Learning Activities For Educationally Challenged Students

The computer is an extremely effective tool in the special education classroom be- cause it is infinitely patient. There are many considerations to consider in develop- ing the lessons (Adams, 2006a). Students can work at their own pace without feeling threatened or rushed. Also, the computer seems to motivate many students to repeat lessons and exercises, thereby reinforcing the knowledge they have gained. In ef- fect, the computer provides the student with limitless individual attention that the special education teacher cannot always provide. Although there is limited educa- tional software on the market that has been designed specifically for use in special education, most educational programs can be adapted to the unique needs of the special education classroom. It is especially easy to tailor educational software that includes authoring components so that the teacher may create questions or prob- lems that relate specifically to the subject area under consideration. The lesson plans that follow present educational software that adapts well to use with exceptional students.

Educationally Challenged Activity Title:

Logic Builders

Grade-Level Range: Because Logic Builders (Scholastic New Media) allows the student to choose from three levels of difficulty, the game can be adapted to a wide range of skill levels.

Purpose.   Through this learning activity, students

• Improve their ability to follow directions by re-creating spider webs according to computer-generated patterns
• Address the following National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students: 1—Basic operations and concepts; 2—Social, ethical, and human issues; and 4—Technology communication tools

Description. Students use the software gaming program, Logic Builders, to create a graphic image.

Activity  Preparation

• Students understand basic operations of the computer and have minimal typing skills.
• Teachers should be familiar with loading the programs and selecting the appro- priate games from the main

Activity Procedure

1. Students select DRAW A WEB from the main menu of Logic This game enables students to experiment with the process of drawing a spider web with the help of on-screen spiders.
2. Students play MATCH A WEB in which they are required to re-create a master design displayed on the right side of the
3. Still more challenging is RECALL A WEB, which requires students to re-create the master web from Students achieve high scores for re-creating webs in as few moves as possible.
4. As students earn points, they receive promotions to the level of Big
5. Have students share their thoughts about the game using a synchronous com- munication tool (CHAT program).

Tools and Resources

Software

• Logic Builders (Scholastic New Media), synchronous communication tool

Assessment. The score maintained by the computer can be used as an indicator of student success in redrawing patterns. Do students select higher levels of challenge after gaining experience with the program? Do they demonstrate positive social and ethical behaviors when using technology?

Comments. Factory (Sunburst), The Oregon Trail 2 (The Learning Company), Lego TC Logo (LCSI), Carmen Sandiego series (Broderbund), and the Sim series (Maxis) of programs are alternative software approaches to this lesson. Students can do screen captures to cut and paste their webs into a paint program to color them or even use them as screen savers.

Educationally Challenged Activity Title:

Recreation and Leisure

Grade-Level Range:   8 to 12

Purpose.   Through this learning activity, students

• Locate and participate in recreational and leisure activities in the community
• Address the following National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students: 1—Basic operations and concepts; 2—Social, ethical, and human issues; 3—Technology productivity tools; 4—Technology communication tools; and 5— Technology research tools

Description.  Students use a database to store and organize their research findings.

Activity  Preparation

• Students are familiar with databases and have minimal typing
• Students are familiar with collecting data from the
• Design a template to include the following fields: Activity, Organization, Address, Cost, Services, Hours, and
• Develop a bookmark folder with local
• Format a data disk in advance of the

Activity Procedure

1. Students create lists of recreational and leisure activities that they
2. As a class, discuss what opportunities are available in the local
3. Students search online resources, contact public agencies, and conduct research to discover other leisure activities offered in the
4. After students have completed their research, have them key their data into the database. This is an excellent opportunity to teach students about retrieving and sorting records in the
5. Have students print a copy of their databases for a referral
6. Have students email friends, key pals, or relatives their listings of available community

Tools and Resources

Software

• Database (ClarisWorks, Filemaker, Microsoft Access, )

Other

• Reference materials on local recreational and leisure activities

Assessment. Have students uncovered valuable information about leisure activities available to them? Are students able to enter and access their information quickly and easily? Do some of the students participate in any of the activities included in the database?

Comments. As an ongoing class project, ask students to bring in information about new activities, schedule changes, and so forth to keep the database up to date. Stu- dents who participate in community activities can report their experiences to the class. Have students plan a class trip using their database information. The previous lessons presented a number of suggestions for introducing students to common com- puter applications such as word processing, database, graphics, spreadsheet, as well as the Internet and educational software. Teachers can adapt learning technologies easily to fit into virtually all areas of the curriculum.