8-2010 Assistive Technology by Tonsetic

Meghan TonseticHigh School Learning Specialist

Lawrence Upper Schoolmtonsetic@lawrenceschool.org

www.lawrenceschool.org 440-832-7830

Enhancing the Reading Enhancing the Reading and Writing Process and Writing Process Using TechnologyUsing Technology

Independent school to teach students with distinct learning styles, ignite their potential, and inspire academic and social success.

2 campusesBroadview Hts. – Lower School grades 1-6

About 90 studentsSagamore Hills – Upper School grades 7-12

About 225 students

Class sizes9:1 in Lower School11:1 in Upper School

learning differencesDyslexiaDysgraphiaDyscalculia Executive DysfunctionExpressive Language

DisorderPhonological Processing

DisorderReceptive Language DisorderVisual Motor Integration

Difficulties

attention deficitsADDADHDExecutive Function issues

organizational problemsother processing

differencesAsperger’s Syndrome

Many Diagnosed With:Many Diagnosed With:

Multi-sensory platform (hear, see, do)Organizational strategies embedded in all

subject areasBrain-based learning strategiesDifferentiated instructionOpportunities for social and academic

experiences and successBuilding wide classroom management

(assertive discipline model)

SmartBoards and projectors in every classroom1 set of 32 SmartBoard Senteos and receiver for check out by

teachersAll Upper School students have a tablet or laptop that they take to

all classesHigh school students also take home their tablet computers;

middle school students do notAll staff has tablet computer to use in classroom with DVD capabilityWireless network throughout buildingPrinters, digital cameras, camcorders, microphones available as

needed by teachersHeadsets to all staff and students

More for sale in school bookstore

Read & Write Gold and Inspiration on all computers from 1-12 grade

Dragon Naturally Speaking available to students as neededAfter school training done with one of the school’s learning

specialists until they have mastered techniquesAvailable to students 5-12 grades based on learning

difference and academic need

AlphaSmart NEO’s available to any Lower School student with written expression issues or dysgraphia

1 full day training session for pilot teachers and staff in 2005 from a vendor

Since then, have done all training in-houseTeach tools as needed to students and staff including weekly

Tech Tips and 10-15 minute group trainingTeach tools in short increments with opportunities to

practiceParents:

Assistive technology training throughout the year to parents (2-3 times a year)

Goal to teach them what software their children are usingEncourages home assistive technology use on laptops/tablet

computers

System-wide adoption and implementation crucial to de-stigmatizing assistive technology tools

If everyone is using it and trained on it, then no stigma for using it yourself

How AT Tools Are How AT Tools Are Used in the ClassroomUsed in the Classroom

95% of students use text-to-speech for reading purposes in class with teacher and for homework independently

7- 8% use speech-to-text

2-3% use word prediction

Inspiration software used in every grade and subject level to plan projects and papers, either independently or in whole-class discussions

High School:English teachers use Spell Check, Word Wizard, Dictionary

Tool and Homophone Checker tools as proofreading/editing tools

English, Science and Social Studies use Study Skills highlighters for researching information online

Science/Math teachers use Talking Calculator conversion tools

Spanish teacher/students use Translator tool to help reinforce vocabulary and pronunciation skills

Middle School:Used to read books as a class aloud (using RWG text

to speech) as an audio and visual activity while teacher able to use differentiated instruction to assist individual students

Lower School Demystification Project: Online researching for 6th

graders about learning differencesTopics typically written above reading level

•Has tools to help with organizing ideas and details, either web outline form•Using visual aids to map your brainstormed ideas

www.inspiration.com Inspiration software

Readability toolweb tool to help

eliminate distractions on web pages

Simple tool that can be loaded to web browsers to eliminate unnecessary text and images on screen when reading online

http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/

RWG Screen Masking toolMany choice to help you

focus on the line or window of your document

Features:Spell Checker &

Dictionary Word PredictionFact Finder/MapperTranslatorHomophonesText to SpeechSpeech to Text

Calculator/ConversionsScreenshot Reader Daisy ReaderPronunciation TutorScreen MaskerNote Taking FeaturesSpeech Maker (MP3,

WAV)

www.texthelp.com Read and Write Gold software

For students with LD’s not typically associated with visual print disabilities (ADHD, slow processors…)

Using a text-to-speech tool as a prosthetic processing tool to help them not just hear the words being spoken but also process and understand the content of the text in a way that doesn’t exhaust them.

Speechmaker tool in RWG Convert digital text to mp3 file

Speech to TextProgram that allows you to “talk” to your computer

instead of typing

www.nuance.com Dragon Naturally Speaking software

Balabolka “Free” Text to Speech Program. http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

Kurzweil 30 day trials, Text to Speech Reading Softwarehttp://www.kurzweiledu.com/

Microsoft OfficePlanning and Concept Mapping Tools

CoWriterWord Prediction Programhttp://www.donjohnston.com/resources/

cowriter_index.html

Intel ReaderMobile Device, takes pictures of text and converts

for Text to Speech capabilitieshttp://www.intel.com/healthcare/reader/

about.htm

Google Chrome: built in spell check on web fields

Ghotit: Contextual spell checkerhttp://www.ghotit.com/home.shtml

Books.google.com Google Books; public domain e-books (free)

www.gutenberg.org Project Gutenberg; public domain e-books (free)

www.bookshare.org Bookshare; public domain e-books; subscription for copyrighted materials (free and/or proof of visual print disability)

Audible.com iTunes audio book store, Amazon Audio books

audacity.sourceforge.net Audacity; software for audio recording (free)

http://www.slideshare.net/smg421