Digital+Identity-Assistive+Technologies

=** Journal Question #1-2 **= = FACT: = = **1 out of every 5 people in the United States has a learning disability. Almost 1 million children (ages 6 through 21) have some form of a learning disability and receive special education in school. Note that one-third of all children who receive special education have a learning disability (//Twenty-Ninth Annual Report to Congress//, U.S. Department of Education, 2010).** =
 * Employing Assistive Technologies to Engage All Learners 3/12 **
 * ** What are some of the learning challenges your students are facing in school? **
 * ** How might //Differentiated Instruction// or //Universal Design for Learning// strategies help them to learn? **

=[|Disability & Education Laws]=

Since the 1960s, there has been a virtual avalanche of federal legislation that relates directly or indirectly to individuals with disabilities, particularly children and youth.
===Use the links above( click on title) to explore several of the most influential laws. These form the core of current protection against discrimination and current guarantees of equal educational opportunity that individuals with disabilities have in our nation [|(2010)].===

= Journal Question #3-4 =


 * ** In thinking of the Special Education students in your school/your classes, are they fully included? Partially included? Not included? **
 * ** How effectively do you think the prevailing teaching methods are working for both regular and special education students(Edwards 2012)? **

==The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST, 2008) delineates three core principles of UDL, which preservice teachers can adopt to promote learning. Although the research at CAST focuses on students with disabilities, these principals are beneficial to all students:==
 * 1) ==Multiple means of representation. This principle supports diversity in a learner's recognition network. In other words, the presentation of information in a classroom is flexible enough to reach a variety of learners. Ideally, information is presented in multiple ways in order to reach the wide range of the audience's learning styles.==
 * 2) ==Multiple means of expression. Teachers recognize that a diverse group of learners can demonstrate their learning a variety of ways, for example, through multimedia presentations, plays, writing, or illustrating. The goal is to provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice skills, receive feedback, and develop knowledge.==
 * 3) ==Multiple means of engagement. Students should be offered varied levels of scaffolding throughout the learning task. A flexible curriculum design stimulates a wide range of student interests, enhances motivation, and promotes positive interactions with the learning environment (Meyer & Rose, 2005).==

Are the CAST principles a part of your teaching? Practice a 2 minute "elevator speech"

 * ===**ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How might teachers use technology to benefit all types of learners?**===

===The [|TPACK] approach goes beyond seeing these three knowledge bases in isolation. On the other hand, it emphasizes the new kinds of knowledge that lie at the intersections between them. Considering P and C together we get Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), [|Shulman’s]idea of knowledge of pedagogy that is applicable to the teaching of specific content. Similarly, considering T and C taken together, we get [|Technological Content Knowledge] (TCK), the knowledge of the relationship between technology and content. At the intersection of T and P, is [|Technological Pedagogical Knowledge] (TPK), which emphasizes the existence, components and capabilities of various technologies as they are used in the settings of teaching and learning ([|Koehler 2011).] What is Pedagogy?===



http://tpack.org/ (2012). = Assistive technology can greatly improve the access and function of people with disabilities in school, work, home, and community. The Assistive Technology Act is intended to ensure that people with disabilities have access to assistive technology devices and services. =

** Curriculum Design for Engaging All Learners **
= = = Creating a curriculum that is both accessible and engaging for all the learners can seem like a daunting task. As new teachers it is important to recognize as you begin making accommodations for one student, you are often unknowingly developing accommodations that could benefit multiple students. In your role as a teacher/instructional designer, you have the ability to use assistive technologies to modify both the classroom environment and the way curriculum is delivered. The term “assistive technologies” is defined broadly, to include both digital and non-computer-based tools. = = One helpful way to use assistive technologies to create accommodations is to begin making very simple adaptations to the learning approaches and/or delivery methods that you use everyday. No matter where or what you teach, you will have some choice over seating arrangements, whiteboards, chalkboards, displays on walls and partitions, reading and writing materials, and texts. Additionally, you will be able to organize how the content is delivered including small or large student groups, student demonstrations or teacher lectures, or use of hands-on and computer-based manipulatives. See Table 10.1 //Classroom Organization Tools// for an expanded list of ideas. = = In this creating and constructing your digitalidentity as a teacher activity, select three classroom practices that you would like to differentiate technologically in a way that will advance learning for either individuals or groups of students. Imagine how elements of this classroom practice might be differentiated on a low tech to mid tech to high tech continuum. An example can be seen below. =


 * ** Have you seen any adaptations in use in your school from the chart below, // Nine Types of Adaptations ,// appearing in //your schools?// **
 * ** How does your low to high tech approach to learning intersect with the Nine Types of Adaptations? **

HOMEWORK Due 3/12 Citation:
 * ** Classroom Practice ** || ** Low-Tech ** || ** Mid-Tech ** || ** High-Tech ** || ** Observations ** ||
 * // Classroom note taking and distribution // || Students copy notes on to notepads using pens and pencils. The teacher makes paper copies to be hand distributed to the class || Individuals and groups of students write on a Whiteboard, then print the notes for distribution || Use of real-time collaborative note-taking tool e.g., (Google Wave) to co-author and then digitally distribute notes ||  ||
 * Your First Practice Here ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Your Second Practice Here ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Your Third Practice Here ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

[]

Low to High Tech Definitions:
 * // Low tech // refers to changes that are made easily, inexpensively, and without applying digital or electronic materials.
 * // Mid tech // involves substantive shifts in organization and delivery of curriculum that may include the use of electronic materials.
 * // High tech // introduces changes associated with the integration of computers and other specialized information technologies in the classroom.

If possible, once you have completed the chart, try out one of the low-tech to high-tech curriculum designs you have planned as a real-time teaching event in a classroom. In the column to the right of the chart, record your observations. Once you have reviewed your notes, write a lesson plan that describes the role of assistive technology in your new curriculum design. Be ready to share the lesson plan as well as the curriculum and tool chart with your peers on 3/12/12.

Click Here for the (above) Worksheet in word doc format: