Testing Kurzwell 3000, by Barbra Green and Joan Thormann.
This article includes a study on a software that is helpful for special needs students of all ages. Green and Thormann ask the question of how technology can help students with special needs, and I wondered the same myself. Special needs students experience a large range of learning difficulties, whether it be speech, problems in subjects, or just not being able to pay attention. Graduate students from Lesley University decided to answer this question by taking part of a study using the Kurzwell 3000 software. They tested this software on every age group of students from elementary to adults that had special needs. Right away the graduate students saw an interest from the special needs students, as they jumped at the opportunity to test this software. As all technology it had its benefits as well as downfalls, as the test went on it was prominent that the benefits exceeded. Some benefits of the software include helping with speech disabilities, test taking skills, focus and confidence. A particular aspect that struck my attention was the tool used for writing. The students are able to hear what they write so it is easier for them to pick up on missed spelled words and grammatical errors. What a great use of technology! Some of the problems they found with the software were slim, and I think you can find ways around them, such as expense and distractions. Overall the graduate students were able to agree they preferred Kurzwell 3000 over other software because of its versatility. I agree with them this is a great piece of technology, and I think every teacher should own it who works with special needs students.
The ideas presented would be easily adapted into my future classroom. Although the software may be expensive, I think it would be a great investment knowing that it would help the learning of my students. I don't know for sure if I will be working with special needs students, but I know I will come across someone who does. Even if I never used it for special needs students, I still think it would be great to use as a writing tool because of its great features I listed above. I am glad I read this article so now I can be more familiar of software that is out there, and can benefit teachers of all types of students.
Vorbereitung zur natürlichen Theologie
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Vorbereitung zur natürlichen Theologie
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5 years ago
I think that this is a very important subject and that not enough people know about it! It is always hard to adapt your classroom around someone who needs extra help because you can’t be three places at once. This software sounds very promising and also very helpful. The writing aspect sounds like it would help many students not just the ones who need special attention. I’ve noticed that many kids don’t “hear” what they write and end up using poor grammar. I always read it back to them and ask “Does this sound right?” and usually after they hear it they realize what parts are wrong. That’s why this concept of having your writing read back to you would probably be a tremendous help for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI agree... I think that using technology with special needs children will be a great investment. I know a boy who is special needs and he is very smart. He loves to use the computer and he can figure out almost evey program without help. People don't realise that special needs are smart, they just need a little more attention, and the use of techonlogy will make life easier for the teacher and fun for the student.
ReplyDeleteMy blog's article was kind of similar to yours in the sense that it talked about students with special needs and the kinds of tools we can use to help them. Like you said as well, I don't think i'll be working with special needs students either, but it's always a good resource to know the technology we have out there because some tools we could even use with our students, even if they aren't special needs.
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