Learning+Log+Reflections

Post 1 2/3/09:
Post 1 2/3/09; The Laws: Last semester I took Legal Aspects and when I saw that our first topic was special education law, I was filled with mixed emotions. It seemed like a good starting place, flowing smoothly from my last class to the present class on Access to General Education Curriculum with Technology Accommodations. While it seemed like a good starting place, I wanted to scream ENOUGH ALREADY!!! I did get away from my tremendous urge to scream when I started reading our materials for the week. It was helpful to re-look at the laws with a new focus. The readings and materials on this topic overwhelmingly highlighted that I have a lot to learn about technology accommodations for my students. //Historical and Legal Perspectives of Assistive Technology// PowerPoint was an informative, concrete summary of the law surrounding assistive technology. For example, Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 was intended to increase the availability of and funding for access to, and provision of assistive technology devices and services to individuals with disabilities. It is important to note that the Tech Act provided new opportunities for individuals with disabilities. There were a number of goals associated with the Tech Act, such as increasing awareness of the needs of individuals with disabilities for AT. There is a specific part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that addresses enhancing education through technology. NCLB primary goal is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in elementary school and secondary school. Additional goals of NCLB include assisting every student to cross the digital divide and encouraging the effective integration of technology resources and systems with teacher training and curriculum development. //Which Laws Affecting Special Education Should Every Teacher Know?// (Retrieved on January 26, 2009 from http://www.corwinpress.com/upm-data/8947_CHapter_1_exc_from_Algozzine2_Rev_Final_Pdf_3.pdf). The present article provided a clear overview of important laws affecting special education. It discussed eight important laws and their important influences on the current practices in special education. The table within the article provided key provisions of the eight important laws influencing special education. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 included provisions to make assistive technology more widely available. Overall, the present article provided a brief, simple understanding of the laws and how they relate to special education. The table comparing IDEA, Section 504, and ADA displayed a clear overview of how the three relate to each other, what differentiates them, and highlights the important aspects of all three (Adapted from: Brunckerhoff, L. C., Shaw, S. F., and McGuire, J. H., 1993. Promoting Postsecondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities: A handbook for practitioners. Austin, TX: Pro Ed. Retrieved January 26, 2009). This table seems to be a great organizer, to keep handy for a reference. It may also be helpful to give the table to students with disabilities providing them with a clear, basic way of understanding their rights and responsibilities under all the three areas. Blackhurst and Edyburn (2000) presented a brief but helpful history of special education technology. It was interesting to learn that instructional technology started with production of Braille materials followed by ways to make instructional technologies more accessible to special education teachers. It was the reauthorization of IDEA that made wording of definitions regarding assistive technology applicable to children with disabilities in schools. Most significant was that IDEA required Assistive Technology (AT) be considered for every student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Blackhurst and Edyburn (2000) discussed a functional model, i.e., seven areas in which students with disabilities may have problems and examples of how AT devices and services can assist in improving functional abilities. Teachers should consider these seven areas when considering AT in the IEP. The examples that Blackhurst and Edyburn (2000) have given are practical and can be put into the IEP for a student experiencing such functional difficulties. Edyburn (2004) stressed an opinion that the current assistive technology consideration models, policies, and practices have failed to adequately serve the needs of students with low incidence disabilities. I feel that I am currently contributing to this failure with my students. It is for this reason that I am excited about taking this class. I have so much to learn and I need to know how to best incorporate AT into my student’s IEPs.

Post 2 2/17/09:
Post 2 2/16/09; Universal Design for Learning: Burgstahler (2004): Universal design of instruction Burgstahler (2004) presented a straightforward article on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that included definitions and concrete examples of how UDL can be applied in instructional settings. Burgstahler (2004) presented seven principles of universal design to provide guidance in the design of environments and products. The seven principles are (1) equitable use, (2) flexibility in use, (3) simple and intuitive, (4) perceptible information, (5) tolerance for error, (6) low physical effort, and (7) size and space for approach and use. When considering these seven principles, I am left with a sinking feeling that a lot still needs to be done to achieve UDL. How are the seven principles achieved? What does an individual teacher do to incorporate the seven principles into instruction and classroom design?

