What is full access

As teachers we talk about proving our students’ full access to information in the curriculum and that should mean how that student is able to view the material and in what format. Is our students understanding and comprehending what they need to learn? If the student is able to show that he/she is able to take the information they were given and use that information to produce a product or solve a problem then we may say that the student has process that information to some degree and learning has taken place.
Universal design talks about the well design lesson but what good is a well design lesson if the students do not understand what they need to do. That means the students must not only have access to the curriculum, but understanding of the curriculum as well. It is important before any lesson to unpack the standards, thus giving students a chance to see and express any concerns they may have. After expressing their concerns teachers may decide that scaffolding for some students is necessary for learning to takes place.
As a Middle School Special Education teacher I make sure I provide a great deal of modeling for my students and this is usually done with manipulative and graphic organizers. My students then are able to become a part of the lesson. They can now feel, touch and gain a mental picture of the task to be completed. As I read and viewed all the videos it has confirmed in me as a teacher the importance of taking a wide-range of approaches in the delivery of my instruction and the evaluation of what type of learning has taken place within the classroom.

Assistive Technology

Through its legislative efforts in 1992, Congress recognized the importance of assistive technology (AT) devices and services as tools to assist students with disabilities in leading independent and productive lives. Congress addressed the students' needs for AT services by providing specific definitions of these services1 in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDE),(http://www.ucp.org/ucp_channeldoc.cfm/1/12/69/69-69/979). As a teacher it is my responsible to ensure that I include any assistive technology device in my students IEP. It would be wrong of me to sit by and not seek to provide my students with any means necessary to be successful in the classroom. I have had a student who is unable to write clearly and was failing his classes as his teachers were unable to read his writing. It was my job to place in his IEP that all assignments should be done on a computer and that the student should be given extra days to turn in all assignments.
What are your rights regarding copyright and fair use if you modify the access methods of your course materials? How can you make this work for you in your classroom?
As stated in http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research emerging technologies bring new challenges for today's teachers. The Internet and availability of computers and digitizing equipment provide ready access to great reservoirs of information and knowledge. Newer technologies also allow teachers to transfer, copy, and digitize learning materials faster and easier than ever. Digital images may travel great distances quickly, leaving no trail. Text and images can be copied instantly, and then easily saved in computer files (Carter, 1996, p. 4). I try to give my student the most up-to-date information this has gotten easier because of the internet but I let my students know that it is very important to site their source at all times. I teacher my students two things how to find and modify information found on the internet, also to convert information into their own words.

Technology Integration

As a teacher of the future generation I can visualize a school where students make available learning content for their peers. I would take pleasure in being a part of a school learning process reversal, where the homework is watching a video lesson on a topic (produced by another student) and the class work is where the student applies the learning content under the supervision of the teacher. In this situation, students are content creators and contributors to the learning process, taking ownership of their learning while providing learning tools for others and participating in a joint learning process. This would have to be a place where teachers are not the only ones who have access to computers and technology and where teachers are not only the dispensers of knowledge, but rather they are guides, and facilitators of the learning process. Technology is in the hands of students with access to Web 2.0 tools and they have the background training to use it wisely and safely .Some apparatus that make this type of situation possible are laptops, digital cameras, camcorders, webcams, iPods, and microphones along with students who are exposed to all these resources at a young age. Students and teachers need to create blogs, wikis, mind mapping resources and online storage to keep and gain instant access to their information. This will also help students to easily carry their work from one grade level to another.

Story Time

http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8853/mp3.rss

Blogs in the classroom

There is a lot of room in the classroom for the various telecommunications resources of today. Here in Cobb County, we use Weblogs to commutate each week’s agenda to parents and students may view the blogs to see what happen in class on a day they were absent. Many times in the past students have used email to send unfinished work to themselves and then email the completed assignment back to the teacher. This has proven to be a great tool to commute with their teacher. In my class, students can email me if they need advice on a project sometime over the weekend. Parents are using email to seek information on their children progress at school. As teacher, we use an electronic mailing list to commutate with each other.

At some point in the future, there will be a use for Instant messenger when teaming with classrooms in other parts of the county, country or world. This is where video messaging will have a role to play. This would make the world such a miniature place for students to work with other students from all over the world. I have every intention to continue using and exposing my students to new resources that will make them better 21st learners.

The IPad!

Thanks Jill for your response and for the link below regarding the use of the IPad. I wish your daughter all the best in her future endeavors.
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-ipad-changed-my-daughters-education-i-know-she-will-succeed-a290620

This is a really good tool for those who are not very organized. It is light, portable which takes the place of a planner and trying to find a pen to jot down ideas. It offers the ability to research information on-the-spot which is key to anyone who tends to forget quickly. It helps to expand visual and audio communication with the use of applications such as a camera, microphone and google cabilities. For students of all levels it is a multi-tasking tool; a library, classroom-ready applications and allows for younger children to improve their research and typing capabilities. For students who are learning disabled, it is more visually enticing and stimulating for the focus challenged. For the emotionally disturbed, this can be used to aid their focus which allows them to be proactive, engaged and this controls their behavior. Also, the information that is produced in this setting can be recorded and saved for future retrieval.

Using 21st software to keep students organize

I currently work with several disabled students who are challenged with being organized. I’m constantly researching ways that will permit my students to be better equipped in having their notes and keeping up with their assignments. Some of my students use flash drives to save their work and others have to save all work done on the computer as they have a hard time carrying a book bag around all day. So I will be looking for ways to help SWD students to stay organize .

To comment or not to comment!

As the blogosphere gets inundated with blogs of all type, we all want and need feedback on our blogs. Why is this important? Well, it gives us a chance to see how others feel about the topic we have a passion for and to share our own thoughts. As others share, it may invoke new and different ways to look at a topic. Blogging should be about collaboration, sharing experiences and knowledge. How can that be done without the input from others? As we open blogs to comments, we are hoping to learn and receive additional information from other bloggers who could leave their comments and even their own blog address. When people find a blog that can be a forum to their voice, they will inadvertently relay the blog address to others. Every blog benefits positively from increased traffic as people share ideas and experiences. In a classroom setting having an open blog will give students who are shy or may be fearfully that other may criticize them, the chance to have a voice in a that class. Students can also post comments or questions on an open blog. Students would not have to wait until they get to class to talk to the teacher or even their peers. This may be a way to get students to begin to have meaningful discussions based upon other each others’ comments on a classroom blog. In school we have developed a blog for students to post their comments on a book that they have read. They are encouraged to highlight sections of the book they find interesting. Others who have also read that book may add additional comments.