A feed today from Edutopia includes a video on the potential uses of assistive technology within the classroom. (http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader) It has some outstanding advice on how these technologies should be introduced early and can be used to benefit both the student and teacher. Leveling the playing field for all students will decrease frustration for all parties involved.
I have been using various technology tools in an attempt to accommodate the wide variety of learning levels and styles that I see in my classroom everyday. One advantage that we have is that all students in grades 6-12 have their own laptop to use for the school year that is issued by the school. With it students can access a variety of tools with a simple mouse click. One tool that has proven to be very effective is the text to speech function. Students can highlight a piece of text and the computer will read the selection to them. For some this is very helpful because they can understand and comprehend when they hear things, but they may never make it through the same passage if they had to read it themselves. Another tool that I have used this year is a recording pen that will allow me to read a test once and upload it online. Students can access the online recording at the time of the test and listen to the questions as they take it. It allows them to listen to any question or answer as many times as they need to. Since I see all levels of reading ability this has been very helpful. It also helps me because I don't have to arrange for someone to read the test every hour of the day. It is ready to go at any time, at any pace, for any student that I grant access.
If you have any great ideas for ways to further accommodate students I would love to hear them!
Wow! It is great that your students have access to such great tools. There are a lot of wonderful technological toots to assist student learning on the market. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to them.
ReplyDeleteDon Johnson has developed some awesome software to help students with the writing process; Tap to Talk is a communication application for individuals who have limited language abilities; touch screen monitors and speech to text applications for students who have limitations with fine motor skills; brail overlays for the keyboards for visually impaired students; the list is limitless.
Our problem has not been the availability of the technology, but more so of funding. Many school districts do not encourage the writing of grants for small group requests and funding otherwise has been cut due to lack of monies.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks for sharing this video. I've watched it and there are several coworkers of mine that I will forward this to. There has been a massive shift toward reviewing how students with special needs are integrated into regular programming in my school district and I'm involved with an iPad research group to take a look at some solutions. Some of the devices to create a dialogue with pictures exists now on the iPad in App form and costs run from free to very expensive for more professional Apps. Although most content relating to assistive technologies relate to physical and verbal assistance, I'm still looking for more cognitive assistive technologies. In this case, the tools are already out there, but I find that one has to have such a wide knowledge of tools for all the different situations that I encounter. It's always a challenge to match tools to the appropriate situation, but when you find the right fit, it's very rewarding.
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