Dunfiled & Wahl (2005): Using flexible technology of meet the needs of diverse learners: What teachers can do Differentiated instruction is achieved by teachers providing materials and tasks at varied levels of difficulty for students in their classrooms (Tomlinson, 2001; as cited in Dunfiled & Wahl, 2005). Tomlinson (2001; as cited in Dunfiled & Wahl, 2005) defined differentiating instruction as giving students multiple options for taking in information, for making sense of ideas, and for expressing what they learn. Dunfiled and Wahl (2005) emphasized that most schools already have technology resources that can be used to differentiate instruction. They also emphasized that how to use these technology resources is not obvious to all teachers (Dunfiled & Wahl, 2005). It seems that the school I work for is addressing both of Dunfiled and Wahl’s emphases this year. That is, my school has taken a yearlong UDL professional development focus. Diploma teachers are approximately meeting weekly for trainings, they are given UDL assignments, and expected to incorporate UDL into their classrooms. In addition, all teaching staff has been required to sign up for four different trainings on technology that we have available in the school. The expectation is that teaching staff will learn how to use the available technology and learn how to incorporate it into their classrooms. Dunfiled and Wahl (2005) presented four areas teachers can use to meet the needs of diverse learners, e.g., talking text, Web resources, graphic organizers, and features of word processors. The information provided about making talking text work for students was helpful and eye opening. Unfortunately, I had only thought of using talking text for students that were unable to read and could comprehend text presented orally. Given the suggestions presented by Dunfiled and Wahl, I can imagine such a tool being helpful for my students with emotional and behavior disabilities that tend not to be motivated to read higher level text. Talking text would allow higher-level text to be read to these students giving them access to more depth on topics. It seems that if I were using talking text for all students in my classroom then the students that need it because of their reading abilities would not be stigmatized for their difficulties. This would possibly improve the learning for all students in my classroom. The section on enhancing electronic resources was helpful in highlighting ways in how web-based resources can be changed. This section raised a few questions. What materials are available on the web for mathematics? What are the suggestions for enhancing mathematics based web resources? Dunfiled and Wahl (2005) noted two steps schools can take to support technology use. First, an investment in appropriate professional development is needed for the successful implementation of tools. Dunfiled and Wahl (2005) noted second that teachers need time to think about how to integrate technology resources into their classrooms in a way that fully supports instruction. My school seems to be doing a good job of providing the professional development to learn about tools. However, teachers are not being provided the time noted in the second step. Teachers are frustrated because they are being expected to be using the tools without being provided the time to think about how to integrate technology resources into their classrooms.

Edyburn (2005): A primer on universal design (UD) in education Edyburn (2005) stated that the purpose of the web page was to provide a brief introduction to the applications of universal design in education. The web page provided many useful tidbits, comparisons, and definitions. Edyburn (2005) suggested that UD offers considerable potential for helping teachers address the increasing array of diversity found in the classroom. A useful tidbit presented came from CAST. It stated that it is more helpful to think about learners on a continuum. An interesting comparison was made between differentiated instruction and universal design principles (Edyburn, 2005). Edyburn (2005) emphasized that the two are highly compatible, i.e., both have the goal to enhance student achievement by proactively designing learning environments and instructional materials in ways that allow all students to be successful. Edyburn (2005) defined assistive technology as an intervention that is explored after a performance problem is identified. The distinction between assistive technology and universal design was made when provided with the definition of universal design. Universal design is a proactive instructional design that looks to build learning environments and instructional materials with supports that enable all students to achieve the academic standards despite differences (Edyburn, 2005). Overall, the web page is a great resource because it provides many links to look further into universal design and into applications of universal design.

