Reflecting back on this course is an enjoyable experience for me. I have so many "take aways" from the course! The best activity was by far the iMovie in terms of entertainment. I found that the iMovie was fun and easy to learn. I can see even young students being able to do this. I found this tutorial off of YouTube very helpful.
However, in terms of content I think the apps we learned around using AT and UDL in the classroom most rewarding.
The TedTalk on the Myth of Average was also very memorable. Watching this short video was really an eye opener for me because I seem to use or refer to the "Average" student very often.
Being given the opportunity to do "online" learning using the Blackboard Collaborate provided me the opportunity to realize how great it was. I would like to take more "on line" courses because I think the learning is just as valuable as the on site....just different :)
My least favorite activity (I liked them all but if I had to rank them) was the iTunes U course. However, I now have a great resource to use with the staff at my school.
In September I will be using many of the great AT tools with my students. There is no app that I have been introduced to that I would not consider purchasing if it meets the needs of my student. My favorite apps are by far BitsBoard , ReadIris, and Co-Writer.
I have learnt more in the two weeks then I thought possible when it comes to AT! This sounds corny but I think I will be a better teacher because of this. This cartoon sums up how my teaching skills must take into account every student as an individual leaner.
"The focus of UDL is the learning environment rather than any particular students."
I found this statement to be very powerful because I think many
people think UDL is only to be used for students who are
struggling to meet outcomes. I know this is not true and that
UDL is a way of teaching and a "mind set." I feel
that more professional development is required for teachers to embrace UDL and use it!
"UDL and AT can be thought of as two approaches existing
on a continuum."
The authors went on to explain what was the same and different about both and it seems
to me that you cant have one with out the other. All the information about curriculum made me realize that there needs to be a lot of changes made in our current curriculum that are used because they are not designed for UDL. Reminds me of the Ted talk "The Myth of Average" ( see video link):Ted talk
In this Ted talk he talked about the fact that when curriculum is designed for the average student then it is really designed for no one.
Having the time in class to explore Clicker Sentences app was very enlightening. I was able to see first hand that it would be $25 well spent to purchase this app. There are so many features of this!
iMovie
Using iMovie was amazing and fun! My partner and I were both brand new to this app and were able to quickly and easily maneuver our way through it. It was so fun to watch everyone's iMovies.
Today was my first experience with "live' online learning. I can honestly say it was a positive
learning experience for me.
The Black Board Collaborative was very user friendly as a participant but am not sure what it involves to be the administrator.....
When we were asked to write a letter to the minister to request iPads for our school it proved to be quite the process for me. First I had to locate a pen and pencil in my bag because I have only been typing for the past two weeks! I had to think about every process involved in writing the letter and it was exhausting because writing has always come easy to me! Thinking of what to say was not too hard because I knew what I wanted to say and the format of a formal letter. I picked up my pen and off I went! When I thought about the skills I need to do that it was huge. I have worked with students who are not able to do what I take for granted and it is very frustrating for them. AT to the rescue :)
Here is an amazing outline/graphic of the writing process provided from the professor:
Here is a link to a great blog on AT created by my professor:
In this Blog you will see two videos at the top. We watched these two videos during our online learning today. The first video is by about an occupational therapist talking about the important of children core muscle development/ability when it comes to their fine motor processes. One part I found particularly interesting is that when she is assessing students she said she often "looks under the desk" to see what their bodies are doing. I have never thought about this.
The next video is about all the low tech options there are available for writing. Some of the tools were awesome for example the writing bird:
The following apps were discussed and/or displayed for the class:
Dragon app.
My experience with this app is that it is an "ok" app but has a limited audience for in school. I tried to use it in elementary school for voice dictation but it was not successful due to articulation issues for my students. My professor stated that she had only recommend this app for three students in her school board and this surprised me.
The next app that we explored was co writer. I really
was impressed by this app and plan to use this in the coming academic year. I liked this app much better than word Q which I used this past year. I liked the feature of the topic dictionary because they are personalized for the student and subject. For this app I think that it is important to consider that students who use this they require a certain level of "knowledge" about what they want to write about. A lot of my struggling writers have what I call "writers block" and have trouble with their ideas and thinking about what to say.
When it comes to "planning for writing" the app Inspiration is a great app to use. I have used this app before and I think it is very straightforward to use. The app provides templates to choose from and you can choose to have a linear display if necessary. I prefer the linear display so I really like this option.
An app that I need to spend some time personally using (tomorrow in class) the clicker sentences app. I enjoyed watching the online demonstrations today but need some time exploring this app on my own.
