Supporting students with disabilities through the use of ICTs

After reading chapter 6 of (Ashman 2009)Education for Inclusion and Diversity, I came across some interesting readings of how technologies can support students with diverse learning needs. Word processor clicker 5 is a talking word processor and writing software for children and adults. The program uses exciting and practical educational software that assists students with dyslexia, trouble writing and English as a second language. (Ashman 2009, p.169), points out that the software:
• Reads aloud any text, highlighting each word when spoken
• Shows pictures above words
•Automatically capitalizes proper nouns and words at the start of sentences

Students use the program by using a keyboard or a Clicker Grid. The Grid is box on the screen which contains all the words needed to build a sentence. They also have pictures and audio for each word. The grid helps the students make sentences of their own. The software also includes word bank grids and writing frames which are designed to help students structure their writing by providing vocabulary, set phrases and sentence starters.

I think another use of this software could be using it to teach a language other than English. Because it contains the vocabulary to construct sentences, which would allow students to construct sentences easier and hear how words are pronounced. Perhaps the makers of this software could look at designing programs specifically for LOTE.

WIKIs

This week I created my first WIKI page. Here is the link to the WIKI I created:bulbs I created a page that provides useful information on growing hippeastrums-a plant which I really enjoy growing. I felt that creating this page was a way to give me a better understanding of the technology-it was a practical learning experience for me.

Many schools have fetes where students have the opportunity to get involved in organizing stalls, events and many other activities. Students could design a WIKI page that allows the community to obtain information about the fete on the internet. Taking Kearley and Shneiderman (1998) Engagement Theory into consideration, students would “Relate” by forming groups and deciding what group will be in charge of what stall or event. This would involve team effort, communication and planning.
Students would then add their part to the WIKI page, the “Create” component. For example, one group might be in charge of a sweets stall. Students could include what sweets will be on sale and the cost. The students would also be able to moderate any changes that may occur.
The last component “Donate” is when the community is able to have the information available to them on the internet. In this case the parents and community are the “customers” so to say.

Avatars in education

An avatar is a talking voice character which can be a version of oneself or any character that you choose to use.

Avatars also have many useful applications in education. A good way to hook students at the beginning of a lesson is by using an avatar. What better way to hook students by having an interesting character pop up on an interactive whiteboard screen that introduces lessons or explains procedures.

Students who don’t like reading instructions and learn better auditory and visually would have their learning experience enhanced by the use of avatars. Students could design an avatar and present it to the class. Very shy students or those with speaking difficulties, such as stuttering could design a personalised avatar and present it. This wouldn’t replace oral presentations; instead add another element to the marking criteria by making it fairer for those students.

Further uses

Perhaps avatars could be used in teaching distance education students. Personalised avatars would be a great way to add a human element to the course work.

Power point presentation

I’ve chosen to do a power point on looking after your teeth. Schools have dental services that provide oral health care to children from four years of age to those who have not yet completed year 10. My power point is directed at lower primary school grades to inform them about oral health care.

Although there are many ways in which teachers could use this power point to educate students about oral health care, here is an example of one way you could use it.
I’ve tried to base some of it on Lynch’s 8 learning management questions. I could determine what my learners already know by constructing a KWL chart. I’d ask them what they already know about teeth, what they want to know about looking after them, and finally what they have learnt so far. This would be a good way for them to think of questions they can later ask to the dental therapists.

I didn’t put much information on my power point because I didn’t want to focus solely on visual learning. So for question 3 how does my learner lean best? I’d incorporate kinaesthetic learning as well as visual. Students could use their own toothbrushes or even have them draw pictures or do a quick activity. Finally, after the students have been to the dental therapists I could have the students do a quick quiz to see how much they have learnt.

Teeth

View more presentations from josh81.

Slide casting

It took me a while to eventually work out how to convert audio files to MP3 format. The audio file that I synchronised with my power point presentation was the only one I could convert to MP3 format. It’s not a very suitable audio for my power point presentation, however, I was able to learn how to synchronise audio files. Also, I found the editing part difficult and still need to practice that part a lot more.

If done correctly, adding audio to power point presentations does add an emotional element that enhances learning.


