Accommodations and Modifications

Transcription

1 Accommodations and Modifications e2020 believes that the learning experience is unique to each individual. The following features make it user-friendly, particularly to English Language Learners and students holding IEPs or 504s. Curriculum Students can set their own pace. Activities are engaging to keep students focused and on task. Pages within activities are clearly organized and consistent in structure. Concepts are repeated, reviewed, and summarized for clarity. Student can pause, stop, and rewind the direct-instruction videos, allowing them to review unclear concepts or skills Learning activities teach concepts through graphics, videos, and interactive games, accommodating the diversity of learning styles Visual enhancements for teaching concepts include font, font size, spacing, color, bullets, and numbering. Closed captioning and transcripts available for the 2000 series target auditory-impaired students as well as visual learners. Graphics and pictures are added are included on quiz and tests. Activities are broken up into manageable units, which help improve student mastery enotes, the e2020 note-taking feature, can be used during assessments with the teacher s permission ewriting breaks down the writing process into steps, encouraging students to tackle a large task in pieces and to receive feedback along the way. Assessment Teachers can make accommodations for special mastery levels, time for completion of custom tests, and number of questions on a quiz. Instructions and images are clear, allowing for easy navigation. Assessments delivered one question at a time, preventing students from becoming overwhelmed by the size of a test. Diagnostic prescriptive capabilities permit individualization of instruction based on assessment results. Management Supplemental learning blocks can be added from below-grade-level courses that more simply explain fundamental skills and concepts. Grade weights can be adjusted.

2 Teacher help can be provided as a method of re-teaching. The Dashboard management tool flags students needing intervention. Several of these features are highlighted in the following section, useful for both the Special Education and Remediation/Intervention populations in e2020 schools. Virtual Classroom Accommodations and Modifications Features The Virtual Classroom offers a highly interactive online environment that utilizes auditory, visual, and kinesthetic intelligences evidenced by the range of activities: students use the keyboard and mouse to navigate the system and type responses; students listen to highly qualified teachers give direct instruction via a video; in that same video, students read text and observe manipulation of numbers and text via graphics; struggling readers can utilize the e2020 Toolbar, which will read text to them. Students and teachers also interact using chat, , and threaded discussions. This environment appeals highly to students with learning exceptionalities. For ELL students (or any other students with language challenges), teachers can enable e2020 s robust language-support features. This toolset allows students to hear on-screen text read aloud. It also includes translation options to help newcomers access content in English; these students can have all on-screen text translated into a number of supported languages. Highlighted text can be translated into Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, or Vietnamese. ELL students are also supported through the use of sheltered instruction techniques such as: Sharing lesson objectives with students in writing and verbally Emphasizing key vocabulary Using speech appropriate for students proficiency level Explaining all academic tasks clearly Allowing students to control the pace of instruction through pause/rewind/replay Regular feedback on student input/work ereader: ESL/Struggling Reader Accommodation: e2020 courseware includes ereader, a language conversion tool that translates HTML text into a desired language such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Russian, and Korean. This feature also allows students to have highlighted text read to Formatted: Justified Formatted: Font: (Default) +Body (Calibri), 12 pt Formatted: Space After: 10 pt, Line spacing: single Formatted: Justified, Space After: 0 pt, Bulleted + Level: 1 + Aligned at: 0.75" + Indent at: 1" Formatted: Justified, Indent: Left: 0.75", Space After: 0 pt

3 them for increased auditory comprehension. By using the translation feature, students can check for accurate reading comprehension. The following graphics depict translations to Spanish. English to Spanish translation in a math course: Formatted: Font: 12 pt Auditory-Impaired and Visual- Learner Accommodations: Closed Captioning and Transcripts: To meet the needs of the hearing-impaired or students needing visual reinforcement of auditory instruction, e2020 provides closed-captioning and transcripts of its newer 2000-series courses: Courses that have closed captioning will appear with the closed-captioning trademark by the direct instruction video as seen in this image from the Web Administrator:

4 Sample of Closed Captioning in Virtual Classroom: Students have the option to turn captions on or off with the small CC button near the lecture play/pause/rewind controls, and it defaults to off. Sample transcript of closed-caption from MS Civics, Government, and Economics-SS2049:

5 Promoting Self-Regulation for the Attention-Impaired Student e2020 understands that student success is directly proportional to good study habits. Recognizing this important relationship, e2020 has incorporated several features into the system to promote self-regulation In the Virtual Classroom, the Student Organizer serves as an organization and study tool. This resource contains academic tools and reference materials, like a calculator, progress report, assignment calendar and orientation videos.