I am looking forward to playing with these apps on the ipads mini in class tomorrow! During our "lecture" today we were presented with an amazingvisual on the writing process but I am going to figure out how to upload this to me blog.....
Today was a real "Whirlwind" for me! My group and I worked very diligently on our iTunes U
course. This was my first time using this app. I found the on line tutorials that Barbra provided for us were helpful but I had to watch them two times to really understand what was required of me. Once my group and I got organized and we had our "Jobs" everything seemed to run smoothly despite the fact that the wireless internet was not cooperating!
This was a great learning experience for me :)
Taking the Pencil out of the Process by Lesley Broun :
I had the opportunity to meet this author this year and she talked about the brain and Autism. I liked in the article when she stated that teachers should never assume that just because a student can perform other fine motor activities that they can write because other neural pathways are involved in the writing task.
I'm not sure if this task is old school or not but she described photocopying a keyboard and laminating it and playing games to teach kids the location of keys....I like it though. I'm sure there's an app for that!
Assistive Technology and Writing by Deborah Newton et. al:
This article listed low tech to high tech solutions for writing. I appreciated this chart because I find so often we want to jump to the high tech before trying the low tech options.
Online webinar:
The five different slides really took me through step by step how to make a course. I feel that I may have to refer back to the webinar as I am doing this assignment with my group.
Compensatory Apps for reading:
It was exciting to use ReadIris in class, which is now only $4.99. That is a huge drop in price! I found it rather straightforward and user friendly. The app Claro is also very affordable and user friendly and the newest greatest app! These two apps allow students to have access to print. I would like to see an app developed to have the text reading all in one app. I think that teachers would have to pre-scan a document and provide it on Claro to very young students as Barbra mentioned in class.
Navidys: web browser for students with visual impairments or learning disabilities. What I liked about this app is that it looks like the other web browsers. I find children in class are so quick to notice when something is different!
The accessibility options built into the iPads are so important to utilize for our students and they are free.
Learning how to set guided access for my students, and children, is so important. I think that I will be utilizing this feature. This feature reminds me of the website I use ZacBrowser on the computers in my school. ZacBrowser does not allow the users to leave that site on the computer. I will have to check out the app for this...
This was my first experience doing a webinar and I have to say I loved the concept of learning anywhere/anytime!
Webinar: Apps to Enhance Executive Functions
The "lecture" on executive functioning provided by the presenter was very informative and easy to understand. I feel that I now have a greater understanding of what executive functioning looks like in our students! As the presenter was describing situations and attributes of students with executive functioning disorders I could see several of my students faces popping up at me and its clear to me that they are struggling with this!
The analogy of the orchestra conductor to describe what executive functioning looking like in the brain was very easy to understand. I think that I would use these terms if I was talking with parents about executive functioning.
Every good teacher that I know does exactly what the presenter suggested we do as teachers with students who have executive functioning disorders....act like their frontal lobe! The importance of scaffolding, explaining step by step instructions, visual supports and the gradual release of responsibility are huge teaching strategies to use. Most students (I only have experience in lower elementary), I think, would benefit from having their teacher teach in this manner :)
I found all of the apps introduced on the webinar to be very interesting but I chose three to highlight based on my job in lower elementary and my own personal use.
App #1: Calendar App
I love this app and I personally use it everyday. First of all it's free which is a bonus and I find it user friendly. I have all Apple products so its synched with my MacBook, iPhone, iPad etc. that feature is awesome. This app can keep people so organized and on time because the settings can send reminders so your not late for appointments, classes etc. I am not sure how user friendly it would be for a very young child. I think I would use the app Student Life Organizer which appeared to be more user friendly for the younger child. I prefer for very young children to have a picture based visual schedule which there are many apps on the iPad for. Students can be transitioned to use an app such as this one as they mature.
App #2: Tools for Students $ 0.99
This app I thought would be useful for any age. Even in grade primary we are teaching our students to plan their writing. In my school board we have Smartboards in all of our classrooms. If you have a lightning cable then you can hook your iPad up to the Smartboard and display for students in a large whole class friendly manner. I can see myself using this affordable app in my classroom starting in the Fall.
App #3: Sock Puppets Free I was so excited to see the Sock Puppet app suggested as a tool for social skills! In class, earlier this week, Ashley had shown and told the class about this app and how she used it in her French Immersion primary classroom for reading and writing workshop. I had never thought of using it for social skills until I watched this webinar. I will definitely be using this with my young behavioral challenged students this year in school. I love the way that one app can have so many different purposes. Webinar: NEW Apps for LD
The LD webinar was very informative to me and provided me with some great apps to use with my students. I have only worked with a couple of students who have diagnosed learning disabilities (I work with students under grade 3) but I do not have to be a psychologist to know that several of my students will have a diagnosis in the very near future. Personally, I do not think that students require a "label" for them to have support for their learning because every students has individual strengths and challenges.
