I have learned a plethora of information this week. I have wikis
coming out my ears, and the information that I have learned about assistive
technology fills the large void in my education that I didn’t even know
existed. Some of the sites I visited were quite fun; others made me concentrate
to extremity to hold my interest. Even the sites that I didn’t particularly
enjoy provided me with new information and I learned something that I hadn’t
known prior to visiting the site. I can only imagine how my students felt when
I would assign sites for them to visit. My perception of these sites has
changed and I see the benefit of sites that are colorful, easy to navigate, and
fun. When education is enjoyable, learning takes place.
EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date: 07-11-13
Technology Exploration 7
Assistive Technologies-www.gpat.org
1.
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Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
Before I
visited this site, I was unaware that there was such a site. I was aware of the Individuals with
Disabilities Act of 2004, but I was not familiar with all that the Act itself
entailed. Through the Georgia Project for Assistive Technology pages, I
learned just exactly what assistive technology is. Assistive technology is
defined as: “Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired
commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to
increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with
disabilities. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically
implanted, or the replacement of such device” (Authority 20 U.S.C. 1401(1)). There
is an extensive list of assistive technology devices available to persons
with disabilities, as well as the assistive technology services to acquire
and employ these devices. The need for these devices is determined by the
student’s IEP committee. I was not aware that there was Federal Special
Education Legislation through IDEA. However, federal law and state rules
mandate school systems to provide assistive technology to those students who
require it to further their education.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
Students have access to
electronic and non-electronic aids that can be used in the classroom. Some of
these aids include: talking calculators; Braille writers, and magnifiers and note-taking
devices that assist students with visual impairments. If students are homebound and
require these devices at home to acquire a free appropriate public education
(FAPE), these devices will be provided at no cost to the child’s parents.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
I would definitely recommend this site to other educators
whether they are in the special education field or not. The site is very easy
to use, and there is not cost for the information. It is important for all
educators to be made aware of assistive technology, and those who assist in
developing school policies should develop policies, procedures, and
guidelines that are consistent with federal and state legislation.
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EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date: 07-11-13
Technology Exploration 7
Zoho-http://www.zoho.com
1.
|
Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
I have learned of yet another online office suite, Zoho, which
seems to boast more features than other regular office suites. In addition to
its business applications, Zoho also has collaborative applications, such as
Chat, Mail, Wikis, Projects, and Docs. In addition to word processing (Zoho
Writer), the site contains wikis (Zoho Wiki); spreadsheets (Zoho Sheet); and
project apps (Zoho Projects). The site itself is not particularly impressive.
There are no colorful graphics to catch your eye as you are perusing the
site.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
This site could be used in a school setting because of its
ease of use. However, I don’t know about the ease of use of Zoho itself. It
can operate using Java, and students can collaborate on projects using a drop
and drag interface. Zoho uses open application interfacing, which means that
it supports other systems, such as Microsoft Office. Also, the data that
students collect or create can be stored locally while their applications can
be accessed in the cloud. This prevents their documents from being accessed by
individuals prior to being made public.
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3.
|
Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
I don’t think that I would recommend this site for school use.
It seems to me to be primarily for business usage, especially for those with existing
document management and online storage systems. However, even though it has
plug-ins to support Microsoft Word, Excel, Open Office, and Firefox, I find
it all to be very confusing. Zoho has so many features that it would be
difficult for students to decide which feature they wanted to use after
choosing a project. They have enough difficulty doing that if given too many
choices. If teachers find it confusing, students could find it confusing as
well.
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EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date: 07-11-13
Technology Exploration 8
Online Tools for Teachers-http://www.4teachers.org/tools/ (3)
1.
|
Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
This website contains a variety of online tools for teachers.
I am very impressed with the number of tools from which to choose. Choosing
three was difficult because I discovered that I could find uses for all of
them. The three that I have chosen include:
a. Arcademic Skill Builders-This
application is exactly what it says. It builds academic skills in mathematics
and English using an arcade format. Students can build their skills by
playing a game. I think this would be great for students who have difficulty
staying on task to learn the foundations of these competencies. Demolition
Division and Coconut Vowels are two examples of the skill builder games.
b. PersuadeStar-This is a free
online applications to help students write online persuasive essays. To make
sure that students’ work is displayed for the correct teachers, students must
have an assignment code to write and view their essays.
c.
Classroom Architect-I never knew this application existed
before and it is one that I will personally utilize. I have always had
difficulty arranging my classroom so that it would be conducive to students’
learning. It always seemed that other teachers’ classrooms were set up
differently than mine . . . and looked better than mine. Sometimes, you have
desks in the classroom; sometimes, tables. I’ve just never seemed to find the
right way to set up my room so that I actually liked it.
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2.
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How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
a. Arcademic Skill Builders-Thoughtful
arrangement of a classroom supports learning goals. This site lets the
teacher try out colors of the walls and floor covering and arrangement and
type of furniture. It allows teachers to experiment with arrangements without
having to do the heavy lifting of moving the furniture around.
b. PersuadeStar-This site is
suitable for students in grades 5-12 and would be a perfect classroom
resource for teaching persuasive writing. The teacher assigns and essay topic
and students are provided several different options for the assignment.
Student papers are available for one month and then are automatically
deleted.
c.
