AT - Software

I chose to look at two programs that look at text-to-speech for my high school students that suffer from auditory processing disorders (APD). Both programs - Kurzwiel 3000 and the Natural Reader offer similar features - voice options, speed of reading, compatibility with Microsoft programs and mp3 audio files. I think the Kurzwiel 3000 will appeal to students aesthetic needs. The Natural Reader can also function just as well, but the final say has to be with the students who would want a program that they would LOVE to use.

My original plan was to look at a speech to write program , like Dragon Naturally Speaking. I felt that the APD students would benefit from this technology in the classroom. When I stopped thinking like a teacher and more of a media specialist I felt the reverse would work best in the media center.

AT- Hardware Selection

Hi again, Sorry for the delay in posting here. I have had a rough two weeks. I lost two students, one was killed, the second was locked up for killing the first, and we just lost a teacher from her fight with breast cancer. UGH....

I spoke with the lead councilor in our child study team, the director of our special education department and also with our speech therapist at the high school to identify an area that I could focus on as I work to transition into the position of media specialist. We all felt the one of the areas that would be helpful to our students is assistive technology for auditory processing disorders (APD). Students with this disorder do not have hearing loss they are just unable to decode and understand the information they are presented with. I did like the hardware I found called a Frequency Modulation (FM) System which allows students to clearly hear what the teacher/media specialist is saying while blocking out the background interference. This is the most immediate solution, even better I would love to see each student with their own lap tops and headphones. After all we should be teaching them to work in their world of digital natives.

A book I found that looks very interesting on the topic is by Teri Bellis When the Brain Can't Hear: Unraveling the mystery of auditory processing disorders. if you get a chance, check it out.

Working my way through the web site Discovering Assistive Technology I discovered MANY different keyboard configurations that looked like it would meet many users needs. I was really touched by the video clips that were provided that gave a voice and independence to the graphic designer Leigh-Ann Tompkins.

Assistive Technology and Universal Design

This week I read about technology plans in Odin Jurkowski's book Technology and the School Library. I understand better the necessity of getting a technology plan in place, I will be serving the need of the entire population of my school, not just the 100 students I teach. As a classroom teacher it was easy to make modifications to meet LD students needs because clear modifications were made in the students IEP (individualized education plan). Some of the standard modifications include supplying a copy of notes, seating close to the board, extended time for tests, and a few students took notes on an alpha board. I like the ideas that Universal Design advocates. And the sooner the modifications are adopted, the better served my entire population will be. As a media specialist I will no longer have to worry about extended test taking time, but I will need to provide a room that all students can use and enjoy.

Watching the you-tube presentations on different types of disabilities and accommodations was very interesting. I have minimal contact with differently-ables people, that I know of that is. Many people could be suffering from Mood disorders, and could have had speech differences in their life. For years I had speech therapy and I share that information with my students that are in speech classes in high school. I spent some time reading the Blogs of students that are visually challenged as the talked about their experiences at a camp. I know how difficult it is for me to find my way around a new place, and here is a group of kids taking on that challenge as blind students! I was amazed at the glimpse into their lives and I have been thinking of way I could help a blind student at our school. I know we have several books that are in written in Braille, but I wonder how easy it would be to purchase newer material for students? I'll have to investigate that!

I just spent a few minutes on Amazon.com looking for braille books. And my first search reminded me that I have to be careful of the search terms I use. I had to remove the word 'adult' from my criteria, um.., I was able to locate a separate section for visually impaired readers. There was a list of 250 books ranging from Dr. Suess to Stpehen King, not extensive but at least there were choices. The site also has under its sponsored link section a link to a books on braille web site. When I stop to think about it, there are many reasons to put modifications in place for students that need or may need assisitive technology. I am looking forward to examining my high school library and seeing whet I can do when/if I move over into the media specialist position.

Week #9 Thing #23

WOW, this is the end of my journey through the blog classroom learning 2.0! It isn't the end of my learning, just using this particular avenue. I was particularly surprised that I was able to complete these tasks, some times I feel like I could be to old to learn new tricks. What I have discovered is that with a little exploring, and asking if necessary, I can figure out new things.

The part I love the most from this exercise is my Google Reader! I check the site often. My least favorite part was the mashup assignment. It is difficult for me to see an application right now.