Zepp (2005): Four ways to incorporate universal design for learning into your assignment instructions Zepp (2005) presented Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the context of college classrooms. Zepp (2005) noted that for college students’ disclosure of any disability is voluntary. Therefore, UDL is a useful technique to use in college settings since professors do not know the many layers of abilities and disabilities among the students in their classes (Zepp, 2005). Zepp (2005) presented four ways to incorporate UDL principles into assignment instructions. It seems that if I were to include these suggestions in my assignment instructions my secondary students would be benefited. Useful suggestions presented included the following: 1) design instructions with the user in mind (Suggestions on how to do this: a) Present information in small chunks separated by headers, b) Put key tasks and dates in bold, c) Be generous with white space, d) Refrain from trying to make text fit on one sheet by reverting to very small font, and e) Provide supplemental information explaining key aspects of the assignment), 2) Reduce barriers to accessing the assignment (Suggestions on how to do this: a) Prepare assignments in advance for students who need the assignment delivered in an alternate delivery mode, b) Go over the instructions orally in class, and c) Make instructions and supplemental material accessible in multiple formats), 3) Establish and articulate an assignment’s goals, objectives, and criteria for assessment from the start (Suggestions on how to do this: a) List assignment goals and objectives on the assignment sheet, b) Explain how these assignment goals and objectives fit into overall course goals, c) List the criteria for evaluation on the assignment sheet, and d) Explain the assessment process for the assignment when the instructions are distributed), and 4) Provide examples (Suggestions on how to do this: a) Provide short examples on the assignment sheet, b)Provide the URL on the instruction sheet where students can go for additional examples, c) Post examples on the course Blackboard site, d) Ask students of previous classes if you can share their writing with your current students, and e) Choose several examples that show different approaches to the assignment) (Zepp, 2005). I noted above that if I were to include these suggestions in my assignment instructions my secondary students would be benefited; however, are these suggestions feasible to arrange for each and every assignment given? Secondary students have many more daily and weekly assignments than do college students. Would secondary students benefit from examples of completed assignments for every assignment they are expected to complete? If students were given examples of finished math problems would students understand how to get to the final product? Would they have an appreciation for where their learning was headed? Would they be motivated to learn the process so that they could arrive at final answers? Does this process only work when the assignments are to be written or presented visually?

Post 3 2/24/09:
Post 3: 2/24/09: Technology Integration: Technology and Assistive Technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive _Technology The present website provided definitions for Assistive Technology (AT). The statement made that “AT promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changed methods of interacting with the technology needed to accomplish such tasks,” got me thinking about my students. If I were to present this explanation of what AT can offer to my students with emotional and or behavioral disabilities, would they be more perceptive to using AT. It is difficult to get my students to acknowledge they need such assistance and since they will not acknowledge the need for such assistance they will not use any AT devices. Having students click on the link //#1 Assistive technology and universal accessibility// may provide students with an example that may accept. An example that would make AT less about their disability and more about what all individuals benefit from. Using a wikipedia may be motivating to my students as well given that they use this cite often as a reference for their personal questions. [] The present website had a link to Misunderstood Minds stories from pbs documentary. I have completed the reading related simulations for a prior class, but I had never taken a moment to complete the sections on mathematics disabilities. There seems to be a lot of useful information and resources about mathematics disabilities. There was a specific section that presented questions to ask if teachers observe students having difficulties in math. There was also a specific section that gave a process for teachers and parents working together to get at the root of the mathematical difficulties a student may be experiencing. Provided specific examples of low tech and high tech AT. Low Tech devices included: reacher, drinking straws, book holder, button aid, pen grip, grab bar, and adaptive toys. High Tech devices included: voice recognition, word prediction, augmentative communication, power wheelchair, and environmental controls. Boundless Learning: [] This site has so much to offer….There are a number of useful resources and information on this site. I am so glad this site has been revealed to us and know that I will be a frequent visitor for resources and information. I work with an Assistant Teacher (AT) that has 10 years of experience working with students with disabilities. Even though he has a lot of experience with this population of students, when working with them he often does not treat them with respect or give students time to finish their assignments. He often does not know how to support students with differing disabilities. The general strategies listed under Moving Forward with Technology seem like a helpful list to put up in my classroom. Perhaps if my AT saw these strategies that are meant to help all students, he would be more perceptive of our students difficulties. It is hoped that these general strategies would help him to understand that there are general steps we can take to help students be successful before applying consequences. My students often have trouble concentrating on tasks. I found the information on the strategies to use for sound interesting, especially the use of background music to facilitate concentration and learning. It has been found that the use of Mozart is particularly useful. I look forward to playing to Mozart!!

