Kurzweil Presentations

So, I have accepted the fact that I am far behind when it comes to blogging! I have decided not to look at other posts for now as I am happy in my own little blogger world and can't get stressed out by looking at all of the highly intelligent and techno-savvy students in our class! :)

Speaking of techno-savvy... the Kurzweil presentations were a great eye opener to the capabilities that lie within the program. We all have so many variables in what e do every day but when it came down to the presentations it was easy to tie the AT theme in to what we do. Whether a classroom teacher, PST or other type of educator we can all relate to and apply Kurzweil to a "client" or clients that we support.

What I think makes our group special is that diversity mentioned. We are just beginning to realize the potential of the program and I was happy to see the various applications that everyone presented.

I think that we all come to the table each week with all of our personal experiences and the nice thing was that even if we teach a level that was not applicable to a particular package being presented, we could still relate in some personal way.

As a new Mom I was sitting there thinking about the importance of using these tools with my daughter as she grows. I was also thinking as a PST at the high school level of the students that would benefit from so many of the packages presented. It was great to understand the applications at various levels of mastery and also to think about learners as individuals with varying profiles.

I would like to note the feeling of navigating a whole new world when Ian and Paula went ahead with the Mac application. There were things on screen that I felt were much more user friendly (easily located and applied) than out PC application of Kurzweil. I can see where students in Ian's class are motivated to develop their own "products" by way of web design etc. with the license that he gives them to be in control of their learning.
Very interesting!

I think that the key to Kurzweil for me is having time to explore and apply. I hope that as you practice and use the program the time that it takes to create packages like the one that Ceri and I worked on would be greatly reduced. Otherwise I am not sure that I feel I would have time to do the program or the students justice with the program in the role of PST.