In the article, Testing
Kurzweil 3000, authors Barbara Green and Joan Thormann give insight on a
software called Kurzweil 3000, which is targeted to help aid those with special
needs. Kurzweil as a number of different functions including text to speech, voice
adjustment, word prediction, note taking, test tools, and other resources for
the students. The program was tested in a number of different school settings,
including a variety of different aged-students to see how it could benefit them
in their learning environments. Graduate students at Lesley University were the
ones conducting the research and they looked at ways the program could be
improved by listening to teachers and students about what they liked and did
not like about the program. What the graduate students saw was a number of
benefits from the program. Some of them being that students who had the program
were more likely to take tests with their peers rather than having to be placed
in a different testing setting. Also, the program encourages independence with
the students as well as promoting more critical and higher-order thinking. But
there were some issues with the program. Those issues were costs of the program
and how well the students would be able to adapt and understand the program.
I think this is a great article that looks at students who would
really benefit from technology in the classroom. Kurzweil 3000 will be a tool
that can be utilized in classrooms where there are students with special needs.
Working with a special needs child regularly, I have seen and heard his
frustrations with working in the classroom and I think that this program would
really aid him in being able to be more a part of his class and not feel that
he cannot participate.
This does not meet ISTE NETS.
Green, B., & Thormann, J. (2009, March 1). Kurzweil 3000. Learning and Leading with Technology, 36.
