Pinterest for students or not?

Pinterest is the website with best graphic designs and photos I have ever seen. It is also full of sparkling ideas, some of which are good for classroom use. However, I will not encourage my students to explore this site. As I am looking at the Science & Nature page, most of them are fantastic good-looking pictures with little description of what they are. Without interpretation, students are more likely to focus the aesthetic aspect of the pictures rather than exploring them. Furthermore, there are too many good pictures for students to concentrate and research on some specific ones. Students are going to be easily distracted in this beautiful land.

As a teacher, I prefer to use Pinterest as a resource website. I would select pictures and videos to aid my curriculum. These pictures can engage students and illustrate concepts vividly.

Pinterest as a resource for teachers

So far it seems we've had some great discussions on the possible applications of Pinterest as it pertains to students in your classroom, but I also noticed a lot of people (including myself) are uncomfortable getting students to sign up for a website that requires them to link it to a social network site. However, I realized teachers can use Pinterest to share ideas and resources about materials they're using in the classroom. I found this Pinterest board while searching around:

http://pinterest.com/rdooly3/classroom-ideas/

This page is clearly geared toward elementary classes, but there are also materials out there for high schools. For example, I just searched for "Pinterest physics class" and found this one:

http://pinterest.com/missnirvana/physics/

It's full of material that I can pick and choose from to present to my class. I think that I may use Pinterest as a resource-finder rather than a classroom activity.

Is Pinterest addictive? so says Lydia Dishman

Lydia Dishman claims Pinterest is addictive, at

http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/28/10532317-this-is-what-makes-pinterest-so-addictive

"If you are still among the uninitiated, the social platform for collecting, sharing, and commenting on of photos of personal passions is uniquely engaging, absorbing and addictive."

So, is Pinterest addictive?

According to Dr. Christopher Long, teaching consumer psychology:

Pinterest boards are:

1. "Personal happiness collages" - represent what I like, desire, "express who I am"
2. "A refuge from relationship status"
3. A sharing of the real self - what I would be doing and consuming if only...

This article also comments on the graphic design of Pinterest from Ken Carbone.

Pinterest and science cartoons

One way of developing interest in science is through funny or thought-provoking cartoons.  Ignore the copyright issue for a moment.  Pinterest could be used to assemble a collection of science cartoons.  There certainly are enough such cartoons out there.  Many are editorial in nature, but often they appear in magazines such as the New Yorker.  Think of Sidney Harris, who has published such books as "There Goes the Neighborhood: Cartoons on the Environment", and "Einstein Simplified: Cartoons on Science".

Here is another use of cartoons, which could be tied to Pinterest:  Have students create their own science cartoons.  They could illustrate a concept, editorialize about a science-related political issue, etc.  Then collect the cartoons and put them on Pinterest.

One useful way to approach the use of science cartoons is to develop a short unit on existing science cartoons, teaching kids about the various kinds of cartoons (there are whole categories of gags to motivate cartoons), and then let them make their own.  Students can do this individually or in groups, and criteria can easily be developed for illustrative and editorial cartoons using science.

This also can be a useful end of the semester or end of year activity that can be done to productively use what might otherwise be dead instructional time.  (Think week before Christmas, or last week of the school year.  Or do it both times.)

Pinterest-Ideas for the classroom

Pinterest allows users to create their own virtual bulletin boards with "Pins." Pins can be photos, videos, or discussions. Here are a few ideas that I can think of for use in the classroom.

1) Students can create a bulletin board of their interests to share with their classmates, perhaps as some form of an introduction or icebreaker type of activity. Classmates can follow each other (and their social networking friends).

2) Students can create themed bulletin boards pertaining to a given topic that is being studied. This of course could be used for an array of content areas and topics.

3) If students add a pin, say from a topic from a science class, students can create a discussion on the pin.

Weebly vs. Zunal

I made a quest about microevolution and evoluntionary "arms races" on Zunal, because I saw that no one else had used that site yet. After playing around on Zunal and comparing what I made to the webquests the rest of you made on Weebly I can see why. I would have to say Weebly seems to be much more user friendly and visually appealing.

Did anyone else try Zunal? It's only advantage to me is that it links to lot of possibly useful webquests that are already made and sorted by subject and grade level. I think I'm going to switch gears and just find five webquests to reflect on instead, the rest of you did such a great job!