Post 4 3/3/09:
Post 4: 3/3/09: Technology and the Literacy…the Reading/Writing Connection

The present website provides information about accessibility features in the 2007 Office system. Information presented clearly outlined the features of 2007 Office system that are accessible. The tutorials on accessibility features in 2007 Office system seem helpful on understanding how to use these accessible features. I work with 2007 Office system at Kennedy Krieger High School and while I am at Johns Hopkins University, but I have not yet loaded the 2007 Office system on my personal computer. I have not completely convinced myself that I am ready for the change, so it was comforting to learn that there is a site dedicated to teaching individuals about 2007 Office system. I have a lot of difficulties with my vision, so the tutorial on accessibility that focused on the zoom features was particularly helpful. Given that I now know how to use this 2007 Office system feature, it will provide a good example to share with my students that are resistant to using assistive technology. My use of the zoom features illustrate to my students that I accept accommodations so that I can access the material that others read without assistance. I hope that this will illustrate to them that they too can accept and advocate for accommodations that make materials, information, and content more accessible to them.
 * www.microsoft.com/enable/centers/default.aspx**

Part time I work for Trellis services, and as I was looking at this site I started thinking about the individual I work with and the pictures we use for his communication. He is a 13-year-old adolescent that is a nonverbal individual with autism. As he is maturing many of his pictures seem childish. The present site has great pictures that could be used for him. The pictures are much more grown-up than his current pictures. Many of the pictures on this site fit the current skills we are working on with him such as housekeeping. These housekeeping pictures are perfectly related to each of the skills he is learning how to complete.
 * www.usevisualstrategies.com/information.html**

The present site provides a bunch of links on different topics, for example, links to Assistive Technology and Augmentative Communication Resources for Children with Disabilities. Through this website I found a great math link, www. dotolearn.com/activities/mathhelpers/index.htm. Two of the classes I currently teach are Algebra and Pre-Algebra. Many of my students in both classes have basic skill deficits and this site seemed to have useful resources to help with these basic deficits. Some of these useful resources included printable resources such as graph paper to work problems by keeping numbers in correct columns when adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Other printable resources available include: a vertical number line, number boards that provide visual accessory to help with addition and subtraction skills, and multiplication tables that provide reference sheets for learning multiplication facts.
 * www.lburkhart.com/links.htm**

This provides interested parties information about Dynavox. There was a video clip from the Today Show that illustrated how communication devices help people connect with their world.
 * www.dyanavoxtech.com/**

Edyburn (2004) raised an interesting point, i.e., what happens when a students fails to learn to read, are there other ways of performing the task? In working with secondary students with severe reading difficulties, I have increasing wondered why the reading services they receive do not have a two-pronged approach. My students’ reading services seem to be primarily focused on decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Why isn’t the reading services focused on decoding, fluency, and comprehension as well as compensatory strategies that use technology to enhance reading performance? It is difficult when it is at the end of a student’s senior year, the student reads at the second grade level and has little knowledge or skill with compensatory strategies. It seems like the educational system has failed this student. Edyburn (2004) asked an important question, “If a child has repeatedly failed to read and understand printed text, how much failure data do we need before we have enough evidence that the child can’t perform the task? When do we intervene? And, what do we do about it?” Given my previous example of the senior reading at the second grade level with no compensatory strategies and Edyburn’s questions, we must intervene early, once students are moving to the next phase of response to intervention tiers because tier one interventions are not being successful.
 * Edyburn, D. L. (2004). Measuring assistive technology outcomes in reading (Associative Editor’s column). Journal of Special Education Technology, 19(1), 60-64. Retrieved March 3, 2009, from http://www.uwm.edu/~edyburn/publications2.html**

As Edyburn (2007) noted in his title, the present article outlined a research agenda for assistive technology and reading performance. A number of questions were raised with noted areas of needed research to answer the questions. I found Edyburn’s research agenda promising and hope that researchers will follow his suggestions. It seems that Edyburn is providing an agenda that will help students like my graduating senior reading at the 2nd grade level with little compensatory strategies.
 * Edyburn, D.L. (2007). Technology enhanced reading performance: Defining a research agenda. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(1), 146-152. Retrieved March 3, 2009, from http://www.uwm.edu/~edyburn/publications2.html**

Post 5 3/17/09:
Post 5: 3/10/09, Practical Applications The video seemed to generally present the positives and negatives of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). It was nice to hear Matthew’s mother state that with NCLB expectations for students with disabilities have improved and with this Matthew is achieving more than anyone ever expected. It would have been interesting to hear whether the students that were identified as not meeting the needs of students with disabilities improved over time, i.e., did these schools meet students with disabilities needs the following year?
 * Testing Matthew**

