Amy Salzman

Visit my website at http://amysue314.angelfire.com

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Slide Contents (hyperlinked)

IntroductionBrief Description of 20 Recommend

ed SitesDetailed Findings on Top 5 SitesConclusionsAdditional Resources

Introduction

Technology is one of the most significant tools in a teacher’s repertoire to reach the students that have the most difficult time with traditional classroom methods.

Technology aids in the delivery of lessons and information, and can help to motivate and maintain student interest.

In the area of Special Education, technology’s role has grown over the years. Hardware products help students that are visually, aurally and

physically challenged. Software products are aimed toward helping students with

cognitive skills that are less compatible with traditional classroom methods.

Brief Description of 20 Recommended Sites

The following is a sample of the 20 sites that are among the most useful to the Special Education professional, though some may not be specifically geared toward Special Education.

Some provide information about products that aid the learner through hardware or software.

Some provide resources for: lesson planning, subjects to approach in the classroom, integrating technology into regular and Special Education

classrooms and information regarding specific Special Education issues.

Brief Description of 20 Recommended Sites (cont’d)

1. http://www.techlearning.com/ - TechLearning is a comprehensive website with sections geared specifically toward teachers, tech coordinators and administrators that offer up-to-date information on current technology available for schools and opinion articles regarding different technological subjects. Not intended solely for Special Education.

2. http://www.cast.org/ - CAST is The Center for Applied Special Technology, and it is dedicated to creating products to aid students through the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a research-based plan for curricula that incorporates techniques that support all kinds of learners. I found this to be an exciting perspective on teaching and learning. There are articles explaining UDL as well as a multimedia tutorial. One can access pages dedicated to each particular product, so as to find out a multitude of information about each product.

3. http://www.seriweb.com/ - Special Education Resources on the Internet is an excellent site with updated, pertinent on-line links to information about issues concerning Special Education. Organized by topic, such as a specific type of disability, organizations, legal and law resources, etc., it is very easy to find specific topics, and the links are numerous and worthwhile.

Brief Description of 20 Recommended Sites (cont’d)

4. http://www.specialednews.com/ - Special Ed News is a site that offers news and articles for educators and families of special ed students. There is a section dedicated to internet and assistive technology. The articles are helpful and the site is well-organized. However, some of the features such as the bulletin board and the state-by-state sections are still under construction at this time.

5. http://www.laureatelearning.net/professionals602/index.html - Laureate Learning Systems offers software products designed specifically for use with autistic students. The site provides a Theory and Practice section with advice on how to choose appropriate software, frequently asked questions and news and articles regarding their software. Though this is a commercial site, the software and the theory behind it seems worth some research.

6. http://www.iser.com/ - The Internet Special Education Resources site offers a directory of links for special needs learners; specifically for learning disabilities, autism, ADHD and dyslexia. It has separate sections for assessment, therapy, rights, at-risk children, programs and camps and finally, software and assistive technology. Also provides articles organized by specific special needs issues.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites

Following is a list of the 5 sites I have determined to be the most helpful, the ones that an elementary Special Education teacher would want to have on her Favorites list for easy access.

These sites were chosen for: their relevance to the topic of technology and teaching

all children, including those with special needs; the amount of information they make available through

articles and links; the usefulness of their products in a Special Education

setting; the fact that they are current and updated frequently.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

1. Parent Pals: http://www.parentpals.com

• This site is an excellent resource for parents and teachers alike.• Aside from articles, books and products that parents will find helpful, there are links to organizations from which they can find support and perhaps some more updated information. • The teaching games section provides working links to several resources that help to teach a variety of subjects in novel or interesting ways.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

2. LD Online - http://www.ldonline.org/

• LD Online is an excellent, up-to-date, extremely comprehensive site that limits its scope to learning disabilities and ADHD.

• The range of topics available on the educators’ section of the site includes state resources, working with parents and specific strategies.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

2. LD Online - http://www.ldonline.org/ (cont’d)

• Features an art gallery section for kids where they can show off what might be their most cherished talent; what an excellent way to boost self-esteem! Also, they can share their own stories and read others’, allowing them to see that they are not alone in their struggles and that success is possible.

• Includes a section for asking experts in the fields of psychiatry, law and technology questions, and past questions are organized and archived.

