ED 7724 Week 9 Summary-Assistive Technology in the Whole Classroom

This week I was the Discussion Facilitator for the class.  My topic was about using Assistive Technology and incorporating it into the whole classroom.  In Chapter 7 of Bryant and Bryant's Assistive Technology for People with Disabilities, they explain many different types of software for various classrooms.  These software programs can be used for whole group instruction without making students with disabilities feel like they are being singled out.  This week, I asked my colleagues to read through the different software and choose one that they found interesting.  I then asked them do do a bit of research on the software.  I wanted to know what the software was about, and what the pros and cons were.  I learned about many different types of software for different grade levels and subject areas.  Here are a few:

• Dollars and Cents
• The new Dollars and Cents features three programs:Counting Coins, Spending Money, and Making Change. All programs are easy to navigate and have clear graphics. You can also change the currency (US or Canadian).  There are 4 activities in Counting Coins:Naming, Matching, Sorting, and Vending Machine.  In the Spending Money activity, students shop for items and pay for them with computer cash, using the exact amount or the next-dollar approach.  In Making Change, the most advanced program, students act as store clerks, entering purchases and giving back change. (http://www.attainmentcompany.com/dollars-cents-software)

• Efofex
• Provides free software for students with special needs through the Empower Program. Many students with physical disabilities find mathematics and science extremely difficult to write. The equations and graphics are too difficult to write with standard tools on computer programs. The Efofex products are designed to make mathematics and science teacher's jobs easier but many students with special needs have found that they also provide the assistance they need. (http://efofex.com/empower.php)

• Inspiration
• Visual learning strategies such as graphic organizers, diagrams, outlines are being used more in classrooms across the country.  As students are required to incorporate information from a variety of sources, integrate new knowledge with what they already have learned, and improve writing skills and think critically, visual learning tools help students meet those demands.  With the combination of visual learning and technology, students learn to clarify , organize and analyze information, integrate new knowledge, and think critically. (http://www.inspiration.com/visual-learning)

• Mindtwister Math
• This game can be played by 1 to 3 third-grade students. Players need to think quickly, as the software of reviews math skills in a competitive manner. Because of the competitiveness, it would not be as appropriate for struggling math students. MindTwister Math provides fun and unique challenges.  This software is designed to review and reinforce 3rd-grade math curriculum facts. Students are taken through a series of games with 4 skill levels, and can play alone or with one or two friends/classmates. (http://school.discoveryeducation.com/parents/reviewcorner/software/mindtwistermath.html)

• Mrs. Riley's Picture Cards and Page Builder
• PageBuilder is an application that helps you make, share, and print your own picture cards. It’s drag and drop is easy to use  and you can get started right away by clicking the giant green button up top.  (http://mrsriley.com/home)

• Start to Finish
• The Start-to-Finish Library offers struggling readers a selection of narrative chapter books written at two levels (Gold for 2nd-3rd Grade level, Blue for 4th-5th grade level)  Students accomplish several goals with this unique series: they practice reading fluently and with comprehension using multiple text and electronic supports, while accessing the curriculum’s required topics, genres and literature.(http://donjohnston.com/stflibrary/#.U4fEk3JdVuo)

• Wordmaker
• WordMaker uses a variety of activities to build phonics skills. Students build on the words they know how to read and spell to create new words. The 140 progressive lessons focus students on specific letter combinations, that teach early readers to look for patterns and apply what they know about them when encountering words. (http://donjohnston.com/wordmaker/#.U4fE3HJdVuo)

• Write: Out Loud
• Write:OutLoud is easy to use and reads words to as they are written, providing real-time  feedback. Writing tools, including talking spell checker, homophone checker, and dictionary help your students confirm their choice of words in a language they feel comfortable with. (http://donjohnston.com/writeoutloud/)

After I learned about the software, I asked my colleagues if they would use this in their classrooms.  Each of them had a use for these programs and were quick to explain how it would be implemented.  It was great to see that many of these programs could be implemented for all students and not just those with disabilities.  I looked into to these different programs and found them all to be very helpful and hope to incorporate many of them into my own classroom in the future.  I am thankful that my colleagues were able to share this information with me this past week.

