Free Tools for Universal Design for Learning in Literac

While listening to the K12 on line conference this week, I decided to watch the pod-cast by Jennifer Kraft. Her power-point presentation provided great insights for using other tools to help struggling students who may have differences in reading, taking notes, organizing ideas, and following written instructions. Ms. Kraft spent time talking about the use of e-books or allowing struggling readers to listen to books on CD. Not only will this help students build his/her comprehension, it also allows students to listen/follow a recorded reading to enhance decoding and fluency skills. I can see potential of using these simple tools for both elementary and secondary students. All it takes is a little bit time and some planning for class room teachers. However, these resources would help our students who are not strong visual learners. Ms. Kraft also explored the use of MP3 players in classrooms, and how this allows students to go back and listen to lectures as well as lessons. Finally she brought up two different ways to support learning, text-to-speech and speech-to-text. Her presentation included web-sites to visit. After her presentation, I searched for e-books on line. I found an interesting site for elementary students called raz-kids.com, included were free demos. I have not had success at finding e-books for secondary students.

Ian Jukes: Digital Natives

Do kids really think differently than they did 50 years ago? Ian Jukes convinces his audience that children's brains are not the same today and has science to back up his claims. With our evolving technology, students in the 21st century are labeled as "digital natives" as gadgets such as video games, i-pods, cellphones and computers are a part of their everyday experience and ability to interact socially with others. I agree with some of Jukes points that teachers do need to play and become familiar with new teaching strategies--in an ability to connect with our students. After all, communicating ideas through blogs can strengthen reading and writing skills, creating audio podcasts can enrich classroom learning.
But should all learning or play as Jukes states come from digital gadgets...I don't think so. He says that play is work. That's a true statement. However, my 5 year old daughter has played in her daycare setting without any manipulation with technology and she can think critically, problem solve, is extremely artistic, desires to do work independently, and loves learning through..play. Her experience did not happen through video game playing or spending hours on a computer screen to learn letters. We can "sculpt" minds and technology can do that. I just think BALANCE is crucial and educators can not jump off the deep end and still not implement tried and true methods of student engagement. I still believe class discussion and analysis of literature through Socratic circles is an effective strategy..and Socrates is old..yet a tried and true method. Before teachers go crazy over all the digital "toys" and "game-playing", don't forget to use manipulatives that you know work..and still makes kids have fun and yes...play!