Topic 11: Assistive Technology

Assistive technology is a huge field with a lot of information and resources for students with disabilities. It can be very overwhelming when you are just learning what assistive technology is in the first place. I have found various resources to help me better understand and apply assistive technology to the classroom.

What is Assistive Technology?

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology- An online encyclopedia page about assistive technology that can be edited by all. It is a collaboration of things AT.
• http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109- Written by The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education to give an overview of AT in our educational system right now.

What can information can I give parents and families?

• http://www.pluk.org/AT1.html- A helpful analysis of AT prepared by Parents, Let's Unite for Kids (PLUK) in cooperation with The Federation for Children with Special Needs

How do I use AT in the classroom?

• http://atto.buffalo.edu/- Free information and tutorials on assistive technology for students with disabilities in elementary grades
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech086.shtml- Information on AT with links to lesson plans and other special education resources

What devices are available?

• http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te7assist.htm- This table introduces the most common assistive technology devices to regular classroom teachers so that they can ensure that all students in the classroom have an equal and inclusive opportunity to participate in and benefit from the learning process.
• http://www.gpat.org/devices.aspx- This page provides introductory information on the range of assistive technology solutions that are available to support access to the school curriculum and student achievement for students with disabilities.

Topic 10: Tech Skills Outcome

When I began this class I had a very limited knowledge of technology software applications. I was familiar with Microsoft Office applications like Word and Excel but only in a superficial way. I was most familiar with Microsoft Word. I used it on a daily basis in the classroom for numerous tasks. I was less familiar with Excel. This was not due to me having an aversion to the program for some reason but just due to the lack of experience with it. I would actually create a table in Word to organize data instead of using Excel (still do!). I also had a basic knowledge of the internet and websites to use in the classroom. I have recently created a blog with my students and hoped to learn more on applying this to the classroom in various ways.

Since completing the Tech Skills assignments I have found several uses of those programs that I never knew existed. I was not aware of the Table of Contents function in Word. I can see how it would be very useful in research papers and other long documents. Also, I vaguely knew that you could mail merge but I never actually experienced how to do it. Last I learned how to insert comment bubbles and editing marks for others to see. This will become very useful for peer editing in the upcoming classes in the M. ED. Program.

I have the opportunity to be the first teacher to teach my students how to use programs on the computer. I usually start by teaching them the basics. Some of the skills that I start with are:
· How to format fonts
· How to insert a graphic
· How to format graphics
· How to save files
Since my students are just starting out and learning there programs, I do not see the possibility of them learning some of the advanced skills that I have learned in this class.

Topic 9: Instructional Technology Example

I would like to use this instructional technology example to describe what the students in my class will be doing in the upcoming weeks.

I recently participated in the Limeades for Learning project. This was a partnership between Sonic and DonorsChoose to fund teachers in need of various supplies for their classrooms. I wrote a grant for a class set of flash drives. This would allow my students to work on numerous technology projects in our school computer lab and them take the flash drives home to continue working on their projects. I was very excited to find out that my grant was funded and recently received the flash drives.

In my 3rd grade classroom, we take a reading skill each week and teach the students how to understand vocabulary associated with it, analyze the story to find it, and answer questions correctly involving questions on it. I plan to start incorporating technology by having students construct their own meanings of the skills in various programs, such as word, powerpoint, or photostory.

This week we will be studying sequencing. I will begin on Monday by teaching the students what the word sequencing means and other vocabulary that is associated with this skill. Then Tuesday through Thursday I will continue to demonstrate the skill of sequencing. Finally on Friday, I will have the students demonstrate their knowledge of sequencing by completing a technology project in the computer lab. I will prepare by loading a PhotoStory onto each students flash drive. The PhotoStory will be slides with various events from our story that have been all mixed up. As an assessment tool, the students will have to rearrange the slides in the PhotoStory so that the story is properly sequenced and then save and turn the file into a movie for grading.