This week we spent a great deal of class time exploring the many elements of Kurzweil. Through the step by step process, I was able to reflect upon how this program could be very powerful in many different situations and for many different students. This program can be easily integrated into the classroom and furthermore will provide independence for students requiring additional supports.
At the higher elementary and secondary levels Kurzweil can enable students, who have difficultly decoding to still have the opportunity to be exposed to the more difficult texts and the content embedded within. Furthermore, these students using Kurzweil are able to excess information embedded in a variety of texts including via the internet. For many of these students who have consistently struggled with decoding the ability to hear the information enables them to broaden their scope of material available when they are completing research projects and assignments.
Over the past two classes we have discussed when the shift in programming should take place between remediation and providing assistive technologies for coping. With the powerful options available in Kurzweil I cannot help but wonder if it would not be beneficial to students at all grade levels who are struggling with the reading process to have access to the program in order to complete their grade level work and not fall further and further behind. While I understand remediation can help students to achieve success and can lead to more independence further in their education career, I wonder if it should be combined with programs designed to help with meeting outcomes across many subject areas. Since decoding is related to the Language Arts program especially at the lower elementary level, why should students struggling with this element be further penalized in Social Studies or Science just because they may not understand the question being posed in a text only format. Introducing Kurzweil could assist even these young students in having success and furthermore at increasing their confidence in an educational setting.
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3 comments:
Hi Denise,
Great blog!
I agree with you about the power Kurzweil adds to the instruction of all courses - not just Language Arts. All four core subject area instruction could be enhanced enabling more students to experience success.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Kurzweil is a great program!!! This program will help support many students in Language Arts and many other core subjects. Great blog and reflections!!!!
Hi Denise
Being able to provide our students with the tools they need to make it through their courses is the key. Whether that be Kurzweil, scribe, co-writer, adaptive materials, braille or whathaveyou. When you do this we open the doors for our students to the endless possibilities for learning and achieving. The more we can get them involved in their own education then the better they will be because they will take ownership of their own education and what a better sight to see than a student taking pride in what they are doing, especially when they could not have done so before because they were not able.
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