I believe that all students should have access to IPAD’s, especially our students with AT needs. That being said, we don’t always have those options available for us. For today’s blog, I thought I would explore some AT options that can be used on our schools computers.
Internet Basics-Assistive Technology
I found this website from the Australian government called Internet Basics-Assistive technology web access. It gave same basic AT tips you can use when using internet. I believe we discussed some of them in class, but the website helped me a lot. The website gives tips on how to change the font size, styles and colours. (Things I’m sure many of my classmates know how to do this, I didn’t). The best tip I took from it was “Turning Off Styles.” Some “internet browsers” allow you to see only the text and images.” I tried it and it was much easier to read and would be beneficial for many of my students.
Wisdon From My Students
I learn from my students every day. Yesterday one of my students showed me how to highlight words in articles on the internet. You enter Control F and a box entitled “Find” pops up. Simply key in the word you are searching for and it will highlight that word n the article you are reading. I will definitely be using this with my students.
Organization
Many of my students struggle with organization. There are many free internet applications that can help with it, including Google Calendar-one that I use. The biggest problem with Google Calendar is that you need to use hotmail to access and many of our computers block this out. If anybody has any suggestions on online calendars that can be used on school computers, I would appreciate it.
Assignment Calendars
For my students who struggle with getting assignments passed in on time there are great application to help schedule assignments. You put in the date the assignment is due and then the type of assignment (research essay, lab report, poster, presentation). Some of the information they give is a bit advanced-it would be good for gifted students but also could be adapted.
Wordle
I found Wordle on the Web. You can do all the functions that can be done on the IPAD. Please find the links below for each of these websites.
Wordle Assignment Calendars Internet Basics
Hi Eleanor,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about the "turning off styles" option. I'm definitely going to try this out. My students become distracted/overwhelmed quite easily when they are working on the computer. This could make things seem 'simpler' and easier to navigate without distraction.