Today we had the opportunity to sit outside and enjoy the almost perfect weather and beautiful scenery of Pineland. The discussion about the upcoming technology plan was helpful and left me feeling inspired. It can be exciting to think about bringing something useful and technologically savvy to our students.
We then learned about the copyright law as it pertains to educators and using scanned materials for special needs students. We had the chance to work with materials that were already scanned onto our computers and learned how Kurzweil permits you to highlight text, put electronic sticky notes on the document, type answers or even record your responses orally with a microphone. That was really interesting and definately cool!
We then took turns scanning documents into the Kurweil which was also really fascinating becuase the program actually fixes the document so it is right side up and centered. The program then can be prompted to read the document aloud. This is excellent for students who have reading disabilities. I thought it was wonderful.
One of the gems we learned about in tonight's class was Bookshare.org. This site allows schools to buy books that are already scanned and download them. It includes a vast amount of books--some of which are in the public domain so they end up being free, like Shakespeare or Twain. Again, this is worthy and relatively inexpensive technology that would be able to improve the lives of all students and teachers too! I am excited to go back to my district and discuss this with my supervisor who is the Special Education Administrator at the high school. This would make all the difference in the world to many of our students.
Tracy
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2 comments:
Wow! You gues were outside for class! What technology did you use out there? I am sorry I did not get the inside scoops on the tech plan, but I am fortunate tnat I am working with Derek. You have a way of making things sound so exciting, so I am glad were are doing more scanning in the next class!
Tracy,
I was also really excited to learn about Bookshare and the free books that are already scanned because they are not protected by copyright laws. I think that if my school ever got the Kurzweil program or something similar, it would also be a good investment to get a membership at Bookshare to have access to all of the other books that have already been scanned.
Lisa
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