Case Studies

It's hard to believe this course has come to an end already. We have all learned so much from one another in such a short time. Everyone worked really hard on their case studies and I am even more motivated to explore some of the computer programs in depth in order to determine if they are a good fit for any of my students. A recurring theme/complaint throughout the presentations was the lack of access to the technology in classrooms. I was encouraged by Pam's slide show presentation about AT meant to target other school administrations. I think once principals and school staff members see the value of assistive technology they will be more likely to invest money and/or time to ensure that students get the support they need.

Clicker 5 and Cloze Pro activities

I really enjoyed today's class. It's not often that teachers have the time to work together and to explore software programs that can benefit our students. I can definitely understand where classroom teachers are coming from when they say that they would like to use technology more often with their students but don't have the time to explore what's available, never mind creating lessons from scratch. That's why I think that it's essential for software companies and educators share the lessons they have developed. I plan to check out the ready made activities for programs, such as Classroom Suite, that we have installed on a number of computers at my school. I think teachers are much more receptive to using these programs when activities are ready to use or require only minimal changes to meet particular students' needs.

The Write Stuff

Our dissection of the writing process during our last class was a real eye opener. It's hard to
believe, when some children come into grade primary who have never held a pencil before, that they can be writing in complete sentences within a year or so. As my partner and I attempted to illustrate in the diagram below, there are a multitude of cognitive, visual, auditory and motor skills involved in this very complex process. For those students with deficits or difficulties in any of these areas, assistive technology can help to bridge the gaps.

Computer software programs such as Kurzweil, Clicker 5, Inspiration and Kidspiration and Cloze Pro can make a world of difference to students who need some extra support in order to communicate their ideas in writing. The following links are for tutorials for a few of these programs:

Write Out Loud video tutorials

Cloze Pro video tutorials

Clicker 5 video tutorials

The Writing Process

Support software for language learning

From computers reading text aloud, to word prediction software to interactive pictures and buttons, language learning in the classroom has come a very long way since my years in elementary school. Students who have been diagnosed with physical disabilities or learning disabilities or who remain undiagnosed but are struggling to meet the demands of a text based curiculum now have options that did not exist a couple of decades ago.

As a Resource teacher, I have seen the pride and excitement in children's faces as they discover that they can perform language tasks independently, thanks to some form of assistive technology. This technology helps us tap into the knowledge and creativity that may have been hidden within the pencil/paper methods of traditional classrooms. I think it is critical that we do everything we can to ensure that our students can communicate their ideas.

The Secret Life of the Brain

When watching the Syllable from Sound segment of the PBS video, The Secret Life of the Brain, I was struck by the message that experience with language is more important than the maturity or, in some cases, the physical condition of the brain. It was truly enlightening and inspiring to see individuals with large sections of brain tissue removed working to "remap" their brains and using existing brain tissue to relearn language skills that had been lost.

In terms of assistive technology, it is critical to understand specific areas and capabilities of brain function in order to discover where language processing breaks down so that the type of AT accommodates the specific deficit. Whether the difficulty is with particular skills involved with reading, writing, speaking or a combination of these, there are devices and computer software that can help individuals augment or relearn these skills. Assistive technology, used on a temporary or long-term basis can help individuals move beyond the limits sometimes imposed by a diagnosed disability and discover their true potential.

Assistive technology - Finding the best fit

Our reading for this week, chapter 8 of Dr. Marcia Scherer's book, Living in the State of Stuck, really made me consider the "assistive" part of the term assistive technology. In Scherer's discussion of reasons for the abandonment of assistive technology devices, she writes, "the single most significant factor associated with technology abandonment is a failure to consider the user's opinions and preferences in device selection". If the goal is to support individuals navigate their environments independently, it seems obvious that the "interests, needs, readiness, and capabilities" must be considered, but we know that this is not always the case. As educators, I think we too often make the assumption that our students with special needs will adapt to make use of the technology that we have available in the schools, rather than ensuring that the technology is suited to them.

Scherer makes the argument that:

When a person feels anxious or self-conscious about the use of a device in public, his

interactions with others can become more strained, especially since assistive

devices signal a disability and often set a person apart as appearing different.

I witnessed this with one of my students last year who was receiving Resource support for writing. He had significant difficulties putting his ideas on paper. His writing was extremely messy and disorganized with many spelling errors and he always required much more time than other students in his class to complete written work. I assumed, especially because of the positive responses I'd gotten from other students using this type of technology, that a portable Writer keyboard with word prediction software installed would be perfect for "Jim". He could use this device at his desk and complete his written work quickly and with less frustration. My other students who were already trained and using these Writers raved about how cool it was to have their own "laptop". "Jim" surprised me with his negative reaction when I first presented him with this machine. His desire to fit in and do what everyone else in his class was doing overpowered his desire to accomodate his learning disability, if the accomodation meant that the other kids would notice he was different. For children with the more invisible disabilities such as a learning disability, assistive technology may conflict with the need for social acceptance and belonging, especially for individuals with low self-esteem. I think that it is critically important to consider the individual's milieu and to work with whole classrooms and schools to better understand these disabilities and to demystify the technology that may be used to support these students.