·
Key
questions should be considered when selecting educational applications to meet
students goals and objectives
o
What is the intended outcome of the use of the
educational application?
o
Is the educational application likely to fulfill
its stated purpose?
o
Can the educational applications be used as an
alternative to traditional classroom activities to enhance student
participation?
·
Kinds of
educational applications that can be used to address automaticity/math fluency
o
FASTT Math (Fluency and automaticity through
Systematic Teacher with Technology) a math intervention program that helps
students acquire math fact fluency
o
Timez Attack (Big Brainz) focuses on
multiplication facts, teaching the 2 to 12 times table.
o
ArithmAttack is an online game that students can
practice basic math skills.
o
Arcademic Skill Builder that is games designed
to help develop automaticity in math skills.
·
Kinds of
technology tools can be used to address visual-spatial or motor control
difficulties
o
MathPad (Cambium Learning) A talking math
worksheet program
o
Virtual Pencil is an educational application
designed for students who are pencil impaired.
o
Number Navigator (Oats Progect) Serves as a
simple math processor.
o
Scientific Notebook (MacKichan Software) A
high-end application that is designed to do more than allow users to write
equations on the computer but to solve equations.
·
Kinds of
educational applications can be used to teach math concepts, math skills, and
problem solving
o
Math Playground- provides wealth of recourses to
support learning math concepts.
o
Conceptua Math-focuses on fractions and offers a
variety of tools for teachers to use to enhance their whole class instruction.
o
Destination Math-targets the development of
skills in math reasoning, conceptual understanding, and problem solving for
students in grades K-12.
·
Kinds of
low-tech and mid-tech adaptations can assist students with disabilities in
completing math assignments
o
Manipulatives
o
Fraction rubber stamps
o
Number lines
o
Multiplication tables
o
Rulers
·
Strategies
teachers can use to overcome “learned helplessness”
o
Build a daily expectation of communication
through specific activities such as choosing the activity during recess,
picking a book to read, or identifying where to eat lunch
o
Construct a brief daily report to parents that
is communicated by the student
o
Allow natural consequences to occur and provide
avenues for repair.
o
Provide for choice making whenever possible that
requires the student to use his or her augmentative communication system.
o
Provide powerful phrases on the device for
students to reject or protest something.
·
Integrating
augmentative communication into the IEP
o
Important that student’s use of system is
integrated within and across the school day, including instructional and
noninstructional periods.
o
Once a system is determined the components of
the system should be outlined in the IEP.
o
IEP should also include the use of the
augmentative communication system within the students educational program to
ensure that fundamental opportunities are provided for the student to practice
communicational skills.
o
IEP must clearly state student’s communication
needs.
o
List of augmentative communication services to
be provide by related service personnel and identification of the party
responsible for device maintenance and operations.
·
Importance
in supporting the use of augmentative communication systems at home and in the
community
o
Reinforces the communication skills learned in
school and helps generalize them to other settings.
o
Critical to success of augmentative
communication.
o
Both environments reflect different and varied
communication demands, and coordinated efforts can significantly increase the
likelihood of effective communication.
o
Using augmentative communication systems in the
community make it easier for the individual to communicate with unfamiliar
people.
·
Designing
a students augmentative communication system to meet the communication demands
of home and the community
o
Appropriate vocabulary needs to be added to the
augmentative communication system.
o
Use of board maker can help to create and
collaborate different materials for every activity and lesson to allow the
student to communicate with those individuals around them.
o
Clear organization is mandatory for easy access
and navigation.
o
Progress must be monitored to make sure the
child is progressing appropriately.