In terms of the iPad I prefer the mini over the full size. I have a full size and I bought my own children a mini. I agree with Barbra when she said the mini is easier to treat like a "Book" because of the size. I use full size iPads at school but I think several of my resource students would be able to easily have just as much success with a mini iPad.
This webinar also reminded me of the importance of updating an iPad to ios6 to access most apps.
App #1: Settings Free
I couldn't believe all the options that the settings offers that is 100% free with every iPad. I was not aware that the Settings offered Voice over, Zoom, large text, font chage, color change and speak selection. I have not really ever played around, on my personal iPad, with this Settings app and have left everything as is. I must say it was fun to follow along on my own iPad during the webinar. I did get a little lost a couple times with the zoom feature but I got the hang of it. For young children, an adult can make the settings suitable for that student. Older students could easily customize their settings to meet their learning needs.
App#2: ReadIris $37.99
The initial price of this app shocked me at first but after I was able to see what it can do it seems a small price to pay. This, in my opinion, is a top of the line app. When I compare ReadIris to an app like Prizmo I think it is worth the extra money. It seemed user friendly and younger students would just need some support to navigate it at first. The features I liked were the color coding of the text and graphics that other apps don't offer. In this app the picture/graphics will not be read. I was also impressed with the language settings because I used to work in a French immersion school and I know how frustrating it is not to have a lot of apps available in the French language.
App #3: Book Creator $4.99
I couldn't resist highlighting this app. After using this app for our first assignment I was able to see first hand how user friendly and amazing this app is! The purchase price is very affordable for everything that it can do. Once again, as a classroom teacher I would use my lighting cable to conncet my iPad to the Smartboard so that the entire class could be taught how to use it. It could be a fun, interactive whole class lesson or individual students could be using it. The features this app offers would appeal to any age such as importing graphics (your own or from the internet), highlighting text, reading text and the list goes on!
Reading Process Discussion:
Our class discussion reminded me once again that not all children have the same literacy experiences. Some children do not have exposure to books and do not have access to books and literacy. I have many fond memories of reading to my young children. The hours spent reading books on trucks and tractors. My children and I have a connection together to reading and it is a fun time for us. I have to realize that not all students have had the same experiences as my children. There are so many contributing factors to the reading process. We can not possibly know the background and experiences of all of students. For example are they hungry, tired etc.? These factors have a huge impact on the reading process.
Attention to task is an executive function that is so important to the reading process. I have so many students who have attention issues and executive functioning skill difficulty. "decoding text is not reading" I found this very interesting. In the past three years I have received a lot of professional development around comprehension...and how important it is. The "Why" of reading is very important for me. My husband often claims he doesn't like to read but its because he considered reading to be reading novels. He reads all the time but I guess he doesn't see his reading as reading: ATV and motor cycle manuals, the news online, the Chive etc.
As a resource teacher I have met many young students this year who are having difficulty reading. I am hoping that these students will have access to AT in the very near future.
I love the point that Simon made about "at what point do we use AT?" In my experiences it is not until usually middle school that students are given the opportunity to receive AT from the school board in terms of learning disabilities. The Prisma app or Read Iris could have helped many of my students!
The videos we watched in class were quite amazing! There is so much involved for our bodies to complete simple tasks that I take for granted. Barbara reminded me of the importance of the repetition for our students. I do not think we do enough of this for students in school. Our brains our amazing....
Marilyn Jager Adams books is a book that I would highly recommend: She provided a great visual on what is involved in order to read.
Check out this video:
The Secret Life of the Brain Episode 2 by PBS. This video does a great way of outlining the struggles to read. The part in the video where it showed the teacher showing her class letters and they had to do an action reminded me of a program out that I use called Phoneme Touch and Say which has an action for every consonant and vowel. This program was developed by a Speech Language Pathologist who used to live in Berwick Nova Scotia.
iPads as instructional tools to enhance learning opportunities for students with developmental disabilities: An action research project by Therese M Cumming et al.
I found it interesting that study took place at a high school. Makes me wonder how many studies have taken place at the elementary level? This study found that using the iPads helped students to become ‘‘more independent learners.’’ This did not come to any surprise to me. We know that UDL is the best teaching method and that iPads are a great tool for UDL. Seems so simple but why is it not being done in all classrooms?
