Class 11

Today we started class by sharing our inventions. I was looking forward to seeing all of the low tech assistive technology creations and they were even better then I expected. There were so many creative ideas. I can't wait to see the blog being put together that will include them. One of the things that I was sure someone would have mentioned during our talk about low tech assistive technology is highlighters. It's a great (and cheap) way to have students with difficulties reading highlight important facts and it's also beneficial to use when writing to highlight main and supporting ideas in different colors. It also helps a great deal with organization.

We spent the rest of the class working on our Boardmaker assignments. It found that it can be a frustrating program to work with. It is very easy for the most part. It's the little things that were hard to remember like where to click on the page when you are changing a board in a communication board as apposed to a book. I'm sure after a few practice trials it will come automatically. I am changing schools this year and I can't wait to learn about the students on my learning center caseload and see how much of this assistive technology I can put into good use. I really hope I remember how to use so many of these tools to help my students. I am very tempted to create a table for myself that includes all of the assistive technology we have been introduced to and some possible students it would apply to. I do have to admit I am really tired from our coursework and need a few days or weeks) rest before I venture into another work project.

While I was looking for some videos of examples of books made using Boardmaker I fell upon this video of a girl with a hearing impairment using Boardmaker symbols to create her own book. I have used boardmaker in the past to create visual schedules but now I have so many more uses for this software. The video might tie into our class tomorrow when focusing on asssitive technology for people with hearing impairments.