Today class started off by looking at Kurzweil, which is apparently easier to download to a Mac as opposed to a PC. It took me about 10 minutes on the weekend to download the trial version onto my Mac whereas it took others 12 hours and some people were unable to download it.
Kurzweil 3000 costs $1000!!! It is an expensive program but it can do a lot of great things.
- It was originally created for people who are blind
- It is a compensatory strategy that provides students with reading and writing materials.
- It is easy for students to use
- Offers text to speech
- Magnifies text for students who are visually impaired
- Reading pace can increase and decrease
- Highlights words as they are being read (good for students with ADHD, engages students and maintains attention to task)
- Interactive (allows you to pause speech when necessary and repeat for students who need repetition)
- Provides independence and multi-reading oppurtunities
- Contains a dictionary that provides definitions which is good for students who can decode but do not comprehend (students with Aspergers)
- Can develop a picture dictionary for visual learners
- Offers translations in other languages
- Available in French
- Inspiration is built in
- Offers word prediction
- Provides independence
- Engaging
I don't have any previous experience with Kurzweil, but it does seem like a program that contains a lot of great features. Although, when considering the steep price of $1000 per subscription the iPad seems much more appealing for schools that are operating on tight budgets. From what I understand, within HRSB Kurzweil can only be used by students who have a diagnosed learning disability, whereas, iPads are considered to be a UDL(Universal Design for Learning). Universal Design for Learning focuses on the idea of meeting everyone's needs, not just those students with diagnosed learning disabilities as do some forms of assistive technologies. i-devices are considered to be a form of UDL because everyone is buying them which brings the cost down for consumers. These devices also have a lot of built-in accessibility options available to all users.
Time is also a factor! Kurzweil requires time spent scanning documents into the program, when most classrooms don't even have access to a scanner. iPads allow for documents to be scanned in seconds, put into a pdf and opened in vbooksz. It's quick, easy and students can do it! Within the school system we are moving in the direction of digitized information, including textbooks. The DOE should be working on creating these documents that are accessible to all learners. It is reality that very soon students will be bringing their own mobile devices to school to use within the classroom setting. We need to focus on making the curriculum accessible, not changing the students so they can access the material. All of the advances make me anxious and excited at the same time. There is so much new information to learn and what seems like so little time. There are also so many great programs that we can be using to assist us as teachers so we don't need to try and recreate the wheel time and time again.
5 websites from the UDL Toolkit
(Click on the titles to check out the websites)
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
This website contains virtual manipulatives that students can use to demonstrate their understanding of mathematical concepts. It applies to students of all grade levels by incorporating interactive learning tools. This is one of my favourite math websites. The activities are engaging and students really enjoy them.
Into the Book
This website is a reading comprehension resource that focuses on using prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, Inferring, summarizing, evaluating and synthesizing for grades K-4. It provides lesson plans and videos for teachers and interactive activities for students. This website promotes independence for students. It is a great way for students to improve reading comprehension strategies.
Story Jumper
Story Jumper is a website that allows students to write and illustrate their own story books. It offers templates that students can choose from to begin their stories. There are several colourful pictures, backgrounds, characters etc to choose from. Books can be shared online and hardcopies can be ordered. This website promotes the universal design for learning since students can create a book on any topic to demonstrate their knowledge.
bubbl.us
Bubbl.us is a brainstorming website. It allows teachers and students to create mind maps to organize thoughts and ideas. It is similar to Inspiration and Kidspiration. This would be a great website for any student or teacher to use to assist with brainstorming for science, story writing and pretty much any subject area.
Photo Story
Photo Story allows slideshows to be created using digital photos. Sound effects and voice narration can be added to the slideshows. There is also an option to add captions and titles to each picture/slide. Photo stories can be published as a movie. It is a program that is very easy to use. I used this program myself last year for the first time and I think it is something my students would really enjoy.
This website contains virtual manipulatives that students can use to demonstrate their understanding of mathematical concepts. It applies to students of all grade levels by incorporating interactive learning tools. This is one of my favourite math websites. The activities are engaging and students really enjoy them.
Into the Book
This website is a reading comprehension resource that focuses on using prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, Inferring, summarizing, evaluating and synthesizing for grades K-4. It provides lesson plans and videos for teachers and interactive activities for students. This website promotes independence for students. It is a great way for students to improve reading comprehension strategies.
Story Jumper
Story Jumper is a website that allows students to write and illustrate their own story books. It offers templates that students can choose from to begin their stories. There are several colourful pictures, backgrounds, characters etc to choose from. Books can be shared online and hardcopies can be ordered. This website promotes the universal design for learning since students can create a book on any topic to demonstrate their knowledge.
bubbl.us
Bubbl.us is a brainstorming website. It allows teachers and students to create mind maps to organize thoughts and ideas. It is similar to Inspiration and Kidspiration. This would be a great website for any student or teacher to use to assist with brainstorming for science, story writing and pretty much any subject area.
Photo Story
Photo Story allows slideshows to be created using digital photos. Sound effects and voice narration can be added to the slideshows. There is also an option to add captions and titles to each picture/slide. Photo stories can be published as a movie. It is a program that is very easy to use. I used this program myself last year for the first time and I think it is something my students would really enjoy.
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