LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES INFORMATION NIGHT YCDSB PILOT PROJECT ST. AUGUSTINE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES AGENDA TopicName Welcome/IntroductionsLynne Oliphant PrayerAngela Wheeldon Assistive Technology: History and Rationale for the Project Lynne Oliphant Student Profile/Barriers/SupportsAngela Wheeldon Demonstration of Assistive TechnologyGeorge Smith BTT and GLE Course Description/Home AccessMary Talamo

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES INTRODUCTIONS Lynne OliphantDepartment Head, Special Education Angela WheeldonLearning Strategies Teacher Mary TalamoInformation Technology Teacher George SmithSpecial Education Program Consultant

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES RATIONALE Students with learning disabilities often have difficulty in the following areas: Reading and Writing skills Organizational skills Time management skills Memory skills Test writing skills Note taking skills

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES Traditional accommodations: More time to complete work and tests Alternate formats for learning printed materials (e.g. audio tapes) The use of computers or scribes for written work Teacher made graphic organizers to structure assignments and information

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES PRESENT BARRIERS TO DELIVERING ACCOMMODATIONS Barriers: Audio taped versions of materials are not always available Limited access to technology in the schools Scribe availability is not readily accessible Inconsistent use of graphic templates across the curriculum Technology has not been user friendly Technology poses problems to those students with poor keyboarding, fine-motor, and eye- hand co-ordination skills

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES OVERCOMING BARRIERS THROUGH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY BarrierTechnology Accommodation Access to computersLaptop computer allows anytime- anywhere access Reading difficultyUse of text-to-voice software (Kurzweil) Organization of ideas in written work Use of graphic organizer software(Inspiration) Fine motor/eye-hand co- ordination difficulty Use of Voice-to-Text software (Dragon Naturally Speaking) SpellingUse of word prediction software(WordQ)

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES WHY INTRODUCE LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES? Through the integration of technology, we hope to: Increase overall student achievement Increase in the use of technology in many different environments Decrease student frustration levels and number of academic barriers Increase in student motivation to learn and be successful Prepare students for post secondary practice

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS TO THE PROGRAM Teacher Training: Series of software workshops offered this year and next Access to consultant support Curriculum Development: Curriculum writing team to write lesson by lesson plans Parallel BTT and GLE curricula to emphasize integrated approach Resources: 10 laptops 10 software packages (Kurzweil, Dragon, WordQ, Inspiration) Site based equipment

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES SOFTWARE DEMONSTRATION George Smith, Special Education Program Consultant (Sec), to give software demo

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES BTT and GLE COURSE DESCRIPTION Students are required to take 2 courses: Grade 9 Business Information Technology and Grade 9 Learning Strategies. BTTGLE Teaches productivity software Will include software integration Application of software to enable students to cope with the rigors of curriculum The intent is that the skills and content learned in the BTT and GLE courses will be used to facilitate success in all of their courses

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES HOME ACCESS Recommended Hardware Processor: Pentium IV Memory: 256 MB 512 Monitor: 17” Hard Disk Space: 40GB Operating System: XP Professional Sound Card: On board should support at least 16-bit or higher Other Items: Floppy Drive, CD ROM, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, USB Key Flash Drive, Scanner, Printer

LAPTOP LEARNING STRATEGIES POST SECONDARY SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS Research has shown that all colleges and universities in the province of Ontario provide support for students with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities will not receive modifications. They can, however, expect accommodations at the Post-Secondary level.