Assistive Technologies in the Classroom

The focus of this blog is on three of the many assistive technologies that are available, and beneficial, in teaching. By exploring some of the assistive technologies, I found some that would be especially valuable and that I could actually see myself using a classroom with or without students with special needs.

The first assistive technology tool that I would utilize is the Online Stopwatch. I think that this tool would be perfect to use with a science experiment. For instance, it could be used in an experiment on the time it takes food dye to color various substances (water, soda, sugar water, etc). You could have all of the students get their dropper of food coloring and open the Online Stopwatch on a nearby computer to begin the time. The student would then stop the Online Stopwatch when the food dye had completing changed the substance. This tool allows students to time their own individual experiments without having to wait for an available stopwatch. I remember many times that schools would only have a limited amount of stopwatches. The Online Stopwatch is also free to use, which makes it even better. Below you will find a link to the tool in case you would like to view it!

http://online-stopwatch.com/

The second assistive technology that I envision using in my classroom is Kurzweil. Before today, I had never heard of this program but I think it would be very beneficial for young elementary students and students with disabilities. With Kurzweil, students can have written words spoken to them by highlighting the words on the screen. Furthermore, students can highlight a specific word that they do not understand and get a definition read to them.

I could see myself using this tool with reading class. This program allows all students of all ages to have the book or page read to them. I would have the students open a small book and type the text they see on the page onto Kurzweil. If they do not understand a certain word even after they hear it, I would encourage them to listen to a definition. I think that the students would have fun with Kurzweil and be more apt to enjoy reading. While making students feel more comfortable and confident about reading, they will actually be learning new words and develop stronger reading skills.

To read more about Kurzweil and watch a video view http://www.kurzweiledu.com/K3000V11ColumnNotes.aspx.

The final assistive technology that I looked at was Dynavox. Since I am majoring in Teaching All Learners, I believe that a Dynavox will definitely be utilized in my classroom. A Dynavox is used to aid students with their speech and allows for much easier communication. The student types in or clicks on an image that they want read to a peer, teacher, or parent. It is really neat to watch a student with a speech impairment use the Dynavox because it shows how much they truly understand. I would use the Dynavox in the morning when students first arrive at school. I would ask students "how they were feeling", "what the weather was like", "what they were wearing", and "what they brought for lunch". These are just various questions that would have been difficult to answer originally for a student with a disability. This is because it is not a "yes" or "no" answer and requires much more speaking. I think by doing with this the students in the morning they will become more confident in using the Dynavox more frequently.

http://www.dynavoxtech.com/success/

Thank you for reading about different assistive technologies that are available. Please remember that there are numerous options for your students that you should take advantage of!

Rubric Comparisons

For one of my PDP goals, I chose to research summative assessments. The summative assessment that I focused on was rubrics. Rubrics for students come in great variety, and as I have learned, can be created using a variety of programs. Rubrics are a very important aspect of teaching and student learning. When rubrics are given before an assignment (highly recommended), students know exactly what is expected of them when completing the assignment. Similarly, teachers have an equal standard to grade all students on.

Through my creation of three different rubrics, I have found which one I prefer most. I created my first rubric using RubiStar. RubiStar is a free, online resource that allows for quick creation of rubrics. With RubiStar, one of the pros is that other rubrics may already be available for use. Teachers can simply click on that matches their assignment closely, and then adapt it if they need to. Once the rubric is made, teachers can access it like an Excel Document and print it out for the students.

The second resource I used for creating a rubric was iRubric. iRubric, like Rubistar, is a free, online resource. With iRubric, though, the finished rubric is still available online. Teachers do not have to print copies of the rubric. Instead, they can embed the rubric online and complete it for the students electronically. This is super convenient and saves A LOT of paper!!!!

The third resource I used was Microsoft Word. With Microsoft Word, I simply wrote a statement that related to the criteria area. Below the statement was a scale from 1-4, which represented the possible scores the students could receive for that section. By using Microsoft Word, you have to create your rubric completely from scratch. There are no outside sources, and printing is definitely the only option. After you print the rubrics for the students, you will have to recollect them with their papers so you can circle their scores.

So, can you guess which rubric resource was my favorite???? Well, it was........iRUBRIC!!! I have found that iRubric is most convenient and meets today's growing technology use. It would work perfectly in the upper elementary classroom.

If you would like to view RubiStar or iRubric, visit rubistar.4teachers.org and irubric.com!

Enjoy :-)