A final reflection on Assistive Technology 5163

Here is a WordCloud I created with a lot of my key take aways from this course.

As a teacher, I have always struggled to find ways to foster independence with my struggling learners.  This course has opened up so many avenues for me (and them!) and helped to deepen my understanding of what I can do to help them, with their specific learning challenges.  This class has been an extremely beneficial experience for me.  I now have a huge bank of activities to draw from and a deeper understanding of the reading and writing process and what resource or activities would suit the needs of each student. 

As I leave this course, I walk away now with a better understanding of the relationship between UDL and AT.  My new goal is to work towards taking the learning activities I already have and developing iTunesU courses to help support all of my students across all subjects.  By participating in the hands-on activities with the apps throughout this course, it has only enlightened me more to how engaging and exciting using technology can be. 

I want to thank you (Barb), for offering your knowledge to us and helping me to help my students!  I am sure they will thank you to next year, when they are having a blast, rocking “Show what you know” activities using iMovie trailers.  I will let you know.  I also wanted to thank my colleagues, for showing me just how creative you can be when given the opportunity.  It is truly inspiring and it was a great experience to participate in a class where there was so much engagement and laughter.  I think that the importance of laughter and engagement are too often forgotten in educational environments. 

Have a great summer everyone!  YAY! 

A Response to Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning: Two Sides of the Same Coin

                              

This article Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning: Two Sides of the Same Coin does a great job explaining the relationship between Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Assistive Technology (AT).  According to Rose, Hasselbring, Stahl and Zabala, AT is modern technology which helps individual students overcome curriculum barriers, allowing specific students accessibility to all curriculum outcomes.  UDL is technology that is used to target the specific curriculum, creating learning outcomes and environments which are accessible to all learners, regardless of specific disabilities or learning challenges.  UDL is achieved by employing modern technologies, and for UDL to be achieved in classrooms, it is important that educators have a solid understanding of the AT that is available (Rose, Hasselbring, Stahl and Zabala, 2004). 

UDL and AT are strongly related, but it is important to note they are not the same.  It is important to have a strong knowledge of the Assistive Technologies that are available when designing curriculum that is accessible to all students.  When I think about my upcoming assignment (Grade 2/3 English classroom) and how I can create learning outcomes and a learning environment which is accessible to all, iPads are my first thought.  Through this course, I have learned a great deal about what is available.  Although I am not lucky enough to have a class set of iPads, there will be a class set available for school use.  Using programs such as iTunesU, to develop unit plans and interactive units, is essential to creating a classroom focused on the principles of UDL.  Through iTunesU, I can compile a large amount of interactive books, websites, videos and apps related to curriculum areas.  I have already started thinking about the possibilities for the Magnets Unit that I will be teaching next year.  The iPad allows for exciting possibilities for both myself and my students, and I am excited to start my planning.  

It is important that educators are educated on new and exciting learning principles like UDL and the possibilities of AT.  Without that education there will be little growth (in my opinion), which is important as our students and world are changing rapidly with technology.  It is my hope that through my own knowledge I can help to educate some teachers who may desire it, or collaborate with teachers who are willing, to develop co-planned and joint units on subjects.  That way, collaboration and the use of all curriculum resources can be used to support student engagement and learning. 

A link to the article can be found here.

A Response to Take the Pencil out of the Process and Assistive Technology and Writing and Diagnosis and Intervention Strategies for Disorders of Written Language

If the above visual does nothing else for you, it will illustrate the complexity of the writing process.  For many students with learning disabilities or motor issues that make handwriting a challenge, writing is a daunting and dreadful experience.  That is why as educators it is extremely important that we have in place both compensatory and remediation strategies for students who struggle with the mechanical or written expression portion of writing.  One way to do this is to use an iPad and applications to support students through the writing process.  

For today’s class we were expected to read three articles, all on the subject of intervention strategies for writing.  I was extremely interested in this topic, because as an elementary teacher this is often something that I see students struggle with on a daily basis, for a number of reasons.  Having said that, I was surprised when I began reading Take the Pencil Out of the Process, by Leslie Broun, where she noted many parents’ frustration in the fact that their children with ASD were not allowed to use computers as a strategy or adaptation when writing.  It is easy to see (from doing our letter to Santa activity) how much more complicated the writing process becomes when you are concentrating on forming letters and working with the pencil.  It is obvious how assistive technology could help students who struggle with letter formation when writing.  It could essentially open up the lines of communication for them, allowing students the opportunity to write more than one or two word answers, and explain their thinking in full sentences.

