Today is the day we present our case studies. I felt that we learned a lot during our first course last summer with Barb. We did but I felt the case study gave us a chance to try out some assistive technology with real children. It was a very valuable experience. I am a classroom teacher. In this capacity I have not had much experience with children needing assistive technology. I now see the everyday uses of technology in my classroom. I have experimented with Dragon Dictation with my French Immersion children. It was a great experience. They loved seing the words thay spoke appear on the screen. it gave power to their words.
I also enjoyed watching the student we used in our case study learn how to use the apps we recommended and see the difference they could make in his school life. He may not have appreciated it at the time, but I feel the follow up he will receive from his parents will pay off in the long run.
Here is the presentation of the case study I did with Tiffany.
While watching my classmates present their case studies, I was struck by a common theme. As teachers in the same board, we do not all have the same access to technology. Many of us have very little access to technology. I think it is our jobs as classroom teachers to be advocats on behalf of our students. We all worked with people with challenges and found some sort of technology to help them. We all chose Apple devices and used apps that would help the person we worked with. We all seem to have some access to these products and the apps are either free or inexpensive. As classroom teachers we need to become problem solvers and find ways to support our students with challenges. What struck me was that solutions could be found for students that would let them attain grade level expectations but they are not always accessible. Children are then placed on IPP's who don't really need to on them because if some form assistive technology was provided the students could met grade level expectations. With the Apple products, children can have access to many supports through apps but there are also many supports offered through the Settings. This Universal Design for Learning allows the students to blend in with their peers. We also saw how some reluctant students became more engaged through the use of these products. I feel the expenditure on technology is worth it if we can support students rather than sentencing students to IPP's for life. Many classroom teachers are not aware of what is available to their students to support them. Maybe this should be a professional development area of focus for our board. If we know what is out there in terms of technology, we can make more informed decisions on how to best help our students.
I believe that we need to stop looking at assistive technology as something to be offered only to our struggling students, bt as something to integrate to all our students. Who knows what they will be able to accomplish. Their imaginations are the limit!
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