Mahara reflection

I think most people would agree when you first look at Mahara it appears very complicated and difficult to understand. It’s only after you’ve played around with it for a while that it starts to make sense.

Mahara is essentially an e-portfolio system which enables the user to create a resume, weblog and social networking system and creating online user communities. I’ve made Mahara make more sense to me by thinking of it as an online resume which I can share with other users, add or remove any information at anytime, upload programs, videos and pictures.

I think using Mahara is useful in education because it is a way to record student’s development and learning over time and provide a portfolio that can be used later for employment purposes. Also, it promotes collaboration and interaction between users thus providing insight.

Mahara is incredibly convenient, since it can be accessed anywhere at any time. This enables files to be uploaded or viewed etc when needed. As well as that, there is no need to carry around bulky folders and documents.

Another aspect is that learners control what information other users see. This is achievable by placing information in what’s called a ‘view’. You can have as many views as you like, each composed with a different collection of information that you choose to add. You can give your audience access to certain views and deny access to others.

In education, it is the responsibility of the students to continually expand their e-portfolios. It also gives them more freedom to show their strengths and growth over time and reflect more on what they have learnt and are learning, rather than just meeting learning outcomes.

Flickr

I created a Flickr account and uploaded some pictures. I found it quite easy to use and self explanatory.

I had a think about how I could use Flickr for educational purposes and come with some ideas. I scanned an activity sheet which students are required to identify and name some common plants. Instead of using drawings of plants, I thought why not use Flickr to upload photos of real plants and show them on an interactive white board.

Some ideas I come up with might be to give students a list of plants that they have to find around the school and take a photo of it. This could be done in groups. Each group has ten minutes to locate the plant, take a photo and return to the classroom before the next group leaves.

Groups that find the plants the fastest could be rewarded with something, or don’t have any homework for that day. This could be used as motivation to keep the students focused on doing the activity.

Plant finder activity



Plant Finder
Fern Elkhorn Bird’s nest fern Palm tree
Euphorbia Angel’s trumpet Orchid

Picnik collage
Originally uploaded by JMC777

Picnik

The Picnik program has some interesting applications that could be used to incorporate technology in an art class. Instead of creating a collage by gluing pictures onto cardboard, students could design a collage on Picnik. Students can even design collages to be used by the school, such as events and community involvement.


Youtube

I think YouTube has many educational uses in schools. While doing my placement I’ve noticed that the Japanese teacher uses YouTube a lot in class. It’s useful for showing the students information about Japan, such as geographical locations, culture and customs, excerpts from movies, TV shows, news programs and pretty much anything you want to show. YouTube is useful for learning songs, since it is possible to find ones that show the lyrics on the clip as well.

The YouTube clip I used is one that uses a song to teach hiragana. This would be really useful in a Japanese class because it shows the characters on the clip and students can hear the correct pronunciation of each character.





Google Earth

Google Earth is a program that allows you to look at maps and satellite images of almost any location. I’ve only ever used Google Earth to find places around the world. However, I now know it can be used to see images of the moon, planets and the universe.

I think it is possible to use this program in almost any key learning areas. Google Earth could be used to show buildings, countries and cities of which students are studying about. For instance, in geography students often learn about the layout and design of cities. It is possible to use Google Earth to show whether a city’s roads are circular or grid.

It is also possible to use Google Earth when teaching history by overlaying historic maps over current maps to see how the landscape has changed. Also, by creating a virtual tour to show students places, countries, etc as you cover them in your class.

It is easy to come up with useful ideas to use Google Earth in teaching, plus there are many ideas on the internet that offer ways to use Google Earth for teaching purposes.

Wikipedia

I had a look at information about Australia’s climate. There is a lot of information that could be used for teaching. The useful thing about Wikipedia is that it can be accessed anytime and anywhere. This means it would be useful for homework activities or if students are unable to attend school for some reason. The good thing about Wikipedia is that teachers show students how to research and gather information, it is then up to the students to find the information. This means the students are responsible for their own learning.

Using music on the web

Ways to use music in teaching:

•Students could add music to school plays. Depending on the play, music could be
added to make scenes more dramatic, show suspense, sadness etc.
•Students could also use music in their power point presentations.
•Music could also be used in drama classes and dance lessons.