Assistive Technology- Magnifying Tool

Tools for assistive technology don't have to come expensive. Microsoft has created programs that are found on any Microsoft Vista PC that allow students to have free access to many assistive technology tools.

One tool that Vista makes for students that need assistance with reading or seeing, is the magnifying tool. It is free and can be easily found through the Control Panel. This allows students to view anything they want with a magnifying glass, making the words or the pictures bigger. You can see what you type in the magnifying box, as well as you can move the box to see what you are writing in a bigger format. This would be beneficial for students who are visually impaired and need help reading, or writing on a computer.

-- First go to the "Start"menu.
-- Then open up your "Control Panel"
-- After that click on "Ease of Access" to get to the next step
-- Click on "Ease of Access Center"
-- In the end click on start magnification in order to bring the magnifying glass up to the screen.

Assistive Technology- On Screen Keyboard

Tools for assistive technology don't have to come expensive. Microsoft has created programs that are found on any Microsoft Vista PC that allow students to have free access to many assistive technology tools.

One tool that could come in hand is the "On-Screen Keyboard". This would be used for someone who wouldn't be able to type on a keyboard, rather they could type using their mouse.
The On-Screen Keyboard can type for anything, and stays up so you can see it all in whichever screen you choose. You can fix many options on the screen keyboard, such as which kind of keyboard, how many keys are shown, and the layout.


-- To go about finding this tool go to your "Control Panel" in the "Start" Menu.
-- Click on "Ease of Access" which will take you to the next screen.
-- Click on "Ease of Access Center" and that will take you to the next screen.
-- Finally you will see it in big letters, and click on the link that says, "Start On-Screen Keyboard"

Below are pictures following the instructions above.

Timeline

-- I just created a timeline on Microsoft Word. The timeline that I created was for a Personal Development Goal that I created. I wanted to put my skills to the test, and see what I could create on Microsoft Word. I was able to make a timeline on the topic of "Space".

-- I thought the timeline was definitely something that I could use as a future teacher, or something that my future students could do. I know, there are probably millions of templates for a timeline out on the internet; however, I thought it would be a good skill tester to find out how to create timelines on the computer doing it how I wanted. The timeline was pretty simple; however, it did take a little bit of time to create. I also had to refer to other websites for help on doing it. I use Microsofts webpage for assistance (http://www.microsoft.com/education/TimelinesWord.mspx). It was a great way to start off with some help, and then once I got a hold of what I was trying to accomplish, I was able to do it by myself, anyway I thought of. I definitely think that kids could use this. It would be a effective and efficient way of creating timelines. Students will find a new way to create a boring project like a time line, and make it fun on the computer. You can directly add pictures instead of cut and paste, and you can make it however you want to. I can also see myself as a teacher creating timelines for my class on a certain topic. I would definitely do this again.

-- Here is my final timeline that I created. Please refer to the Microsoft Website above if you are interested in creating a timeline on Microsoft but need a little help.

Website Tool, Weebly

-- Weebly is an online tool for creating a website. The website that it allows you to create is very simple and is more of the type of learning website rather than communication type of website.

-- Weebly is a great tool to use if you want to make a basic website page easily. I made a Weebly as an ideal project that I could potentially use with my future class. The idea that I had with making a Weebly was to study a topic (i used the solar system), allow the students to create internet/technology based projects, and post them on the website to show their knowledge of the topic. I didn't go much into detail with the project; however, I got the gist of how to use it. The tool is very simple to use. All you do is pick what kind of layout you want, and drag it to the screen and begin typing. It allows you to put videos, rss feeds, pictures, music, information, etc. on the webpage. You can make different pages to go to. For example, I made a "activities" page, and an "assessment" page. I found it very useful for what I wanted to create.

-- The website allows students to show how much they have learned about a topic and present their knowledge. It's a great effective and efficient tool for the students. It allows learning to be fun as well as makes students want to learn about a topic. There are activities and assessments for others to test and put to play their knowledge they have learned on the topic. It is also easy for teachers to create if they wanted to make a webpage for a subject for their class or for themselves.

-- Here is a link to my Weebly as well as a YouTube video for further information on the website creator.