To Pinterest or to not?

I will be the first to say, that I have yet to join Pinterest.  After looking at the site and seeing what it is all about, I am seeing a theme that is geared toward women.  This doesn't mean it can't be an excellent resource in the classroom, however if I want to full commitment from the students, I really think it needs to be more gender neutral.  Maybe with time and as it's popularity grows it will become more guy friendly? I'm interested to hear if anyone has similar opinions on the site....

GoAnimate Closing Thoughts

Excellent job giving critical thought to this particular software. I'm not sure if any of you visited the webinar I sent out regarding animations - but you have plenty of options out there to investigate. I agree that there are limitations to GoAnimate (as there typically are with any of the free versions of anything...) and I personally would not use it to make my own animations. However, I might allow students to use it at home to create projects (especially in the middle school grades) that we could post and share.
You will find in your schools that you will be asked to use technology - sometimes just for technology's sake. It will be up to you to find a way to incorporate cutting edge/new technologies in ways that best suit your goals, resources and time. I can't wait to review what you developed.

On an aside- there is another opportunty for those of you furthering your work with UDI. Here is an opportunity for the visually impaired:
Techbridge Guide for the Visually Impaired Explore It After School: Technology and Science for the Visually Impaired is a free resource guide that includes lesson plans for technology and science projects and career exploration resources designed to broaden the academic and career options for students with visual impairments.
http://www.techbridgegirls.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=rozq7S3V1aU%3D&tabid=65

Ruminations on GoAnimate

GoAnimate has a great deal of potential for use in the secondary science classroom. It can be a fabulous teaching tool to present concepts or present alternatives in a fun and novel fashion. It can be used as an advance organizer and it can be used to create dialogs that explore disparate aspects of science concepts.  It can be used by students as a motivational tool.  It also can be used by students as a presentation tool to present and illustrate the results of projects and experiments.  Used in this latter capacity, teachers will have to carefully construct rubrics to incorporate this and other technological innovations into the curriculum.*


However, at present GoAnimate is still in its infancy as a tool for educators (or so it seems to me). It suffers some serious shortcomings.  One of those is the apparent lack of an online guide explaining its intricacies.  Yes, I know that much of the learning of GoAnimate must be done by trial and error experimentation.  Nonetheless, I was very disappointed by the lack of documentation.  There were tutorials available, and I viewed and took notes on three of them. I viewed four or five Utube videos as well.  Yet it seemed to me that a lot of straightforward explanation could be given by the creators of GoAnimate to ease the life and flatten the learning curve of animator novices such as myself.


Perhaps I am being unfair---I was raised long before personal computers and simply did not grow up, Ipod in hand, as my daughter is doing now.  It may be that the creators of GoAnimate honestly believe that they can presume much more electronic sophistication than I and many others possess.  Or perhaps they really believe that their product is so intuitively obvious that they don’t need to provide documentation to nonetheless attract a large body of users and make a return on their investment.


All of which brings me to a second shortcoming.  This is the fact that attempts to create actual educational animations after using the available tutorials are bound to lead to much frustration, unless one gives in and buys the Plus version from the beginning.  Unfortunately, the web site provides relatively little information about making the animations or the rules under which the animations operate.  A full list would be greatly appreciated, and would include explicit statements about the two minute limit, and a host of other issues.  (To give an example:  is it possible to readily copy the style of an animation into another animation, so that one can make a part 1 and a part 2?  Or does one have to create a part 1, then start a new video and go through the whole process of remembering and re-creating all of the settings?)


Because the website does not provide such information in a straightforward fashion, there is a tendency to look at the limited information comparing the Basic and Plus versions, and wonder just how trustworthy this company is.  Will creation of animations really get any easier by buying Plus?  Will more information be forthcoming after buying Plus?


Many educational users are liable to balk and use the free version, get frustrated, and then seek out other options.  Presumably there are other options for animation, or for simulation out there.


I decided it was worth getting Plus for three months to give it a real try.  I was able to create a much better animation than I thought I would be able to create on a first try.  Yes, it has a lot of rough spots, and I have much to learn.  For this assignment, there is a real balance to be made among the constraints: the urge to be creative, the urge to try out the multiplicity of possibilities, the urge to keep it short, the urge to cover the science in an interesting way, the urge to not be perfectionistic, and the realization that figuring out how it all really works is far beyond the limited time available, especially given the limited documentation provided.

