New Tools

Wednesday in my San Jose State University class, EDSE 241 Computers and Special Education, we learned about several new tools that I can envision using. Some of the tools would be good for professional development, others as teacher tools, and still others as a device to use with parents and children.

The text to speech feature would make proof reading research papers, done as part of my professional development, easier and more effectual. Sometimes it is difficult to see where a word has been omitted or where some other mistake has been made. If the computer were to read aloud my paper, such errors would be easy to catch.

Many teacher-made work sheets are used in my classroom so that the format of assignments can be controlled. For these assignments it would be good to put a picture in a header as a visual cue. This picture would serve as a signal to the students. To prevent any confusion over authorship a water mark could also be used.

For up to date input from parents I could make computer questionnaires that use check boxes and drop menus. Many of the parents of my students exchange email with me and would be comfortable taking a questionnaire like this. They are already computer literate and are comfortable using computers for a variety of purposes.