Educational Applications to Teach Math Concepts, Math Skills, and Problem Solving

In order to be successful in math, students do not only need to develop automaticity, but an understanding of mathematical procedures and concepts to effectively solve problems. Manipulatives are a very useful tool for students to use when understanding abstract math concepts. However, students with disabilities may not always be able to effectively access this hands-on approach. We have looked at various applications that will assist students in developing automaticity and also applications that will remove barriers for students who may have visual-spatial or motor-difficulties. In this post, we will look at some applications that will provide students with disabilities a way to develop more a more conceptual understanding of math.  

Virtual Manipulatives

Teachers can look to the internet as a great resource to obtain virtual manipulatives. Here are some sites to explore for more information:

·         National Libraryof Virtual Manipulatives

·         National Councilof Teachers of Mathematics

·         ComputingTechnology for Math Excellence

·         Internet 4Classrooms

Other Resources to Teach Math Concepts, Skills, and Problem Solving 

·         Math Playground- provides math games, word problems, and logic puzzles for free!

·         Conceptua Math- Includes assessments to monitor student progress in fractions and teachers can use it for whole group instruction.

·         Destination Math (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology) - Uses animation and audio output to engage students in their development of math reasoning, conceptual understanding, and problem solving.

As a teacher I know that many math programs being used in schools today come with virtual components that provide many of the same features as the above mentioned programs including virtual manipulatives that are great to use during whole class instruction!

Educational Applications that can be used to Address Automaticity/Math Fact Fluency

As mentioned earlier, student success in math relies heavily on their knowledge of number sense and basic facts. As math curriculum becomes more challenging, having automaticity (quick recall) of basic facts will assist the students in understanding and completing more difficult mathematical concepts. There are many education applications that can be used to assist students in developing automaticity. These were some of the applications mentioned in the text, “Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities”:

FASTT Math: an intervention program that assesses the student then creates customized activities based on assessment results. Meets the common core state standards!!

Timez Attack: teaches the multiplication tables 2 through 12 in a video game environment. Watch the video!

ArithmAttack: Student practice can be targeted to meet their needs while practicing basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

Arcademic Skill Builder: games designed to help students develop automaticity in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, integers, fractions, and ratios.

These are all great options to use with students of any ability to engage them and improve their math fact fluency and automaticity. I know my students love to go onto First in Math, which is provided by my school district to earn points for our class and school while practicing their facts!

REFERENCE

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2012). Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

Selecting Education Applications to Meet Student’s Goals and Objectives

Lately I have been focusing on assistive technology in literacy (reading and writing). Math requires that students have a good understanding of number sense and basic facts. We will now look at the ways a computer and the internet can enhance instruction in math for students with disabilities.

Good Educational Applications on the computer are effective tools for students with disabilities because they provide practice and repetition to help students to master the skills that they need. Teachers can also modify these applications to present information in a way that best meets the student’s individual learning characteristics. Because students with disabilities often struggle to “attend to a task without stimulation” (Carroll, 1993, as cited in Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012), computer applications keep them engaged in the learning.

Key Questions When Selecting Educational Applications

It is important for teachers to first understand the features of educational applications in order to best meet the needs of students with disabilities. In my previous post I explained that educational applications help students to master the skills that they need through practice and repetition. The next step is choosing applications that will best assist in meeting the student’s goals and objectives. When selecting education applications, teachers should ask themselves these questions:

·         What is the intended outcome of the use of the educational application?

·         Is the educational application likely to fulfill the intended purpose?

·         Can the educational applications be used as an alternative to traditional classroom activities to enhance student participation? (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2013)

Reflecting on these questions will allow the teacher to make the best decision regarding the use of education applications to enhance instruction of a student with a disability. When using educational applications in my classroom I am able to choose specific activities for them to use on the computer. This not only helps me to best meet each of my student’s needs, but to also use classroom time effectively.

REFERENCE

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2012). Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

Assistive Technology for Reading: Webinar

Students with disabilities often struggle with accessing text. The goal of this blog is to help teachers make instruction more "UDL friendly" or accessible for all students, with a focus on students with disabilities. After participating in the webinar about AT for Reading, I was more informed of the variety of platforms available for text readers and screen readers which help to make text more accessible for these students.

This helpful chart was provided for the listener to easily see the differences between text and screen readers:

Text Readers	Screen Readers
Software programs that read all the text in any given document or application. ·         Often includes reading the web. ·         Often includes study tools and supports for writing. ·         Most often used for students with a reading disability, but adequate vision.	Screen readers read all the text elements on the screen including, ·         Menu bars, icons, buttons, and dialogue boxes ·         May include screen magnification features ·         These provide access to program navigation and written text. Most often used for students with visual impairments.

