Wednesday, November 25, 2009

AT Module 3

There was a lot to navigate through and check out with this module about software. I sorted through some software rubrics that are already developed. I ended up liking one of the first ones I checked out the best. It was one developed by Kristin Miller and Jacqueline Bach as SAS School interns. It was very detailed and had important components to measure.

I like seeing demonstrations on You Tube about some of the software solutions available for students with disabilities. It definitely brings it to life more than just reading about them.

I read the pdf brochures about Kurzweil. This is the first I had really heard much about it before. It seemed to make a positive difference in those students' lives. I am familiar with Inspiration. Teachers used it in the school I taught in Virginia. When I was reading up on the different assistive technology software, I noticed reference to Assistive Technology Act of 1998. Then I was curious to find out more since we are studying it in this course. Then I found with some searching that it was revised in 2004. I'd like to know more what is involved with this Act. Maybe there is more about it in one of our next two modules. I'm not sure. I'm just curious a little more what it says and how it affects meeting the technology needs with students with disabilities.

I also explored the accessibility features of Windows Vista. That was cool to see what was already available and listed as features within the system I use.

For my software selection for our course I compared screen magnification software and scanning to edit text software for a student with visual impairment. I looked at Zoom Text Magnifier USB v9.18 and i Zoom 3.1 Reader & Magnifier . I also found out more about Scan 2 Text and Scan and Read Pro.

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