Using technology with linguistically diverse learners helps teachers to communicate with students from a foreign country. There are some applications and programs that will not only help students understanding English, but also helps English speakers learn about another languages. An online language translator is Google Translate. This software is available as a free website and also as a free application on smart phones. This app is a two way translator and works with more than fifty languages. This software has many classroom uses including notes, assignments, and material that can be provided in English, but also in other languages. Google translate could also help parents who do not speak English to be more involved in schools. For example, they can translate a letter from a teacher or write a letter to a teacher, translate it and send it to the teacher. There are also multilingual web resources that provides material in more than one language which I witnessed during my observation hours. All of technological advancements are really helping students, teachers, as well as parents when dealing with students who do not speak the language. This technology is here for education and it is here to stay and be improved.
From roles of technology I learned that “minimizing the impact of disability and maximizing the opportunity to participate in the world” is crucial for all teacher to adapt teaching strategies and classroom environments to fit the needs of all learners. This is all about creating accommodations for students with special educational needs to have different ways to access the regular education curriculum. Accommodation might include tutoring which I think is a great help. I had a tutor in high school at first when I came to this country. It really helped me to understand the material and my tutor always had a different personal way of explaining things from my teacher which made that experience even better. As a future teacher, I would accommodate my students the way I was accommodated when I did not speak English. During test I would give more time to students whom do not speak English or are kind of slow in math but it will be the same test as the other students. This will help students to have the same education as the other students but with more time to complete it. From technology, I could use interactive math website to help my students learn at the same pace as the regular students.
Speech recognition software writes down spoken words on a computer screen. A well known speech recognition program is dragon naturally speaking which is widely use world wide by English speakers. The creators of this software also created an app called Dragon Dictation and it available for smart phones and tablets. These types of software are used by students, teachers, and writers when they want to speak their ideas and not lose them while slowly typing them on a keyboard. Speech to text software are not perfect and often have to be corrected and edited by students, teachers, and writers. Despite of some imperfections, writers can get their ideas saved on a word document. As future teachers, we must integrate this kind of programs in our teaching and show our students how to use it. When writing papers, like cause/effect or informative, it will help students write down the ideas quickly. Even though the software will not get all the words right it can be edited afterward. Students with disability that cannot type on a keyword or hand write could use this software for good since it will write for them and allows them to be able to complete assignment like other students.
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Created by Leandris Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, L (2015, March 1). Using Technology With Linguistically Diverse Learners, Students With Special Educational needs, and Speech Recognition Software, Created with Tagxedo, http://www.tagxedo.com/artful/5f7bfbb5e37c44b0
I like your Tagxedo! I hope you had fun creating that, as well - though you do need to complete your attribution under the resource section, i.e., what was created by you? Where (provide link)?, When, etc - just as you would for any other resource. Check out my blog for an example.
ReplyDeleteThough one-to-one tutoring is an exceptionally good option, it is not always possible due to costs. So, the technologies being developed might be a more differentiating and more finacially efficient way to help students. There's a cool ESL program called Burlington English which even allows students' pronunciation to be practiced and remediated. These technologies cost money, of course, but they can be more long-lasting, dependable, and differentiating, which means they need to be reviewed and considered.