A Virtural and Live collaborative effort- Kurzweil

After entering the BlackBoard/Elluminate live classroom,  Barb, technically referred to in Elluminate as 'moderator' walked us through the "LIVE" class on the technical and  interface of Kurzweil ( btw - using the tutorials was really helpful).   Once we went through the basics, Catherine, Paul and I, (Paul was at his home..so he joined us in the virtual room ) worked collaboratively on the sample document A Horse's Tale (by Mark Twain).

We initially noticed a few of the Kurzweil v. comparisons from the beginning. Catherine and I 'chatted' and interacted with Paul via remote access from his PC where he was moderating and facilitating the room.  Easy, no delay, it was great!  This is something I am definitely going to be using at work! 

Using Kurzweil, a really simple, yet powerful software, we attempted to foster the skills and cognitive abilities of reading by developing a reading curriculum. We used some of key functions within Kurzweil to make our reading 'assignment' more interactive for the learner - who we decided was a male with learning disabilities in reading and who is also reluctant to read.  So we needed to include visual and auditory stimulation throughout the work, to self motivate and to prompt the flow and direction of  his reading.

We very easily integrated sticky notes (for prompting and direction), video (visual and auditory), book marks (used for definition), various types of test questions m/c t/f  (to reinforce and assess progression in literacy skills).

We also included a external hyperlink (the learner only needs to double click on the work) to view a YouTube video reinforcing the reading materials, and therefore maintaining learner attention and interest.  We also included an audio recording describing vocabulary.  While saving the file, we then decided upon completion to convert the file to an MP3 for mobility.