This is my first attempt at creating a weblog so I am not so sure how to begin. I will give some history of how I got here so that you may understand why I chose this topic for a weblog.
I am currently taking a correspondence course through Learner's Edge (Course 681: Web EDU; I highly recommend the course!) that requires me to create this weblog to pass this course. I have always had a strong interest in technology and almost pursued it as my major in college but was unable to for one reason or another, anyway, I do what I can to try to stay abreast of the ever-changing world of Technology which is VERY difficult to do. I am currently on my school district's Technology Committee and recently attended a Michigan Integrated Technology Supports (MITS) Conference in Traverse City, MI (a very beautiful place to visit!) to try to stay up to date on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that is a new requirement being implemented in order to keep our students up-to-date on technology and all it offers.
Now for the reasons I brought up this topic as a weblog... I have some major concerns as to how this can all be implemented with the bare necessities to create an online podcast (not to mention the resistance of many teachers who are not "tech savvy") due to budget issues within the school district. Currently, all monies allotted are going to the upper grades since they are closest to graduating and moving on to the "real" world either in secondary education or the workforce. Since I am a Special Educator and have a categorical classroom for Mildly Cognitively Impaired students grade K - 2, I don't receive a lot of technological support for hardware. I have one computer that is two years old that I and the students use, then there is one that is older and is very slow that my paraprofessional uses, when it works. As you can imagine, my computer is the one that the educational games work much better on and keep the students entertained and focused. I must say I do have the ability to use United Streaming videos which has been wonderful for curriculum enhancement. I have used it to help teach letter sounds, learn about insects, and much more. I also use an overhead projector to keep the students' attention more focused when doing worksheets together, learning about money and what it looks like, playing Bingo (letter, shapes, and word families).
My students do go to an itinerant computer class once a week and have done some wonderful things in there that I think could be utilized on a podcast. Fortunately for me the Technology Instructor also attended the conference and she was just as excited as I was about trying to implement many of the "freeware/shareware" that is out there to be had by anyone. We do plan to work together on creating a few things together for the next school year and trying to get the rest of our school staff on board as well.
My biggest question for any teacher out there is, how do you use technology in your classroom/school with students who have disabilities? I don't mean augmentative devices but actually using the Internet for interaction with other students around the nation, and even the world! I want my students to know that there is a much bigger world out there that is not so far that they can't interact with it. Any suggestions?
And parents, what do want to see happening with your child and their interaction with their world around them? How can we help them to learn more about their place and how to function in this world of ours?
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3 comments:
Cheryl, I applaud your efforts to keep yourself current with technology. There is so much out there now that can help enhance our classroom teaching. I am a regular ed classroom teacher so I'm not sure how well I can address your question about how I use technology to help disabled students but I will tell you what I do (which at this point is pretty minimal). Last year in my math curriculum I tried to find some kind on interactive site where students could do some kind of hands-on activity or game that would connect to whatever concept I was teaching. I found that the students were eager to learn and often they begged to stay in the computer room longer. It made the learning fun and helped cement the concept in their amazing brains. This year I would like to extend this by creating a mini seminar on moodle so that they could actually explore each concept with some independance and at their own pace. Creating a moodle site will help me be able to differentiate the lesson so that all learners have the support they need.
Good luck in your endeavors! Nice blog!
Interesting blog. My observation from a class of 10 boys with learning problems. 9 out of 10 play Halo 3. They like action. The typical classroom is too slow.
They can really focus if it is more game oriented. I found a typing program www.customtyping.com that is like space invaders. They love it.
A less expensive device and more portable is the TI-83 / 84 calculator. They can be networked so that the teacher can see what each student is doing. Costs are an orger of magnitude less than PC's. Using TI-83's in one class greatly improved the interest level and cooperative spirit.
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