Patrick’s story highlighted the benefits of a program that works as a comprehensive team. Since all of the counselors and therapists were working collaboratively, they were able to build off of what each was addressing with Patrick to have a more comprehensive effect on Patrick’s progress. The program highlighted what can be achieved with an individual when all members involved work as a team.
 * Patrick’s Story**

I watched the video with Burt telling his story. It was interesting to hear history through his eyes. The events and dates that stood out to Burt are so telling and they should remind people that individuals with disabilities experience life, i.e., are affected in life by the same events, similar to the way individuals without disabilities experience life. Burt knew dates so well. I cannot remember what happened to me yesterday, but Burt has defined his entire life by dates. He is such an interesting man. His history is interesting; he seems to have lived such a full life after being released from the institutions. I hope that I get to have the experiences and travel to the places that Burt had and traveled to in such a short time. Before watching Burt’s story, I had watched a documentary on Willowbrook and read legal papers on this institution. It was interesting/touching to hear Burt’s story, an individual that lived there for many years. The childnett site had a number of different videos, some specifically designed to address therapies being used with students with autism. The visual strategies workshop highlighted the often observation that many of us use too much verbal stimulation with students with autism. The video discussed the processing time required to understand this verbal stimulation and noted that visual strategies do not require as much processing time. Visual strategies often allow students to understand and act on what is being asked of them. I enjoyed watching these videos. They provided me with ideas of things to suggest to my Trellis team and to the family I work with. We are often looking for new adventures and experiences for my student to try and this site provides many workable, effective examples.
 * http://childnett.tv/videos/new_releases**

The trailer illustrated a cross-section of America’s population a few of the 54 million Americans with disabilities whose lives are being transformed with the help of new technologies. The trailer noted that fewer than 25% of people with disabilities who could be helped by assistive technology are using it. It was also noted that people with disabilities are not aware that assistive technology is available and they don’t know how to obtain. Those that they turn to such medical care providers and educators have inadequate or outdated knowledge. The message from Freedom Machines is that there are tangible solutions and there is the possibility that they can be widely applied.
 * Freedom Machines audio trailer**

In looking around my community and school, I was struck by all the text I must negotiate each moment of my life to accomplish even the simplest tasks such as ordering food, selecting groceries, and paying bills. I have no problem reading and understanding the examples of text around me, but what about my students with reading difficulties. How is my student that is graduating this year and reads at a second grade level going to negotiate the text in his community? How is does he select the movie he wants to see at a movie theater? Know the time it starts? How does he go to a new restaurant independently? Read the menu and order his dinner? How does he decide what he will be doing during the coming weekend by looking a newspaper? How does he plan a vacation by researching resources on the web? It was difficult to talk to this student about his reading disability and how he interprets and understands the text around him. He does not accept his difficulties and does not want to work on ways to make life a bit easier because he says there is nothing wrong. In talking to his team, we brainstormed things that might be helpful. The team acknowledged that if he were to use a device, it needed to be small or resemble a device that individuals without reading difficulties use so that he would not feel singled out. The team recommended that the student practice using a Franklin Speller. The speller would not be used to spell, but rather by typing in a word the student did not know how to decode the speller would say the word. Given that the student has on grade level oral understanding, by hearing the speller pronounce the word he would know and understand the word. The team thought that the Franklin Speller would also be good for the student since it was small and could easily be tucked away when not in use. It is hoped that the Franklin Speller would address his reading difficulties in the community.
 * Learning Log Post Assignment:**

Post 6 3/24/09:
Post 6: 3/24/09, Technology and Math There are a number of useful resources here such as virtual manipulatives related to data analysis and probability. Data analysis and probability is a significant portion of the Algebra High School Assessment, which means that these virtual manipulatives will be helpful in teaching data analysis and probability to my students. The resources are good because there are broken up into grade levels, which allow materials to be tailored to each student’s functioning level. This site offers activities, parent/teacher information, and standards on all the topics available. I foresee this information being helpful to parents that ask what they can do at home to help their child be successful with academics. If the parents used the information and resources on this site with their children it may be motivating to their children since it is on the computer seeming less like schoolwork.
 * http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html, National Library of Virtual Manipulatives**

