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I have not personally tried this software but want to share the information that I received from an eSchool News email that I received. It may be worth a look!
The I CAN Learn®Program:
Is scientifically proven at-scale to close the Achievement Gap in Algebra proficiency
Improves student test scores on states high-stakes tests
Is proven as a cost effective means of improving student performance
Earned both the coveted “++” recognition and “Positive Effects” rating from the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse
Meets ARRA Title 1 and IDEA Spending Guidelines
Meets all aspects of RTI Criteria
Over 14 years of scientifically based research prove the effectiveness of the I CAN Learn®Program. The program’s flexibility and scope fit well within the purview of the ARRA Title I and IDEA spending guidelines, especially for Summer School Algebra Readiness and online IEP aligned to state standards. The large lesson bank makes alignment with your core curriculum a breeze. As a longitudinal data system, the I CAN Learn®Program provides new opportunities for Title I schoolwide programs seeking online courseware as “Supplemental Learning Materials” for meeting mathematics requirements. The program also establishes fiscally sustainable extended learning opportunities for students in targeted assistance programs, as its “Online” configuration can be used anytime, day or night. This makes it an especially useful intervention for bringing students up to grade level. The self-paced feature makes it effective for students of all abilities, from remedial to gifted. Specific program configurations also meet the following aspects of RTI criteria: Universal Screening, Scientifically Based Intervention, Progress Monitoring, Data Driven Decision Making, and Professional Development.
To learn more visit us today at I Can Learn.com, or give us a call at 504.263.1380.
I have discovered another great resource for teachers – CITED! http://www.cited.org/index.aspx
It is “a technical assistance center funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, is a cooperative effort of the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), and the Education Development Center (EDC).”
The website offers an online course, “Differentiating Instruction Through Technology”. Along with the course you get a toolkit of tools, strategies, and resources that will help you differentiate planning, instruction, management and student assessment.
What I find really exciting is that the website contains a link to a ”powerful” tool called, the TechMatrix (www.techmatrix.org). This tool is designed to help educators and families find the best learning and assistive technology tools for students with special needs.
The website also contains a Learn Center, an Action Center, and a Research Center whose focus is on technology in education. It truly has a lot to offer.
I recently discovered an online test creator called Easy Test Maker that would enable regular education and special education teachers to save time creating and modifying assessments. To quote their website
EasyTestMaker is a FREE online test generator to help you create your tests. With Easy Test Maker you can create multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, short answer and true and false questions all on the same test. You can also insert instructions and divide your test into multiple sections.
EasyTestMaker automatically generates alternate versions entirely randomized and master answer sheets with a single click! Just click the “Generate Alternate Versions” or “Print Answer Sheet” link when you are done creating your test. It’s that easy!
Upon reviewing the test maker I found that it would be very helpful not just to “regular education” teachers, but to special education teachers as well. As a special educator I often had to modify tests – individualize them for the students in the class who may have had a language, executive function, attention or visual disability. Often pressed for time as teachers are, I wouldn’t get to see the test (as it was literally just created) until the day of the test. This resulted in a lot of quick cutting and pasting, crossing out or marking on the test. Often it resulted in removing the student from their classroom so that I could help them navigate their test.
This program would allow a special educator to go into the teacher made electronically created test and make quick adjustments. They would be able to change font size, bold, highlight, underline or italicize words to draw attention to them or make them easier to read. They could insert a synonym for a word that they knew their students wouldn’t understand. They would be able to highlight words or phrases and save this modified test having modified it to meet the individualized needs of their students quite easily.
Also, If a teacher wanted to help prevent cheating they could generate multiple versions of the test with a click of the button – rearranging the questions randomly.
You can check out this free tool at: http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx
It’s been three weeks since I started my internship as an integrated technology specialist and I have to say everywhere I turn I have run into Atomic Learning. Both the school system that I am interning in as well as the University that I am attending have made Atomic Learning available for free to their staff and in the case of the University, their students as well. So far I have used it to learn about SmartBoard Notebooks, Excel 2007, and InspireData (which is a great spreadsheet program for kids). Just one word of advice – Atomic Learning works best with Firefox. Thus, if you use Internet Explorer as your Internet browser and have difficulties with Atomic Learning – now you know why! Firefox is free, easy to download, and will import your favorites, bookmarks, homepage, and cookies directly from Internet Explorer. Firefox can be downloaded from Mozilla’s website at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/.
I was reading through the eSchoolNews yesterday and discovered what appears to be a great resource for teachers, administrators, students, parents and technology personnel alike. What is it you ask?
It is a website called Atomic Learning. To quote their site: “Atomic Learning provides web-based software training for more than 110 applications students and educators use every day. Our short, easy-to-view-and-understand tutorials are an integral part of a professional development program, a valuable curriculum supplement, and an anytime/anywhere training resource.”
As if that wasn’t awesome enough; Atomic Learning has an assistive technology collection that: “includes short, show-and-tell video tutorials that empower educators to use and apply assistive technology. The foci of these tutorials are:
Special education software
Assistive technology devices
Software accessibility training tutorials
But wait that’s not all, for a limited time only they are offering a free 7 Steps to a Flat Classroom, online workshop that includes over 80 (I stopped counting) tutorials for well over 2 hours of free professional training.
BUT WAIT that’s still not all – if you act now you can use this incredible program for 14 days free. That’s right folks, you can enjoy 100% access to Atomic Learning – including the Technology Skills Collection of over 37,000 software training tutorials on more than 110 common applications and the Assistive Technology Collection featuring on-demand training for special education software, assistive technology devices and accessibility features – FREE for 14 days at: http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/7sfc_wb2
I wish I could say that you could get all of this for just $19.95 once the trial period was over, but alas, you can’t. A year’s subscription is $99.00 for the Technology Skills collection and $149.99 for the Assistive Technology collection. However, given the cost of attending workshops, conferences, or graduate level classes, overall, it seems to be a good deal.
I signed up for the 14 day free trial and will be checking out many of the assistive technology tutorials. I will be posting updates on what I discover.
Tips and Advice to Help Students with Dyslexia Get the Most Out of the WWW.
E-bility.com published an article entitled, “Enabling the Internet for people with dyslexia”, in May of 2003 that describes many of the difficulties that people with dyslexia encounter when surfing the WWW. While a website may appear visually pleasing, many aspects of its design can make reading and understanding the content of the website difficult for students with reading difficulties.
The article not only describes the difficulties encountered, but also offers suggestions on how your computer settings can be altered to alleviate some of these difficulties. It offers step by step directions, information on assistive technology, and links to additional resources for people with learning disabilities. This information can be found at: http://www.ebility.com/articles/dyslexia.php#browser
One of biggest roadblocks teachers face when attempting to incorporate new and emerging technologies into their curriculum is the amount of time it takes to learn how to use and incorporate them. The following website created by University at Buffalo, School of Public Health and Health Professions as part of their Assistive Technology Training Online Project, contains a lot of information on assistive technology basics, how to choose assistive technology, resources on assistive technology and numerous tutorials that teach you how to use specific hardware devices and software programs. http://atto.buffalo.edu/
The tutorials cover technologies such as reading and writing tools, tools for the visually impaired, creating talking books, as well as many others.
Each tutorial includes:
Step-by-Step instructions to print out and/or display as a slide show for group instruction.
Practice exercises let you practice and master new skills using actual classroom examples.
Check them out at: http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/Tutorials.php
I discovered a wealth of information on Web 2.0 tools for teachers on the International Society for Technology in Education’s website. The link below contains information and additional links to websites that focus on technologies such as: Blogging, Wikis, Aggregators, Social Bookmarking, Photo and Drawing, Photo Sharing, Video, Web-based Word Processing, Web-based Spreadsheets, Presentation Tools, Search Tools, Task Management, Online Calendars, and Mapping. Check them out at:
I recently watched the movie, “Music Within”, which is based on the true story of Richard Pimentel, a man whose work plays an integral part in the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In the movie, Richard becomes friends with a man who has cerebral palsy. Within the movie, Art, the man with cerebral palsy, has to overcome some significant barriers as a result of his disabilities and the lack of accommodations for handicapped people prior to the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It was a great movie and it inspired me to research cerebral palsy and the types of assistive technology that are available to help people with cerebral palsy today.
Like many other types of disabilities, CP can be mild, moderate or severe, resulting in physical disabilities that range in severity from clumsiness to the inability to walk and feed one self. Sometimes people with CP also have learning problems, problems with hearing, speaking, or mental retardation.
When it comes to school, students with CP face many challenges. Seizures, mental disabilities, auditory problems, visual problems, communication problems, and possible impairments of other senses are all issues that may need to be addressed on a daily basis. Students may also need help with walking and eating as well. Luckily there are many services available to these students. Services can include placement on an IEP, physical therapy, occupational therapy, a one on one assistant and speech and language support. Along with these services there are many types of assistive technology that can help a student with cerebral palsy be successful within their school setting.
The following is a list of common assistive technology applications:
“Positioning – In the classroom, individuals with physical disabilities may need assistance with their positions for seating so that they can participate effectively in school work. Generally, therapists try to achieve an upright, forward facing position by using padding, structured chairs, straps, supports, or restraints to hold the body in a stable and comfortable manner. Also considered is the student’s position in relation to peers and the teacher. Often, it is necessary to design positioning systems for a variety of settings so that the student can participate in multiple activities at school. Examples of equipment used for positioning are side lying frames, walkers, crawling assists, floor sitters, chair inserts, wheelchairs, straps, trays, standing aids, bean bag chairs, sand bags and so forth (http://www.pluk.org/AT1.html).”
My computer has an Ease of Access Center that can be found by clicking on the accessories option in the program drop down menu. Within this center are tools that enable the user to access both visual and auditory information in a way that is easier for them. Some of the tools listed are a magnifier, on screen keyboard, narrator, and a high contrast option. There are also specific settings within the Ease of Access Center that allows you to set the computer up in a certain way. These settings can be saved so that the computer automatically starts with these settings in place. Some of the options available are:
- 1. Use the computer without a display (optimize for blindness).
- 2. Make the computer easier to see (optimize visual display).
- 3. Use the computer without a mouse or keyboard (set up alternative input devices).
- 4. Make the keyboard easier to use (adjust settings for the keyboard).
- 5. Use text or visual alternatives for sounds (set up alternative for sounds).
- 6. Make it easier to focus on tasks (adjust settings for reading and typing).
While I have heard of many of the options listed above the options to adjust settings for reading and typing to make it easier to focus on tasks, was new to me. The individual settings available within this category are:
Reading:
- Turn on Narrator (Narrator reads aloud any text on the screen. You will need speakers)
- Remove background images (where available).
Make it easier to type:
- Turn on Sticky Keys (Press keyboard shortcuts (such as CTRL + ALT + DEL) one key at a time.)
- Turn on Toggle Keys (Hear a tone when you press CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, or SCROLL LOCK.)
- Turn on Filter Keys (Ignore or slow down brief or repeated keystrokes and adjust keyboard repeat rates)
Adjust time limits and flashing visuals:
- Turn off all unnecessary animations (when possible).
- How long should Windows notification dialog boxes stay open? (7.0 sec. to 5 min.)
