3.4 Adaptive & Assistive Technology
Candidates facilitate the use of adaptive and assistive technologies to support individual student learning needs. (PSC 3.4/ISTE 3d)
Artifact: Assistive Technology Implementation Plan
Reflection:
During the summer of 2015, I completed a field experience working an autistic, non-verbal student who relies on assistive technology to communicate and express himself as a part of the ITEC 7445 course. The student utilizes an augmentative communication device called Dynavox. Before working with the student I spoke with both his special education teacher and para-pro, reviewed his IEP, completed a WATI, and an Implementation Plan. During my time working with the student I observed his use of the Dynavox, a marker to trace letters, and completed a reading lesson with him where he had to use the Dynavox to respond to comprehension questions about the story I read to him. For this artifact, I have created an implementation plan for the student in the usage of his assistive technologies to support his individual student learning needs. While I had conversations with the student’s teachers regarding his needs and the technology available, my contribution for the artifact was to compile all of the information and test the effectiveness of the plan through working with the student one-on-one.
After observing the student and conferencing with his teachers, I developed an implementation plan for the student using his Dynavox, which is an adaptive and assistive technology that enables him to communicate with those around him. The implementation plan details what technologies the student requires and how they should be used with him in the classroom. Using this plan I facilitated a reading lesson with the student using his adaptive and assistive technology on the computer to read a short story and answer comprehension questions about what he learned from the story. The computer program he used had the ability to read the story aloud at his pace as well as offering large pictures to go along with the text to give visuals as he read. After reading, he was able to use his Dynavox to answer the questions.
During this field experience I continued my learning as I worked to understand more assistive and adaptive technologies used within my school district. I began to see how important it is for teachers to receive training on the assistive technologies in their classrooms, especially if they were not the ones to determine this was the best tool for the student to use. As a technology leader it is important to understand all subgroups within your school and the technologies necessary to help the students achieve their best. In this particular case I was able to focus primarily on the special education department and their needs. If I were to make any changes to this artifact, I would prefer to spend more time with the student in a classroom with his peers. Due to the fact that this was completed during the summer as a part of a small group special education summer school opportunity, there were only three students present and he did not interact with any of those students. It would be nice to see how the student uses his assistive and adaptive technologies to interact and communicate with people other than his two teachers.
I was made more aware of the variety of assistive technologies that are present in my school and district as I created this artifact. It was also brought to my attention the amount of training that is necessary and yet lacking in our district for the special education teachers working with these students each day. As a result of this field experience, I was able to have communications with the special education teachers at my school to discuss current assistive technologies they are utilizing and even offer to help one of the teachers better understand one of the computer reading programs they were utilizing with their student. The teacher expressed that while there is a technology technician just for the special education department in our district, they do not always feel like they know the right questions to ask to best understand the technologies they have been given. I plan to work with some of the special education teachers in the future to explain how some of the technologies they are using work so they may be better suited to use them to their full potential and determine how they should be adjusted to meet the needs of the students they are working with. This impact can be assessed through the teachers’ comfortableness with the AT and their usage with them in the classroom to meet individual student needs.
During the summer of 2015, I completed a field experience working an autistic, non-verbal student who relies on assistive technology to communicate and express himself as a part of the ITEC 7445 course. The student utilizes an augmentative communication device called Dynavox. Before working with the student I spoke with both his special education teacher and para-pro, reviewed his IEP, completed a WATI, and an Implementation Plan. During my time working with the student I observed his use of the Dynavox, a marker to trace letters, and completed a reading lesson with him where he had to use the Dynavox to respond to comprehension questions about the story I read to him. For this artifact, I have created an implementation plan for the student in the usage of his assistive technologies to support his individual student learning needs. While I had conversations with the student’s teachers regarding his needs and the technology available, my contribution for the artifact was to compile all of the information and test the effectiveness of the plan through working with the student one-on-one.
After observing the student and conferencing with his teachers, I developed an implementation plan for the student using his Dynavox, which is an adaptive and assistive technology that enables him to communicate with those around him. The implementation plan details what technologies the student requires and how they should be used with him in the classroom. Using this plan I facilitated a reading lesson with the student using his adaptive and assistive technology on the computer to read a short story and answer comprehension questions about what he learned from the story. The computer program he used had the ability to read the story aloud at his pace as well as offering large pictures to go along with the text to give visuals as he read. After reading, he was able to use his Dynavox to answer the questions.
During this field experience I continued my learning as I worked to understand more assistive and adaptive technologies used within my school district. I began to see how important it is for teachers to receive training on the assistive technologies in their classrooms, especially if they were not the ones to determine this was the best tool for the student to use. As a technology leader it is important to understand all subgroups within your school and the technologies necessary to help the students achieve their best. In this particular case I was able to focus primarily on the special education department and their needs. If I were to make any changes to this artifact, I would prefer to spend more time with the student in a classroom with his peers. Due to the fact that this was completed during the summer as a part of a small group special education summer school opportunity, there were only three students present and he did not interact with any of those students. It would be nice to see how the student uses his assistive and adaptive technologies to interact and communicate with people other than his two teachers.
I was made more aware of the variety of assistive technologies that are present in my school and district as I created this artifact. It was also brought to my attention the amount of training that is necessary and yet lacking in our district for the special education teachers working with these students each day. As a result of this field experience, I was able to have communications with the special education teachers at my school to discuss current assistive technologies they are utilizing and even offer to help one of the teachers better understand one of the computer reading programs they were utilizing with their student. The teacher expressed that while there is a technology technician just for the special education department in our district, they do not always feel like they know the right questions to ask to best understand the technologies they have been given. I plan to work with some of the special education teachers in the future to explain how some of the technologies they are using work so they may be better suited to use them to their full potential and determine how they should be adjusted to meet the needs of the students they are working with. This impact can be assessed through the teachers’ comfortableness with the AT and their usage with them in the classroom to meet individual student needs.