Final QIAT Blog

This list serv has taught me about AT and I have benefited from reading the conversations of the AT community.  One of the interesting posts that I read was a post a teacher wrote about a student who is having a hard time raising his hand.  She was looking for a switch activated system, which would light up when he raised his hand.  Someone responded to the teacher and said that she may want to try a battery interrupter with a clip-on flashlight. She said you could mount the switch switch to a chair or a desk.  Someone else pointed out this topic was previously brought up and suggested she search the archives.

I think this blog was relevant to me as a teacher because I may have students who need alternatives to raising their hand. This conversation got me thinking about possible alternatives I would use. I like the idea of using a battery interrupter and a switch. I also want to search the archives, to read more about this topic.

Low Vision AT

    As a teacher, I know I will encounter students with vision impairments, and most likely will even encounter students with severe vision impairments. I thought it was interesting to read about low vision magnifiers on one of the blog discussions. They were specifically talking about low vision magnifiers for younger students in the discussion thread. However, I believe that I can still use some of these tools and other tools geared more towards the older student. I followed one of the links that someone provided to a website on the Boost. The Boost is a personal video magnifier and is light weight and portable. Another tool that was mentioned was the American Printing House for the blind, which the lady said provides magnifiers for the blind.  I know there are also many other tools out their for students with low vision to use. This discussion, as well as this class has opened my eyes to the possibilities for students with low vision in my classroom. Before, I did not know much about helping students with visual impairments. In my own school experience, I have only seen teachers sit students closer to the board to help them with their vision impairment. In fact, I struggled with a vision impairment in school and I did not know that this technology was out there. As a teacher, I plan on looking more into magnifiers and other ways to help students with vision problems. 

Techmatrix

For my search criteria, I selected reading for the content area. I used the secondary grade level. I selected Autism for my IDEA disability category. In the last category I selected multiple forms of text and notation, This is link I got to my tech matrix: http://techmatrix.org/product-search?body=&content-area%5B%5D=7&grade-level%5B%5D=14&idea-disability-category%5B%5D=16&instructional-support%5B%5D=32&title=&search=true

This matrix came up with 19 different products. Some of these products I was familiar with and others I was not. One of the products I was already with was the program Kurzeil 3000 because we discussed this application in class. One of the products I was not familiar with was called Cool Speech. Cool Speech allows the student to convert digital text into an audio WAV file. This is similar to Co Writer 6 because Co Writer allows you to convert digital text into audio as well.  Another product I learned about was SOLO, which is a program that helps students in all stages of the writing process. It features several editing features such as spell checker, topical word lists, and a homonym checker.  Although some of these products sound helpful, they can also be quite expensive. This program costs 500 dollars and many of the other products were also expensive.

Word Prediction

  I used the word prediction application called Co-Writer 6. I worked on this portion of the assignment with Emily and Lindsay. The first time we typed up the paragraph it was 151 key strokes. The second time we typed the paragraph and it was only 76 key strokes. The final time we typed the paragraph it as 49 key strokes.  The implications of this finding for students with disabilities is that students with disabilities could benefit from this software. The reason they could benefit from this software is because it significantly reduces the number of key strokes, which may help some students who struggle with typing.  This software could help students feel less stressed about writing papers because it could make it feel easier. 

UDL Editions

 I used this resource to help me read one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The resource provides 3 levels of support, maximum, moderate, and minimal. All 3 levels of support allow you to have the text read aloud to you. This resource could also help my students because it provides a guide on understanding the language, which is one of the biggest struggles students have with reading Shakespeare. For the maximum level of support, it helps you by providing answers to questions that help guide your reading. At the moderate level, it gives you multiple choice answers, and at the minimal level it simply gives you ideas on how to think about the sonnet. The page also features animated coaches that help you with different reading strategies. The tool also allows you to highlight the text in yellow, blue, or pink. Highlighting sometimes helps students pick out key information, in order to help them understand the text they are reading.  They even have a translate button where you can highlight a word and get the Spanish translation of it, which would be helpful for English Language Learners. This is an excellent resource, which I would like to use and model in my own classroom. 

QIAT Blog

One of the topics on the QIAT blog this week was the IPAD. The IPAD has become one of the most popular forms of high-tech AT technology. The IPAD  has many apps and many teachers and parents are anxious to have IPADS for their students. The first post in the discussion talked about how the research is not there to support the use of the IPAD over other devices. However, she does make a good point that the IPAD is new and this could be a possible explanation for the lack of research surrounding the IPAD.  Some schools even provide Ipads for teachers and students through grant money.  I think this discussion really caused me to think about the importance of researching devices before assuming they are the best. Many people assume the Ipad is the best without doing the research. It is important to select the AT device based on the individual student and not based on what is the most popular device on the market.  I have a lot to learn about technology as a future teacher. I know I will need to do in depth research and will need to take time experimenting with different devices to figure out which devices work best for my students.

Albright Library Tools

One tool that I experimented with was the Optelec. I started by finding a text that I wanted the tool to read. I read a Tell-Tale Heart, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe by using this tool. I put the text I wanted to read on the machine underneath the glass. This tool has a few interesting features. You can not only zoom in and out, but you can also adjust brightness. It also has a feature where you can change the text to white text on a black background or black text on a white background. This may help those who are visually impaired because they may find the darker background more accessible. It also helps enlarge text, which makes it easier for those who are visually impaired to see what they are reading.

The next tool I experimented with was the Aladden Ambassador tool. The Aladden Ambassador tool was a scan/read system. First, you start by placing you text underneath the machine  Then, you select the start reading button. The machine reads the text out loud to you and you can adjust the volume and speed of the reading. I had this tool read the textbook for this course aloud to me. I think that a visually impaired person may find this helpful, but I do not believe it is the most helpful tool. I think that if a person is mildly visually impaired, it would still help to see the text. A person who is blind would have a hard time using this machine because the buttons are not in Braille.

The last feature I used was the Zoom Text software program on the computer.  I had the tool read the Albright Library page, as well as a news article on CNN.com.  This tool comes with a tutorial, which is somewhat helpful. I think that without the tutorial someone would have a difficult time figuring out how to use this tool. The Zoom Text toolbar features a magnifying tool and a speech tool. The speech tool allows you to have web pages and emails aloud to you. The magnifying tool allows you to zoom in and out and to change color on the page.  This tool could be helpful, if you are patient enough to watch the tutorial and learn how to use it.AT Brochure

Planner- Low- Tech Assistive Technology

This is an example of low-tech AT, that I have actually used in my own educational experience. Many times students with different disabilities struggle with organization, particularly those with disabilities. A planner is a good way to write down assignments, in order for one to remember what they need to do. Planners can be for school assignments or even keeping track of appointments. Planners are also effective for breaking down big assignments into smaller tasks. For example, if you know you have a research paper due at the end of the semester, you can set deadlines for finishing a certain number of pages each week.