Adaptive/Assistive Technology Assignment
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing curricula that enable all individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning. UDL provides rich supports for learning and reduces barriers to the curriculum while maintaining high achievement standards for all (http://www.cast.org/).
Identify technology-enhanced strategies that will assist a student with that special need in understanding and "being successful" with your content area and/or grade level. Identify-develop two specific technology-enhanced strategies for EACH of the special needs below. Describe the strategy (include links to access that technology) and HOW it will increase the chances that a student with that special need will be successful with the topic/s covered in your content area.
Identify technology-enhanced strategies that will assist a student with that special need in understanding and "being successful" with your content area and/or grade level. Identify-develop two specific technology-enhanced strategies for EACH of the special needs below. Describe the strategy (include links to access that technology) and HOW it will increase the chances that a student with that special need will be successful with the topic/s covered in your content area.
Students with Cognitive Difficulties
Students with cognitive difficulties have learning disabilities that range from ADHD to Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities to Dyslexia. The needs vary depending on the student and the disability.
Often students with these types of learning disabilities have difficulty with handwriting. There are many speech to text tools available for students to aid in the writing process.
Read and Write for Windows (also available for Google and MAC) from TextHelp offers many features including speech to text, text to speech, pronunciation tutor, and translator. This is not free, but theire website does have a dedicated section for help with writing grants. I think that this would benefit all students, especially those who struggle with reading and writing. I can envision students in my class using a tool like this to access the curriculum. Some students with LD's such as ADHD struggle with staying organized. Students can utilize on line organizers such as Google Calendar (although the to do list is not visible on phones), students can create a to do list with deadlines and color code events. Other organizational tools include: Things Task manager for Iphones from Cultured Code, an inexpensive app or Toodledo a free organizational/productivity tool. Sttudents can use either to keep track of events, assignments, and can break down larger assignments into smaller tasks. Some students misplace important items. These "finders" such as EZ Find can help a student find a phone, or other item that they do NOT want to lose! I can see students using this for their cell phone or other elecronic device that they use in class. To find other "finders", go to this link from ADDitude magazine. Last, mindmapping is often very helpful to students with learning disabilities. There are free MindMapping tools for computers and inexpensive mind mapping apps. A good computer Mind Mapping tool is Spider Scribe or A good App is Popplet. |
Students with Physical Difficulties
Students with physical difficulties may need help accessing the classroom. This can include students who are in wheelchairs and have limited use to their hands.
For students for whom holding a book or typing is too difficult there are assistive technologies to help them access the curriculum.
For example, Enable Viacam, available through OATS (Open Source Assistive Technology Software) allows a student to control a computer via head movements rather than a mouse by using a webcam. I can see students who are unable to control a computer with their hands using this technology in class in order to access the computer tutorials and create documents and more. This is FREE download.
For students for whom holding a book or typing is too difficult there are assistive technologies to help them access the curriculum.
For example, Enable Viacam, available through OATS (Open Source Assistive Technology Software) allows a student to control a computer via head movements rather than a mouse by using a webcam. I can see students who are unable to control a computer with their hands using this technology in class in order to access the computer tutorials and create documents and more. This is FREE download.
Another tool for students with limited use of their hands is Sesame Enable. This is touch free smart phone designed for people with limited use of their hands. Students could access website using this technology in the classroom.
Students with Sensory Difficulties
This includes students who are blind or who are partially sighted, as well as students who are deaf or hearing impaired. For hearing impaired students, a sound field FM system helps the student to hear the teacher and block out background noise. The teacher wears a microphone, and the sound is broadcast evenly throughout the room so students in the back can hear as well as students in the front. I find the FM system helps all students focus and hear the teacher better, as well as helps the teacher's voice. We are fortunate in our school as most classrooms are equipped with Sound field FM systems, so all students are very accustomed to the practice. I use the system everyday in my class even if there are no IEP requirements to use the system, as I find it very useful for all students/ Redcat is one example of a sound field FM amplification system. |
For a student who might be partially sighted, the student can use the ease of access center on most desktops to magnify the screen. Also available for free download is Natural Reader a text to speech converter.
I can see student in my class using this as we use on line turtorials, and having the ability to have the tutorial read aloud will help some students. At the same time, they can use the Microsoft screen magnifier to magnify images to enhance the text. Another good tool for partially sighted students is the Talking TI-84 Graphing Calculator. This tool can be used in science and math classes. |
At-Risk Students
At risk students are more engaged when the work is collaborative, real world, and leverages technology. With that in mind, educators should include collaboration platforms such as Google Docs, presentation, etc.
At Risk students may be more engaged by using puzzles and games. A good idea would be to have the students create puzzles as a review and share with each other. Discovery Education offers free puzzle makers.
Addtionally, at-risk students benefit from connecting to real world problems and situations. For the Earth Science class IRIS (Incorporated Reseach Institutions for Seismology) has a page dedicated to recent earthquakes called "teachable moments". Using this current information helps at risk students see the relevance in their world. After studying these "teachable moments" students could create their own "teachable moments" on current earth science events. See below for a "teachjable moment".
At Risk students may be more engaged by using puzzles and games. A good idea would be to have the students create puzzles as a review and share with each other. Discovery Education offers free puzzle makers.
Addtionally, at-risk students benefit from connecting to real world problems and situations. For the Earth Science class IRIS (Incorporated Reseach Institutions for Seismology) has a page dedicated to recent earthquakes called "teachable moments". Using this current information helps at risk students see the relevance in their world. After studying these "teachable moments" students could create their own "teachable moments" on current earth science events. See below for a "teachjable moment".
Gifted and Talented Students
Gifted and talented students can learn about more advanced topics than available in the typical high school classroom by taking advantage of On line coursea and tutorials from Universities.
EdX is another resource for online classes. Search by topic to find an appropriate course for your students, or allow students to search for a topic that relates to the class. A search of the EdX website for Astronomy located several available course. This is an example of an Introductory Astronomy course at Cal Tech. See the informational video to the right. Another course relating to earth science from the University of Queensland in Australia called Making Sense of Climate Change Denial. (see intro video to the right) MIT OpenCourseware offers students free access to one of the top engineering and science schools. An example is the Introduction to Geology course. The content for this class is from the Fall 2013 semester. Open Learn is another site that offers access to a variety of tools to help student dig deeper. Coursera is another example. It offers an easy search tool. Here is an example from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Chanpaign a five week course on plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and more. I can see using any of these resources in the Earth Science Class, especially since the Earth Science class has a very wide range of levels and interests. Students who want to go beyond the basics can use some of these on line resources to deepen their understanding of selected topics, and can demonstrate their knowledge by creating and sharing presentations, infographics, etc. |
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