Web Tools

Little Bird Tales is wonderful for the classroom I am currently student teaching in. Currently, none of my students can read a book. They have autism and intellectual disabilities. They all love to use the computer as a reward to completing their work. Their favorite characters are Dora the Explorer, Elmo, and Blues Clues. I think it would be wonderful if my head teacher recorded different books with the students’ favorite characters in her own voice. The website is easy to navigate, and I think my students would love it. For typically developing students, a teacher could ask the students to create and record their own stories as a literacy project. I would definitely use this tool in my future classroom with typical learners or students with disabilities.

Diigo is an amazing tool that I decided to sign up for. Many of our readings and assignments in graduate school are online, and I alternate between using my laptop and iPad. Diigo uses the cloud, so any pages I bookmark, highlight, or take notes on will be available on my laptop and iPad. I usually print online readings so that I can highlight and annotate them, but with Diigo I can do all of this on my devices. It will definitely save me time and money. I think this is a great tool for older students who do a lot of online reading or research.

Prezi is my favorite tool as a soon to be teacher. I’ve sat through and created so many of your ordinary boring PowerPoint presentations. Prezi certainly captures an audience’s attention from the start of the presentation. Our eyes are naturally drawn to movement, color, and unique designs. With Prezi, just watching the presentation progress is entertaining and interesting. I will definitely use it to spice up my own presentations.

I also really enjoyed exploring Stixy. It would be a great tool for managing your own research and also collaborating with others. My only concern is that the page would get too crowded too easily.

I have not seen or used any of these tools in a classroom, but if I were to teach older students who have more advanced technology skills and large projects, I would use VoiceThread, Prezi, Stixy, or Titanpad. I would use Little Bird Tales for younger students. 

BookShare

BookShare is an incredible resource for students with print disabilities. Their mission statement begins, "People with print disabilities deserve to enjoy reading as much as all other readers." What about readers with disabilities other than print whose reading abilities are affected? They deserve to enjoy reading as well. BookShare lists 20 major donors on their website. I know that they have the ability to make their technology accessible to an even larger range of students. Their technology could be a huge asset to students with autism. Many of the students I am currently student teaching with cannot read, however, they enjoy being read to. Their receptive language is often significantly better than their verbal abilities. These students could really benefit from access to BookShare. 
As for those with print disabilities, are there potential accessibility issues in using BookShare? From what I can tell, BookShare is incredibly accessible. Mobile versions are available for both Apple and Android. It is compatible with Kurzweil and other scan and read technologies. It can also be converted to a braille format. Although I have not been able to explore the fine details without access to BookShare, the developers seem to have addressed potential accessibility issues. 

iCan

The iPad is without a doubt the hottest item on the market for special educators. Its built in accessibility features allow for users with special needs to have the same access as a typically developing user. It seems to be a universally designed tablet, but it still is not as universally designed as possible. I have a student in my ABA school who uses Proloquo2go to speak. Many of our ABA programs can be run using his iPad. This student has fine and gross motor difficulties. Therefore, he often presses the wrong icons on Proloquo2go and has to delete what he has selected and try again. Although the touch screen is wonderful in many respects, it poses a lot of challenges for students like mine who have motor difficulties (in addition to the visually impaired). The most obvious change would be to create some buttons and/or a flip out keyboard. Another thought is for the touch screen to provide feedback (vibrations) when touched. Perhaps different patterns of vibration can be set for different functions/applications. This would definitely assist the visually impaired. Although the iPad is not as universally designed as it could be, I believe Apple is committed to making their products accessible to the widest range of consumers. Apple will probably take over the special education world if they continue on this track. 

God Bless the Internet

Creating a universally designed lesson can seem like a daunting task without the right tools. Obviously, the first step is knowing what UDL principles you need to target based on your students' strengths and weaknesses. Teachers may find it useful to make a list of their students strength and weaknesses paired with corresponding UDL principles. In effect, they would be making a UDL checklist personalized for their classroom. The second step is having the tools available to create the ideal lesson. Unbeknownst to many teachers, there is an enormous amount of free (or relatively cheap) resources online to UDLize (yes I just made my own word) any lesson. 

