The purpose of this page is to provide hints for student, parents and teachers on working smarter, not harder, using technology.  This page will be used to share hints from teachers, students and parents on more effective and efficient uses of technology, so that using technology makes lives simpler, not more complicated and frustrating.

If you have suggestions, hints, ideas or places to point us to look for helping use technology in an effective and efficient way, so that frustrations and workloads are reduced, please e-mail your ideas to specialeducation@westfieldnj.com.  We will then put the new ideas online to share with other students, parents and teachers.  This is a collaborative effort, so we look forward to your suggestions.  

Remember to check back often to this site to see any new hints and ideas that may have been added.
 
Helpful hints:
  1. Working Smarter not Harder:  Using Technology At Edison Intermediate School Spells SUCCESS - how to efficiently write papers when using different computers and word processors (school computer vs. home computer) without having to retype or re-keyboard your work.
  2. Digitized Text:  The Wave of the Future
  3. Choosing Assistive Technology for College Bound Learning Disabled Students.
  4. Westfield High School's Writer's Manual is now on-line and available as e-text.

 

Working Smarter not Harder:   Using Technology At Edison Intermediate School Spells SUCCESS

 

Issue  1:  Working with word processors on different computers at home and at school.

 
Welcome back to Edison with lots of brand spanking new I-Macs.  Now that we have more computers, we’ll be doing lots more work on computers at school.  So you’ll need to know how to have your home computer (or off-site computer) work with the computer at school.  For instance, you may use a word processor program at home that is different from the word processor at school (or even a different operating system—PC at home, Apple at school).  For instance, your teacher has assigned a paper that you will work on at school, at home, at the library or maybe at the community center.  Maybe you need to peer edit the paper or your grandmother checks your grammar (please, forward her e-mail address).   Everyone uses a different word processor. How do you get that paper around electronically without re-typing/ re-keyboarding?  

The answer is that you will transport that paper electronically.  You keep a compatible file copy either on disk or via e-mail.  At first, I recommend the KISS method (Keep It Simple Student).

 

Here are some hints how to do that work efficiently using the disk method:

  • Save your work to a PC formatted disk in a compatible format  (.txt)
  • Keep that disk in your notebook and update it whenever you work on it.
  • Do not format your work or add graphics until the very last draft at the computer with the printer.
 

Here are some hints using e-mail:

  • Make sure that the user (probably you) has access to e-mail.
  • The e-mailed file should be in a text format if you use different word processors.  You can either use clipboard (Ctrl-C) directly into your e-mail or attach the file.
  • E-mail the copy to an address that can be accessed at school or the destination computer. 
  • E-mail the copy back “home” when you complete it at school.
  • Avoid adding graphics or formatting to the e-mailed copy. 
  • When you have a final version, you will open your word processor with the attached file or you will clipboard (Ctrl-C) the text into your opened document.
  • Do not format your work or add graphics until the very last draft at the computer with the printer.
 

There are two ways to handle the files (electronic word processor paper) amongst computers:  disks and e-mail.  The disk will be easiest at least at first.  You can keep a PC formatted disk with your file on it.  Why PC formatted? Because most modern Apple based computers will read/write to PC formatted disks.  Most PCs can only read/write to PC formatted disks.  If you will be using different word processors at school or home, you will need to save your files in compatible formats.  The most compatible format with all computers and modes of transport  (disk or e-mail) is the text file (*.txt).  All word processors will allow you to save your file as a text file.

 

 

If your word processors are the same, you may be able to save in that word processor format.  For instance, if you use Appleworks 6 at home and at school, you can save to disk in that format.  If you do not know where you might work on the paper or do not know that a compatible version is available on all computers, save your paper as a .txt file.  If you are working with patient and knowledgeable co-workers and you are including graphics and other formatting items, you can try html format.   If and only if, you have compatible word processors, compatible e-mail with all users, and a high tolerance for corrections should you use your word processor’s format (i.e.,*.doc for MS Word) for saving text to be used with other computers.

 

Work smarter not harder and save all that typing, oops, I mean keyboarding.  Save your time for the fun part—formatting, adding graphics, and sound—at the end.

 
J
 

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Digitized Text: The Wave of the Future

 

Students, do you want to tap into more efficient learning?  Teachers, do you want to make your lesson plans, class work and class materials more accessible to diverse learners?  Than use digitized text.  It’s frequently no extra work, saves trees and makes text more available to diverse learners.  Recipients do need a computer, PDA or e-book reader.

 

Digitized Text has just some of these advantages:

  • Saves copy costs
  • You can convert or combine text to alternative formats –different languages, tactile print—e.g. Braille, speech, visually enhanced (larger type and softer background), etc.
  • You can highlight the text for emphasis or clipboard for class notes
  • You can easily import into other programs
  • You can store it for future use, print it for class, share it for on-line peer editing
  • You can put review notes or sticky notes right into your document or add a “sound byte.”
  • You can have your essay read back to you so you can “hear” if it’s grammar perfect in addition to visually checking.
  • Many thousands of books are free on line for downloading—save on textbook copies.
  • Avoid lines at the copy machines.  Save costs.
  • It’s easy to print, e-mail, and alter.
  • No having to check agenda books.