One really important quote that I took from this article was found on page 17.  “…it is important to focus on the fact that they have demonstrated an ability to learn and independently apply language to their thoughts and experiences in ways that are contrary to what their expressions of autism might at first glance suggest.” (Broun, 2009).  When I read this quote my first thought was that we need to presume the competency of our students, especially those that struggle to use and communicate their understanding of learning.  It is imperative that we allow students to show us their understanding using any technology or mode available, not just the ones that have traditionally been used in our education system.  It also made me think of our recent discussion in class, when we talked about the importance of remembering “What it is we are assessing.”  As I have said before, matters of correctness are one part of the writing process.  It is important to allow students the ability to express themselves using any means possible, including assistive technology. 

My main take away from Diagnosis and Intervention Strategies for Disorders of Written Language by Margret Kay was the importance of understanding where the students deficiencies lie with writing disorders, and how we as educators can help remediate, and in some cases compensate, for their specific needs.  It is important to consider that one strategy will not work for all students, so there may be many different remediation and compensation strategies happening in your classroom at any given time.  

The importance of knowing your students and where they struggle leads me to the final article we were expected to read, Assistive Technology and Writing , written Newton and Dell.  In this article Newton and Dell list a variety of low to high tech assistive technologies which can be used for students, depending on where their deficiencies lie.  For me, I was especially drawn to the strategies related to written expression, as this is often where I see deficiencies with many of my students.  As many of us know, the writing process involves 5 basic steps, all which have many steps within each big step.  Each step of the writing process can cause problems for students, depending on their specific disability.  Below, I will note some of the assistive technologies that would be helpful for each step, to support independent writing in your classroom. 
Pre-writing:  Pre-writing is the stage of writing which students plan and organize their ideas, often through the use of graphic organizers.  For many students with learning challenges, graphic organizers can be cumbersome and confusing.  One great app which I have used with students in the past is Kidspiration.  This allows students to manipulate their ideas, and elaborate if necessary, easily and comfortably. 
ADD PIC
Drafting:  Drafting refers to the step in which the actual writing is done.  For students with learning challenges and mechanical (handwriting) issues, this is often a significant challenge.  Luckily, through the use of iPad apps like CoWriter, WordQ and Dragon Dictate Software, students are able to record their ideas easily using text-to-speech or word prediction software.
Revising/Editing:  This step refers to re-reading, organizing, adding details, and checking work for mistakes.  This is a painstaking process for many young writers, especially those who struggle to write.  By using software like WordQ and Read and Write, students can hear their own writing, which will often prompt them to fix mistakes that they may not have been able to see, by reading their own writing.  I have found this especially useful for students who struggle to add punctuation.  Other software like spell and grammar checks offer students visuals which prompt them to fix spelling, grammar and capitalization issues. 
Sharing & Publishing:  This process simply means students ability to share their work.  Oftentimes, students are able to do this easily after writing in any of the above mentioned programs.  There are also programs like StripDesign, which allow students to publish their work in engaging and exciting ways. 

It is important to offer students choice and opportunity with assistive technologies during the writing process.  When planning unit plans, it is important to employ Universal Design for Learning, so that all students are able to access writing and have the opportunity to share their ideas and creativity.  With this knew knowledge of what is available, I no longer feel trepidations about how I will meet the needs of my students.  I feel excited about what I can now offer students to enhance their writing capabilities and encourage a love of writing and learning!

A link to Take the Pencil out of the Process can be found here. 

A Response to iPads as instructional tools to enhance learning opportunities for students with developmental disabilities: An action research project

Although there is a great deal of research that undoubtedly notes the benefits of using iPads in the classroom, this article iPads as instructional tools to enhance learning opportunities for students with developmental disabilities: An action research project, clearly illustrates the engagement and benefits that using iPads as an instructional tool can have on students with learning challenges.  Through the use of UDL and assistive technology, these Australian educators were able to create a more engaging and motivating learning environment for their students. 

By using videos, educational apps, compensatory reading software and the camera application (to name a few), these educators were able to facilitate positive engagement to tasks, which they noted were previously not always that engaging for students.  As part of this research action project, teachers worked together using Universal Design for Learning to create a classroom environment and instruction which was accessible to all from the beginning of the planning process, without needing to specifically accommodate for certain students (Cummings et. al., 2014).  By doing this, the teachers noted greater engagement in tasks and more independent learners.  They also noted that students had improved on a number of levels, and were now meeting more of their IEP goals.  In conjunction with this, students themselves acknowledged their own academic growth, through the use of iPads as a fun and exciting learning tool (Cummings et. al., 2014).

