[Máire Bradley]

I agree  with you Michelle,Speech to text can be very beneficial for pupils.

[Máire Bradley]

Module five provided a lot of technology resources that could be used to help students with individual needs. I’m thinking of a specific group of children with reading difficulties.
I especially liked Microsoft reading coach and hope to plan to use this in the coming school year
I think it would be encouraging for the group of pupils and also that they would enjoy using it
I also liked Kahoot and think it would be a good idea for the group of pupils to create a Kahoot for their class and present it to their class prior to doing this we could use Microsoft speech coach and this might help them present to their best ability.
As regards the inclusive education framework, the school could plan to use some of these technological tools to help with differentiation and to help all pupils in the school. I think this would be very beneficial for all pupils.

[Máire Bradley]

I agree Michelle the teacher made tasks are a great form of assessment

[Máire Bradley]

The SETT framework
I think this is an excellent framework as it is student centred.
It takes into account the student,environment,tasks and tools.
I hope to use this framework more in the coming school year.
I would use it with an individual student,firstly focusing on the student,(in this case a boy)
what he liked and what are his strengths.
I would consider whether the learning environment will be withdrawal or inclass support.
I would also pick tasks which would be interesting for him and would provide some success.
I would also be mindful of the tools he has access to.
I would be hoping for informal assessment and checklists.

Here is a SETT Plan for a boy named Cory in 6th class who has dyslexia. He struggles with reading and writing.
Student: Confident,likes to present up the class,very interested in sport.
Environment: In mainstream,had daily withdrawal literacy support,uses a reading pen and laptop
Tasks:creating a project on a topic of choice,reading daily and answering questions on an extract of reading
Tools: Reading pen and laptop,different reading materials

I think this SETT is one that is very suitable for Corey. I think it would encourage him to read more and to complete more literacy based activities.
The SETT template for planning is very clear and concise and I think it would help teachers greatly in their planning.
In this plan, the teacher can clearly see information about the student, his environment and the tasks and tools which he will be using,the plan can be expanded and added to.
I think this plan would greatly help Corey to advance with his literacy skills and also it would help him access to curriculum of his class level. I would hope that he would find this plan achievable and it would encourage him to succeed in literacy based activities. As this is a very individualised plan, it should help him greatly to find success in literacy and in the curriculum of his class in general.

[Máire Bradley]

I agree with you Roisín the statement that teachers are lifelong learners.There are always new developments in teaching and something new to learn.

[Máire Bradley]

Part one
An activity I would choose for a student incorporating a feature
from Microsoft 365 is a topic based project.
The feature I would use is immersive reader.
I would ask the pupil to choose a topic of choice.
By giving the pupil free choice of the topic, I think this would be motivational for them as they could choose a topic which they are really interested in
Immersive reader could be used when they are researching the topic
Maybe they could scan something into Microsoft 365 and use immersive reader to get it read back to them. They could also use the picture dictionary feature of immersive reader if there is something they don’t understand in their research on the topic I think this is an activity that could be very beneficial for the pupil. I would hope that it would help with their literacy skills and also make them more computer literate.
Project is below(no link)

Project
1.Choose a topic of choice
2.Research the topic
3.Present the project to the class using Microsoft tools either as a PowerPoint or as a poster to show the class

Part 2
I think the Cosán framework is important as it encourages professional development among teachers. This may keep teachers interested and motivated.
CPD is very important for teachers as it facilitates upskilling and can also promote motivation for tracing amongst teachers.

[Máire Bradley]

I agree with you Philip about the fact that immersive reader is customisable is a huge benefit. I hope to use more of this aspect in my teaching in the coming year

[Máire Bradley]

I think immersive reader on Microsoft is a great resource.
I have used the text to speech aspect and find it very beneficial for students who may find reading difficult.
It would be a good idea to use immersive
reader on Microsoft edge using the text book websites and then using text to speech where the books are read for the pupils.
I also like that the text is customisable where the spacing and background
colour can be changed to help improve the readability aspect of text for dyslexic students.
I have a student who reads better when the page he is reading doesn’t have a white background.
This would be a very useful tool to use with him.
I also like the idea of grammar tools as I haven’t used this before.
It would be very useful to help children understand sentence structure and different parts of a sentence for example nouns and verbs.
The picture dictionary would be also very useful as the pupil might be able find out the meaning of an unknown word independently.
I also hope to make more use of a reading pen which one of my pupils have and I hope this will help him to access the curriculum successfully.

[Máire Bradley]

I agree with you Roisin that the module gave a good insight into how assistive technology can be used to help pupils with varying different needs.

I also hadn’t heard  of the SETT framework until this course and I hope to incorporate into my teaching in September.

[Máire Bradley]

Part 2-SETT framework

I think the SETT framework is a great template to have in mind when devising a school support plan. Assistive  technology could well be a tool that pupils use to carry out different tasks and I hope to incorporate this into my school support plans from September

[Máire Bradley]

I found this module very interesting and informative. It gave a good overview of what assistive technologies are available in the school system. The digital learning framework states that teachers should plan for an integrate digital tools in their teaching. I think this is especially important for SEN pupils,as technology can be a pathway for them to access tour school curriculum.
I was very interested in the parts of the module relating to Microsoft Word and iPad
I think immersive reader is a great resource for dyslexic pupils and pupils who may find reading difficult or have a visual impairment. I was unaware that immersive reader was incorporated into Microsoft edge and I plan to use this in my teaching from September. I was also very interested to learn more about iPads and their accessibility function.As iPads are available in my school I hope to investigate this further in the next school year and to make use of these functions in my teaching.
I think that ICT and exist of technology is a great tool for SEN pupils and can be very helpful for them to access the school curriculum and to complete their schoolwork

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