 

Are you typing or generating your worksheets or papers on a word processor?  Did you know that you could address more learning styles with no extra work?  Rather than just print out your text worksheet, provide it in its digitized format.  If you access the digitized text via the computer, you can have it “read” to you to provide an auditory component to your learning.  You can enlarge the text for older eyes or change the background to your individualized preference.  You can highlight text for easier studying or to clipboard to notes or flashcards (even talking flashcards).  You can automatically translate the text to Spanish or Vietnamese (not perfectly).  One senior citizen took one Internet course for seniors and now e-mails to her Norwegian relatives using translation software available free on-line to translate between the two languages. 

 

Imagine you don’t have to send papers to the office for absent students, make copies for the portfolio, drag papers from room to room, send items to the resource room, retype a whole new test, or remind students of projects.  In-class support teachers can easily modify material.  Click and it’s on its way.  Post it on a website or e-mail it and you’re done.  Slower or tired readers have your papers and tests read to you.  It’s available on your computer.

  

Features of Digitized Text:

Digitized text or e-text or e-books is text presented in a text-based format which can be accessed via computer in a myriad of formats.

Digitized text from the Reading for the Blind & Dyslexic

http://www.rfbd.org/techup.html

 

Typical Guide to College 504 Accommodations

http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/ada/check.html

 

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Technology Tip:  Choosing Assistive Technology for College Bound Learning Disabled Students

On January 12th, ETTC/ Central Region Assistive Technology for Students With Disabilities presented a workshop, Preparation for College: Technology Tools to Support Students with Reading and/ or Writing Difficulties. The workshop focused on choosing software to mitigate learning disabilities for secondary school students. Some of the software would be appropriate for younger and general education students as well. The emphasis of the workshop, however, was supporting secondary college bound students. The presenters emphasized that assistive technology software must be easy to use, intuitive and readily customizable. To illustrate effective software, Dr. Dell  presented four software programs:  Co-Writer, Write Outloud, Inspiration and Kurweil Learning System. Attendees then “played” with the software.  

Co-writer is a word prediction program especially effective for students with word retrieval, processing speed, and/or severe spelling difficulties. The program intuitively presents a list of words after one to three keystrokes. Co-Writer uses artificial intelligence to produce the list, thus allowing a student to save considerable processing and key stroking time. Additionally, teachers can add to the word bank technical or vocabulary words for reinforcement or to save additional processing time for new and unfamiliar vocabulary. Co-writer’s extensive dictionary and thesaurus have speech capabilities so a student has auditory as well as visual discrimination aid for words he might confuse.

Write Outloud is a speaking word processor. As a student writes, Write Outloud will speak the letter, word, sentence or paragraph depending on the options chosen. Users can choose from a variety of speeds, volume, and voices. An extensive, phonetic spell checker and homonym checker supports the most inventive speller. Visual cuing options are also extensive. Thus writing does become multi-sensory for the learning disabled student who needs visual and auditory reinforcement.

Kurzweil 3000 offers text to speech options as well as numerous study skills functions for text-based information. As e-text becomes more and more prevalent, this type of program becomes exceptionally helpful for independent learning. The student brings a text document into the program by 1) scanning and using OCR, 2) using existing e-text books or documents and/or 3) copying and pasting text from a website. Once in the program, a student can have the text “read” using various options of speed, volume, voices, scrolling and highlighting. Additionally, the text can be enlarged and otherwise altered for greater visibility. To increase comprehension and organization, students can highlight quotes or details in different colors. Those highlighted notes can be maintained in the e-text or produced as study summary notes to the text. Text and or voice notes can also be added to the e-text or maintained separately. Dr. Dell cited one student, an economics major with learning disabilities, who was able to successfully compete in a college program using this technology. She also cited E-reader and WYNN as other programs in this genre of programs.

Inspiration is a graphic organizer that greatly benefits visual learners. Students who have difficulty with brainstorming or organizing their thoughts will love (okay, like) Inspiration. This nifty program is reasonably inexpensive and presently available in the Westfield Schools. The new update has additional and improved templates for every subject. Additionally, the website has numerous aids, including even more templates, for educators.

Drs. Dell and Disdier are national presenters on assistive technology. They will present this course and others in the New Jersey area. The next local workshop will be at the 2nd Annual Conference of Assistive Technology and Augmentative Communication at William Paterson University. If looking for software to support learning-disabled students, this course provides a good start.

 

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Westfield High School Writing Manual now available as e-text

 

It’s time to write that paper and you need to know how to cite a source or how to present a long quotation. You need a writing manual. In Westfield, the most accessible source, the Westfield High School Writer’s Manual just got more accessible.

Westfield High School now offers its writing manual on-line and as e-text. This user-friendly, compact guide is now a click away. No more dust bunnies, sofa crud, kitchen stains, and backpack bits! No more midnight searches for that elusive booklet! The writing manual is available to all students and it’s just a click away. You can download it to your computer and even to your PDA. You can print it for your notebook. But even better as e-text, it can be accessed as print, read by screen readers, enlarged, highlighted, and book marked. Want to navigate through the digitized version, in MS Word use the “Document Map” option under view. The table of contents pops up on the right side of the screen and you can click to your specific subject.

If you have not seen the print version of this manual, it is a compact guide to writing, formatting, and citation. The printed booklet is handy, readable but easily lost. Not any more and it’s now available to younger students and older residents. While a high school manual, in my experience, it is usable by all middle grades .It follows national standards for writing and therefore, offers a consistent guide to writing throughout the district and beyond. Its “works consulted” (bibliography) and other citation standards are consistent with more authoritative manuals. The WHS guide cites these guides as sources.

Kudos to the high school staff for making this helpful guide even more accessible.

To access the manual, click here.

 


 
 

 

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This page was last updated January 25, 2001