I take for granted everyday all the things I am able to do without thinking about them. The reading process is definitely not something I can personally relate to because I can not remember not being able to read! However, working in lower elementary it is clear to me that what comes easy for some students is not easy for others. I often wonder when its time to explore alternatives such as AT and/or psychological testing? I find in the school system I work in that we like to provide the child with at least a minimum of three years (grade primary, one and two) to adjust/grow into the reading process. We have an excellent program called Leveled Literacy Intervention which is taught by an Early Literacy Teachers to students who are struggling with their reading and writing. If student are not successful in this program then they are referred to resource. http://www.pearsoncanadaschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1655
Check out a video as well for a brief overview of the program:
Highlights of Book Creator Presentations: ….
Jonathan and Angela: I really enjoyed all of the tellagamis used to deliver information in all presentations. This presentation was the first one to highlight their use of the tellagami app.
I think this app is very appealing to any audience.
I agreed with Angela when she said that technology can be
intimidating…it’s fun too!
The entire class did a great job of explaining all of the terms in
a very interesting unique way. The
importance of using UDL in class is very clear to me. I liked when Barbra made
us think about who UDL is the most important for and the answer was our
non-verbal students who need to be provided with the tools for showing what
they know.
One of my most favorite presentations was Ashley and Ainsley
because they chose a curly hair theme. Loved
the film at the beginning with imovie trailer and then to find out that three
groups used the same format for their imovie as well…great minds think alike
Ashely and Ainsley also introduced me to the Sock puppet app which
would be useful with young children
The Videoscribe app was used by almost every group! I will definitely
buy this app…for $5.99 I think it is very worth it.
Janet made some really good points about teachers being
comfortable with the ipads in order to feel confident in our teaching.
Simon and Eleanor used garage band and manipulated the sounds…did
not get a chance to use this app so I would like to explore it J
Meghan and Candice introduce me to a new app called “download”
made the resolution and quality of the video very good. It cost 4.99. and is
user friendly.
Overall, I think that any of the apps used in our presentations can be used with any grade level.
My favorite apps used for the presentations are:
Video scribe
iMovie
Stephen Hawkings was used in Simon and Eleanors presentation and his video is very inspiring:
Film:
The Myth of Average
I am a type of person who likes to type their notes on the laptop in a word document then copy and paste...I am a very messy writer so here is my copy and paste from Microsoft word (so boring I know!).
1)The reference to fighter pilots and the relationship to the
cockpit was very meaningful to me. I learn well from using real word
definitions and relationships… same as many students!
2)The statement about “average killing talent” was very powerful. How
many times do I use the word average? Way too much!We have to design our curriculum towards the
jagged profile and not the “Average” which does not exist!
3)The fact that the education system is spending more money but getting
worse results. There is a very high dropout rate (U.S. statistics) and a high
percentage of these dropouts are gifted.
My adjustable seat is to treat and gear my teaching towards individual
and not the average!
Reading Process Task Analysis: we discussed it in a small group in point form...
-First of all I need to be able to visually see the text.
-Attention to task and have to be attending to all the tasks. This has to be done for the entire reading process.
-Tell your brain to send your eyes there
-Visualizing the word Dracula and other key words. This reminded me of the program "Visualizing and Verbalizing" and the importance of seeing in pictures.
-Journal so expect first person narrative. I am familiar to journals and knew what to expect for a journal entry
-Background knowledge and trying to put it in perspective to
my own experiences. This is a vey important part of the reading process.
-Inferring: when he talked about starting on time in the journal I did not really know what he was talking about...
-Punctuation: knowing when to pause etc.
-Sight word recognition- ability to recognize sight words can impact students learning
-Sounding out words phonetically: this does not always work because there are so many exceptions.
-Directionality: where to start on a page
-Paragraphs : what a paragraph signifies.
-Each letter represents a sound and vowel patterns represent
a sound
Reading is a complex task and I would love to take some more specialized training through the Lindamood Bell Institute such as: Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing and LIPS.
The term "disruptive technology" was a brand new word to me. The first time I had heard of the term was in last weeks class when we had to research the terms for our first assignment. I felt the video that was shown at the beginning of class really put the word in perspective. Check out the video:
I think it is safe to say that I am a little biased when it comes to Apple products!
I feel like I have a huge sense of satisfaction after completing my App Smash for Assignment 1. My awesome partner, Ashley, and I really pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone and explored brand new apps. I am excited to see everyone's presentation tomorrow :)
Inserting videos and images is actually very easy. I can see young elementary students easily having the skills to create a blog. Here are some images I have inserted that I thought we rather interesting....