Final comments:  I would certainly encourage secondary students to learn and use GoAnimate, or other animation programs, especially if better documentation were available.  I would use it to introduce concepts, create interest, break up lessons into manageable chunks,  summarize previous instruction, etc.  But first I would have to become a competent practioner of animation.

*For those interested:  an example research-based rubric assessing the incorporation of technology into science presentations is given by Mott et al., 2011, Assessing student scientific expression using media: the media-enhanced science presentation rubric (MESPR), Journal of STEM Education, vol. 12, p. 33-41.

GoAnimate Ideas

I legitimately enjoyed playing around with the features, but it was very time consuming. A 3 minute video required several hours of work. The process may take less time with more practice though. I think if I wanted to make more videos to actually use in a classroom I would probably need purchase the "Plus" account. It allows you to import your own images, which opens up a huge number of possibilities and eliminates a lot of frustration. You may have noticed in my videos about rainbows, there was not a single picture of a rainbow. There are work-arounds, but they are very time consuming. I feel that this "necessity" to buy an account makes it impractical to assign students to work with the program. I can see myself using an animation to explain certain concepts, such as the flow of electrons in a circuit or Kepler's laws of planetary motion, which can be difficult to visualize.

Pros
-Easy to pick up
-Entertaining
-Helps visualize topics

Cons
-The most useful feature (importing images) costs money
-Time consuming

Thoughts about GoAnimate

My first experience with GoAnimate was pretty smooth. The website includes detailed tutorial to guide me through the processing part. The layout for designing is very user-friendly. I picked up a few skills pretty quickly. Even students can make simple videos through GoAnimate. I will definitely incorporate the use of videos into the classroom in the future. The followings are some pros and cons regarding GoAnimate:

Pros:

•        It arouses students’ interest to understand the material being taught in the video
•          It can simulate the situations of teaching material through animations
•          It introduces a different teaching method in addition to traditional classroom teaching
•          It can act as a reinforcement for students’ grasp of knowledge through visual imagery
•          It encourages innovative and divergent thinking among students

Cons:

•          It can distract students’ focus onto the cuteness of animation
•          It can be time-consuming in teachers’ perspective
•          It may not be able to address issues deeply  

pinterest issues of concern

After signing up for pinterest, I checked the Wikipedia article on it at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinterest

and found a few issues of concern:

1. "Copyright concerns have been raised due to the fact that
"Pinterest?s business is based almost entirely on using images without
permission". [15] Pinterest said in February 2012 that it was
developing an improved method for copyright holders to report
infringing content on Pinterest. Getty Images said in February 2012
that it was discussing copyright problems with Pinterest [16]"

2. "In an article on The New York times website it was noted that
Pinterest modifies users' links to items that they have found, and
adds an affiliate tracking code without advising the user.[17]"

3. "To register for Pinterest, new users must receive an invitation
from a friend already registered on Pinterest or request an invitation
directly from the Pinterest website. The registration process
currently requires users to link their Pinterest account to their
Facebook or Twitter account. Users choosing to log in via Facebook
must currently be using (or opt in to) Facebook's "timeline"
format.[18][19]"

These may or may not be of particular concern to any of us.

I do not have a twitter account, nor am I on Facebook.
And I know nothing about Facebook or its "timeline" format.

Live and learn.....

Online Animations

The only pro that I see for the animations is that it is fun and different for the students.  It is easy to switch up the methods of discussing different concepts when you can animation.  However, I feel like these animations could also be very distracting to the students, and force them to focus more on the characters and animations instead of the actual content and science concepts.  It also seems very time consuming to me, and not worth it.  I feel it would be easier and more effective to make a creative lecture using the students as props, in order to get them involved, rather than having them watch a short video. 

Go Animate in the classroom

My first experience with Go Animate was really neat...by just opening it up and poking around a bit, I could understand how to effectively make the video. This technology could be used to reiterate information presented in the science classroom, either through a viewing or through the students making their own projects.

Pros:

• Direct student involvement in their learning
• Website easy to learn and use
• Creative option in a science class where creativity may be difficult to foster
• Group work encourages students to become teachers
• Students will be able to have fun while learning the material: attention grabber! 