The present site clearly described how assistive technology helps with math difficulties. Stanberry and Raskind (n.d.) stated that Assistive Technology (AT) tools for math are designed to help people who struggle with computing, organizing, aligning, and copying math problems down on paper. Visual and or audio support helps those that struggle with mathematics set up and calculate basic math problems. The site provided links to products that give visual and audio support such as MathPad and MathTalk.
 * http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=1072**

The present site clearly described how assistive technology helps with planning, organizing, and keeping track of one’s calendar, schedule, task list, contact information, and miscellaneous notes. Assistive technology allows those that have difficulty in these areas to manage, store, and retrieve information with the help of special software and hand-held devices.
 * http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=1067**

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx** It was extremely easy for me to make a pie chart on this site. The present site would be a great tool to use with my students. An important part of the Algebra High School Assessment is Data Analysis and Probability. In addressing and teaching the concepts for data analysis, students could use the present site to create visual display that represent the data they collect. Students then could concepts of central tendency to describe their data. Students could also use the same data but display is differently. This would allow students to see that the same information could be presented in different forms. Students would be able to use their creativity and make graphs, visual displays that were meaningful to them. The create a graph tutorial is a good resource providing concrete information on how to create a graph. The present site has a lot to offer beyond creating graphs, e.g., there are math teasers, mind benders, games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, and interesting facts about education. I look forward to sharing this site with my students and fellow math teachers.
 * Computer Graphing

http://www.math.fsu.edu/Virtual/index.php?f=21** The present site has so many great links to resources. I have to be honest I have become trapped playing math games on more than one of the sites. I can see these games being extremely motivating for my students. It would be a great way for them to practice many of the basic math skills they are missing without seeming “babyish.”
 * Math Virtual Library

http://math.about.com/b/2006/11/21/free-talking-calculator.htm** Deb’s Mathematics Blog by Deb Russell has a link for worksheets. On the worksheets page she has developed worksheets that are in PDF format and address basic math/arithmetic, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra. Most of the worksheets have solutions. These are a great resource for teachers trying to offer students additional practice on concepts, remediation, practice at home, etc.
 * Talking Calculators

Post 7 3/31/09:
Post 7: 3/31/09, Principles of Technology Integration Plan
 * Burnette (1996)** described inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. The requirements of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) were outlined. The article provided information on the activities and support systems commonly found where successful inclusion has happened. The article then clearly provided an example of successful inclusion. It would be interesting to know about real examples of successful inclusion, i.e., how are teachers making inclusion happen? What information is available about academic successes of students in inclusive classrooms?


 * Moore and Gilbreath (1998)** summarized the research on educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The research seems to suggest that when general and special educators are supported by their administrators and provided with trainings, there are benefits academically and socially to students with and without disabilities that experience inclusion. The present article was a good addition to the previous article. The present article provided research information on inclusion. Given that I work in a separate non-inclusive special education school, it is interesting to learn about inclusive schools. It would be interesting to hear teachers’ words on inclusion. What are their success stories? What challenges have they experienced and must plan for to prevent with future classes?

At the end of the article by Moore and Gilbreath (1998) they provided websites offering more information on inclusion. Through **www.inclusion.com** I was able to find inclusion articles. The article **//CREATING WHAT I KNOW ABOUT COMMUNITY//** by Judith A. Snow was touching and highlighted the inconsistencies in our society. In particular, the way we treat individuals with disabilities versus how we treat “ordinary” citizens. I was struck with the overwhelming feeling that I am not doing enough for the individual I work with through Trellis Services. It seems that as his instructors we are continually trying to provide opportunities that give him teenage experiences. What about experiences he would enjoy for himself? Perhaps his interests are nothing like those of other teenage boys. If my fellow students have a moment in their day, then I recommend that they read some of the inclusion articles on the present website. These articles present individuals’ stories that cause one to ask questions about one’s practices, beliefs, and whether one is doing the best that can be done in daily interactions with individuals’ with disabilities. Articles such as **//THE ART OF GROWING INVISIBLE ANTENNAE//** by Nicola Schaefer is an example of an article that asks are you learning everything you can from the individual with disability in your life. This article also illustrates that as a society we have made some improvements in terms of options for individuals with disabilities, e.g., there are post-secondary options and families can receive respite care.

