04 March 2008 1

Educational Software

Todd LoxleyBeth Calvo

Stacie WilliamsMatt Wojcinski

04 March 2008

04 March 2008 2

Educational Software

For

Educators

Todd Loxley

04 March 2008 3

What Kind of Special Needs?

• Lesson Plans• Tips for the Proficiency Test• Journaling and Documentation Tools

• Guides for selecting age appropriate material

• Discounts that may be available

04 March 2008 4

Lesson Plans

• Compares your lessons with state and local benchmarks and standards

• Review your lessons by class and by day

• Provides search option to look for key words or subjects

• Allows you to copy and paste from one lesson to another

04 March 2008 5

Guides for Proficiency Tests

• Gives insight of test format

• Does NOT say what will be on test

• Explains rational of how the test is set up

• Guides the educator in the general direction

or manner in which to prepare students

04 March 2008 6

Journaling and Documentation

• Creates an easily used tool that educators need to record day to day activities.

• Today's world requires teachers to reflect back on their work and performance

• Helps set goals and create plans

• Extremely useful when recording observations

04 March 2008 7

Finding Age Appropriate Material

• Great for new teachers that need assistance of how to present material

• Is this material a key topic in previous or later grades?

• Do state and local districts have any restrictions?

04 March 2008 8

Discounts

• Bargains that educators are entitled to, but maybe not aware of.

• Show availability of them online and also locally

• Could include class materials and beyond.

04 March 2008 9

Other Things to Consider

• Will the software play nice with your operating system?

• What are the licensing and cost issues?

• Is there on line help available for your specific software?

• Is there any special training needs for you?

04 March 2008 10

• This Software basically helps teachers do their job better.

• It caters to the special needs of both new and seasoned educators.

04 March 2008 11

Special Needs SoftwareBeth Calvo

04 March 2008 12

What is Special Needs Software?

• Software specifically designed to address the needs of learners with special needs as the result of a variety of physical or learning impairments

04 March 2008 13

What Type of Special Needs?

• Autism• Learning

Disabilities– Reading disability– Writing disability– Nonverbal learning

disability– Disorder of

speaking & listening

– Auditory processing

– Dyslexia– ADD or ADHD– Down’s Syndrome

• Physical Disabilities– Blindness or visual impairment

– Hearing impairment– Multiple Sclerosis– Cerebral Palsy

04 March 2008 14

What Does This Software Do?

• Reads words/letters displayed on screen• Enlarges text • Changes speech into text• Displays sounds for hearing impaired• Facilitates interaction with computers• Presents material in multi-sensory formats

• Helps student participate in social communication and recreational activities

04 March 2008 15

Websites to Check Out

• www.ehow.com/how

• http://specialchildren.about.com

• www.cec.sped.org

04 March 2008 16

Educational Software for Different Subject

Areas

Stacie Williams

04 March 2008 17

Educational Software for Art

• Flying Colors 2 -integrated clip art and drawing program.

• Golly Gee Blocks - 3D kids program. • KidPix - popular children's art program by

Broderbund. • Origami - a group of programs that teaches the

ancient art of paper folding. There are 6 different programs available, each with their own theme. Learn to fold boats, animals, characters, flowers, clothing, party items, boxes, or objects by ordering the corresponding themes.

• Tux Paint - free drawing program designed for young children (kids ages 3and up). It has a simple, easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and a cartoon mascot who helps you along

04 March 2008 18

Educational Software for Math

• Amath Systems publishes foundation level math skills software. Includes a K-4 math skills title and a pre-algebra title.

• Arithmetic CD - contains over 1700 basic arithmetic lessons for Kindergarten through 8th grade level students. All of the lessons have an explanation, interactive practice, and challenge games.

• Enriched Math - designed to get your students talking about math. Each of the 15 modules begins with an activity to introduce a math concept through a strategic game with inherent math content or through a challenge that can be solved using onscreen manipulatives. When students are ready, they move on to the Brainteasers - a series of word problems designed to stimulate discussion and learning. These Brainteasers introduce new strategies and help students synthesize the ideas introduced in the initial activity.

• FUNdamentallyMATH - CD-ROM for K-12 students. Helps teach subjects ranging from basic math to geometry to trigonometry to matrix algebra.

• Mathville - series of K-10 math CD-ROMs.

04 March 2008 19

Educational Software for Science

• AIMSTAR Information Solutions - publishes a life science multimedia CD-ROM for children, an essentials science title, and more.

• Tom Snyder Productions - variety of science software for grades 2-8.

• Frog Guts Virtual Dissection- actually dissect a frog.

04 March 2008 20

Educational Software for Music

• Music Ace-series of children's music learning software. Includes Music Ace, Music Ace 2, and Music Ace Starter.

• Music Games International - music game software. Includes a title based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

• PBJ Music - games cleverly disguise the drill and practice of elementary through intermediate music theory concepts.

• Pianomouse.com - publishes a CD-ROM on music theory fundamentals and an introduction to the Great Composers title.

• Recorder Teacher - helps teach soprano recorder. Combines state-of-the-art animated graphics, CD quality music and speech, and rapid response to form a sophisticated, interactive multi-media application.

• Town 4 Kids - publishes a multimedia music learning system designed for music beginners, a computer-based tutoring system designed to teach music literacy, and a computer administrated curriculum that teaches one to recognize, read and transcribe chords and master the aural and symbolic techniques of harmonization.

04 March 2008 21

Educational Software for Social Studies

• Decision Development Corporation - offers a CD-ROM on human pre-history through the fall of the Roman Empire, and another which contains a complete K-5 social studies curriculum.

• Pentewa Interactive - programs on international arts for K-8. Covers Chinese, Mexican, and Native American cultures.

• Rainbow Educational Media - publishes software on Native Americans for grades K-8. Also offers math products.

• River Deep - parent company of the Learning Company, Broderbund, and Edmark among others. Links to respective brand's social studies software.

04 March 2008 22

• http://www.educational-software-directory.net/

04 March 2008 23

Research Software for Students

Matt Wojcinski

04 March 2008 24

Grammar Slammer

• Grammar Slammer Deluxe with checkers has a complete English grammar and spelling reference integrated with its own Grammar and Spelling checker.

• It received 5-stars, or an equivalent from twenty eight different reviewers.

04 March 2008 25

EndNote

• Organizes references, images, PDFs and other files in a library.

• It creates a bibliography as you write your paper. Including references for images and any charts and graphs you add to you paper.

• It works in conjunction with several different word processors.

• You can also choose from over 2,800 different formatting standards depending on what the paper is for.

04 March 2008 26

RefWorks• Great for upper High School and College aged students.

• Online research, writing and collaboration management tool.

• Designed to help students easily gather, manage, store information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.

• Online program that most colleges and universities use, including the University of Akron.

• www.refworks.com

04 March 2008 27

Any Questions?Any Comments?

OrSnide Remarks?