Cons:

• Students may get wrapped up in the animations and not focus on content
• Students must have access to a computer to use this website
• Could become very time-intensive

Go Animate! Technology

Go Animate! would be very useful in engaging students with the Big Ideas of Science. These videos could be used to set the stage for introducing specific science concepts. Students could use this animation technology to create their own videos for presentations. It also might be a good way for students to show prior knowledge. The animation could become a rich source of direction for the teacher if the students are given enough time to fully demonstrate what they know about the topic and concept.

Pros:

• Visually engaging
• Great alternative for presenting facts (i.e., text, lecture)
• Good medium for collaboration
• Appeals to the “video” generation
• Free tool
• Can be closed captioned for ELL and hearing impaired students

Cons:

·         Learning curve for using this animation tool may be too steep for some and age-limited

·         Many options within the tool requires subscription

·         Concept being discussed may be lost in the slick production

·         Can be a “black hole of time” for those who are perfectionists or lack the skill level

Go Animate!

Go Animate!, like anything else that we use in the classroom has its advantages and disadvantages. I was very frustrated at first, but once I got a grasp on it, Go Animate! seems fun.

Pro's:

• Engaging...its not a dull monotone lecture.
  
• Could be fun in a group activity
• If students design a clip using Go Animate (project), it would be a creative and fun way to asses what material the students have learned
• Exposes students to technology
• It can be captioned for the hearing-impaired students or verbalized for the seeing-impaired students
• Could be assigned as either a group or individual project given that students have access to computers
  

Con's:

• Might be difficult for the un-tech-savy
• Not very many free options out there
• The glamor of the project may take away from the content
• If being shown in a classroom, it may be paced to fast and not interactive. To counter this, the teacher can of course pause the video and take questions though as needed.
  

How to Assess Students with Reading Difficulty

As a science teacher, my primary goal is to arouse students’ interest in science and teach them as much science as I can. Test is a tool to help teachers know how much knowledge students have grasped. Test is good tool if it reflects students’ real understanding of the material. If test fail to reflect, it will be the time to redesign the test. Because teachers are measuring students’ science abilities, and test is just a tool to serve this purpose.

Reading is the media conveying the material to assess students; thus if students have difficulty reading, I will seek out another effective media to convey the test ideas. I can conduct oral tests, or performance-based tests, which can involve students in the laboratory work. After all, reading should not be an obstacle in the way of students’ science learning.

If my student physically has difficulty reading, I will help find out the most appropriate assistive technologies for him/her. For example, if the student is visually impaired, I will give him/her a PDF copy of the reading material, so that the computer can read out the material to the student using certain text-to-speech software. Furthermore, I will strictly follow the 9 principles of Universal Design for Instruction in my teaching plans and tests, in order to ensure instructions are readily accessible to every student.

GoAnimate Opinion

I really enjoyed using the GoAnimate website for making an instructional video.  Using a video, instead of straight lecturing notes would be more enjoyable for the students. However, it would be crucial to ensure the animation doesn't over shine the topic being lectured. Also, the video can go fast and slowing it down may help the students take better notes.

An alternative use for the animation technology, would be assigning groups of students throughout the year to make a video for the current ongoing topic. This supplement to my lectures can help reinstate the import facts, but also help the class members work together in group settings.  Plus, working on the computer is an excellent way for the students to work with technology and improve there computer skills.

Overall, there are some pro's and con's to using this feature.

Pro's include:
- Fun for the teacher and students.
- Great way to use technology in the classroom.
- An alternative way to present the material.
- An opportunity for students to work in groups and have presentations.
- Students maybe more involved with the lecture process.
- GoAnimate is a free web service.

Con's Include:
- Possibility over shining the material.
- Too fast for students to learn the material extensively.
- Need of a computer.
- Video production can be time consuming.

Reading in Physics

I mostly agree with the other posts this week in regards to a student that is physically incapable of reading. Accommodations should be made for the student. Simple things like providing notes online for text-to-speech software to read and providing universally meaningful explanations, and providing equivalent oral exams can easily facilitate inclusion.

In the case of students with dyslexia or other reading disabilities or deficiencies I think there is still many steps that could and should be taken. Thankfully physics as a subject can be presented largely outside the constrains of a written explanation. Ideally it is something shown, experienced, and explained almost completely with the language of mathematics. Of course even with this in mind, reading is some part of almost any instruction or explanation. I think the text-to-speech software that benefits the visually impaired can equally benefit those with dyslexia or other reading disabilities. By simply providing an electronic source for the notes and texts, students could take the time they need on their own to adsorb the material.