When obtaining text, educators can look to the following resources:

·         Computers (PowerPoints, word documents, PDFs)

·         CD-ROMs (textbooks on CD)

·         Internet (Bookshare, see below for more information)

·         Hard Copies of text (use a scanner)

·         AIMS (accessible instructional materials) *CAST.org was listed as a resource for AIMS

Bookshare

This was introduced as a resource for getting electronic materials such as books, magazines, and newspapers. It was great to hear that the membership fees for Bookshare are waived for qualified students. Students with visual impairments, reading, and orthopedic disabilities can be qualified with their IEP. Bookshare not only provides electronic material, but also software to read the material such as Read:OutLoud (text-to-speech), for free with membership. The website also provides users with many resources including YouTube videos of how to use the program.

The webinar then examined the various features in commonly used text-to-speech programs and how they can benefit students who are using them. When choosing a text-to-speech program, consider the needs of the student and which of these tools would be essential for their success with the program.

·         Choice of high quality voices: natural reading fluency, gives some inflection like a teacher would.

·         Modify text interface: text can be read by letter, word or sentence; program can be set to read a complete paragraph.

·         Ability to control rate: slow down or speed up the rate of speech

·         Highlight and extract key information: students can select text and move on the screen or to a different document.

·         Ability to insert, create, or modify scaffold for reading: teacher can guide reading to important information in text.

·         Can read files directly from Bookshare.

·         Can OCR documents: optical character recognition transforms a picture or text to readable text.

·         Consistent format for internet and other reading: reading and other toolbars do not change making it easier for student use.

·         Can convert to MP3 files.

·         Includes a language translator: Important for second language students.

·         Dictionaries:

o   Recursive: students can look up words provided in definition.

o   Built-in: finite; but easier to understand.

o   Web-based: infinite, but may contain more difficult language.
 

WYNN text-to-speech software was the only option that provided all of these features with the exception of the language translator.
 

This webinar deepened my understanding of using text-to-speech software and ways to obtain text to use with my students. Looking at the specific features of these programs allowed me to see how much is really available to make text more accessible for my students and that they aren't simply a text-to-speech programs!

Using Computers to Assist Writing Instruction in Special Education

Writing is a complex process that requires many skills. Students with disabilities often struggle with writing because of this and the multiple steps that are involved. Luckily, there are many technological tools that can assist these students. Below you will see each step in the writing process and the tools that can remove barriers for students with disabilities:

Step 1: Prewriting (planning of writing)

Graphic organizers can be extremely helpful to students when planning their writing. In my previous blog I discussed Kidspiration created by Inspiration Software Inc. which allows students to connect their visual thoughts with words and pictures to easily create graphic organizers.

Step 2: Drafting (turning ideas into text)

In the drafting process, students develop their thoughts into meaningful text composed of sentences and paragraphs. Tools that can assist students with this step include word processing to remove the task of writing with pencil and paper, word predication software to assist with spelling, and speech recognition for students with physical disabilities that cannot write or use a keyboard.

Step 3: Reviewing (reading over the written draft)

This step can be a particular struggle for students with poor reading skills. A text-to-speech software such as Write:OutLoud will assist students by reading aloud the text making it easier for students to hear and identify errors in their writing.

Step 4: Editing (correcting mistakes)

After reading over a written draft, students may need to correct spelling or revise mistakes. Using a spell-checker or talking dictionaries  will allow these students to make the corrections with ease.

As a teacher of writing it is important that I am aware of the devices and options to remove barriers for my students so that they can be successful in each part of the writing process.
The assistive technology that I mentioned can be used by all students in the classroom depending on their needs. Kidspiration is something that I know my students would love and it would definitely engage them in the prewriting stage!

Useful Websites

When thinking about how to use AT to accommodate the previously discussed disabilities, there are many resources available. In this post I have outlined in detail two great resources that can be used across the curriculum to support a variety of learners:

Kidspiration, created by Inspiration Software, Inc.

Kidspiration allows students to combine pictures, text, numbers and spoken words to develop vocabulary, word recognition, reading for comprehension, writing and critical thinking skills. This software would support students with learning disabilities across all areas of curriculum. This software can be used individually by students to compose narrative and expository texts, practice math skills, and create graphic organizers to understand or demonstrate knowledge. Teachers can also use this on a Smart board during whole-class instruction. Single licenses can be inexpensively purchased on CD or downloaded for $39.95. Interested users can also download a 30 day free trial to see if it would be appropriate for them.

Here are a few (there are many) reasons why Kidspiration supports students with learning disabilities:

·    It connects student’s visual thoughts with written expression by allowing students to see symbols for their words in a single click.

