What are you doing to do as a special educator? What can you do knowing that your students' futures are going to be linked with technological needs to help get them ready?
As much as possible, I try to mix my teaching with the use of technology. So every day my students work for an hour with with me in person and with each other interacting and half an hour interacting with a computer program called Apangea. Apangea is a program that helps students work out word problems using a 5 step approach. It has avatars to guide students through the problem and give advice. The program will also connect students to live tutors to help them solve any problem they are working on. Students start to become quite savvy navigating through the program. It also ensures they will be using a computer program for a short amount of time each day. I would like to start mixing it up and allowing students to go to other websites to do math work. I think if I create a class website, I can have links to other websites. Students can go to my website and then pick a math website to work on for the day, so they can have some variety. IF they have a central place to go to get the websites, it will be easier for them. I can have them work on excel to complete equations and use the program to create spreadsheets with functions. I can have them create power points to explain how to solve problems to other students, which I can then upload on my website (that will be created by the end of this class.) In the past, I have had engineers from Intel come to my class and talk about computers and what they do in their jobs and prerequisites for the jobs they have. Right now, the majority of my students have issues logging into the computer, typing, and interacting with websites. If I can just get them more comfortable with that for starters, I will have accomplished something.
AT: Can they function without it? If they can't function without it, it is assistive tech.
Highlighter tape - this is cool! I have some students for whom this would make a difference in how they are able to interact with their textbooks.
No tech/Low tech document - I will print this out and share it with my VP. I'd like her to share it with some of our teachers who are working in our inclusion pods.
Differentiated instruction vs. Universally designed classroom: UDL is bigger umbrella which includes in it differentiated instruction
math websites - there are some great math websites on Larry Ferlazzo's website. It's a very cool resource. Thanks.
Answer the question: What is UDL? And apply it to your topic/classroom and what you do.
1 comment:
Jen, you are well on your way with the use of technology for academic supports. Branch out now.
Sharon
Post a Comment