6 The Assignment Calendar lists assignments and due dates for each course based on the end dates established by the course teacher. This tool helps students with time management and prioritization, key skills used in the school and work environment. Orientation videos introduce the student to the features within the virtual learning environment. Students access these videos to learn navigation around the Virtual Classroom, including the ways to access direct-instruction videos, select eresource hyperlinks, use interactives, take assessments, and contact their teachers via , chat, or in the Collaboration Corner. Student lessons are highly organized into units, topics, lessons, and activities. Each lesson s accompanying objectives and standards can be viewed by the student on their Virtual Classroom course homepage. This organization teaches students the value of neatly organizing their work for an audience so that components are easily located. Lesson Organization Standards Covered in a Lesson

7 Objectives Covered in a Lesson The progress bar and progress reports help students with goal setting. Each time students log into their Virtual Classroom, they see their progress bar when they open up their current course. This bar turns red if the student is behind progress. For a teacher, this same information will appear in the Web Administrator per a red exclamation point next to the student s name. In either case, this student requires intervention and redirection with the coursework. The progress report can also statistically explain the student s progress. Web Administrator Accommodations and Modifications Features Administrators and teachers have several tools at their disposal to aid in customization of the e2020 program. Prescriptive testing and pre-testing allow educational institutions to customize according to assessment performance prior to a course or lesson s start. Pretesting and Prescriptive Testing: e2020 allows institutions to enable the prescriptive and pre-testing features.

8 With prescriptive testing, the student takes a diagnostic test composed of one (1) question from each lesson within the course for an overview of the main concept mastery of the specified course. For a more comprehensive insight into student knowledge, pre-testing is available prior to the start of every lesson. If the pre-test option is turned on, then the student receives the end-of-lesson quiz before s/he begins any lesson work. Depending on the passing threshold for the prescriptive and/or pre-test, the student may bypass the course or lesson entirely. If more practice is needed, an individual course or lesson plan specific to the student s weaknesses will be generated to guide the student through the lesson. Teachers can also customize once a student begins working on a lesson. Bypass: Within the student s profile in the Online Gradebook, a teacher can choose to bypass any of the activities attached to a lesson.

9 If the student needs more practice as they progress through the lesson, the teacher can undo the bypass. Intervention and Remediation Tool: Supplemental Learning Blocks: If a need for remediation or enrichment is identified, the student s lesson plan can be enhanced by using the Supplemental Learning Blocks feature. Were a student to struggle with triangles in Geometry class, the teacher can use this feature to search for triangle lessons. Individual Course Customization: Courses can be customized for an individual student within the Web Administrator. From the course skeleton, the teacher unchecks the topics or lessons NOT required of the student.

10 Virtual Student Services The Virtual Student Services Department also provides accommodations in the online environment for students with an IEP or 504 plan. In order to have accommodations implemented in an online class, e2020 must receive a current copy of the student's IEP or 504 plan each semester the student enrolls in our courses. Special Education documentation may be faxed to e2020 staff will then review the IEP or 504 plan to determine the appropriate accommodations for the online class. Some accommodations include the following measures: monitoring of individual student progress by teacher, facilitator, and parent personalized and descriptive feedback for student work opportunities for differentiated instruction based on a variety of learning styles (lesson activities) one-on-one access to the teacher Despite its many efforts towards accommodating Special Education populations, e2020 does acknowledge that online education does not suit every Special Education student. After a thorough review of the student s IEP, e2020 determines if the program is a good fit for the student.