·         Includes 13,000 words with definitions and recorded speech for pronunciations

·         Visual math tools

·         Graphic organizer maker

·         Talking interface to help emerging readers navigate the toolbar (very intuitive!)

 

wordQ+speakQ by goQ Software  

 

Although this software is a little more costly at $279.00 for a single license, the benefits as seen on the website for students with learning disabilities or communication disorders are incredible!

*Word prediction

*Offers a list of words with similar meaning to add variety to writing

 text to voice feedback

*Gives examples for words that sound similar by using them in a sentence (example: there, their | to, too, etc.)

*Text reading software reads aloud text you highlight, including websites, emails and instant-messaging

*Using text to speech when writing, poor grammar sounds off and bad punctuation disrupts the rhythm

*Helps only as much as you need with functions that easily turn on or off

*Lets you type the words you know and use voice to text to say the ones you don't

*Speech recognition helps you write everything you say from single words to entire paragraphs

*Offers suggestions for words you have difficulty pronouncing

*Train its voice recognition to understand your voice, with no reading required

*Allows you to mix typing and speaking for best results

*No voice commands to remember

This also came with a free 30 day trial. Having access to these software programs in my
classroom would not only help me to meet IEP goals and objectives, but incorporate
UDL into my instruction to reach all learners.

 

REFERENCES

Develop elementary reading comprehension, writing and math skills with Kidspiration® |    inspiration.com. (2013). Retrieved July 18, 2013, from http://www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration
 

goQ : Home of wordQ + speakQ : Word Prediction, Spoken Feedback & Speech Recognition Software. (2011). Retrieved July 18, 2013, from http://www.goqsoftware.com/

 

AT and Sensory Disabilties

In the last post I discussed some guidelines and software when considering assistive technology for students with learning disabilities. In this post I will focus on computer access approaches to use with students with sensory disabilities. According to Wikipedia, a sensory disability is defined as an impairment of one of the senses. The term is used primarily to refer to vision and hearing impairment, but other senses can be impaired. When using a computer as an assistive technology for students with sensory disabilities keep the following considerations in mind:

Visually Impaired

Hearing Impaired

·         Screen magnifiers ·         Large, high contrast key labels ·         Screen Reader: a computer navigation tool for students with visual impairments ·         Speech Synthesizer: reads aloud contents of the computer screen ·         Scanner/OCR: Scan printed materials and converts into speech ·         Digital-talking books ·         Braille embosser or notetakers/and refreshable Braille displays (alternative to a screen reader)

·         System beep modification: change the beep to a visual beep so students know when the computer makes a sound

As you can see there are many more modifications needed and available for students with visual impairments who are using a computer because it is important to be able to read or see what is taking place on the screen.

Although I had mentioned OpenBook in previous posts, it is a great option for a high-tech device that can assist visually impaired students in accessing curriculum. This program converts printed documents or graphic-based text into an electronic text format on your computer, using quality speech and the latest optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

 



 

A low-tech option for students with a sensory impairment might be a book on tape or CD that the student could listen to. 

 

REFERENCES

 

OpenBook Scanning and Reading Software for Blind and Low Vision by Freedom Scientific. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2013, from http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/openbook-product-page.asp

Disability - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2013, July 10). Retrieved July 17, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_impairment#Sensory_disability

AT and Learning Disabilities

I’ve recently talked a lot about various AT devices and programs and focused primarily on communication disorders. We will now take a brief look at some guidelines to follow when providing AT using computers to students with learning disabilities. According to Wikipedia, a learning disability is a classification including several areas of functioning in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors.

 When considering assistive technology for students with learning disabilities, consider the following guidelines:

o   The device or program should be simple and easy to operate

o   Information can be presented in alternate forms (text size, color, font, etc.)

o   Built-in cueing is present

o   There is an allowance for error recovery (students can fix mistakes)

o   Spelling and grammar check is available

Assistive Technology to support these students:

 As you type, Co:Writer interprets spelling and grammar mistakes and offers word suggestions in real time. It will also read back highlighted text in a natural sounding voice and offers word banks, personal dictionaries, and works with MS Word, Google Docs, the Internet, Firefox, and more!

A graphic organizer like a Venn Diagram, would be a low-tech option that would assist these students in organizing their thoughts prior to a writing assignment.

This chart outlines some specific software to consider for specific difficulties:

Reading Difficulties (example: Dyslexia)	Writing Difficulties	Spelling Difficulties
Voice output presents information auditorily (students are read to);   Scanning software: words and sentences are highlighted as they are reading.	Voice recognition: students can speak and speech is converted to text; picture-based writing programs	Word predication software eliminates the barrier of spelling words correctly