It was interesting to read the article //**Wii is used by Davie school to help autistic children: Computer game helps autistic children with communication, motor skills**// by Aiyana Baida. I have often wondered about the possibilities that the Wii could bring children with disabilities. I had thought about its usefulness as providing children that do not typically get to experience sports an opportunity to play different sports. I had not considered the communication applications of the Wii. The present article described how a speech language pathologist developed a structured program using the Wii to help students with autism develop communication, social and motor skills. The interactive therapy was showing to be effective with students in this program.

Post 8 4/7/09:
Post 8: 4/7/09, Software Selection and Review I have enjoyed learning about WordMaker and participating with the software this week. My previous graduate studies involved reading research, so it was refreshing to look at a software package that was developed to help struggling readers that aligns so well with the research. Many of the interventions and programs that I had experience with were textbook and workbook based, which seemed unmotivating for students that struggled with reading. WordMaker software seems motivating in its interactive format and corrective features. It also seems that it would be motivating for students to see how well they have done on their lessons as soon as they have completed them. The bar graphs of individual student performance per lesson and the printouts that teachers have access to are an understandable presentation of information. It seems like these visual displays would be helpful in discussing student progress and making decisions about remediation.

Even though I teach math and science diploma classes to high school students with emotional and behavioral disabilities, I see WordMaker software being useful in my classroom during Independent Study. Many of my students have reading and or spelling difficulties and this software could be a non-threatening way to address their difficulties. I enjoyed completing the lessons myself, so I don’t think my high school students will find the program “babyish,” especially after they graphically see their progress.

I am excited about coming to class on April 14 to hear other software reviews.

Post 9 4/21/09:
Post 9: 4/21/09, Feature Selection and Review In looking through the materials this week for free software versus open source software, I have found the terms to be so confusing. Unfortunately, as I read, especially on this website, I felt more and more confused. I hope that by going through more information and sites I will find some understanding.
 * www.gnv.org/philosophy/categories.html**

Hmm….am I reaching understanding. I liked that the first statement said that “free software” and “open source software” essentially refer to the same thing. The present introduction was helpful. It clearly stated what free software is and what the term means. However, it did not explain what open source software is and what that term means. The webinar on open source software was helpful in clarifying this term. The webinar also provided many useful links to software and tools to use personally and with my students.
 * www.debian.org/intro/free**

Organization http://www.eduhound.com/hotlist/** The present organizational tool sounds extremely useful for a teacher gathering resources for students to use in researching and writing on specific topics. A Hotlist is your private collection of web links from the EduHound.com educational databases. Hotlists are usually built around themes such as the rainforest, pottery, exploring space, etc. Hotlists allow the teacher to create and save unique collections of Internet resources to assist students in learning about particular topics.
 * Examples of Free Software/Open Source

http://www.openoffice.org/** The information provided on the website claims that OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open source office software suite for word-processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more. It also claims to meet the needs of teachers and students from primary, secondary, college, and university grades. Teaching students how to use OpenOffice.org 3 does seem useful for a number of reasons. First, OpenOffice.org 3 has been established as a free software license. This means that students can be given copies of the software to use at home. It would be helpful to students learning and development if they were able to create documents at school and then continue working on them at home without having to worry about copying or saving in the correct format or changing between software packages, they could simply open their document at home and pick up with where they left off. In addition, students from families with limited financial means would have equal educational access with this software since copies can be given out to take home. Teaching students how to use this software suite would be simple given that what students learn in one application is immediately usable in another. It is interesting to note that studies have proved it is easier to learn how to use OpenOffice.org 3 from Microsoft Office than it is to move from Microsoft Office to Microsoft’s latest Office 2007 upgrade. It is also interesting to note that everything works consistently between applications and files are read with a high degree of accuracy that have been created using other common office software packages.
 * Productivity

