Thursday, September 27, 2007

Through Another's Eyes

Came across this blog, The Joy of Autism, written by a mom with five children, the youngest of whom is five and autistic. Here is a sample from a recent blog post:
Adam has made our lives richer by showing us that we can, without difference and disability, often be living in our own little worlds, our boxes, our arrogance. Our willingness to open up to possibilities, and to learn from Adam and other like him, enables him to succeed and us to become larger. Adam is beginning to speak sentences, even though he does not speak much, and other days can't speak at all. He can spell, he is aware, and he is --God forbid -- autistic.
I can not add any words to what this mom says. Read the blog for yourself and understand another perspective, through a mother's eyes....

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Thank a Mentor


This blog post is dedicated to someone who has had a profound impact on my skills as an assistive and educational technology consultant.

In 1990, I worked with a high school student who had neurofibromatosis which caused multiple strokes resulting in paralysis and limited vision. Working with Chris was the first opportunity I had to use technology to promote learning and independence with a student. We tried software that enlarged the text and allowed him to hear information read to him. We explored software that predicted the word he would type based upon an initial letter. He could create on his own once he was set up at the computer. No more depending upon adults to scribe for him.

This was fantastic! I was hooked!

Thus began my personal oddyssey to learn as much as I could about technology for students with disabilities. There had to be a graduate program that would extend my learning. I specifically looked for a program which emphasized assistive technology. None were to be found in my area, so I put my plans on hold and continued to seek out professional development and learned as much as I could on my own. In 1999, I learned about a new degree program offered through Simmons College under the leadership of Madalaine Pugliese. This was exactly what I was searching for! My prayers were answered!

I applied and graduated with the first class of AT graduates. I am who I am today because of the vision, energy and determination of Mads to create a program from its inception. She is my hero and my mentor. She continues to challenge my thinking to this day. In addition, her development of the STAGES framework for working with children with language and cognitive challenges provided a format for assessment, documenting change over time and access to the curriculum. For Mads, it is ALWAYS about the student FIRST!

I want to publicly acknowledge Mads for all that is now possible for me because of her efforts. It is with deep gratitude that I say "Thank you, Mads, my mentor and my friend. You are truly a pioneer."

Is there someone in your life who challenged you, who caused you to see things in a new way, who motivated you to pursue excellence? If so, I encourage you to take this opportunity to Thank A Mentor today.

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/nj_dodge/187190601/

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Official Google Blog: Our feature presentation

Official Google Blog: Our feature presentation

This is exciting news as it adds another social, collaborative tool that is available to us as we develop professional development AND it allows our students to easily work on group projects and present them from anywhere.

(Will flash drives become obsolete?)

Google Docs - What You Need to Know

Common Craft has again produced an excellent explanation of a social tool. This time they have tackled the subject of Google Docs in a video called "Google Docs in Plain English."

Watch this if you have wondered about the benefit of this social, collaborative tool. It's a great tool to share with our students when we assign them group projects.

Google Docs rocks!

Monday, September 17, 2007

One Size Does Not Fit All

It happened again.

Another mother reported to me that her 8th grade son "absolutely hates school." He stayed home today and is falling further behind. What's the issue this time? The short answer is he has to create a brochure about himself for a class assignment.

Sounds creative. Uses technology, and we certainly want to see that! Teacher probably wants to better understand their students...

Yes, but for this student, it is a nightmare assignment because it is a one size fits all approach for the students in the classroom and he doesn't know where to begin.

How many times have we discussed differentiation or universal design for learning? I'm not sure what the learning outcome is for this assignment, but what are some other ways that the end product could be accomplished?

Here are some ideas that offer choices, that can tap into the student's strengths instead of reinforce his learning challenges:

1. Create a brochure using software of your choice. (OK, we can keep this one, maybe there are some students who love to create brochures using Publisher, or Word or something similar.)

2. Digital storytelling - tell the story of your life using any tool that works best for you - Voice Thread, iPhoto, iMovie, Slideshare, PhotoStory 3, PowerPoint, etc. Combine audio, visual, and text in ways that enhance the audience's understanding of your story.

3. Create a podcast - Interview family members about how your life impacts them, how your parents' lives changed; record your own story. (possibilities are endless.)

4. As a class, think of some alternative ways to share life stories. (Some students may prefer to create a poster, others may want to create a cereal box, some may come up with totally different ideas.)

