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With a small amount of direction, students can begin to enjoy the benefits of assistive technology. Here are some strategies for getting started using text readers in a classroom setting. Suggestions are also provided for improving student note-taking.
1. Select material with headings, sub-headings, and topic sentences at the beginning of paragraphs. Provide electronic or scanned copies of the text. If possible, choose material from a textbook the students are using in class, to make the practice relevant and of immediate use.
2. Have students activate the "Read" feature as they skim the text. Before students begin, review the purpose and steps of skimming. As a group, have them list what they will read in order to skim the material. For example: chapter title, section headings, sub-headings, topic sentences, side-bars, or text-boxes. The first time this is done, it may help to read a portion of the text as a class before students begin to skim independently. Students can call out each item that should be skimmed, and identify the category it represents (heading, sub-heading, etc.).
3. If the software allows, highlight main topics and sub-topics in different colors, copy and paste these topics into a document to read and print. With the Kurzweil™ text reader, distinguishing topics from sub-topics is made easy by the highlighting feature. The four colors can be designated as topic, sub-topic, sub-sub-topic, and sub-sub-sub topic. If the colors are set to indent when extracted (copied and pasted) into another document, the highlighted information will be in an outline form, providing a visual key to the organization of information.
4. Process the content information with the students. Ask them:
• What is the main idea?
• What are the sub-topics?
• What questions will you expect to be answered in the reading?
Note-taking
1. Ask students to describe their note-taking process and fill in any gaps. They should be able to:
• Identify main ideas, sub-topics, details;
• Write questions to be clarified by reading;
• Write summaries to help review;
• Define italicized or highlighted words.
2. Brainstorm with students as to how they could use a screen reader to support their skills in note-taking, and work more efficiently. Ideas may include:
• Extracting text quickly and then reading;
• Inserting spoken or written comments;
• Writing and listening to their own summaries.
3. Get feedback from the students; ask them to identify:
• Specific areas of improvement in note-taking skills;
• Weak skills still to be developed;
• Tips to share with other students.
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