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NYSCATE Presentation
This page was prepared for a full-day
workshop I am giving at NYSCATE on Saturday, November 19, 2005 on the use ot
Technology in the Inclusive Classroom.
The catalog description of my session reads:
Workshop ID: F-SAT5
Title: The Use of Technology in an Inclusive Environment
Presenter: Janet Luch
Description: Universal Design for Learning ( UDL) and Assistive Technology (AT)
are two of the teaching and learning strategies discussed as means to ensure
that methods and materials are used in the classroom that include all students.
Various devices and software will be introduced. This class is appropriate for
all teachers and administrators at every grade level.
PowerPoint: Mellennials
Ice breaker: Line up on an imaginary continuum to represent your knowledge about AT. One corner of the room is "I don't know anything at all about AT" and the other is "I know a lot about AT," then place yourself accordingly on an imaginary line stretching between the two.
This is a participatory workshop where everyone is an expert! Everyone gets a chance to listen and speak:)
Janice Friesen said in a listserv:
Transparent means to me that the technology is not the main point. The main
point is the curriculum. You cannot say "how would I integrate technology
in Science?" The question should be the essential question from whatever
content area you are dealing with.
Technology is not transparent when you say that
you have a computer and start with "How can I use it for this lesson?".
The result of this approach is often that the technology becomes the focus (you
become limited by what software you have or what connections are available).
Instead start with a specific question or goal and think about how technology
can enhance what the students learn. If they are learning something about current
events (the discussion of Intelligent Design) there is a good reason to use
all of the technological resources available. If you are doing something like
studying frog mutations or types of rocks the Internet might have some information,
but it is SO much better to look at real frogs or rocks.
In science and in other topics technology allows you direct contact with experts
from all over. It can also connect you to non-experts who experienced something
like a hurricane to help you understand it.
So, it is not a simple answer. Teachers need to be immersed in technology and
aware of what is available in order to make good decisions in lesson design.
We owe it to the students because they need to be thinking this way when they
go out into the real world.
PlayAttention: http://www.playattention.com/
Use the CD at your workstation to see the demo of PlayAttention. Is this something
you would like to try at your school? Why or why not?
*Kurzweil 3000: http://www.kurzweiledu.com/
On my computer, try out the Kurzweil 3000.
You can also go to Downloads at their site and see a demonstration. From there
you can also request a free 30 day trial CD.
How could this be used in an inclusive classroom?
Texas Intruments Classroom Activities: http://education.ti.com/educationportal/
Look at the CD and the website. What unexpected thing did you find? What did
you find that you could use in your classroom?
Campus IT Accessibility and Web accessibility Evaluation:
http://easi.cc/evaluate.htm
EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information Quick Adaptive Technology Diagnostic
Test. You can enter a URL and/or scroll down the page
to answer questions about a site.
How Do People With Disabilities Surf The Web? http://easi.cc/workshops/smplbfwd.htm#part2
This section of the site includes videos of onscreen keyboards, mice, and screen
magnification.
Adobe Acrobat 6.0 and Accessibility: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdfs/acro_access_at_a_glance.pdf
Here is another resource that moves on up to Acrobat 7.0: http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/reader/sec1.html
Assistiveware.com: http://www.assistiveware.com/index.php
This site has software and devices for Mac's.
Bridge4Kids: http://www.bridges4kids.org/
Scroll down for many articles on concerning children and disabilities.
C.J.T. Enterprises: http://www.cjt-yes.com/
Choose products to see assistive technology devices.
PowerPoint: A Frog's Leap of Faith
Lunch
Pig drawing and PowerPoint interpretation
*NextUp.com: http://www.nextup.com/
(view the demo of Text Aloud, free trial demos are available, scroll down and
listen to different voices using my computer.
Key clicks are certainly a good way to be sure that the
letters you type are actually making it onto the screen. Really, they're useful
for anyone unable to type by touch alone.
There are programs available for Windows:
Keyboard Sounder: http://www.aldzsoft.com/
($19) (free trial version)
Noisy Keyboard: http://www.leeos.com/noisy_keyboard.html
(free)
*Sound Pilot: http://www.colorpilot.com/soundpilot.html
($16) (free trial version is on my computer)
Randomizer: http://www.adaptivation.com/randomizer.htm
TASH: Equity, Opportunity and Inclusion for People with Disabilities since 1975: http://www.tash.org/
T-ELL-E-GRAM: http://www.colorincolorado.org/newsletter/
The American Federation of Teachers is distributing new
materials for English Language Learners. The T-ELL-E-GRAM is a free monthly
electronic newsletter for Pre-K-K-12 educators of ELLs. It's part of the Colorin
Colorado project offering research-based support. The AFT is the national affiliate
of New York State United Teachers. Scroll down to the free webcast for teachers.
Watch the first of Reading Rockets' professional development webcasts called:
Differentiated Reading Instruction: Teaching Every Child. Panelists include
top reading experts Carol Ann Tomlinson, G. Michael Pressley, and Louise Spear-Swerling.
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired: http://www.tsbvi.edu/index.htm
There are a lot of good ideas for lesson plans as well as understanding assistive
technology and evaluating students.
Tots-N-Tech: http://www.asu.edu/clas/tnt/
The Early Childhood AT institute in Philadelphia has some excellent data on
perceptions and uses of AT for 0-3 as well as efficacy outcomes.
Universal Design for Learning supported with Assistive Technology:
http://homepage.mac.com/seilts/udl_at/index.html
This site has software reviews and directions, resources, and a quiz for you
to try!
ZoomText 9.0: http://www.aisquared.com/index.cfm
This is a magnification /screen reading program. Currently you can download
the beta version of 9.0 for free in order to give it a try. It has a reading
part called the Application Reader Tool. The new ZoomText uses the Neospeech
voices. The Application Reader Tool will underline the words as they are read.
Underlining helps to perceptually bring out the word as well as the auditory
presentation of the word. This saves fatigue to the eyes. You can set the magnification
to zero and still use the Application Reader Tool. You can also take a tour
of ZoomText at this site.
PowerPoint template with thermometer, temperature increases with each slide
The second part of this assignment is the first of the web repair
assignments that will be in each lesson. For this assignment, go to http://www.cast.org/bobby
First find the "About Bobby" link and read about
Bobby which is the best-known web ccessibility evaluation tool. After reading
about it, go to the edit box on the url above and input the URL for a web page
you want to evaluate. Before clicking on the submit button, select to evaluate
the page for Section 508 standards. After you submit it, you will get results
evaluating the page. Do not worry if some of the report is not clear. It will
be as you learn more. Finally go to the edit box and input the same URL but
evaluate it for WAI guideline accessibility. This report will be more complex.
Compare it with the 508 evaluation, and discuss your
questions and responses with the class online.
Who Moved My Cheese?: http://www.bright.net/~dlcy/tool/cheese2.htm
This site began in March 1998 and was created by Janet
Luch. This page was last updated on
November 13, 2005
.
Email to studyplans@yahoo.com.