Thing #20 Visual Learning: Bubble.us, and wordle

Non-linguistic representation is an important variable in education and particularly needed when working with students with ASD or MOCI. On-line graphic organizers can be used to show students the connection between different concepts.  Students can also use them to demonstrate their learning.

Gliffy is a resource you can use to make flow charts, venn diagrams and lots of other nifty charts.

Thing #18 Staying Informed: RSS, iGoogle

RSS is a way to surbscribe to updated information from your favorite websites. I used iGoogle to pick which websites I wanted to receive information from and it also allows you to arrange your page however you want. Netvibes and Bloglines are two other options.

These RSS systems are a good way to stay informed about current events and your field of interest.

Thing #17 Reference Tools: BibMe

Check out how I used bibme to make a citation of a journal article as well as a website.  You can also do this in MEL while you are looking up other things.  Landmark Citation Machine is another citation maker. Citation Machine and EasyBib are other free options.

"Evaluations that help teachers learn." Educational Leadership Dec. 2010: 35-38. Print. 


"National Down Syndrome Society - Tips for Teaching Students with Down syndrome - Page 3." National Down Syndrome Society - Welcome to NDSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. <http://www.ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=83&limitstart=2>.

thing #17 Research & Reference Tools: MEL (student research) & Advanced Research

Thing #15 Productivity Tools: pdf file converters & google calendars

Being able to convert a document from pdf format can be useful.  I needed to do that to an   application    coincidentally the day that I worked on this project.  As you can see by my          screenshot, it wasn't printing    properly so I had to go back and work on that.  I can see staff  needing to do this with available resources that they want to be able to edit or have students type right into as a document.  ZamZar and MediaConverter are two resources for doing      this.                                                                                                                                                    

Google calendars is a good way to improve communication with students, co-workers or       parents.  With co-workers, we are supposed to use Groupwise so it would not be good to be  on a different calendar since the advantage is that we can schedule with each other without 

the endless cycle of figuring out  when people are                                                                         available.                                                                                                                                              

Thing #12 Evaluation & Assessment Tools: Google Forms

l think this tool is great!  I am going to use it alot.  I used Google Forms to create an online educational survey.  I asked about Unique Curriculum implementation and sent it to my staff.  I have 14 responses already!  I will use the results to answer questions, provide additional support and professional development.  I plan to take the results to a meeting this week with other supervisors about the Curriculum with other supervisors.

Capstone 8-14 Activity using Video Prompts

In "A Comparison of Picture and Video Prompts to Teach Daily Living Skills to Individuals with Autism" (Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disabilities, Vol. 25, No. 4, Dec. 2010) VanLaarhaven et. al look at the use of picture and video prompts.  Using vidual supports--text, line drawings or video based materials has positive outcomes for a broad range of learners and is considered to be an evidence based practice.  Much of the research involves using picture to prompt students to do tasks.

Research on the use of video has focused on video modeling, where the student looks at the whole sequence and then completes the task. This is called video priming or video rehersal.

Video prompting is a different approach that involves showing a step and then having the student complete it.  It requires access to a television, computer or handheld device in the actual environment the skill is completed.

In this study, students were taught making microwave pasta and folding laundry.  They were taught using either a flip book or video steps on a computer.  The goal was to see if they could learn to independently manipulate the system to complete the task.

Both were effective but the video prompting was more effective and efficient.  It takes less time to make the video prompts than picture prompts.  Some students prefer the video technology but those who need their environment quieter may not prefer it.

This method can be an excellent tool to meet the functional goals of ASD and MOCI students in some of the areas that do not relate to GLCE's but are still important for them to learn.