Tool #9

Incorporating Classroom-Based Devices as Tools for Learning

I think it is important to tie the technology to the objective because it hold a child's interest and uses more than one modality in learning. We should hold students accountable for the stations/centers because they become more responsible and learn more along the way. 


I visited the following interactive websites for my content/grade level: learning games for kids, thinkfinity, and TES iboard. I liked them all. I could use them in stations with a speech group therapy so that I could work with one student individually and rotate students through stations. I can hold the students accountable for their time in these stations by individually working with them and taking data to see if improvement has occurred in the skill they are practicing in speech.


I found the following apps for the iPod Touch/iPad that I can use in speech therapy: Milo's verbs, Milo's prepositions, Pocket SLP, and many more...... I don't see using the see iPod Touch/iPad as a station but rather a tool in helping a student practice a sound for example in front of me while I chart correct vs. incorrect. There are many speech apps related to articulation for example that don't replace me the SLP, but rather help me collect data while a student practices his sound or shows the correct tongue placement using an actual person or a picture or video. The app has numerous articulation probes for all the sounds. In this case, the students see the charting in a percentage and always strive for 100%. None of these apps are SBISD approved and they cost money. Unfortunately the speech apps are not free!


I can see my students using the iPod Touch/iPad as a station with a partner. Where they help each other practice and chart each other's correct vs incorrect responses. Peer pressure always is a useful tool to help one improve or try harder. It becomes a competition of who can say their sound better.