Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Assistive Technology for English Language Learners

The ESL population in the United States has been on a steady rise in recent years. The language needs of these and other ESL students have motivated teachers to seek new and innovative ways to educate these students.According the the IES The percentage of public school students in the United States who were English language learners was higher in 2010-11 (10 percent, or an estimated 4.7 million students) than in 2002-03 (9 percent, or an estimated 4.1 million students). Learning English can be very difficult and frustrating at times. Apps on iPads and tablets are great ways for students to practice English and have fun while doing it. For practicing grammar rules, apps like Grammar Up allow students to test their knowledge on specific topics (verbs, prepositions, etc.). The app also keeps track of students’ progress and allows them to skip questions by shaking the tablet. Best Colleges Online offers a list of 16 apps for ESL students, ranging from basic letter instruction to pronunciation guides. Students can also play classic games like Scrabble and Boggle on mobile devices. Assistive technology is not only used for students with special needs. But also they are useful to help English Language Learners. If a child is determined to need assistive technology for English language learners, there are plenty of tools available to streamline the process for everyone involved. The following are a few effective assistive technology tools: The SOLO Literacy Suite With Read:OutLoud, a reading comprehension supportive text reader, spelling tools and a draft writing kit, this package offers a little bit of everything to help those trying to improve their language acquisition skills. WorldWordExchange.com The World Word Exchange is a new approach to language learning online .

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology (often abbreviated as AT) is any item, piece of equipment, software or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. People often think in physical disabilities but these technology is also available for students with emotional disabilities. Last semester while I was teaching 7669 Practicum in Educational Technology, one of my students decided to explore an area I wasn't familiar, Assistive Technology for Emotional Disabilities. Please listen this podcast to Ms. Burgan in a Brooklyn School who teaches 1211 classrooms, that means the students take standarized tests. Her students have emotional disturbances and learning disabilities http://www.internationalprofessor.com/documentation/interviews/emotinaldisab.m4a The teacher in the podcast works with Assistive Technology, in this case using Ipad. She is use a macbook, LCD projector, and project in their ipads. She mentioned several Apps. Dragon Dictation, Pretzi - she consider this was good for indeed presentation, padlet. There is ATIA Online Professional Development and conferences. I found out that there is a webminar and seminars in their website http://www.atia.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3859 Please listent to the podcasts or webminars, and add any interesting information about Assistive Technology