Assitive Technology

Introduction: Some students simply need extra help. As educators, I believe it is our responsibility to have programs on hand that will maximize a students learning potential. The following programs are just a few examples of tools to give aide to those with special needs.

EZ Keys- http://www.words-plus.com/website/products/soft/ezkeys.htm

EZ Keys is designed to give a voice to those who cannot speak. It allows for communication in the classroom between a teacher- student and student-student to be more like an ordinary interaction. Unfortunately, our current system does not teach sign language to all students, and I think this is the next best thing. EZ Keys allows for these students with this special needs to participate in classroom activities much easier and faster.



Easy Listener - http://www.centrumsound.com/Easy_Listener.html

Easy Listener is designed to give aide to students with hearing disabilities. Its design allows it to work with ear aides to help combat background noise in a classroom. Easy listener is one of the most popular choices for upper level students because it is convenient as well as effective. By using easy listener, students are able to participate on the same level as any other student. This means that the student can now gain valuable information simply by being able to interact with other students.



AskSam - http://www.asksam.com/

AskSam is a program that gives assistance to anyone who struggles with Organization and Memory. It is able to organize documents in Web page, Email, PDF file, text, and Word document form. Hundreds of private businesses use AskSam every single year.

How could this be helpful to a student who needs assistance in their school work? Well, once a document is in an AskSam database, it can be edited, rearranged, and organized much easier than other sources. Students who have a memory disability now do not have to remember what they searched the day before because it is right there for them in an AskSam database. In fact, this database is not limited to students with disabilities at all, it can be used by all students, and makes remembering and saving documents much easier on the student.


Assistive Technology is very necessary for the success of students who may have disabilites. In order to maximize those student's potential, teachers and adminstrators must be aware of these types of tools, and work to get them into their classrooms.

Voki!!!!!

Voki.com

English Companion Ning

Heres the link: http://englishcompanion.ning.com/

The English Companion Ning is basically a technological conference for English Teachers across the country. It has articles about important topics in English Education such as Plagiarism (as seen above). It also has forums where teachers with questions can get feedback and advice from other teachers to gain from there experience.This Ning also contains information about events for professional development and personal improvement. Finally, what I found really beneficial about this Ning is that it has a collection of blogs for teachers to read. This allows teachers to learn even more from other teachers who may have more experience.


The English companion is efficient because allows teachers to find a large amount of information in one spot. So they spend less time finding ideas, and more time putting them into action

The English companion is effective because it gives hands on advice from teachers who have experienced different situations before. Also, it is a method for professional development for teachers

The English companion enhances student learning by being a marketplace of ideas for teachers. This allows teachers to gather information and perfect their lessons to help students grasp them in a whole new way.

Mac vs PC

This is an example of Parody featuring characters from the comedic series South Park. What do you guys think can we take anything away from this that tells us something about our culture. What does this say about business practices in the United States.

-- Todd

Wii Fit

What does this parody tell us about our society and our use of technology?

Hey guys,
I found this video on youtube, and I thought it was a good example of parody. Please comment below the implications of this video on us today. Do you agree with what the creator's message is?

-- Todd

Plato's Cave

What is Plato saying here about our humanity?

Hello All,

I found this video on Youtube as well. I have always like Plato, so this popped out to me immediately. To me, this is an excellent example of Satire. What do you guys think?

-- Todd

In Class Workout #9

Station 6: Language Arts- Persuasive Speaking Survey

Members of the Group

Samantha Shockney
Josh Quimby
Jeremy Harrison
Courtney Payne

This station worked on persuasive English. The debate was whether or not it would be wise to reconstruct the 45/46 bypass to include more lanes. Some felt that the bypass was unsafe, so we decided to create a survey that determined how many people shared that opinion. Not only did we want to determine whether people felt the bypass was unsafe, but whether the accidents on the bypass were due to the road itself or due to highly aggressive driving in that area. The results of the survey were sent to a Google Spreadsheet. (see link below). I contributed by aiding the other members in our group create the questions on the survey. Together, we collaborated to create the survey questions.

We found that many people feel relatively safe on the bypass, however, 100% of the surveyed population agreed they'd feel safer with more lanes on the bypass. All the surveyed individuals said that they drive on the bypass, so this is clearly a widespread issue. While none of the people reported being in an accident, they reacted differently about the safety of the road. One reported that it's often "hard to get where I need to go" on the bypass. It's safe to say that more lanes would aid in this problem. Overall, although most people have managed to avoid accidents, it is clear that they would be open to construction to add more lanes to the bypass.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEtkMGxHSi1OZXhqX0c3QlZIWHhSQ1E6MA


I think that this type of activity would be very valuable to students because it allows them to experience being persuasive in a way other than giving a speech or writing a paper. It also allows students to analyze data and combines persuasive thinking with scientific analysis. I think that combining these skills makes both stronger and improves the quality of education. The teachers can also benefit from this activity. They are able to see how well students are able to articulate and present their ideas. It also lets teachers see how well students are able to analyze data.

One drawback is that this activity really depends on the ability to ask questions that will give them good data. If students are not able to ask good questions, they won't get good enough data to make informed observations. Also, it takes a lot of feedback for the survey to get much data. The drawback for English teachers is we don't get to see how well students can write about their ideas. The answers are relatively short, we are unable to get much detail about student's opinion.

The most surprising aspect of this activity was how easy it was to make a decision and argue that position based on the data we collected. This could be a valuable lesson to students encouraging them to argue rationally.