There are interesting articles/documents on this site; for example, I read an interesting article on the swine flu. Thinkfree docs are an online community of publishers who share a variety of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. There are power point presentations available on all kinds of topics. It seems that the present resources would be a good supplement to the information that teachers provide to students on a topic. Students could also use these resources to better understand a topic or to prepare and add details to their written pieces.
 * http://www.thinkfree.com/common/main.tfo**

http://zoho.com/** Zoho is a suit of online applications (services) that you sign up for and access from their website. The applications are free for individuals and some applications have a subscription fee for organizations. The vision of Zoho is to provide customers with the most comprehensive set of applications available anywhere that have enough features to make the user experience worthwhile.
 * Webtop Applications

When entering in this web address google docs came up. Google docs allows one to create and share their work online, upload from and save to the desktop, edit anytime, from anywhere, pick who can access the document, share changes to documents in real time, and files can be stored securely online. Google docs have straightforward videos that explain what google docs can do for an interested individual. It seems like google docs would make editing documents and adding information to documents among multiple people so much easier than having to send documents via email attachments. I think of each time there is a group project and documents have to be sent and resent because one of the partners saved the document in a format that the other partner cannot open. Therefore, eliminating this need to have to send documents to each other would make group collaboration much less stressful and the work would be completed much more quickly.
 * http://www.writely.com**

It would be interesting to create surveys for my students and then use the data from the survey to teach data analysis concepts of Algebra. It would be a great instructional tool to use because students might be motivated to create their own survey on a topic that they are interested in collecting data on. Then the students could learn how to make sense of and understand their data by analyzing the data and displaying the data in an understandable format.
 * http://www.surveymonkey.com**

Post 10 4/28/09:
Post 10: 4/28/09, Overcoming Barriers to Access: Promising practices for improving access According to Phil Ivory, the United States has the most progressive legislation in the world right now; however, there are still a lot of simple things that haven’t been done. It was interesting to learn about how other countries make public places accessible to those with disabilities. It seems that the United States has a lot to learn from developing countries that do not have the funds to make things accessible by providing electric wheelchairs and building ramps; however, these developing countries use human intervention to make things accessible to individuals with disabilities. Human intervention means that a family member or a friend may lift an individual with a disability up steps. It was saddening to learn that people with disabilities are still forced to stay in their homes because most of them don’t have elevators or, if they do, the elevators do not work. It was also saddening to learn that there are still places that have very few curb cuts, where many restaurants have a lot of steps going into them, and where malls are inaccessible because of steps and revolving doors. The lack of access with our physical surroundings makes me wonder how accessible we have made education to students with disabilities.
 * Overcoming Barriers: Accessibility at Home and Abroad by Phil Ivory**

I found the present article enlightening. It was nice to read about an individual, i.e., Barrie Ellis, that thinks up solutions for disabled gamers. He also advocates for the need to have better understanding of the limits that video game companies sometimes unknowingly place upon on this segment of the market. It is refreshing to hear about an individual working hard to make an activity accessible to individuals with disabilities. It is hoped that others are working this hard in other aspects of society so that individuals with disabilities will have access to all aspects of life.
 * Overcoming Game Accessibility Barriers with One Switch**

The documents on the differentiation of power point presentations were informative. These documents made me realize how boring most of my power point presentations have been that I have presented in classes and to my students. I look forward to trying to include some of these features (video, animation, and sound) in my future power point presentations. The documents provided as well as the power point presentation were straight forward and easy to follow, so hopefully they will serve as a helpful guide as I try to incorporate these more interesting features in my presentations.
 * Overcoming barriers in the classroom as part of differentiated instruction and the Response to Intervention process using a common software**

The present article was on differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Differentiated instruction and UDL were both clearly explained and integrated in the present article. The links to the CAST website were so helpful and informative in the way that just enough additional information was provided that clarified a idea presented in the article. The CAST website also included example lessons that used UDL, such as the science lesson, which helped me to understand how to achieve differentiated instruction within the UDL framework. At the end of the present article were links to learn more information about differentiated instruction. The Access Center (http://www. k8accesscenter.org) had helpful information on mathematics. I found the Algebraic Concepts K-8 modules particularly helpful in providing ways that I can help my students. The power point presentation offered an explanation on how and why to use graphic organizers in Algebra. Examples were provided that are readily usable. I can envision these graphic organizers being helpful when teaching my students and they will serve as an additional way for me to get them involved with math. There was a ton of information on this site pertaining to math, it is definitely worth keeping readily accessible.
 * Hall, Strangman, & Meyer (2003)**