A number of technologies encourage and support the development and maintenance of high levels of language proficiency. The Internet brings authentic language and cultural experiences to students and provides opportunities for them to interact with native speakers. To ensure appropriate education for all students, teachers must enter the classroom equipped with the content knowledge, diverse instructional strategies, and technology integration skills. This course will help amplify teachers’ skills in these areas by adding the additional knowledge of AT devices, Universal Design, curriculum adaptation and integration strategies to help ALL students in the general classroom setting. Participants will learn about the principles of UDL and its application to literacy curriculum for ESOL, to include cross-language relationships, language learning differences, and inclusive teacher practices. Universal Design for Learning and Literacy provides a framework for individualizing learning in a standards-based environment through flexible pedagogy and tools.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as reauthorized, promotes and serves to insure that all students with disabilities will be provided access to an appropriate curriculum in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This mandate necessitates that regular and special educators become familiar with multiple solutions necessary for educating students regardless of "disability", a term covering a variety of conditions, including cognitive and developmental disabilities. Given the expectations (through NCLB) that all students will achieve high academic standards, there is an urgent push for assistive technology to help ALL students in the general classroom succeed.
This course is specifically designed to support the goal of preparing thoughtful and responsive educators who can take on the unique challenges inherent in the diversity of today's classrooms. To ensure a free and appropriate education for all students, teachers must enter the classroom equipped with the content knowledge, diverse instructional strategies, technology integration skills, and knowledge of assessment and evaluation protocols. This course will help amplify a teacher's skills in these areas by adding the additional knowledge of AT devices, Universal Design, curriculum adaptation and integration strategies, and assessment and evaluation protocols for ALL students in the general classroom setting.
As Director of Educational Technology Outreach (ETO) within the College of Education, my primarily responsibility is providing technology professional development to educators throughout the region (graduate course work, workshops, conferences, seminars etc…). Other duties include: assisting other faculty members within the College of Education in integrating technology within their coursework, and helping to design online materials or components for coursework; assisting local school systems with staff development and staff training integrating technology into the classrooms.
My philosophy towards assistive technology, while not negating special education, focuses on how technology applications can help ALL students succeed. In my work with professional development for educators, it is surprising to find few teachers who recognize simply strategies, such as using larger font size and colors and types of font designed for easy reading in their PowerPoint presentations, increasing screen size of a website when displaying to the entire class, utilization of the Microsoft Suite Accessibility Panel and knowledge of where and how to find strategies for students with specific IEP requirements. I hope this course reflects new insights into to this area and that each of the participants will share this knowledge with other educators.
It is very important to ask questions as the need arises. If you have any questions, post them in the Questions Discussion topics. If you need to ask question privately, send me an email: dpruitt@umd.edu
You may find it helpful to print material. On your Homepage, click on the Compile icon. You will be able to select all or part of the Sessions to print. This is a very useful tool.