I came across this website that not only explains the principles of UDL but provides examples and resources for implementing each. 

UDLize Your Lesson 

Some of my favorite UDL resources include:

Lexipedia 

Toon University 

Voki

Tagxedo

Shahi

The most useful technique I've found in incorporating UDL into my own lessons is to put myself in the shoes of my students and ask myself whether I would be engaged in the lesson, how I would prefer to to have the material represented, and what would be the most engaging way for me to respond and express my knowledge. From there I have a good starting point to which I add the needs of other learners. 

Is there an architect in the house?

I previously posted about the inaccessibility of the school I am currently student teaching in. There are simply too many staircases. How does one get rid of that many staircases? My first thought was the school simply needs to relocate or rebuild, but that would cost an absurd amount of money. After a little investigation, I found out that there is an alternate entrance on the adjacent street. 

Here's the entrance the students currently use: 

The students enter on (X) street in order to get to a building on (X-1) street, which really makes no sense. If you enter at the adjacent street, you avoid 4 staircases including the one I originally posted: 

Stair case connecting the two buildings 

Here's the other entrance: 

Now there are only two staircases the students must contend with. The first is outside, and it would be relatively simple to insert a ramp as the staircase is wide. The second (not pictured here) is just through that doorway. It is also wide enough to be fitted with a stairway lift: 

So why don't they already use the alternate entrance? I have no clue. I'll have to ask. Most likely, the school doesn't want to pay for a second security officer to man two entrances. Perhaps a digital security card system can be put into effect. 

Principles of UDL:

1. Equitable Use

2. Flexibility In Use

3. Simple And Intuitive

4. Perceptible Information

5. Tolerance For Error

6. Low Physical Effort

7. Size And Space For Approach And Use

This solution is the simplest and most cost effective compared to rebuilding or relocating. The size of the current stairways indicates that there is enough space for a ramp and stairway lift to be installed alongside the original stairs without causing more barriers. A moderate amount of physical effort will be necessary to use the ramp and/or stairway lift but less so than the original pathway to my classroom. 

Too Much Technology?

The principles of UDL call for multiple means of engagement. While I agree with Rose and Meyer's advocacy of new technology in schools, I have seen an over reliance on technology in some classrooms. Last semester, I worked with a fifth grade student who uses a Neo, a portable word processing keyboard, to type all of his assignments in school. His handwriting is poor but still legible. His teachers decided to let him type all of his assignments on the Neo instead of working with him to improve his handwriting. When the student goes home, he has difficulty completing his assignments without the Neo, which remains in the classroom. I fear that teachers may use technology to substitute learning important skills, such as handwriting. I think it is important for teachers to assess what students can accomplish without assistive technology to avoid creating an unnecessary over reliance on it. 
On the other hand, some students may not have any access to the curriculum without the use of assistive technology. In the classroom I currently student teach in, three of my five students communicate using an iPad application called Proloquo2go. It is a new form of an alternative augmentative communication device. Without it, one student would not be able to convey how badly he wants to go to Disney World or respond to academic prompts. 

Universal Design

I student teach at a school for students with autism that couldn't be more poorly designed if you tried. In order to get to my classroom, you need to walk down a flight of narrow stairs into one building, walk up a flight of stairs to exit that building, walk up two flights of stairs in this awkward space connecting the two buildings, and finally walk up three flights of stairs in my actual building. You must walk through four doorways. 

Many of the students at the school cannot walk from place to place independently whether due to mobility limitations or behavioral problems. It is impossible to walk side by side on many of these staircases. Due to the frequency of behavioral issues that the students display, the school actually has a protocol for what should be done if an episode occurs on the stairs to maintain the safety of the student and the staff. It is unfortunate that the design of the school adds safety issues to be addressed when there are already so many. 

The awkward space in between the two buildings