Beyond Assistive Technology: Essentials for the college student.
Joan Shindel – OVR, York
Michael Fiore – The Sierra Group
How is college different?
- From high school
- From 5 years ago
- From 20 years ago
(Hint: A lot has to do with the
competitive changes in the labor
market – See The World is Flat by
Thomas Friedman)
The 5 things that most students think will work out without a hitch
- I will be able to keep up with my assignments – look at all the free time between classes.
- Managing my unstructured time will allow me to blossom like a flower in the warm summer sun.
- I write killer papers (see my essay: What I did last winter break)
- I’ll read a good 15-20 minutes per day - honest
- I can handle any math work they throw at me – psst, what’s an integer again?
What to look for if you’re afraid your kid will struggle to succeed in college
- Workload
- Independence
- Reading skills
- Writing skills
- Critical thinking and listening skills
- Organizational skills
The line between innovation and accommodation is blurring
- Electronic texts
- Self directed work teams
- Facebook, blogs, and Wiki’s
- iGoogle and phone apps
- APA, MLA and Word
- Live Scribe in Target & COSTCO
The Big 4: Reading Speed/Comprehension, Creating a paper, Note taking, and Organized studying
- Joan: How to qualify and quantify the need.
- What students think
- What parents think
- Michael: How to accommodate to achieve mastery.
- What students do
- What parents do
Organizing
Organizing Your Time
Writing Papers
Sample Paper Topic: How is climate change impacting food costs?
| What is one way?
|
What is one way?
|
|---|---|
| Give an example that supports this way |
Example 1 |
| Give an example that supports this way |
Example 2 |
| What is the opposite of this example |
Example 1 |
Taking Notes
Projects
Basic Assistive Technology
- Speech input: Naturally Speaking www.nuance.com
- Speech output: ZoomText www.aisuqared.com or Natural Reader www.naturalreaders.com
- Macros: X-Keys www.xkeys.com
What can you do
If your child is still in high school
- Joan:
- IEP’s
- Homework
- Tracking and monitoring
If your child is already in college
- Michael:
- Resources
- Strategies
- Tracking and monitoring
Your presenters
Joan Shindel
- PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, York, PA
- 717-771-4407
Michael Fiore
- The Sierra Group, King of Prussia, PA
- 610-992-0288