by Samuel Sennott
Hi, please do check out these Halloween, Harvest, and Fall Books on the Tar Heel Reader.
Here is the link to the bookshelf. You have to delete some books to get to all 26 on the list. I am showing you the full link, so you can see how the system works.
http://tarheelreader.org/favorites/?books=5195,5193,5050,4994,4992,4976,4868
,4794,4628,4566,4354,4382,4381,4279,4247,4211,4177,
4075,4040,4025,3743,3855,3879,3858,3741,3719
Or go straight to the Tar Heel Reader at tarheelreader.org
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by Samuel Sennott
Starting on November 17th, the XO will again be available in the United States and beyond, this time through Amazon. I remember last year setting the alarm for early in the morning on November 12, when they first became available. Much has happened regarding the XO and the whole movement in general. One of the best places to follow the story is www.olpcnews.com, but the official site, laptop.org, and the wiki, wiki.laptop.org, are also good. Below is right from the Amazon site: Amazon.com/XO.
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by Samuel Sennott
Saturday’s workshop was outright terrific. The participants excitement about the curriculum project, Bookshelves Please was tangible. I look forward to sharing about the prototyping and more about the project. For now, a few participants did not recieve the handout. Here it is: bookshelves-please-handout
by Samuel Sennott
Check out this video made by my uncle, Richard Sennott, for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Closing the Gap 2008 Video Link
by Samuel Sennott
Screen shot of the Portfolio Template Contents Page
About
In the one room schoolhouse of yesteryear, there were children of differing ages, with varying learning profiles, and vastly different learning objectives. State and district multiple choice, diagnostic systems (supposedly diagnostic) may be easily scored, disseminated, and interpreted by a microcomputer application. Yet, for all learners a better assessment system, or possibly more correctly put, information system, is far superior. Electronic portfolios can be that better assessment system. What is the point of assessment? I believe that it is so that the learner and their teachers know where they are at and where they are going.
Utilizing good design and presentation in an increasingly digital age, is important to the successful information transfer process in special education. To many times, therapists and teachers look at the IEP document as a boring static “thing”. Alternate assessment portfolios have amazing potential and it is an overwhelming success that we are “on the ticket”. Yet, seemingly always, these things are done for “them” and not for the true benefit of the learner and the learning process. This portfolio system seeks to be for the learner, their family, and for the individuals and collectives that serve that learner. The goal is simple: show the learner and their teachers where they are at, where they came from, and where they are going. It is essentially similar to what the State Alternate Assessment systems should hope to be, but are unable to achieve because of the stigma created. To be successful, we will stay student focused, utilize multi-modal media, and good principles of design.
Downloads
The PowerPoint Template to Download: open-learning-portfolio-template
The Description of the Contents and Hierarchy: Open-learning-portfolio-system
Handout (PDF) Closing the Gap 2008 Presentation, Portfolios That Work by Mary Ann Lowe SLP. D., CCC-SLP and Samuel Sennott. portfolios-that-work-closing-the-gap-handout
Presentation at Closing the Gap
Portfolios that Work
Date: Thu, Oct 16, 2008 from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Location: Plaza 4 Sheraton
Category: assessment
Format: demonstration
Subject Level: Intermediate
Computer Level: Intermediate
Description:
By using mixed media-based digital learning portfolios, a teacher can demonstrate learning in an unprecedented way. Using digital photos, video, text, and the versatile Microsoft PowerPoint, the individualized education plan comes alive to truly show learning taking place. This presentation will feature a free downloadable portfolio system in the PowerPoint format. The portfolio system is based on research conducted as part of Dr. Mary Ann Lowe’s dissertation in the Doctoral Studies Program in Speech Language Pathology at Nova Southeastern University, and includes additional research-based content and technical work by both Dr. Lowe and Samuel Charles Sennott.
Presenters:
Samuel Sennott, Mary Ann Lowe
by Samuel Sennott
imagine symbols icon
Do you know about the 4000 Imagine Symbol set that is free for personal use. You can go to www.imaginesymbols.com and download the entire brightly colored set of picture symbols. There are also low cost options to liscense the symbols. Don’t forget that you can load them into your iPhoto library for easy use with various applications.
by Samuel Sennott
Check out this London restaurant reported on by Engadget. How fun would it be to go here with people using AAC? And if they had some scanning/ alternate access options. Fun dreams.
London restaurant claims fame with touch-sensitive tables, colorful menu projectors
Read this Articleby Samuel Sennott
Prentke Romich Company announces a wireless switch that should be nice to see in action next week at Closing the Gap. How many times have you wished for this? The Jelly Beamer is cool, but common, they definitely got it right going with the pervasive Bluetooth technology. It will be interesting to get user feedback on this innovation. Here is the press release.
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by Samuel Sennott
mywebspiration logo
Are you participating in the public beta test of myWebspiration. (www.mywebspiration.com) From the makers of the graphic organizing softwares Inspiration, Kidspiration, and Inspiredata, comes the web 2.0 version of the software. In my intial trials of using myWebspiration, my impression is that for the basics it works just like Inspiration, my graphic organizing software of choice. Yet, gosh do I miss being able to do (contro/ command e). That resizes your graphic. There a few other usability features that will also be upgraded, such as undo, super small cell color fill buttons, and other problems related to overriding the browser function keys. Hey, that’s why its a beta right? I just started a collaborative project using the sharing feature and will report on how it goes. Overall, I think this software has great potential to give students access to the software at home, which assumes that the company continues its aggressively priced bulk liscensing options for schools.
by Samuel Sennott
Just wanted to share that my team from this summer and I had some work published in the Closing the Gap Newspaper turned magazine in the current issue, which is October/November 2008. We are thrilled to be able to share some of the insight from our work focusing on users of AAC and writing.
A Writer, a Pencil, a Reason and a Teacher (Actually no pencil required)
By Samuel Sennott, Christina Cahill, Shelly Major, Nicole Nordal, Charity Smith-Engelin, Cassie Rubenstein and Joslyn Silverman
Preview:
After six intense weeks of Nova Southeastern University’s TLC Summer Writing Camp for users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), one of our team members said about the students, “They love writing now! Look at them, they just can’t wait to do it.” The six-week camp was designed with the goal of helping users of AAC, ages 8 to 12, become better writers. The primary intent of the camp was to develop and implement systems, curriculum and materials that would help the students grow in the writing process, both now and into their next school year. A secondary goal was to look for potential research questions to be studied related to users of AAC and the writing process.