2007 US Secretary of Education Podcast.

Heres the link: http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=10981

This podcast was quite interesting, and when i saw the link for it, I immediately clicked on it to hear what Secertary Margaret Spellings had to say about the State of our Education system. She, in my opinion, was quite good with what she said. She made a case for Public Television, claiming that it has always made learning fun and exciting for children. Sec. Spellings claims that as our age becomes more and more digital, teachers must keep up with technology and harnass it to improve how we are educating the future of this country. Spellings presented how No Child Left Behind has put us on a path to ensuring that all children are reading on grade level by goal year 2014. She claimed that the education field needs to continue to document which students are doing well, and which were not. This she says will allow us to "customize" the education that students get best prepare them for their future. Spellings said that she wants to create programs to get qualified teachers into all schools, and especially poverty stricken schools. She says that using technology to make teaching easier is essential to getiing highly efficient and highly qualified teachers. to Sec. Spellings technology is a resource that can help inspire the future leaders of this country to innovate and continue to allow this country to prosper, and we need to harnass this resource in anyway possible to make our Education System as efficient and effective as possible

Three words...Read.Write.Think..

Here's the link: http://www.readwritethink.org/

This website is primarily for English/Language Teachers (my personal favorite). Their mission is "to provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials."

This website certainly does that, and it is one of the best resources for langauge arts teachers that i have ever come across. Included on this website are lesson plans, printouts, and opportunities for professional development.

3E's

RWT is efficient because it saves teachers time preparing activities and lesson plans be compiling those things on one website.

RWT is effective because with this website teachers can prepare highly beneficial activites and lesson plans to increase the quality of learning in their classroom

RWT enhances learning by giving students an opportunity to learn new things because their teachers use high quality material for instruction.

Easy Test Maker-- Really!

Here' the Link: http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx

EasyTestMaker is exactly what it sounds like, its main objective is to eliminate time wasted on test formatting. Users of this website register and then have access to exams, multiple choice formats, matching tests, and much more. It also allows teachers to make separate sections to accomodate different test options on each test. This is a wonderful website that I reccommend to any teacher who is responsible for creating their own tests.

3E's

EasyTestMaker is efficient because frankly, it saves teachers time in making their tests.

EasyTestMaker is effective because the templates are high quality, and allow teachers to make clear tests that avoid confusion by students.

EasyTestMaker enhances student learning because it allows teachers to spend more time preparing students for the test instead of the test itself.

NEA Website

Here's the Link: http://www.nea.org/

This is a great resource that many teachers are very familiar with. The NEA lets teachers know what is happening nationally with Education Policy and also gives teachers a voice. This website also provides tools for teachers to get innovative ideas for their classroom. Educationally, it also gives teacher the opportunity to let their students know what lawmakers are doing with "their"education. This is especially useful for teachers in government and law subject areas.

3E's

The NEA website is efficient because gives teachers and students the opportunity to see what is happening in education policy on one main website.

The NEA website is effective because it is first hand information from professionals, and it can be used to fuel discussions in the classroom.

The NEA website enhances learning by giving teachers a place to get new ideas, and it gives students a place to learn about how their education could be effected about what happens in politics, giving them a better idea of their political views.

Student blogs by EduBlogs

Here's the Link: http://edublogs.org/

EduBlogs is a great way for teachers to view and manage student blogs. EduBlogs is built with WordPress technology, so it is perfect for Eportfolios. EduBlogs offers a feature called Edublogs Campus which allows schools and universities to view and manage the blogs in their domain. This Website makes it easy to images, videos, and podcasts as well as a medium for teacher/student communication. It is a fantastic for teachers who want to use blogs as the main communication tool in their classroom.

3 E's

EduBlogs is efficient because it has the ability to put all students into one domain for teachers to view and monitor to ensure they are highly productive.

EducBlogs is effective because it is easy to use and has tutorials available to teach students to use blogs and how they can be useful in their academic career.

EduBlogs enhances learning by providing an outlet for our students (digital natives) that they can relate to, and for them to make inquires that teachers can respond to quickly.

abcTeach. Easy as 1.2.3.

Here's the Link: http://abcteach.com/

This website is primarily for primary school teachers (k-8), but can be used for high school students in some instances. This website is an archive of worksheets and activities to be used to aid coursework. Teachers can find flashcards, reading comprehension aids, subject specific worksheets, and other fun activities for children. This website can be very helpful for teachers who are looking an interesting way to get their students more involved in what they are learning.

3E's

ABCteach is efficient because it provides teachers with a resource to find activities for their classroom. It decreases the amount of time teacher spend planning a fun activity for their students to enjoy

ABCteach is effective because it gives students a fun and easy way to rehearse what they are learning in normal class settings.

ABCteach enhances learning because since it is so efficient, teachers spend more time ensuring that the activities they do in class will be highly beneficial instead of trying to find an activity in the first place.

Rubrics via Rubistar

Heres the Link: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/

Rubistar is website that provides templates for teachers to create high quality rubrics for their courses. It allows for the user to select his/her subject area and has various types of projects for each field. For example in the "Writing" section, there are templates for persuasive, creative, and research projects. Other fields inculde science, math, oral projects, and multimedia. I highly recommend Rubistar to any teacher who is charge of writing their own rubric or for heads of departments who set a rubric standard.

3E's
Rubistar is efficient because it saves teachers time in creating rubrics for their class.
Rubistar is effective because the templates that they offer are of high quality and produce solid rubrics

Rubistar enhances student learning by providing students and teachers with clearly outlined rubrics that let students know exactly what is expected of them and their work.