LeAnne Robinson

Widgets on the Web: Using Computer-Based Learning Tools

puterized tools that are easy to use, appeal to students, help them learn abstract concepts, and can be found on the Internet? This article describes such tools. They are not big, fancy, expensive software packages. They are small, friendly programs written by other teachers. And they are out there waiting for you and your students Learning abstract concepts can be a challenge for students with mild disabilities. These students often require more practice than do students without disabilities to master the understanding of concepts (Bender, 2001). To help students with mild disabilities succeed, their teachers need a variety of tools to teach abstract concepts, as well as interesting activities to facilitate mastery through practice. Both in the initial stages of concept instruction and in subsequent practice sessions, it is essential that the instructional tools not only be effective, but highly motivating and interesting to students. Through the use of technology, new instructional tools can be developed that are not only effective, and flexible, but also motivating to students (Lindsey, 2000). Current technological applications are now available to make computerbased, flexible learning tools that can facilitate effective concept instruction and practice. Traditionally, special education teachers have used computers and software for drill and practice, academic mastery, and functional skills enhancement (Babbit & Miller, 1996; Gardner & Edyburn, 2000; Okolo, 2000; Wissick, 2001). Most software programs, however, are controlled and sequenced (Bottge & Hasselbring, 1993; Wiebe, 2000) and do not allow the teacher, as a decisionmaker, to easily integrate them into curriculum content or individualized education program (IEP) objectives. The Widgets were designed to meet the instructional need for computer-based, flexible tools that can be used across student ability levels for many purposes (Brown & Miller, 2001; Mayer, 2001). Widgets are relatively new computer-based learning tools, sometimes referred to as “knowledge objects” or “learning objects” (Beck, 2001; Merrill, 2001). These learning tools are small, self-contained instructional activities that, according to the Wisconsin Online Resource Center (2001), offer justenough, just-in-time instruction and are well suited to the creation of customized instruction. Widgets are actually small computer programs that are created using an authoring software program and can be stored on CDs or accessed via the internet. They are flexible computer programs that can be designed as instructional tools for a wide range of concepts and ability levels. Just as teachers use overhead transparencies, manipulatives, and dry markers in their everyday instruction, teachers can also use Widgets as instructional tools. Widgets are not “drill and practice” software programs, nor are they “programmed instruction”; rather, the Widgets are mediational software programs to be used by the teacher when interacting with a student in a learning task.

Examining Perceptual Barriers to Technology: A Study on the Diffusion of Educational Technology and Education Reform

This study examines educators’ perceived barriers to technology integration and the relationship to education reform. Educators and administrators from four elementary schools in Washington State were interviewed in their classrooms during a three-month period. The schools differed in size, location, and social economic status and reported variances in their Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores. While all of the schools reported similar barriers to the use of educational technology, distinct differences appeared between those schools that had done long-range planning during the reform process and those that had not. Specifically, staff in the two schools that coordinated curricula, performance standards, and a variety of assessment tools while simultaneously allowing teachers the flexibility to alter the curricula, were more likely to state personal responsibility for student learning, and they also were more likely to have overcome barriers to the use of technology.