spg09_p8

=Final Processing Task: Podcast=

Okay, so you've hunted for and gathered a lot of pre-determined information on various things related to assistive technology. Now, it's your turn to tell us what's on your mind. For the podcast, you will have flexibility in determining what you share with the class.

You may do the podcast with a partner.

Process Task #8: Podcast
For your podcast, I want you to take what you've learned and expand on it some way.

Below, you will find "podcast prompts." Choose one of them, and then make and publish your podcast.

__**Prompt 1**__. Create an "assistive technology plan" for Joshua, CeCe, and/or Beth that you could use in your classroom. Pretend that it's the beginning of the school year, and you know that you have to be able to serve one or all of these students. You are determined to not exclude them from any of the learning that takes place. Look closely at your Georgia Performance Standards, and choose several of them that could necessitate the use of certain assistive technologies. Compile a list of tools that you need to acquire to help one or all of these students. Explain how these tools will help them meet the standards. Notice how you could focus in depth one student, or you could address all of them. You could focus on a few GPSs, or widen your net. It depends on what you find, and how you want to show it. (Use the Joshua-CeCe-Beth page for this.)

__**Prompt 2**__. Interview a stakeholder in the school system about assistive technologies. This could be a superintendent, teacher, student, parent, or paraprofessional. You could record this interview in audio, or you could report on their answers yourself. Pose questions related to special education technologies. To teachers and administrators, for instance, you could pose questions like these: //what types of assistive technologies are available to students in your school? How much money is available to purchase technologies as the need arises for individual students? Who can teachers go to for help with learning more about assistive technologies at your school?//

__**Prompt 3**__. In their [|Integrating Educational Technology into Curriculum], Roblyer and Doering write this: "Although students with disabilities have gained physical inclusion into general education, access to the general curriculum is still limited. That is, without appropriate modifications, for instance, a student in a wheelchair cannot conduct the same science experiment as everyone else because her wheelchair cannot get close enough to the lab bench for the student to manipulate the chemicals and beakers. Likewise, when the bulk of subject matter content is contained in teacher-made materials and textbooks, a significant portion of special education students do not have access to the information they are expected to learn (e.g., students who are blind, have learning disabilities, or cannot read at grade level). With the NCLB expectation that all students will achieve high academic standards, there is an urgent need for assistive technology to help students in the general education classroom succeed" (p 410). How would you begin to solve this enormous problem?

__**Prompt 4**__. Learn more about the concept of universal design. In your podcast, give us some background on what it is. Then, explain what architects would have to do to design a school site in accordance with the principles of Universal Design. What are the biggest issues with the way that most (or you can choose a specific school site) schools are designed for students with mobility impairments. You may find the following video to help get the thoughts flowing: **Working Together: Computers and People with Mobility Impairments ** (14 min) [|Click here to view in Windows Media Player.] [|Click here to view in Real Player]. __**Prompt 5**.__ Visit Free Technology Toolkit for UDL, and select 5-10 tools featured on the website. Explain why you chose the tools and how they may benefit different types of learners in your classroom (both special education and regular education).

__**Prompt 6**__. Design your own podcast prompt. Whatever you do, I want it to show evidence of your dealing with topics related to special education or special education technology in a "higher-order" way. Don't just spit out facts. Show evidence of thinking, creating, evaluating, analyzing, and/or synthesizing information.

The Next Step
To learn how this podcast will be evaluated, go to the next step, **Evaluation**.