Whatever you do, offer MULTIPLE MEANS OF EXPRESSION!! One size doesn't fit all. And that is certainly true in our classrooms.

Thoughts? Other suggestions?

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Alternative to Note Taking

Some of our students have difficulties taking notes in class for various reasons (difficulty with handwriting, difficulty combining listening/hearing/attending, organizing thoughts, handwriting, eye gaze shifting, and memory simultaneously).

Barry, who writes A Plethora of Technology blogged this simple tech idea that works well as an alternative to note taking for students who struggle in this area. Take a digital image of the notes from the board with your digital camera and upload it to the class website or wiki or whatever you use) or email it to your students. You can assign the task to one of your students or snap the shots yourself.

Often times we recommend using a SmartBoard or Mimio to capture the notes but this is a low cost and very easy alternative.

How simple is that? Problem solved! Another example of UDL where this strategy may be used for one or two students but all students potentially benefit.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Blog Updating

After playing around with my original template, I decided to ditch the whole thing and go with a new template altogether. There was too much wasted space with my old blog settings.

I hope you like the changes that I made which I think make it more readable (changed the font size and colors), and use more of the interface space.

Tip: And if the text size is still too small, you can easily change the font size in Firefox by holding the Control key and scrolling with your mouse, or hitting the Control key and the plus sign.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Demystifying Dyslexia - Free Video Resource


Mel Levine speaks about the importance of demystifying learning differences with our students. Without a better understanding of their learning style, many students see themselves as "dumb" or "stupid" when they face repeated disappointment in their own school performance. Demystification is a process that takes the mystery out of deficient mastery at school.

Here is an online video from Brain Pop that may help your students with "dyslexia" better understand their learning disability. It's a tool to add to our "Demystification Toolbox."

(I put dyslexia in quotes because it means different things to different people. It's important for kids to understand that all people learn differently and have different strengths and abilities.)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Revolutionary Technology

Technology (and God) makes all things possible.

If you didn't believe that before, you will now. New Scientist reports on breakthrough technology developed by Ambient Corporation that allows a person to control a motorized wheelchair by thought only. Don't believe it? Watch this video.

Watch a news report here which explains the speech applications as well:

From the website:
Michael Callahan and Thomas Coleman founded Ambient Corporation to help people with speaking disabilities regain their ability to communicate. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through utilization of the mind and advanced communication.

This technology is being developed in collaboration with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois and supported by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and National Instruments.
They have made a developer's kit available to researchers interested in developing other applications.
I am very excited to see what comes from the research and how this will be used at the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago. This product has the potential to truly transform lives. I hope they have as much financial backing from investors as the Segway!

Thanks to Kern Kelley for the heads-up on this information.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Cyberbullying

One of the topics that I have yet to address in my blog is cyberbullying. This seems like the perfect time to discuss this subject since it is the start of this new school year. Cyberbullying is an important topic to discuss with our students and preventing it is part of digital literacy and digital citizenship. These five videos may be effective tools for starting the dialogue with your students:

Cyberbullying - Feathers in the Wind
Cyberbullying Ad - School Cafeteria
Cyberbullying - School Talent Show
Bulletin Board
Brad Paisley - Online

In addition, it is crucial that we equip our students to be able to deal with cyberbullying, to not become victims. These sites provide valuable information and resources:

Stop Cyberbullying Now and The Educator's Corner on this site
Cyberbullying: Worse Than Traditional Bullying
CyberBullying.org

I recommend that you talk about this issue with your students. Knowledge is power.

This post was influenced by Jeff Utrecht and Clarence Fisher

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Universal Truths

Universal Truths - you've heard them before:

Anything that can go wrong, will.
The other line always moves faster.
In case of doubt, make it sound convincing.

Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog) referred to a previous BSB post in his version of a rant today which led me to these pearls of wisdom and humor. He speaks from experience as a media specialist and those of us working in assistive technology can relate to many of his rules and laws. In addition, I'm sure we can add a few of our own. Here are a few to get us started.

Assistive Technology Rules, Laws and Observations:
  • Ignorance about assistive technology is not an excuse for avoiding the topic at an IEP meeting.
  • Assistive Technology consideration is not limited to AlphaSmarts.
  • The more features added to a software program, the greater the likelihood it will include bugs.
  • Those bugs are guaranteed to appear during professional development.
Feel free to add your own.