Classroom Architect-This resource can definitely be used
during preplanning days at school. When you have to get your classroom
arranged in a hurry, you can place the furniture on the grid and experiment
with different colors and textures so that you’ll know exactly what you need
to do to implement the changes. Also, during the school year should you
decide to rearrange your classroom, students would love using something like
this to help their teacher. They would have the opportunity to use their
imaginations and fill their time constructively.
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3.
|
Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
a. Arcademic Skill Builders-I
would recommend this resource because it gives students the autonomy to
practice math and English skills once they’ve been introduced to the
concepts. There are plenty of free games in all of the competencies and there
is an Arcademics Plus, but there is a fee for this service. The site is very
colorful and very well suited to grades 1-6.
b. PersuadeStar-I would
recommend this resource to other educators because it is easy to use and
there is ample teacher control. Even though registration and login are required,
the application is free to users. Some of the options available to students
are: analysis of example essays (modeling); an essay planning tool and
writing space; student spelling feedback; bibliographical and source
information; as well as records of how many times students have used the
available options. It’s a great site.
c.
Classroom Architect-This resource is free and you do not have
to register to use it. I would highly recommend this site to teachers, such
as I, who have had trouble in classroom arrangement. The grid offers several
options for use and there is a drop and drag feature where you can virtually
create you classroom and see how it’s going to look before you move a single
piece of furniture. Once you’ve created your classroom environment, you can
print off your design to begin implementation.
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EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date:
07-11-13
Technology Exploration 8
Dimio-http://dimio.altervista.org/eng
1.
|
Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
This is another site for a service that I did not know
existed. I have read about D Speech which is a TTS (Text to Speech) program,
I have since learned. I did not know its purpose, but now that it can read
written text aloud and then choose the sentences to be pronounced based upon
the vocal answers of the user. I have read about the functionality and
practical usefulness of this resource, but I cannot honestly say that I fully
understand it.
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2.
|
How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
I don’t know exactly how this could be used in a school
setting unless it’s used with students who have speech impediments or
disorders. It allows the user to save the output in several different types
of files and different voices can be selected to create dialogue. This might
be useful to students who are writing their own versions of plays (based on
the classics) or to create plays of their own.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
Even though the voiceware interfaces in several different
languages, the voices are not free. School budgets might be strapped and I
don’t know exactly how affordable it would be. Plus, it seems pretty
complicated to use in everyday classrooms. Specialized fields, such as
foreign language or ELLs might be able to utilize it to the best of their
advantages. Depending on the disability, special educators might be able to
use this assistive technology software.
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EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date:
07-11-13
Technology Exploration 9
Full Measure-http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk
1.
|
Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
This assistive technology software called Power Talk appears
to be relatively easy to use, on the face of it. I didn’t know that
voiceware, such as this, could be used with PowerPoint presentations. The
features come in a wide variety and it is possible to customize.
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2.
|
How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
Students with speaking disabilities can utilize this resource
with their PowerPoint presentations. It is especially helpful for those with
sight problems or visual impairments. This tool can be used to read stories
that are created by students. Students can collaborate on projects and use
their creativity when selecting voices.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
I would recommend this resource to other educators because I
would use it with those who have speaking and sight issues. Instant
narrations to presentations can be made without having to pre-record speech. No
purchase or registration is required and there are no adverts. The Open
Source License allows educators to make copies. The text that is spoken on
any presentation uses standard Windows speech, and Power Talk operates on
Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
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EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date:
07-11-13
Technology Exploration 10
WebQuest-http://www.webquest.org
1.
|
Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
I have heard of WebQuest before but have never used it. After
perusing the site, I’ve learned that it is a repository where students and
teachers can find information and learning materials all from the web. I have
also learned that educators can conduct research on WebQuest. Many graduate
students worldwide are conducting thesis and dissertation research on the
effectiveness of WebQuests.
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2.
|
How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
This is a great site for use in the classroom. Tabs along the
left side of the homepage direct students and teachers to a variety of
resources to access information. Students and educators can find, create, and
share their WebQuests. The site fosters higher-level thinking skills
including: synthesis; judgment; analysis; and problem-solving. A primary
attribute of the site is that it supports creativity. Students can create
Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and graphic organizers.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
I would highly recommend WebQuests to students and educators.
It brings real world connections to the classroom. I especially like the
Community tab where educators can communicate and ask and answer questions
about the WebQuest model. This free resource isn’t just a web lesson in
disguise. The activities that can be created make the best uses of the web’s
resources so that students can engage in tasks that real life relativity.
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EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment
Form
Student Name: tparsons Date:
07-11-13
Technology Exploration 10
ReadtheWords-http://readthewords.com
1.
|
Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be
thorough in your response.
I did not know about ReadTheWords before I learned about
assistive technology. Test to Speech Technology is especially helpful in
special education classes, and I’ve learned that this technology can generate
speech from text in a variety of voices. Also, the speed at which the text is
read can be controlled.
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2.
|
How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field
or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in
educational settings.
This resource can be used with special education students in
class, or with students studying foreign language, such as Spanish or French.
The site allows users to write their own text or they can copy text from
another file. The files can be uploaded in a Microsoft document, Adobe PDF,
txt, or an HTML document.
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3.
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Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike;
Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.
Why or Why not?
At this time, I don’t think I’d recommend this site to other
educators. On the face of it, it seems complicated to use; however, I feel
that students with speaking disabilities would benefit from it. Any text can
be generated to speech in a variety of voices and the speed at which the text
is read can be controlled. The same thing can be accomplished with one-on-one
instruction with students. I think it works best with those who are
comfortable with working autonomously.
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