, before using a tool or method with children in your care.

3) The article assumes that the reader is familiar with the "Your Baby Can Read" infomercials. It may have been helpful to include a link to one of the videos like the link that was listed as an option for this assignment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qoqs-GeBj0

Monday, April 17, 2017

Amina

Christal

Sunday, April 16, 2017

"Take baby on a multisensory adventure with 365 Days of Baby Einstein, a collection of stimulating learning experiences designed to enhance verbal acquisition, nurture concept development, and promote a lifetime love of learning. Playful, baby-friendly text, charming illustrations, and real-life photography encourage interactivity between parent and child and create one-on-one learning discoveries in language, art, and poetry that are sure to make baby squeal with delight."

-Amazon Website Product Description

Baby Einstein Website: http://www.kidsii.com/brands/baby-einstein/

1. The Baby Einstein website markets products geared towards child development in four pillars, including art, language, music, and nature. The site notes how the company began 20 years ago with one mother’s intent to enrich her baby’s young mind in the areas of arts and humanities. Now, Baby Einstein offers a full line of baby toys and gear.

2. The implications of this resource to early childhood educators, most notably those who teach Preschool, include the benefit of these products as supplements to promote and enhance child development, both in the classroom and at home with the parents.

3. Assumptions possibly include the notion that parents do not have the knowledge, resources, or time on their own to create enriching learning opportunities without the added assistance of learning toys and gear created specifically for young minds. The assumption of this company encompasses the belief that all babies should be introduced to the world of humanities and the arts.