I don't think it is my place as a physics teacher to penalize any student for his or her deficiencies in reading. I would try to make sure each student has the access to resources that would make it possible to learn the material.

Vision impaired students should obviously be given appropriate tools to overcome their disabilities. iI think the posts below have done a good job addressing this.

If a student struggles with reading, due to either a learning disability or a lack of instruction in reading, I think it is important for a teacher to make sure he or she is getting adequate instruction in reading. If the science teacher cannot provide the help needed, many schools offer reading specialists and other programs for struggling students. I agree with other posters that school should prepare a student for a future career, and leaving reading based activities out of the science curriculum is doing the child a disservice.

Within a science classroom I think teachers should provide audio and video aids for students. For example, a quick google search turns up many videos illustrating many topics. An animation of the process of transcription and translation could help to clarify a concept that is difficult for students to comprehend from text alone. Embedding such animations in class notes or posting them to a class website will help all students, regardless o their reading ability.

Evaluating the learning of these students is a challenge. Traditional tests may be hard for students, so they must be given adequate time and encouraged to ask for clarification of questions if they do not understand. students may be allowed to answer essay questions with speech recognition technology typing for them, or evaluated using projects or portfolios instead of tests.

I think it is important to include practice in reading during instruction, but it is unfair to the student if their ability to communicate their understanding of the subject matter is hampered by a disability. They must be evaluated in a way that measures their gains in knowledge of science, not their ability to transmit it on paper.

Assistive Technologies

I first want to define two different cases of an inability to read.  The first is someone who is physically unable to read, due to poor eye sight or blindness.  The second is someone who is unable to read because they never learned, or are not proficient at it.

As a teacher of any subject, it is our responsibility to prepare our students for life after high school, whether that be college, working, military, etc.  If one of my students struggled to read because of physical limitations, I would provide options of larger print, or a seat in the front of the classroom.  If reading what was written on the board was still a struggle, a designated note-taker could be appointed, and this student could provide their notes to the struggling student.  A blind student could be provided with a braille copy of the tests and textbooks as well.

However, when it comes to tests, excusing the student from reading because of lacking proficiency is not helping them at all.  This student may need extra time on the test to read and answer all of the questions, which I would be willing to provide.  Another modification would be replacing word problems with just the necessary information, leaving less to read.  Giving students a test on a computer so they can be taken audibly, to avoid reading, doesn't solve the problem at all.  Forcing the student to learn to read so they can complete tests is key, in my opinion.  If every teacher accepted that this student didn't know how to read, and no one did anything about it, the student would have a very limited life after high school.  We, as teachers, would be failing to prepare this student.  Not only, in my case, would I be testing my students on physics, but I would also be testing their abilities to comprehend and solve problems, which includes reading the problems on a test.

Ability to read, assessment, and assistive technology

There are numerous areas of assessment in science.  A partial list includes content knowledge; understanding the nature and history of science; the ability to carry out process skills; the ability to employ those skills in conducting inquiry; and even  the attainment of positive attitudes toward science.

We need to develop and use appropriate assessments for the different areas.  We need to communicate precisely what we will assess and how we will assess it, with clear and fair criteria.

It is incredibly easy to employ modes of assessment that test much more than the narrow instructional objectives which we have selected and for which we have designed the instruction. 

In fact, it is impossible to test only for the narrow instructional objectives.  We always presuppose abilities to perceive and to understand and interpret whatever is provided as prompts for assessment.

Perception includes seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling.  Any organic personal characteristic (e.g., sensitivity to noise, vision deficiency, hearing loss) or environmental condition (e.g., poor lighting, uncomfortable seating, unsuitable temperature and humidity, extraneous noise) that limits or constrains ideal perception has the potential to affect student response to assessment.  Similarly, the understanding and interpretation of the prompts are affected by a variety of characteristics of the individual being tested. 

Under ideal circumstances, the prompts are aligned with objectives and instruction so that student response tests the appropriate knowledge or skill.  But these other personal and environmental factors are always present.

