3.3.4 Screen readers and speech synthesisers A refreshable Braille display is a row of cells each containing pins that represent Braille dots. These pins are raised or lowered to form Braille letters. The screen reader program sends text a line at a time or as set by the user. The hardware is expensive, a 40 character display costs about £4000 ($7000, €6000); so this option is most often used by those in employment. Its main advantage over speech output is that refreshable Braille distinguishes between individual characters, so there
2.5.1 References Channel 4 (undated) ‘Watch your language’ [online], London, Channel 4 Television, www.channel4.com/life/microsites/B/bornfreak/language.htm (Accessed 31 July 2007). DEMOS (2003) website http://jarmin.com/demos/. DEMOS (2002) ‘Disability Awareness’ module [online], Manchester, DEMOS Project, http://jarmin.com/ demos/Author(s):
2.1 Models of disability Disability is discussed more frequently now than it was even a single generation ago. You may have come across ‘political correctness’ debates in the media in which the terms used to describe diverse groups of people are discussed. In this short activity, we ask you to read about models of disability and guidance on terminology. You will also be asked to revisit your list of challenging activities from the ‘Accessibility and disability’ activity and to update it if necessary.
1.2.2 Usability The second factor is good practice. In general terms, and business terms, it is good practice to make a product available to as wide a market as possible. A design that incorporates the requirements for disabled students is likely to be more accessible and useful for non-disabled students than a design without such consideration. One example would be a user interface that is usable by a blind person will also be usable by a person whose eyes are busy (for example people who are doing a task t
3 The challenge of change …although we may be striving to turn a profession that has the inertia of a supertanker, as individuals each of us is a speed boat that can turn on a dime… (Pate and Hohn (1994), p. 217) The American authors of the quote above suggest that PE needs to change so that it places primary emphasis on the promotion of lifelong exercise. However, they consider that this could be slow and difficult
1. Efficient brain performance Two sources of fuel are particularly important to ensure a healthy and efficiently functioning brain – oxygen and water. Fortunately, in many countries, both of these are in ready supply! Many schools in the UK are already beginning to recognise the need for students (and their brains) to be sufficiently hydrated, and have installed water-coolers at strategic points. Oxygen is easier to supply, but sitting down for a typical 50-minute lesson could decrease the amount of oxygen delivered to
3.5 Issues of capability Very occasionally, issues about the capability of the headteacher may arise during discussions about performance against agreed objectives. If the appointed performance review governors suspect that the headteacher is not able to meet his/her objectives, they should first consider the circumstances of the school to satisfy themselves that these have not altered significantly to make the objective/s unachievable. If this is the case, they should make necessary allowances when monitoring
Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should: be able to explain what is meant by the term ‘the global dimension’; be familiar with the terminology used in relation to the global dimension; know why the inclusion of the global dimension in the primary school curriculum is important; know how the global dimension can enhance the primary school curriculum; be able to plan the global dimension into the secondary curriculum.
1.5 Reductionist skill-based approach versus whole-language: English language 5–14 Ellis and Friel identify a number of concerns in relation to the 5–14 Guidelines for English: English Language 5–14 presented a welcome return to a focus on the content of language teaching. However, unless sympathetically interpreted, it presents a skills-based and reductionist model of language which does not capture and promote the rich model that underpins best practice in Scottish schools. Although 6 Communicating and OpenLearn A variety of software tools are available to help you communicate with others to
rework content and to enable your learners to work with each other. As well as
Compendium, the mind mapping tool described in Activity 3, FlashMeeting enables video-conferencing through a web
browser, and the Comments allow asynchronous discussion 3.1 Introduction In planning your unit you need to keep four questions in mind. What are you trying to achieve with this teaching unit - what are your aims? What activities do you wish the learners to engage with in order to demonstrate or achieve those aims - what are the learning objectives or outcomes and how are they to be assessed? How will you evaluate the effectiveness of what you have produced? In the light of the ev Introduction This unit looks at the pedagogical issues involved in the creation and selection of self-study educational resources for a set of intended learning outcomes as exemplified here on OpenLearn. It is a unit about writing a unit. Although it considers the way that people at The Open University set about writing open-learning materials, it will not focus specifically on the University’s particular production system. Nor does it look deeply at the technical issues involved in producing certain ty References 3 Sharing information If all governors are not involved in monitoring there must be procedures through which all are kept informed. Creese and Earley (1999). The role of the governor has changed considerably in recent years: there is a genuine need to know and understand the school much better, from the point of view of its performance and development priorities. At the same time, all governors have other commitment 4 Using data to set targets Target-setting will take place on a number of levels … but ultimately it should affect individual pupils. (Creese and Earley, 1999) As mentioned earlier, it is unlikely that the governing body will actually set the targets. The headteacher will have worked with the staff, drawing on a range of evidence including benchmarking information and consulting the teachers, who keep comprehensive reco References 3. Statutory responsibilities In broad terms, the statutory responsibilities that support the main objective of raising standards in the school cover the following areas: agreeing the aims of the school and ensuring that supporting policies are in place; ethos and discipline; the provision of an appropriate curriculum; staffing and related pay issues; managing the budget; setting targets for pupil 1.3.1 Teaching global science Science draws on a rich cultural heritage and continues to be a global endeavour. How can you bring global science to life for your students? Activity 3 will help to bring a global perspective to your science curriculum. Click "view document" to open 'Investigating Housing in Saudi Arabia'. 1.1 Experiencing film music People hear and experience film music differently, and it is important to respect and explore this subjectivity. No answer is wrong, but merely representative of different cultural perceptions. ‘All that I can say about my method in writing music for films is that it is intensely personal. I work completely emotionally. I cannot intellectualize about the role of music in film. I decide if it should be there purel 1.4. Encouraging students to think about etymology When is the best time to introduce students to making connections between languages? When introducing them to the new language. When introducing new vocabulary. When developing whole-class reading skills. It is very encouraging to students about to embark on the study of their first foreign language to know that they already possess a working knowledge of some of its vocabulary. English is littered with dir