One concerning aspect of this action research project was the students’ general education teachers lack of support for students using iPads in their classrooms.  These teachers stated that their reasoning for not allowing students to use this helpful tool was because they did not have adequate time to familiarize themselves with the iPads and other students would not be able to use them, which would not be fair.  I think that this is extremely frustrating (as did the teachers in this study), because if students are able to use these tools independently to support their own learning in the classroom, they should be able to use them across subjects.  I think their trepidation may be due to the fear that technology can sometimes ensue in teachers, which to me is a very sad excuse.  Unfortunately, this is often something that I see as well.  Due to teachers own lack of knowledge of technology, their students are often missing out and not able to use tools in the classroom that could benefit them greatly across all subjects. 

One way to deal with this issue is to encourage (like this action research project did) PD and co-collaboration between teachers so they can understand how these technologies can be used to help students.  I think that Ashley M. mentioned it recently in class, that without the opportunity for teachers to explore technologies, unfortunately, they will not be used to their fullest capabilities.  We are lucky in our board to have technology mentors who can come and work with staff or individual teachers; however, although helpful, I am not sure that would be the best way to give PD on iPad technology.  I am extremely excited about our next project (Assignment 2), as I can see myself using our iTunes U course in my school, as next year each school is getting a class set of iPads.  I hope that my administrator will allow me the opportunity to work with staff and encourage collaboration as we all work towards educating ourselves on how we can use iPads to support access to literacy.

Again, the benefits of assistive technologies and Universal Design for learning cannot be stressed enough.  The research is prevalent and the benefits clear.  We need to work towards educating our educators on the benefits and ways which we can use these two important processes to help our students reach curriculum they may not have been able to reach before. 

A link to the article can be found here.

A Response to Learning from Text

After reading Learning from Text by Dave Edyburn, one thing that really struck me what a quote on page 16.  “For most literate individuals, the challenges of struggling readers are incompressible.” (Edynburn, 2003).  As an avid reader since age 4, I do find it hard to realize the struggles of my young readers.  It has been a real learning process for me, supporting them during time to practice, or independent reading.  I have come to the conclusion that other supports need to be in place for students during independent reading to help support their love and attention to the task, no matter their age.  Some of things that I have done in my younger elementary classroom in the past are games with matching beginning and ending sounds, letter recognition activities, Hearbuilder and other supports for reading, like for example Tumblebooks, RazKids or Starfall.  Without these supports I have found that struggling students start to act out during reading, disengage and eventually hate the task of reading.

The balance between remediation and compensation strategies can be a fine balance, as Edyburn notes on page 18.  In my opinion it is important to put in place compensatory strategies for struggling readers at times when reading the text would not be possible without these strategies.  For example, as a Grade 4 teacher, it can be hard to find materials that are appropriate during other subjects, like Science and Social Studies, due to the large shift around Grade 3-4 from learning to read to reading to learn.  With the use of an iPad, students can use programs like ReadIris to support them when reading textbooks or other materials like detailed Science experiments.  Also, there are a variety of interactive textbooks and subject related books, which allow access for all learners.  These compensatory strategies allow accessibility for all students, when reading is not the main target, Science outcomes are. 

Using remediation strategies is important during instructional time, when the main focus of the lesson is in fact reading.  At this time there are a number of apps that students can use to help them develop the reading skills that they are lacking.  These remediation strategies are extremely important to the development of struggling readers during independent reading time, because without them many students become disengaged and unmotivated.  I think that as soon as it is obvious that you have a struggling reader, these alternate remediation strategies should be put in place.  A link to some examples of some great remediation apps is listed in my previous blog post. 

“Historically, the need for assistive technology has been demonstrated with the rationale that there simply is no other way to complete the task.” (Edynburg, pg. 19).  I think that the most important word in this quote is historically.  As the capabilities of assistive technology continue to develop, it is important that we stop considering it as simply a “crutch” and begin to focus on how it can be used as a teaching tool which can support student learning.  Without both compensatory and remediation strategies, many students begin to drown in their own struggles and often become disengaged with the task of reading by the time they are hitting middle elementary.  As educators, we need to focus on allowing them opportunities to feel successful and engaged using whatever modes possible, including technology and apps that were developed for these purposes. 

A link to the article can be found here.

