Day One

It is so nice to walk into class excited, knowing that whatever is to come is going to be engaging, interactive and beneficial :)

The inspirational video to start class of is one which Barb showed during 5163 and one that I will never tire of seeing. This is a video which all educators should watch to be reminded of presumed competency. The student in this video achieves amazing heights because those around him are there to support and encourage him.

We responded to the video with one word responses using PollEv.com. This is a tool that I am very much looking forward to using in my own classroom next fall. There are many uses for this and while I won't be able to use it often due to a lack of technology within our school, I would like to incorporate it when possible to further engage students in the learning process.

Showbie: course syllabus and assignments posted using this site, very user friendly and accessible


In class assignment today enabled us time to discover a new app/website and for many researching new terminology to present to the class.

  TeleStory

Michelle and I were using the Telestory app to present the HAAT (Human Activity Assistive Technology) model/framework; neither of which we were familiar with. 
During our exploration we discovered that we in fact hadn't started at the beginning of Telestory, so we had missed out on other options that were available to us. We were glad to have had discovered them before presenting to the rest of the class. I am looking forward to further exploration of this app and highly suspect that my students will teach me a thing or two about it as well. The app is FREE which is an added bonus though it is only for ipads and iphones which does make it limiting to some classrooms. Telestory is an app that among it's many uses, can be used as a fun way to present information or as a way to help students deepen their story telling as it helps to prompt students with a variety of cue cards.

Other terms that were defined using apps/websites included:
SETT (Student Environment Task Tools)
IPP (Individual Program Plan) & DA (Documented Adaptations)
Presumed Competency
Disruptive Technology
AT devices and services
SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification & Redefinition)
EADL (Electronic Aids for Daily Living)
AAC & VOCA (Augmentative & Alternative Communication and Voice Output Communication Aid)

Apps/websites used to present the above terms included:
VideoScribe
Adobe Spark which incorporated Telligami and Chomp
Chomp
PowToon
Telligami
iMovie
Adobe Spark Video

Of the apps/websites that were used, I was most impressed/interested in further exploration:

• Videoscribe: even though I have already been introduced to this app in 5163, I have not had a chance to spend much time exploring it
• PowToon: this one really peaked my interest today and I'm interested to see all of what it has to offer
• Adobe Spark: this one appears to have endless capabilities but as Chris & Christine mentioned during their presentation, some of the pictures they used were clear when they chose them but didn't appear clear in the final product.
  

Final wrap up of the day was another inspirational video of a student in the SSRSB who is completely non verbal with no control of his extremities. At the time of the video, he was in Grade 3, cognitively bright but had had substantial pull out time. His team which included SLP, OT, AT, etc...had worked to determine that the Eye Gaze program would be the best technology for him and on day 2, he was already able to express his sense of humour to those around him. It was heartwarming to see how much change that will bring to his life.