Chapters 10 and 11

I thought Chapters 10 and 11 were wonderfully instructive, and a good summation of what we have learned throughout the entire book. Essentially, it is our job as teachers to model our instruction so that it is understood by all the different learners we have in our classroom. It is important to observe the students in our classroom and figure out each individual student's preferred learning style. Not all students learn the same of course, so in any kind of instruction, with or without technology, it is essential that the teacher makes the lesson comprehensible to all. This way, top-notch results can be expected from every student.
When it comes to technology, I enjoyed reading assistive technology, which essentially support student efforts and minimize obstacles to their learning. Assistive technologies are great in that they level the playing field for achievement and simultaneously allow students with disabilities to reach their full potential. One great assistive technology is JAWS (Job Access With Speech) which is basically a screen reader program that allows blind and visually impaired students to use interactive technologies. I have a friend who uses JAWS and he is always able keep up and even be ahead of coursework in an online class! Assistive technologies really open doors that would otherwise remain closed.
Chapter 11 was also informative in that it discussed reflective learning, which I found to be extremely important. Reflective learning encourages and promotes deeper thinking rather than just learning something to be memorized. A good strategy to encourage reflective learning is to keep a journal, perhaps even an online blog post such as this one where students can discuss assignments, exams, etc, and what they enjoyed or did not enjoy about them. Providing focus questions is a great way to provide a guideline for the students to answer what the teacher wants to know.

Chapter 7 and 8

In Chapters 7 and 8, I discovered the importance of learning games. The authors explain "Digital games  for learning (also known as serious games) are computer and web-based games that have been designed  with educational rather than entertainment goals in mind" (171). Admittedly, this is a tricky area to navigate as a teacher. When I was in Rome, I worked with students in the Roma community, who did not attend school regularly due to political discrimination. Specifically, I worked with a child named Leonardo, an eight year old who had problems focusing. I would try to introduce typing on the computer on a Word document but he could NOT focus. Whenever I brought out my computer, all he wanted to do was watch youtube videos on car racing. It made for a couple of frustrating months before I figured out that I could use my computer to engage him in interactive lessons online. When I introduced typing games in which he could race against the clock typing out words, Leonardo was so engaged and he kept wanting to do more. This was an important lesson for me to learn; I cannot expect my students to be involved in a lesson that is boring both to them and to myself. Once I found something engaging in which he could still use the computer to complete the assignment, he was happy and was striving to do better. This theme resounds in chapters 7 and 8 as the authors introduce fun activities that students can complete and in which they are learning simultaneously.