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Jul 3 2010, 12:26 PM EDT (current) belinapasula 15 words added, 9 words deleted
Jul 3 2010, 12:22 PM EDT belinapasula 33 words added, 5 words deleted

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Belina gazing at a mountain off in the distance.

"The Beauty of the Mountain is hidden for all those who try to discover it from the top, supposing that, one way or an other, one can reach this place directly. The Beauty of the Mountain reveals only to those who climbed it..." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This pathfinder is the beginning of my climb in search of the 'beauty' of the mountain as I continue on my life-long learning journey through the University of Calgary's Doctor of Education program. It will be an evolving collection of resources that will assist in the writing of my doctoral research proposal and dissertation. Although this site is primarily for me to keep track of resources that will be helpful as I move forward in my Educational Technology doctoral studies, I hope it will also be useful to other people who are interested in accessible curriculum. In particular, assistive technology specialists, reading disability experts, and fellow academics researching supportive eText may find this digital archive a helpful online gateway to resources that will support their work. I also hope this pathfinder may help support my work as a consultant in Programs, Special Education for my school board, as well as, support the work of my colleagues such as Programming for Student Differences consultants and Assistive Technology for Learning consultants.

My research interests lie in curriculum curb-cuts; how to best leverage digital technologies to remove or reduce barriers to learning that many students face due to an over-reliance on traditional print-based resources. At this point in time my work is guided by the following question:
  • What is the potential of leveraging current digital technology, such as e-text, to assist junior high students with reading difficulty in acquiring more equitable access to the curriculum by supporting comprehension and extending meaningful learning through embedded supports?
I look forward to delving deep into supportive eText and then investigating its impact on students' perceptions of themselves as readers, attitudes towards reading, and reading comprehension of content area material as my doctoral research. My journey will begin at the base of the mountain with Universal Design for Learning. Next, I will go into the thick of the forest to explore Assistive Technology for Learning. Lastly, I will attempt to see the trees for the forest by looking into Supported E-text. All of this will be situated in the context of what literacy means in the 21st Century.


If your research interest is also about the impact of supported eText, you will be excited to read the National Center for Supported eText (NCSeT), under the direction of Dr. Lynne Anderson-Anderson-Inman Inmanat atthethe University of Oregon has announced a Call for Proposals to support dissertation researchinvestigatingresearch investigating the impact of “supported electronic text” on middle or high school students’ comprehensionofcomprehension of content area reading materials. “Supported electronic text” (or “supported etext”) is digital text that has been enhanced in ways that are designed to improve reading comprehension and increase learning. The purpose of the NCSeT Dissertation Research Grant Program is to support doctoral students as they engage in rigorously designed research that impacts the understanding of how students learn from digitaltextdigital text that has been enhanced to improve comprehension or extend learning. The grant program will also connect awardees with a national community of researchers with similar research interests and resourcesinresources in ways that will enhance the quality and value of the dissertation research. NCSeT dissertation researchgrantsresearch grants will range from $2,000 to $10,000. (Retrieved fromhttp://ncset.uoregon.edu/index.php/research-opportunities-mainmenu-138)from http://ncset.uoregon.edu/index.php/research-opportunities-mainmenu-138)