Assistive
Technology
Assistive
technology in special educations has great potential for helping students with
disabilities achieve success in the general educational classroom. Federal Laws
mandate that the use of assistive technology be considered in the individual
education program for special education students.
Special
Education can encompass a wide variety of disabilities including, mild,
moderate and severe cognitive disabilities; physical and sensory disabilities;
students with at-risk behaviors and gifted students. All of these students can
be assisted by technology either by using it to provide services or devices.
Schools need to have teams in place to help classroom teachers implement the
assistive technology. Teams should include the IEP members and assistive
technology coordinators. This insures that all of the stakeholders in the
student’s education are trained and on the same page for successful
implementation of the assistive technology in an inclusion classroom.
Mild
Cognitive disabilities are the most common and included students with
attentions deficits, difficulties in reading and writing, and students with memory
and retention of information difficulties. Emotional issues are also common
with students with disabilities. While
looking for apps in our Blog assignment, I found Firefly by Kurzweil.
For schools that use Kurzweil software this iPad app will allow students to use
text-to-speech technology anywhere at anytime. It has a lot of flexible
features. The Logitech headsets that I currently
use for audiobooks and read-alongs are a piece of hardware that can be utilized
to assist with Firefly or other text-to-speech software.
Students
with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities need technology that can help
them learn life skills. They can benefit from alternative devices that can be
customized for their special needs. I found Mathpad, adaptive software, on
Glenda’s Assistive Technology Information and More… , a blog I added to Google Reader. She has some great
suggestions for assistive software and websites. The Coin-U-Later is a hand-held device
that makes counting money easy.
Assistive
technology for students with physical disabilities usually involves methods to
assist with fine or gross motor skills. Students need to be able to participate
in the classroom without limiting physical demands. Clicker Sentences found at www.cricksoft.com allows students to click
on a grid containing a word to create sentences. Bigtrack Trackball is a device
that requires less fine motor control than a regular mouse.
Students
with hearing or vision loss have sensory
disabilities. Vision loss can vary from partially sighted to complete loss or
blindness. Deaf students need little modification to technology. Their major
issue is with audio in multimedia presentations. I found a game by MindsEye2 called Magic
Match. This game was recommended by a parent for use in teaching keyboarding
skills. I have a visually impaired
student at my school this year and he uses several devices. Austin enjoys listening
to the same stories on his PlayAway mp3 player that the other students are
reading in class.
The
No Child Left Behind Act challenges teachers to find ways for at-risk students
to succeed in the classroom. Lack of motivation
and or learning deficits in certain academic areas are areas that assistive
technology can help teachers reach these students. The teachers use curriculum based BrainPOP to
engage students. Our intervention
teachers have also used the Xbox as a device to encourage at-risk students. The
game National Geographic Quiz: Wildlife uses trivia and gaming to get students motivated
about learning. I also use to FrontRow amplification
system to help all students focus on verbal instruction.
The
model described in our text called Pyryt’s P’s focuses on Pace, Process,
Passion, Product, and Pace when utilizing assistive software with gifted
and talented students. I looked at the
Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page that was suggested in our text and the Kids and Teen link, http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links has links that gifted students would
find cool. I think that Web 2.0 projects and Wiki’s
would be great projects for gifted students.
I help the gifted students at my school with several projects throughout
the year and one device they love to use is the digital microscope.
Assistive
technology is opening a whole new world to students with disabilities and is helping
them have success in the classroom right along with the average and gifted
students.
Reference
Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A.H. (2010). Integrating educational technology into teaching,
5th edition. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Reference
Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A.H. (2010). Integrating educational technology into teaching,
5th edition. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall.
