Joshua+Payton

//**Ok - good, Josh! Software too? kz**//

K-12 Modification Project

My Modification Project is a Talking book through powerpoint for a student that is autistic. They have trouble focusing on the stories at story time, the other students moving around and talking make it difficult for them to maintain focus. During story time the student goes to the library and listens to a modified version of the story on the computer. In addition to the story being modified there are visual aids to help them learn character names and they have the ability to listen to any one of the pages as many times as they want. The rest of the class is expected to identify all characters in the story in order and be able to write their names on a sequence of events chart. This student is given a few pages with pictures from the talking story and the names of the characters, they then match names and characters with the goal of getting half of them right.

The talking book TURK AND RUNT





We did our evaluation on [|Riverdeep Destination Math]. This program has a designed curriculum for K-12 students.
 * Software Evaluation**

The software we evaluated was River Deep: Destination Math. The software provides multimedia math courses that address basic math skills, math reasoning, understanding of concepts, and problem solving. The curriculum is provided in a sequential matter that adheres to both state and national curriculum standards. The program’s content areas range from Pre-Primary Mathematics (K-1), Primary Mathematics (Grades 2-3), Intermediate Mathematics (4-6), Advanced Mathematics (6-8), Pre-Algebra (6-8), Algebra I & Algebra II (9-12**).** The software provides real life examples that relate the math curriculum to the individual. Josh and I focused on the Math Mastering and Concepts III (Intermediate mathematics) program. At this level students receive instruction on numbers and number sense, operations with numbers, fractions, decimals, geometry, data analysis and probability. When the individual begins a new topic he/she has the option of receiving tutorial instruction. Once completed the student can answer questions related to the topic. If the student needs help or does not know the answer the program provides a comprehensive guided practice option. Some positives of the software are that it provides a high level of flexibility for teaching and learning. A teacher could use this software for individual instruction, collaboration learning and whole group instruction. The student has flexibility because he or she is given the choice to select the tutorial option or skip directly to the topic questions. In the tutorial, the students learn the basics needed to answer the questions that follow. Once the student is in the questions section he or she has the option of answering the question immediately or he/she can select the “Show Me” icon. The “Show Me” icon provides the student with guided practice to answer the question. We also like how the software promotes active learning. The student follows along the instruction and is asked questions periodically. Also, the software does match the content and vocabulary levels to the appropriate grade levels. There are increasing levels of complexity in both the curriculum setup and within the specific math levels. The curriculum follows state and national standards. Furthermore, the specific math content levels start out with a tutorial about the basics and increase in difficulty from there. The graphics, animations, sound and colors are appealing and maintain the individual's attention. Several aspects of the software fell short of our expectations. The software does not allow an individual to increase font sizes and/or font colors. Also, the background color could not be altered in order to increase readability. The software was easy to navigate but a non-computer savvy user may experience difficulty. An instruction manual was not provided and there were limited help features within the program. In addition, the program does not have a record keeping feature that tabulates how many questions the student answered wrong. The teacher will have to implement alternative ways to assess a student’s mastery of a topic. With that said it must be taken in to consideration that we only used a trial version of the program. The full version may have additional features and/or instruction manuals. Despite some accessibility issues we would strongly recommend this software. Using a rating scale of one to ten, we rated River Deep: Destination Math and Math Mastering and Concepts III (Intermediate mathematics) a nine out of ten. The program’s flexibility is beneficial to both students and teachers.

Click here for [|CHADD]

The website we evaluated was the Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) website. CHADD is a non-profit organization that provides education, support and advocacy for people with AD/HD. The website is designed to serve individuals with AD/HD and their families. The website provides valuable insight that can be useful for educators, professionals and anyone else that wants information regarding AD/HD. Links on the CHADD website provide information about understanding AD/HD, finding local support CHADD chapters, available resources, upcoming/past conferences and much more. The website has information that is well organized and labeled accurately. The site also has a consistent look and is easy to navigate. Overall we would give this website a rating of eight. Although it is very user friendly and informative it only received level one status from Web exact and the authors were not listed.

Tracy King, Josh Payton and Brian Campo

Click here for [|FCSN]

The second website we evaluated was the Federation for Children with Special Needs website. The FCSN is a non-profit organization that supports parents with children with special needs. The website is designed to assist these parents by providing information and support. The website contains links about the FCSN organization, available parent training sessions, recent news related to the special education field, and other helpful websites. The website is Bobby approved and provides information that is not redundant. All the links on the site work and provide current and accurate information. Overall we would give this website a rating of seven. The site did receive Level one and three approval from Web exact as 508 and AAA Bobby approval. There are no specific contacts in regards to website questions, there are no update times posted, it is not printer friendly and there is no language translation option.

Tracy King, Josh Payton and Brian Campo

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