Classroom Suite

Classroom Suite has many different possible uses and purposes within the classroom. The program provides an alternate means of completing schoolwork, participating in classroom activities and demonstrating knowledge. For writing, math, and reading activities, teachers can create customized activities for students that match what the rest of the class is doing in particular subject areas. Rather than writing on paper, which is hard for some students with fine motor difficulties, or spelling and mechanics problems, students can complete writing assignments on Classroom Suite. The program provides various templates (autobiography, letter, book reports, science reports, journals) for assignments that students might be asked to do in class to demonstrate their knowledge of certain topics across all disciplines. Students can choose to write without these templates, to create stories and other documents with and without pictures. Some students may be motivated by being able to design paintings on the program, or by adding fun pictures to their work. Students can choose to use an on-screen keyboard in both QUERTY and ABC formats, with large letters to input information. Word prediction software is also available for students with spelling difficulties in order to allow these students more independence in the creation of their works.
Additionally, there are math and reading programs available on Classroom Suite. Teachers can make worksheets on the program, whose paper equivalents students are completing in class. Students will be able to manipulate objects and perform calculations on the computer with large number and symbol representations. The program ensures that place value is maintained throughout the students’ operations, promoting success and independence for students who struggle with the concept, or with writing skills.

Classroom Suite is generally intuitive and easy to use. All action buttons are labeled, and dialog boxes can be read aloud. In many cases, instructions for activities can also be read aloud. Teachers can easily customize any activity by changing the content, or starting from scratch. One criticism I have is that the picture library is not the easiest to access. It comes up on the bottom of the screen, but there is no search box to search for a specific picture. It seems as if students must look through all of the pictures in each category first. This might be difficult for students with attention problems, who might be distracted by all the options. Also, students who cannot conceptualize categories, or may not be able to categorize certain objects may have difficulty using this particular feature.