Final Synthesis

Running head: FINAL SYNTHESIS PROJECT








Final Synthesis Project
Patricia A. Moore
Western Michigan University
Telecommunication for Teaching and Learning
EDT 5410
Sharon Peterson
April 20, 2008
Final Synthesis Project
In partial completion of the requirements for EDT 5410, for this project, I have designed an instructional product that incorporates two tools which I had the opportunity to explore during this past semester.
Target audience
This activity is structured for current teachers of students with mild cognitive impairments and for students in undergraduate special education teacher preparation programs. This activity is developed for K-12 special education center-based school programs.
Learning objectives
Using two online tools, learners will develop a life goal curriculum using the Diagnostic, Prescriptive and Evaluation (DPE) approach. The DPE is a life goal curriculum approach to teaching students with mental retardation. Using Google Notebook the emphasis will be on addressing realistic goals based on the student’s Individualized Educational Plan with prescribed procedures for evaluating progress and goal attainment. Significant emphasis will be placed upon determining realistic attainable goals. After the diagnostic step, the prescription process begins whereby the goals are taught from a specific lesson to a more general lesson. The final step involves evaluation the prescriptions to determine the continued efficacy or the need to modify and or adjust the goals. These procedures play a significant role in the daily class.
Using Picnik photo editing, SPED professionals will create an album for each student and save pictures related to their environments in terms of where students will live, work, and play after they leave school. This tool can also assists in teaching skills that prepare the students to function successfully in those environments. At the end of the year, SPED teachers will have a digital portfolio to demonstrate appropriately applied procedures to assist students with independent functioning. For example, images will portray several students were working on objectives for eating, toilet use, dressing and undressing and cleanliness. indicated the goal was to follow the sequence of identifying skills which will prepare the students to function successfully where they live, work and play after they leave school. These goals are realistic and generalized to real life settings. The goals were clearly identified on the student’s IEP with ongoing monitoring to determine continued appropriateness.

Description of lesson/intervention
The first online tool which will be incorporated into this lesson consists of “Google Notebook.” Google Notebook is a free service offered by Google that provides a simple way to save and organize clips of information when conducting research online. This personal browser tool permits a user to write notes, and to clip text, images, and links from pages during browsing. These are saved to an online "notebook" with sharing and collaboration features. This tool will allow you to set up and save your student’s life goal curriculum. As you develop the curriculum, you will clip and save appropriate information which you can reference later.
The next tool you will integrate into this lesson is Picnik online photo editing. This tool allows you to upload photos or images from your computer or from the web. Picnik’s basic editing tools are comparable with other photo editing software such as Hewlett Packard. You can also import photos from your computer, Facebook, Flickr, Yahoo Image search and Picasa Web Albums.
Artifacts
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dqfcp6b_0f3drkddd
http://s255.photobucket.com/albums/hh151/patriciamsw/?action=view&current=1b318a20.pbr
(In order to view the above links touch ctrl + click) These links provide examples of the online tool used to develop the life goal curriculum for students with mild cognitive impairments.
Justification
This lesson might easily be created using the simple pencil and paper approach. Perhaps you might even consider still photos taken with an automatic camera. The photos could then be pasted to paper scrapbook or placed in a photo album for later viewing. On the other hand, there are several benefits to integrating computer imagination and technological tools within your curriculum.
There are several justifications for using of Computer Imagination. Our readings from Week 2 state “Computer imagination takes advantage of the computer's strengths. A Web site is computer imaginative if it exploits the strengths of the Web to achieve an important goal, whether it is learning, entertainment, information, brand identification, or increased sales.” The integration of the technological tools discussed in this final synthesis significantly enhances not only the skills of the SPED teachers but the acquisition of knowledge and skills development for students with special learning needs.
When we consider the development of the Life Curriculum, the learner can regularly store and update information in expansive, hyperlinked methods. The Google Notebook allows for the use of sophisticated websites and online database searched. There are opportunities to acquire and share information with colleagues and peers through instant messaging, email links and web sites.
The concept of community of users is appealing for SPED teachers as well as the students they instruct. Unlike methods which require excessive time, travel and other logistical constraints, these technology tools can meet the needs of multiple users without the concerns of time or location.