I enjoyed learning about these programs in greater depth and look forward to learning about more programs for students with disabilities to use within the whole classroom.

EDUC 7726 - Week 8 Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is when teachers provide ongoing feedback to students through out the unit to improve their learning. Formative assessments help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work and help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately. - Carnegie Mellon University -

Many teachers use formative assessment in the classroom.  Formative assessment can be done at different points during the course of the lesson.

Previewing a Lesson:

      Before beginning a new lesson, many times student are unsure of what the new unit holds for them.  To begin the unit on a good foot, many teachers start each day with a daily review exercise to keep the students' minds remembering what was learned in the previous day.  As a different approach to beginning an entirely new unit, teachers can use Beyond Question Clickers or Smart Notebook Clickers (whichever they have available) to create short quizzes for the students.  These are interactive devices where the students must answer the multiple choice or true/false questions by choosing the correct choice on their personal remote. The system will then grade the quiz for you.  These questions can be embedded into a powerpoint as well.

During the Learning:

      During learning, it is sometimes difficult to assess students.  As a teacher you constantly as the students if 
they have questions, but they always say no, or you are answered by silence so you move on to the next topic.  With Today's Meet you can give the classroom a name (Room 203) and students can sign in each day.  Today's Meet can be left on the projection screen and if students have questions, all they have to do is type them in and it will automatically send and add to the list. This is a backchannel where you can see everything the students really want to ask, but are afraid to.  The students can put their name or they can be anonymous.  They are limited to 140 characters, similar to twitter, so their questions can be short.

After the lesson:

      For many instructors, once a lesson or unit is over, it is time for a test or a quiz.  This usually results in a type of assessment.  In order for the students to prepare for the assessment, have the students review in a fun and interactive way. The students will play a FREE game based blended learning and response system called Kahoot!  As the teacher, you can create the questions using any device, build quizzes with images and video, or find pre-made quizzes.  Students can use any device with a web browser including a laptop, IPad, IPhone, IPod, Android, Chromebook, PC, and more. If they do not have one, they can share with a friend and be a "team". You can project the quiz on the screen at the front of the room to engage students in the game.  Without each student needing an account, logging on is quick and their name appears on a list at the front of the room.  This is also a great way for students to prepare for the summative assessment while having fun at the same time.

1. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically,formative assessments: help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work. - Carnegie Mellon University-

EDUC 7726 Week 7 - Assessing Technology and Digital Literacy Skills

      As teachers begin to enter into a technological world, they will need to know how to assess students with technology and digital literacy skills.  This can be a difficult process, one that will need much developing.

      To be digitally literate, one must be able to find and create content using information technologies and the internet.  There are many overlapping components of digital literacy that must be following in order to be considered digitally literate. These components are creativity, functional skills, e-safety, effective communication, ability to find information, collaboration, cultural and social understanding, and critical thinking and evaluation. 

      There are three frameworks that are followed when relating any work to digital literacy.  These frameworks follow the ORMS model.  There is Online Collaborative Inquiry, Online Content Construction, and Online Reading Comprehension.  More information on these frameworks can be found here: ORMS Model

     For students to be digitally proficient, they must be able to effectively engage with technology.  Technology impacts every part of our lives and students need to use it to learn, communicate and collaborate.  This is why many teachers can use technology to assess students.  They can even use technology to connect their assessments to the common core standards. Common Sense Media provides charts that align Common Core to technology skills and digital competencies.  To view this chart, please click here: Common Core Chart

      According to ETS Testing, digital fluency is a term that captures critical thinking and communication in an online environment.  Technology is requiring our students (and ourselves) to become digitally savvy in critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills.

      How can we assess digital competencies?  ISTE recommends assessing students on the following categories: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts.  

      There are many different formal assessments that can be done digitally.  For example: SAILS, TRAILS, iSkills, SBAC, 21st Century Skills, etc.  Also, many tests can now be made through Google forms creating online assessment for students that can be sent to the teacher. To give students choices, students can work collaboratively on projects, or on PLE's.  There are many different opportunities to digital assessment and the students are excited to try them.

      A link to our prezi can be found here: Assessment of Digital Literacy and Technology Skills Prezi