Assistive Technologies

1. Magnifier: This tool allows the computer user to magnify a certain area of the screen. The user is able to magnify a certain area of the screen. The area that is magnified depends on where the users cursor is located. You can move the magnified area from the top of the screen to anywhere else on the viewing area. This would be a great tool for students with a visual impairment. Students that can normally not see the smaller screen, would be able to now see like a normal student.


2. On-Screen Keyboard: This tool allows the computer user to have a keyboard located on the screen. This would allow the student or user to use a keyboard that was only located on the scree. This type of tool would be great for students who have some kind of hand impairment and are not able to use a regular keyboard. The only thing the student would need to be able to do is move the mouse to click on the buttons located on the on-screen keyboard.




3. High Contrast: This setting allows the student/user to have very high contrast on their computer screen. Instead of a traditional white background with black text, there is now a black background with white texts as well as other colors. For a person with normal vision, this type of view is not very realistic, but for someone with a certain visual impairment, this makes the screen much easier for them to read.

The Value of Pi Using Tinkerplots

My group members for this exercise were Laura K. and Kelsey D. We were put in station 3 which was entitled "The Value of Pi." For this station, we first gathered our materials: a measuring tape, 10 different round objects, and opened Tinkerplots (a software application that allows you to plot data and create equations). When we open Tinkerplots, we created a new project file and created a new collection. We then defined the following attributes: circumference (C), diameter (d), and C/d. We then measured ten perfectly round objects and recorded their circumference and diameter in the table. C/d was then automatically calculated because we set up that equation. We then calculated the average value of C/d.

Step 1: Set up new table and defined attributes.















Step 2: Filled in table with collected data.















Step 3: Set up equation to calculate C/d.















Step 4: Plot data to see differences.
















All of the values of C/d are in a close range 3-3.21 cm. Our average of all of these values was 3.13 cm. I think if our measurements would have been exactly correct, the average value of C/d would be 3.14 cm. This activity helps show students the relationship between the circumference and diameter of a circle to the value of pi. Instead of just telling students that Pi=3.14... this hands-on activity helps students actually figure out why the value is that way.

This is a template that I used in Kidspiration. This specific template is an example of drill-and-practice. In this activity, students must pick foods that fit into each of the different food groups. Once they have filled each of the food groups up they must pick foods to make a balanced meal. This is drill-and-practice because the students would have already learned about a healthy eating plan and which foods belong in which groups. They would also already know how how much of each food group they are supposed to eat in each day. Making this "meal plan" is putting their knowledge to use in a real life situation. It would be good to make this an activity where students planned their meals out for an entire week and then print the pictures out to bring home and try to follow their plans. This would give them a better idea of of how difficult, or easy, it is to actually follow the food pyramid.

Content Exploration Tools

I found this video on Google that shows the Earth rotating and the Sun hitting it. Click here.

This video may be even easier to understand for an elementary student. Click here.

This map shows what parts of the Earth are in sunlight and which parts are dark and the exact moment that you look at the map. This would be a good activity to check over the course of the day to see that the areas with light and dark slowly change over the course of 24 hours. Click here.

This website has many different games that and quizes that have all parts of speech included in the game. Click here.

This game also deals with parts of speech and is a little more difficult. Click here.

Podcast Summary: Around the World With Skype

I found a podcast entitled "Around the World with Skype." This podcast can be found here. This podcast talked about the tool Skype and how it can be used in the classroom. I already knew that Skype was a video conference application that allows people to set up a video chat and see eachother face to face. The podcast said that Skype could be used in the classroom for a variety of different things. It said it can be used for "how-to's." This tool would be a great resource for students who are trying to learn how to do something new. The teacher could set up a calling time and the expert could show the class the skill via Skype.

The podcast also talks about how it can create connections across the world. With skype, students would be able to talk with people 100 miles away or 10,000 miles away. This is an excellent way for students to get a better idea of different cultures and see how people really are from different areas of the world. The podcast also talked about "bridging the divide" and that using Skype could really bring people from different countries together.

This tool uses all three E's. Using Skype is very effcient. It saves a lot of time becuase there is no travel required, but it is almost as if you have traveled to that part of the world instantly. It is effective because students will be very interested to use this new technology and will love to meet different people from around the world and country. It also enhances the learning experience as well. If a class was learning how to speak Spanish, being able to Skype with a native Spanish speaker would be a great opportunity to get a better understanding of the language.

Flashcard Machine Evaluation

I found this website (http://www.flashcardmachine.com/) that allows students or teachers to create flashcards to study with. Teachers can create flash cards for their students and build customized pages for each of their classes to better organize their cards. Students can create flash cards to help them study for their next exam. They can then share them with their classmates or the entire community. You can also download your flashcards to your iPod. This is a great free resource. I think this resource would be very effective for students because it gives them an easy way to study, and being able to download them onto an iPod makes them very accessible.

CoSketch Evaluation

I found this website (http://www.cosketch.com/) that is a virtual online whiteboard. This tool can be very helpful if you are in a classroom that does not have a whiteboard or you want to draw something over an image. You can upload you own image, instead of having a white background, and circle, mark off, or color what you are trying to show directly onto the image. I think this resource enhances learning because it would be a great to be able to draw directly on top of images to show what points you are trying to make in certain lessons.

Education World Evaluation

I found this website (http://www.educationworld.com/) that has many great resources for teachers. This website has many FREE lesson plan activities for a variety of subject areas. There are worksheets available to print as well. They even have special activities for certain upcoming holidays and events to get students even more interested in what they are learning. I think this resource would be very efficient for teachers because it would save them a lot of time when trying to come up with lesson plans. I also think it would be very effective for students because the teacher gets to pick out the different lesson plans that they think will work best for the class.