The other blog I have chosen to follow is called "Free Technology for Teachers". The one blog that I read that stood out to me was about Web 2.0 and students with disabilities. It talks about the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) "UDL is a framework curricula that enable all individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning. Using multiple means of representation, multiple means of action & expression, and multiple means of engagement you can create lessons & curriculum that all learners can participate in." (from the website) The blog gives some good resources to help students with disabilities to recieve the best education possible and to meet those goals. One site that is given is called tar heel reader which is a free online book creator. It is such a cool website that has over 8,000 books and most were written by students. Here is an exerpt from the website "a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. The books may be downloaded as slide shows in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens, the IntelliKeys with custom overlays, and 1 to 3 switches."
The blog also talks about a program called voice thread, it allows a person to record audio for a presentation. So if a student was deaf or unable to speak they could have someone record what they wanted to say for their presentation and it would then speak for them. What a cool program!
I think these two programs could be so beneficial to teachers and students alike! I will definately have to keep these websites in mind when teaching :)
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I went to the tar heel reader website, and the stories seemed like something that kids would really enjoy. It might be interesting to assign each student a topic and have them create a book on that topic to post on the website.
ReplyDeleteI am tickled that several of you are finding Voicethread. I think it's a powerful site for digital story telling and communicating.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the semester we'll look at assistive technology. You've already done some exploring in this arena.