• The site is kept current and seems to be updated daily, assuring the reader that the information provided is the most valuable and accurate possible.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

3. Marc Sheehan’s Special Education/Exceptionality Page - http://www.halcyon.com/marcs/sped.html

• Like a search engine specifically for Special Education, organized alphabetically.

• The links provided on this page include: Links to organizations for specific medical and learning disorders

such as Tourette Syndrome (http://www.tsa-usa.org/) and autism (http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer).

Links to commercial product sites such as: Flashcards to help autistic children learn to communicate http://

www.abaflashcards.com/ Software and assistive technology tools for all manner of physical and

cognitive disabilities http://www.intellitools.com/resources/educator.aspx

Books, audio and video for teachers, parents and special needs students http://www.sensoryresources.com/index.asp

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

3. Marc Sheehan’s Special Education/Exceptionality Page - http://www.halcyon.com/marcs/sped.html (cont’d)

• Offers a page with links to the site administrator’s own lesson plans for special needs students as well as many other links to sites that offer a variety of lesson plans for a variety of subjects geared toward regular and Special Education students (some regular education lesson plans are equipped with adaptations for Special Education).

• Offers an educational resources page that includes government sites, university sites and many sites created for teachers by teachers and librarians, some that can be used by students.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

4. Infinitec.org - http://www.infinitec.org/

• The motto of Infinitec is Infinite Potential Through Assistive Technology (AT).

• Assistive technology is the application of technological tools to aid in the processes of living, learning, playing and working with physical and cognitive disabilities.

• The range of knowledge addressed here is far-reaching; from a guide to what kinds of technologies are available to how to utilize them in daily life, to how to find funding for them.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

4. Infinitec.org - http://www.infinitec.org/ (cont’d)

• It is an easily navigable site, with user-friendly videos, helpful articles and useful links to relevant sites for products and organizations that will also support parents and kids dealing with special needs.

• The creators of the site also support chronicling and

informing about disabilities rights through a link to the Disability History Museum http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/, a virtual collection of documents and images relating to the history and progression of the rights of the disabled.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

5. Special Education Technology, British Columbia - http://www.setbc.org/setbc/links/default.html

• Though it originates from Canada, this site addresses available technologies that are the same in this country and there are links and resources that are related to the U.S.

• The site provides information about assistive technology devices and software such as accessible books, which are books with text and pictures that can be downloaded onto the computer. The text is read either by a human voice or by the computer and the reader is able to read along.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

5. Special Education Technology, British Columbia - http://www.setbc.org/setbc/links/default.html (cont’d)

• The site provides links to websites that are associated with assistive technology, because they are:

selling an AT product or a resource to help educators find appropriate AT to aid in their

students’ learning • PictureSET http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/ and curriculumSET

http://www.setbc.org/curriculumset/default.aspx are free resources offered by this site that make communication and tasks in the classroom more manageable for special needs students.

• The final section that is of interest to the Special Education teacher is the Learning Centre http://www.setbc.org/lcindexer/default.aspx, which is a collection of links grouped according to specific disability. It includes specific hardware products, software products, multimedia articles and webcasts showing how to use various types of assistive technologies, what is available and where to find them.

Detailed Findings on Top 5 Sites (cont’d)

Here is view of the setbc.org website

Conclusions This is a preliminary report, and one

should keep in mind that the sites included are always growing and changing, just as new sites are added and older sites are abandoned. This report should be looked upon as a starting point, a means to finding useful information, not as the end in itself. It is a tool to be explored.

Educators and parents need to be discriminatory in their choices of resources and be aware that some resources are meant to turn a profit, whereas some are meant only to help.

Commercial intentions aside, many of the products available can be put to good use in the classroom to aid in the learning of the special needs elementary student.

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Additional Resources

Following are links to some additional resources available at my website and our school server.

Amy Salzman’s website: http://www.amysue314.angelfire.com

Click here to see the full Research Report – includes IAB (see below), brief descriptions of the 20 recommended sites and detailed descriptions of top 5 websites mentioned in this presentation, including excerpts from the sites.

Click here to see a sample page from this research report.

Additional Resources (cont’d)

Click here to see the IAB (Internet Address Book) - Contains 20 recommended sites.

Click here to see the Research Excerpts file – Top 5 sites, including hyperlinks to the sites and excerpts to give the reader a preview of the site.