A Response to How the Special Needs Brain Learns and The Education of Dyslexic Children from Childhood to Young Adulthood

After reading How the Special Needs Brain Learns by David A. Sousa and The Education of Dyslexic Children from Childhood to Young Adulthood by S. Shaywitz, Morris and B. Saywitz it was obvious (and saddening) the implications that learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, can play on a child and their ability to learn.  I found that both articles described the cognitive workings of dyslexia very clearly, especially for me, who can find some of the technical language difficult to navigate.  They are certainly articles that I will file away, in case I am approached by a parent or colleague in the future who wants to know a little more about the topic, as I think they are easy to understand even for people who don’t have a lot of experience with the topic.

One quote that really stuck out at me while reading the Sousa article was found of page 19.

After some brief research (as I was using my 3G because I still don’t have power or internet as I write this), I found dozens of apps that help children develop phonemic awareness.  I realize that this is only one aspect of the reading process that children can need help developing; however, as a former primary teacher, I recognize it as an extremely important one.  A link to a website I found is listed below.  A few of the top rated apps included, Endless Alphabet, Reading Raven, OZ Phonics, ABC Genius and ABC Reading.  I am excited to check them out in more detail when I am back on the grid.
LINK TO PHONICS APPS.

Another thing that I kept coming to mind while reading the Sousa article was my time spent as an ESL teacher.  I always admired my young students tenacity with the English language, as it’s complexity was often something I had trouble explaining.  I often wonder now if I had of had access to these technologies what that could have meant for those students.  It also makes me excited knowing the challenges that some of my upcoming students face next year, and that I can use some of these apps with in the classroom with them.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention the importance of addressing reading challenges for children at a young age.  As an elementary teacher this can often be a challenge, as the burdens of resource teachers are often immense.  I know that Shaywitz, Morris and Saywitz mentioned it as being a key component of success for students with dyslexia (and I completely agree); however, often students who are not succeeding in programs like Early Literacy can be dropped from caseloads for that reason, and often left with fewer resource periods at a young age.  I guess this simply highlights the importance of classroom teachers having the knowledge of how they can help in the classroom to support struggling readers, so students can continue to want to succeed and not become reluctant of the process.

A link to where to buy How the Special Needs Brain Learns can be found here.
A link to The Education of Dyslexic Children from Childhood to Young Adulthood can be found here. 

A Response to Touching the virtual, touching the real: iPads and enabling literacy for students experiencing disability

After navigating through the heavy, technical vocabulary and language of Touching the virtual, touching the real: iPads and enabling literacy for students experiencing disability, I began to see many trends which I see daily within my own classroom throughout the article.  Flewitt, Kucirkova & Messer noted that through their research, most students with disabilities found technology-mediated writing to be the easiest way to write.  This year in my classroom, I struggled to find technology to help 4 of my IPP students be more independent writers.  I approached my literacy mentor, because I found I was often giving a lot of attention during small group writing to these students, because without it, I found that they struggled to write and work independently.  This often lead to a lack of written output or in one case behaviour challenges which would then take my attention away from the other 20 students in my class. 

Through work with both the literacy and technology mentor at the board, I began to implement compensatory and remediation strategies for these 4 students.  Although I did not have access to any iPads, the program WordQ and speech to text were extremely beneficial for them.  I cannot imagine the success they could have had if given the opportunity to work with a portable and interactive iPad.  For one of my students, “appearing” different was a real challenge for him.  Although his learning disability made his writing for the most part illegible, he often resisted writing on the computer.  I adopted the saying in my classroom “Fair is not always equal” as a way of explaining to students that some students got to use the computers more often than others.  I was lucky that I had empathetic and understanding students who realized that for some students, not having the technologies to assist them made it very hard for them to do things that some students could easily do (like writing for example).

This article also brings to light the benefits that students with disabilities receive by feeling empowered by the ability to express themselves, in ways that was not possible without the flexibility of the iPad and the software that it is able to offer (Flewitt, Kucirkova & Messer, 2014).  Many of the students mentioned in this article developed enthusiasm through their newfound ability to express themselves and were more motivated during literacy activities.  They finally had an outlet that allowed them to “…project their personal identity within the classroom..” (Flewitt, Kucirkova & Messer, pg. 115), through the use of touch on the iPad. 

As it is our primary goal as educators to facilitate independence with our students, it would appear that the iPad is one way to do this with students who struggle to express themselves in the way which our traditional education system prefers (for example a pencil and a paper).  It is important to consider the benefit of touch and use of technologies and software that allow students these opportunities, so that all students can have the opportunity to shine and feel successful in our classrooms.  
A link to the article can be found here.