Showing posts with label differentiate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label differentiate. Show all posts

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Thing 13.2--Interactives; Flashcards

In my former life I was a Spanish teacher and I used a Website called Quia. This fantastic tool is quite similar to Quizlet. I created flashcards that students used for a variety of games & practice. Quia is a bit more robust than Quizlet in that I could create different classes, with calendars, grading etc. 

One important thing to note about using online flashcards is that there is a learning curve. Students have to be taught HOW to effectively use flashcards. It isn't enough to learn just one side. They have to be able to go both ways. Adding voice, image and making other differentiations may be useful for many students, but remember that how they learn and study the terms is how they should be expected to recall them. So make sure your assessment matches. If they have to be able to match or define terms, learning / recalling a picture won't be of much use to them. If they need to simply understand a term to demonstrate it in a project, that allows for more flexibility in creating the set. 

Either way, flashcards provide a quick, concise way for students to become literate in any discipline and represent an priceless addition to their strategy toolbox. 


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Thing 6.3 -- NetTrekker

I chose NetTrekker for this part of the assignment b/c I'm fairly familiar with UDL. And, although I've heard a lot about NetTrekker, I've not had the opportunity to check it out. Unfortunately, this foray has not proven very enlightening...

Frustrations:
  •  I'm having some trouble setting personalizing my account. It won't let me change my profile from a generic 'teacher'. So I'm unsure if saving will attach to me in any meaningful way. NetTrekker will not accept my Learnport log in as a registered user.
  • Websites listed under the same topic (Technology / Creativity & Innovation) not only vary by readability, but also by computer skill. e.g. Wordle is a simple copy / paste tool. Glogster is a completely different animal requiring students (and teachers) to have far more advanced computer skills. I would like to find similar tools with like readability. 
  • I tried to access a Website -  Museum Box and use the NetTrekker tools that lay on top of it. I got to the Website with no trouble, but when I tried to use the NetTrekker tools, they didn't work and the site shut down. 
Positives:
  • I can see the value of NetTrekker and look forward to the opportunity to experience it.
I guess I need to spend some more time exploring NetTrekker. I do have some colleagues who use it regularly, so...PLN to the rescue! 

Thing 6.2 -- Diverse Learning

Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners
Supporting students' literacy level seems to be a challenge throughout our district. Some simple tools to enhance digital text
  • Appearance:  a serif type font, adjusted    spacing, and contrast. 
  • Interactivity:  highlight, bold, underline, color-coding passages based on content, dictionary tools 
  • Organization: re-order text, augment with guiding questions, give access to summaries as pre-reading activities 
  • Text on iPod!:  Who knew? Split large text items into manageable notes to read on iPod. Kind of like chapters on a CD, the info stays linked.  
  • Text to Speech: Free tools abound for converting text to sound files.
I like how these tools are listed in order from simplest to more complex. Any teacher can quickly and easily enhance digital text (and teach students to do the same) with the appearance tips. For those ready to move ahead, with technology, options for text-to-iPod and text-to-speech take it up just a tiny little notch.