If the student has difficulties with reading---due to deficiencies in vocabularly, grammar, basic understanding at the grade level; or such factors as dyslexia; or being a non-native English speaker; or has autism or other organic conditions---then the response may not actually indicate whether the educational objective (knowledge or skill) has been attained.

A skilled teacher will have developed comprehensive knowledge of her/his students’ characteristics, and will design and control the environment of testing, and will make appropriate allowances and modifications for diverse learners---not just the ones with IEPs (where accommodations have to be followed under penalty of law), but everyone.  This will include those who struggle with reading.  At times, to be fair is precisely to provide assistive technology and to modify assessments for specific individuals.  The main goal of assessment is not to provide a grade; the assessment needs to provide the learner and the teacher (and other stakeholders) what knowledge or skill has or has not been attained, and at what degree.

Assistive technologies are helpful both in the delivery of instruction and in formative and summative assessment.  They are tools which help deliver instruction for diverse learners but they are also tools that can aide us in properly evaluating whether our instruction has achieved its goals.  They help students, but they also help us provide students a fair educational opportunity to learn as well as to be properly and fairly evaluated.

Assistive Technologies for Students with Reading Disabilities

Science concepts are difficult enough to master without a student’s inability to read impeding their learning. We have such a diversity of learning styles in our classroom, all students would benefit from a variety of information presentations. While making class notes and PowerPoint presentations available via computer, students still may miss the learning moments in the rich discussions that take place in the classroom. I would include an audio recording of the discussion that accompanied the lesson. These audio versions could be accessed through the computer or possibly downloaded to an MP3 player or smartphone. Smartboards have the capability to capture notes instantly and these notes could be emailed to students and parents to review at home. A teacher-created website for student and parent access could contain not only the lesson notes, but house downloadable audio recordings and presentations.

I, too, agree with the use of computers and text-to-speech software when assessing students. However, if you wanted to use paper and pen tests, you could have a volunteer record a reading of the test and make this recording available on MP3 players (e.g., iPod). Students then can control the playback as needed. These devices are a cheap alternative to computers and some students who are proficient readers may even choose this option just because they are auditory learners and comfortable with the technology.

Reading Disability: Assistive Technology

As a science teacher, my main concern will be that students are understanding the concepts presented and are able to apply these understandings in a variety of contexts. Reading is certainly helpful for solidifying background information, but it's not a necessity. If a student struggles on a test due to difficulty reading, I'd look into making adjustments that could, in turn, benefit the entire class.

I'd post my notes online to make them accessible to students at any time. I'd also provide information regarding text-to-speech technology. This would not only assist the reading impaired student, but would also cater to other students in the class who may be primarily auditory learners.

In terms of actual class time, I'd present the information in a variety of forms: text will be available on a projector for students who prefer to read the information, I'd outline the information and enhance definitions verbally, I'd provide demonstrations so students can see and actually conduct experiments that support the concepts, and I'd divide the students into groups to further discuss and teach each other the content to which they've just been exposed. By getting the students actively involved in their learning, the need for reading (and other specific skills) will be minimal, and students can focus on learning methods most useful to their own needs.

When administering a test, I liked the idea presented earlier about students using computers (provided there are safeguards in place to prevent cheating). I can provide a set of headphones to the student struggling with reading (or any student who desires them) so he or she can listen to the problems presented rather than read them.

Assistive Technologies for Students with Reading Difficulties

There are several ways to aid students who have difficulty with reading. A low-tech option may be to provide large-print handouts (possibly also with extra line spacing) to students. If your teaching involves writing on the board or overhead, have the student sit near the front and as the teacher be sure to write large and neatly. This will benefit all the students in addition to those with reading difficulties.

There are also lots of high-tech options. One is to get an e-book reader (like Kindles or i-pads). This way the student is able to easily adjust the font size of the readings to fit their own needs. Schools may purchase e-book readers and loan them out to students who have reading difficulties. Other options available are text-to-speech. Text (notes or books) is scanned and converted to dialogue that the student is able to listen to (this is actually available at Virginia Tech). Many textbooks are also available as audio books.

Assistive Technologies

Being a public school teaching, means handling with a diverse student population.  Giving written tests can be difficult, since there is an array of reading levels amongst the students.  To assist the needs of my students, I would move my tests to the computer.  Most digital tests have an option of having the questions and choices being read to the test taker.  This can allow all my students to become more comfortable with computer based tests but also assist the students with lower reading levels.