The presentations tonight were excellent and a great way to access to so much information in a relatively short time. I feel much more prepared in recommending apps to fellow educators after viewing these presentations.
The first presentation on New Apps for Learning Disabilities showed us some great apps that seem to be very user friendly. Out of the 3 apps that were discussed Paperport Notes and Book Creator are the ones that I am really excited to try out in my classroom. I can see how these apps, especially Book Creator, will be able to bring out the strenghts our students have. I only wish I had known about these apps for a few of the students I had taught in the past. It would have spared us a lot of frustration and allowed my students the opportunity to show their skills in a way that suits their learning style. I was surprised to hear that a school with 500 students with grades 1-9 didn't have any mobile devices :(
Top Free Apps in Special Education
I was so happy to see so many wonderful free apps available. I was interested in learning how the basic apps on the iPad could be used to assist students in ways that I never thought of. I was really impressed with the variety of apps out there that serve a variety of needs and grade levels. Of particular interest to me were Tiki Notes and Pocket Pond. I can certainly see Tiki Notes as being a valuable tool for writing for many students in my school. It would help to allievate some of the stress these students feel when writing. I also can't wait to try Pocket Pond and similiar relaxation apps for the student with Autism in my room. I can see him loving it!
The second presentation on New Apps for Learning Disabilities also shared important information that is important to assisting students with LD. I think WordQ would be an interesting app to use with students. I also think many teachers are unaware of the Puffin app that allows users to use apps that require Flashplayer. This would allow a commom website that my school uses, Starfall to be used on the iPad. I also found it sad that there is such a disparity between the schools that were surveyed. There was a large 7-12 school that had no mobile technology at all, while another school has access to several mobile devices. It is disappointing that there is such a difference between schools. It is the students who end up suffering in these situations.
Executive Function Apps
I found this presentation to be very informative and left me wanting to experiment with many of the apps that were mentioned. I can see our school using many of these apps for our LD students. The relaxatation apps (Take a Chill, Let Panic Go) are of great interest to me as I can think of 3 specific students that they would be very beneficial for.
Exciting New Apps for LD-although Dawn's presentation topic was previously covered, she was still able to add new information and a new perspective to the topic. I loved the video with Piper who discussed overcoming dyslexia. She was a voice advocating for students who learn in different ways and how we need to ensure they are learning in a way that best suits their learning style and needs. Her story is one that many educators should see to gain perspecitve about how students such as herself struggle in some classrooms. I was particularly interested in learning about the Read Iris app that allows users to conert paper documents to editable and searchable text files. This is an app that I plan on investigating.
The final presentation on New Apps for LD gave us a review of the apps they considered to me the most beneficial to students and educators. As mentioned in previous presentations, there are several apps that can be used
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