How has SEN legislation developed over the years?

•          Although educational law has been around since 1944.
•           It was not taken seriously til the Warnock report was release in 1978.
•          This led to the 1981 , 1993 and 19996 Education acts.
•          The Special Education needs and disability act (SENDA) was released in 2001. This strengthened inclusion.
•          In 2002 , it was found that on 3% of pupils statements were being taken care of. They believed that this was not making a difference so they had to make some changes.
•          In 2010, SEN Green Paper was published and was said to be ‘the biggest reforms to SEN in 30 years’
•          In 2014, a new SEN code of practice was created.
•          In April 2014 , the COP was revised again .

SEN Classrooms

They are made to meet certain requirements. These requirements include being eco-friendly, bright and they also use technology. They all follow turnkey design and are innovative and modern. They try and appeal to everyone’s needs by having indoor and outdoor facilities. Here are some pictures of SEN classrooms.

The development of technology in education

In the past children used to learn their main skills such as reading, writing and mathematics by interacting with each other and writing out spelling and times tables repeatedly. However, this was soon made simpler. For example: small handheld calculators were introduced to solve simple equations.

However, nowadays this is a very simple device and many more tools have been developed and introduced into our everyday lives that we have become so accustomed to that we can no longer imagine living without. Such as: wireless technology, internet and computers. 

These have all now been introduced into our schools, colleges and universities to aid learning.  This sort of technology is being used by all ages. It is become so simple that even children are now being able to use complex software such as photoshop.

Technology has many uses besides aiding learning. It also allows you to communicate people around the world by email and social networking. The great thing about this technology is that it has no made them depend on technology to do their work for them but it has widened there horizons. For instance, scientific calculators allow children to solve more complicated equations that they may not be able to solve mentally. Another piece of technology that has helped broaden students horizons is the internet. This is because it gives them access to information that they may not have had access to otherwise such has primary sources from different countries. 

Using ipad's in the classroom

Over the last couple of years touch screen technology has become very popular. It is available on not only Ipad’s but mobile phones and even some laptops. Ipads’s however have been found suitable for education. This is because it allows you to:

•          Internet research
•          Make videos
•          Take notes during class
•          Get involved with live debates and discussion forums
•          Revise
•          Access interactive and educational apps
•          Create class blogs 
•          Have art classes.
•          Make music
• Talk to students from around the world

Best educational apps for ipad are:

• Khan academy
• star walk for ipad
• wordflex touch dictionary
• tapquiz maps world edition
• Revision App – The Ultimate Revision Tool
• The design museum collection
• TED 

Instagram vs Twitter

Instagram is almost a picture based blog . It does have captions however it is mainly pictures. The only way you can get posts to relate to each other is by having hash tags in your captions and also by tagging people that you know.

Advantages

• It can improve artistic ability as it allows you to share and edit photos you have taken.
• You can communicate with friends using direct posts and comments.
• You can increase your friends list and possibly your professional network as a photographer as it allows you to promote your work. 

Disadvantages

• Your pictures can be sold or re-used by instagram.
• If not used correctly you could give yourself a bad image.
• People can use it to spy and bully you.

On the other hand, Twitter is mainly used as a diary that you can share with friends as people use it to share what their doing and their thoughts feelings throughout the day. People can also share pictures and videos like instagram and can also tag friends and even people they don't know such as celebrities if they want to communicate with them.

Advantages

• It can be used to promote businesses as it reaches people all over the world.
• Tweets are quick and easy to create and can be shared with people across the globe.
• You can be honest about what you think and get straight to the point because you have limited characters which some people might appreciate.

Disadvantages 

• Because so many people tweet everyday day it is unlikely that many of your tweets will get noticed.
• It is not suitable for photos because it is mainly text based. If you want to pictures people tend to recommend instagram.
• Not all people can promote their businesses as they have to be approved by Twitter.

Web 2.0- Facebook

. Pros

• It’s free and it’s easy to use as it’s simple to navigate around the site. It’s also easy to set up your account as you only need to fill out some personal details and give and email.
• Another benefit of this web 2.0 is that you can communicate with friends and families that live far away or are on allows you to see what is happening in distant places as you can view peoples status updates and pictures even if they’re in a different country.
• It can be safe as children and adults can change their privacy settings and choose who they want to view their personal profile and updates.
• You can share thoughts, causes and ideas. Also it allows your children to interact with kids with similar interests across the globe. They can join groups and support fan pages and talk to other children with the same interests.
• It can be educational in the sense that teens can use it to discuss school work

Cons

• Although there are privacy settings in place for you to choose, if you do not know how to use them then everyone will be able to access your information. This includes hackers who could misuse your personal information.
• It can be time consuming if you get addicted and are playing on it all the time.
• It can be dangerous for children as it could contain unsuitable content. Also people can set up fake accounts which children could believe to be their friends which could put them on danger.
• It can also be used for cyber bullying.
• It can be addictive as it has games as well as the social aspects such as Candy Crush.
• It can make people anti-social as they can replace face to face learning with it.

TED Talks- My inspirational video

This video is inspirational to me because it was unexpected what she was going to say at the end. I also thought that it was inspirational how someone that had suffered from such a horrible disease was able to look at it from such a good point of view. It’s amazing what she has gained from it and how well she has recovered which to me is truly inspirational. Here are the things that she said she gained from it:

• Bring her family together

• Made her feel loved and appreciated

• Reconnect with old friends.

• Helped her see what was most important in your life

• Redefine her faith and spirituality

• It gave her a new understanding and trust in your body

• It helped expand her vocabulary

• Meet new people

• Have a healthier life style

• 8 week vacations of doing nothing

• Eat countless gourmet meals

• Be given flowers

• Be complimented

• Have a lifetime supply of good drugs

• Be challenged, inspired and motivated

• Gave her life a new meaning

However the line I found most inspiring is “Consider that although something may be unexpected and unwanted it may be ultimately a gift”. This is because it could it could relate to anything in the world and anyone could relate to it. Also it shows that almost anyone can have a great life and survive one of these most horrible illnesses.