Azu Ike

With the expansion of co-teaching as a means to improve student outcomes, technology can be an invaluable resource.  Co-teachers need to plan collaboratively, jointly implement lesson plans, and cooperatively assess student progress.  This reference guide provides practical  strategies on how technology can facilitate co-planning, expedite sharing of student data, and streamline many other tasks that ultimately assist in accomplishing co-teaching's goal: improved student outcomes. Whatever your preferred computer platform, co-teachers can apply these strategies and applications to accommodate all learners' needs. Written by the nation's foremost authority on co-teaching, Marilyn Friend, and Brian S. Friedlander, an expert in the use of instructional and assistive technologies, this handy tool  features an overview of co-teaching fundamentals, along with recommendations of over t...

Not a day goes by without educators hearing the need for new innovative practices that can stimulate and engage students in the learning process. For the past 5 years we have seen schools begin to focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Art  & Math) through Makerspaces and providing students the opportunity to do cross-curricular projects that entail a variety of academic subjects and design thinking. With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards many schools have begun to shift their science programs that now include systems thinking and giving students the opportunities to do hands-on experiments and conduct investigations. With the movement away from rote learning, teachers will need to develop new skills and strategies to have students do science both inside and out of the classroom. A recent study by the Amgen Foundation, Change t...

I am happy to share that Co-Teaching & Technology-Enhancing Communication & Collaboration (a laminated guide) by Marilyn Friend and I will be released shortly and is packed with practical suggestions on how you can get the most out co-teaching and technology. With the expansion of co-teaching as a means to improve student outcomes, technology can be an invaluable resource.  Co-teachers need to plan collaboratively, jointly implement lesson plans, and cooperatively assess student progress.  This reference guide provides practical  strategies on how technology can facilitate co-planning, expedite sharing of student data, and streamline many other tasks that ultimately assist in accomplishing co-teaching’s goal: improved student outcomes. Whatever your preferred computer platform, co-teachers can apply these strategies and applications to accommodate all learners’ needs. Written by the nation's foremost authority on co-teaching, Marilyn Friend, and Brian Friedlander,...

Whitelines Link Page If you haven't noticed there has been an increased interest in teaching students the art of note taking using standard paper and pens. In fact, just last week, I attended an educational computer conference and sat in on a workshop presented by Chrissy Romano   on a Sketch-noting- that showed how her students are using this technique for recording classroom notes. There is a great deal of research that points to the fact that when we write down things using pen and paper that we are more likely to remember the information as compared to when we use a keyboard. In a previous post I highlighted some of the ways we can use paper notebooks that are designed with specific apps to share and save our notes in the cloud. While searching the web one day, I came across a relatively new solution that bridges the analog to digital world for note taking called Whitelines Link . I would like to thank Olof for provid...

I have been using MindView for years and is one of my favorite mind mapping applications. I use it to brainstorm ideas, plan workshops and for writing structured  proposals and documents. For some time now Matchware has been working on an assistive technology edition that has lots of great features. These include: text-to speech, high contrast, integration with TextHelp Read & Write 9 Gold and Dragon Naturally Speaking. If you are interesting in learning more about Mindview AT they are holding a FREE webinar on May 12, 2016 at 11:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT which you can register for by clicking on this LINK . MIndView is an exceptionally designed mind mapping application that has lots of great features to meet the needs of students who need the built-in supports. 

One of the most natural ways to interact with our devices is with our voice. With the advent of smartphones many of us are beginning to rely on voice as our means for interacting with our devices. Whether you are using Cortana , SIRI , or Google Now , you know how rewarding it is to be able to text a message or set up a reminder with your voice. Using your voice to interact with your handheld device feels so natural and empowering. Within this context I ordered an Amazon Echo Dot which I received a couple of weeks ago and am really excited with its potential in being able to understand your voice and in its ability to connect other devices for environmental control.  Setting up the Amazon Echo Dot was straight forward -I plugged it in connected it my WiFi network and within seconds I was asking Alexa questions. If you have used speech to interact with your devices you will be struck by just how fast Alexa responds once you ask it a question....

As much as I enjoy using my digital devices, there are times when I am going into meetings that I want to be able travel light and have that experience of putting pen to paper. However at the same time I know I am going to want to share that note or idea and bring it back into my digital work flow. I have been using various digital pen technologies for the past decade and when I saw that Wacom had released the Bamboo Spark I had to give it a test drive. Wacom was good enough to provide me with the Bamboo Spark Smart folio with gadget pocket to review. The  Bamboo Spark Smart folio  has a nice grey finish that should hold up well to wear and tear. The premise of the  Bamboo Spark Smart folio  is quite simple-write with the provided pen on the paper-then press the button to send all of your ideas and notes-which are automatically synced with the Bamboo Spark app on your IOS or Android device. The  Bamboo Spark Smart folio  ...