Two things about the blog classroom learning 2.0 that I would change if I would: The light blue text is difficult to read, and the menu on the right that leads to all of the hyperlinks is different. When a site is hyperlinked, I am used to seeing the text in bold colors or underlined... I did figure it out eventually, but that was an unnecessary stress.

If I had to describe my learning in one word I would say : rewarding ! Who knew that I could learn so many new things about technology that I will be able to take with me. Thank you :)

Week #9 Thing #22

The easiest part of this week is talking about audio books. I have listened to audio book for a long time. It started when I had an hour long commute to work, I would listen to a book while I drove often sitting in the parking lot unwilling to leave the car! A few years ago I started listening to Audio books with my kids during the summer months, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire read by Jim Dale, was the first book we "read". We would bring the CD player from room to room cleaning as we went. My daughter complained that our house was 'freakishly' clean. I was very happy :) A few recommendation I would make to others looking into audio books are 1. Generally... Authors do not make good readers...one exception is The Graveyard Book by Niel Gainman... He did a wounderful job. 2. I ALWAYS want the unabridged version of the book.

I am very interested in e-books. As a matter of fact when I graduate from Clarion, my graduation gift to myself will be a Kindle... or some version of an e book reader. For this assignment I went on the Project Gutenberg to check out free book to download. I did successfully download a book but after a few paragraphs I discovered that it is hard to bookmark my spot, and I didn't have all night to read. Today I went online to my local library and found a section of e-books from them. I downloaded Adobe Digital Editions and was able to download a book that I would like to read. It has a pleasing look, black background, the cover of the book is colorful, and the adobe has pages that I can turn to read each page, and a bookmark, so I won't have to search for the page I stopped at. It looks like fun! My one question I was unable to discover is ...what happens after my 21 day check out period? How is the book 'removed' once my borrowing time is over? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Week #9 Thing #21

I chose to explore PodCast.com and, one of the reasons I picked this place is because the link worked from classroom learning 2.0. I subscribed to a podcast called The Teachers' Podcast. It was interesting hearing two people (Kathy and Mark) interview an author (Lawrence Peters) about his book "Inspiring Students: Global Education using technology to bring technology to your students." The conversation was interesting, so much so that I went to amazon.com to look up the book! Here is the link to the book!

Hope you like the information I found! I feel that technology is an important part of our students future, and we need to be on the cutting edge or at least flexible enough engage students to embrace 2.0 technology.

Week #9 Thing #20

With the help of my son (13 years old!) we figured out how to embed a video from youtube. We always seem to spend a few hours on Youtube once we go to that site. It is a big sink of time.

On the upside, my students LOVE YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeUid2rv848



I know this is a little young for my high school audience, but it is still funny! Really I cannot help but think of some of the questions my librarian has to respond to in a professional manner, she has to field some unusual requests. I hope I can learn to be as patient with the teachers odd requests. Last week a teacher asked for travel brochures. Our librarian says the local library actually has copies of them for patrons! Who would have thought travel brochures would be available in a library. I have so much to learn.

Week #8 Thing #19

Library Thing is the topic for this entry. The specific request asked us to find material that would supplement our Web Quests. My topic is on the world biomes, and I have found several books that would be wonderful resources for my students to use. At least I think they would be a good resource. They look age appropriate for my ninth and tenth grade students, but I was disappointed that there wasn't more information available. Try my link below for my picks for Biome research !

Library Thing

Week #8 Thing #18

I like to use	tables in my work	but I am unable to	change the column
width...	The auto save	feature is different	too. I like that the
work is saved often.	I'll try to post it to	my blog.

Ok.. Here is the table I made using Zoho writer. The table was difficult to manipulate, I often move the column width to meet the needs of the contents. I did like the online ability to edit documents. I have been working with my husband to compose a formal letter for an event he is hosting. It is much easier to look at the same place, even at the same time compared to sending e-mail messages back and forth. I really like the fact that I am able to send the work to my blog. That is very nice. As I am typing I have no idea where my USB mass storage device is hiding, if I used Zoho writer... this wouldn't be an issue. Zoho offers a lot of convenience. I briefly looked at Google Doc's and it looks like their program offers many of the same features of Zoho writer.

OT (off topic) I wonder what my grandparents would think of this technology. Even better I wonder what the future will hold for my kids I wonder how archaic Blogs and Zoho writer will be to them :)