This reminded me of the activity we did on the first day of class for poll everyone
Having no class today was a little surprise to me! I am one of the lucky people that have power and am able to enjoy all the luxuries of home.
I tried uploading an video to my blog on AT:
Article:
Touching the Virtual, Touching the Real:
I have always believed that "hands on" learning is a crucial way in which many people learn. This article made me think about how much more powerful the "touch" is. After reading this article I found many connections to the article I read yesterday on Joshua. In this article the researchers observed that the iPads had been incorporated creatively into the literacy curriculum and stimulated enthusiastic responses from most students. This is exactly what Joshua required to engage with his learning.
Conference Day: Keynote speaker:
From the keynote speaker I came away with some really good quote she used in her presentation. I understand that creative art is an integral part of the healing process. She talked about so many different "deep topics" in relation to creative arts I am just going to list them: poverty, homeless, school closure, and the holocaust.
I would of preferred for her to go into more depth with any part of her talk but she did not. She talked about how powerful it was for homeless people of Toronto to be given cameras to photograph and document their daily lives but never showed us any photographs or told us how they felt? I was left with some questions.
Martin Morrison and Michael Corbett:
The most important aspect of this presentation for me is how we have to be constantly aware, not inly as teachers, of being exclusionary to some individuals. Martin and Michael had asked the group to do an activity in which we had to rely on our vision to complete. Little did they know that Cynthia Bruce, a prof I had last year who is visually impaired, could not complete this activity.
Dr. John Sumarah:
Close encounters was the topic of his presentation. I found this presentation to be extremely geared towards counseling students. I am not a counseling student but it did make me aware of the importance of relying on and forming good relationships with our guidance counselors. I am also more aware of what skills I need to be a better listener and what it means to really listen to someone.
This article was very relevant to me both has a teacher and as a mother. When I think of ADHD I typically think of boys which I know is not always the case but seems to be the center of most discussions. Joshua had great success with meeting his learning needs with the use of technology, specifically the iPad. Joshua was very fortunate to have someone take such a deep interest in his ability to learn and I wish more students were given that luxury. I guess I ask myself "What if?" I do not think Joshua would have such a happy ending because if he continued to have his behavioral concerns and his academic achievement did not improve then his life would be drastically different. I am left wondering about part 2 to this article. I want an update on how he is doing now and is he maintaining his use of the iPad or other technology? Are his behaviors less? The purpose of assistive technology is to foster independence in our students and I'm wondering if he is feeling successful in this areas?
This was a great first day of class! I can't believe everything I learnt in only three hours. I have to admit that I was a little scared of being totally immersed in "learning by doing" and not having someone "hold my hand" but everything worked out fine. My confidence level has already improved. This is exactly how I want my students to feel in my classroom. I want my students to be excited to learn something new and take a risk in doing it. It was a real reality check for me when we did the activity in class involving the papers that were in different languages. I am a resource teacher and there are students that I have worked with that most likely feel like this all of the time. It makes me think of what else I can be doing to meet their learning needs. I get a little frustrated at times because at the elementary level we try to give students time to see if they can learn by traditional methods of teaching/learning and it is usually not until grade 3 or 4 at the earliest that a lot of assistive technology can be used. I take so much for granted in my life that is scares me because the task of writing with my non-dominant hand and using no hands was extremely difficult. I was thinking about how to form letters which is a task that I have not done since I learnt to write. I have a member of my family, deceased now, that is known for his ability to paint with his mouth. His name is Averill Barkhouse, and he was quite amazing! Check out his website. http://www.nsnet.org/averillbarkhouse/
The invention of the tablet has really changed the way assistive technology is even used. The ipad purchase and apps is quite affordable for what it can do. When we compare it to the program Kurzweil, that you discussed in class, it is so expensive and limited to desktop. I feel like I am still very "behind' the times at my school. I would love for students to have access to more tablet and easier to manipulate technologies. We have Smart boards at my school that are awesome additions to any teaching and learning styles but it is not as personal as someone having their own device. I feel the Smart boards contribute to using Universal Design for learning but they are only one small piece. I also have been thinking about how, at my school, we are overusing the use of scribes for students. This is far to dependent for students and is not effectively measuring what they are capable of doing. The polleverywhere site activity reminded me of "clickers smart response" we use in our school. The advantage the clickers have over the polleverywhere is that the clickers are not anonymous and the teacher can easily measure a students learning. But the polleverywhere site is much easier to manage. Assignment one was daunting at first but once I got started with it I really got into it! Awesome first day!
