Adaptive and Assistive Technology

I've really enjoyed researching the different types of assistive technology that is available.  Many of us use assistive technology on a regular basis without even knowing it.  Highlighters, sticky notes, spell check, dictionaries, etc.  We all need it, just some of us need more specialized tools.

As a future special education teacher I will need to become well aquainted with the technologies that are available to my students.  We all know how technology is, it is constantly changing and evolving.  The importance to continuously research new devices is crucial.  Something new may have came out that would be just what one of your students need to facilitate their success in learning.

Often these technologies do not just help in the classroom, but with every part of their life.  I can not imagine the frustration one must feel when they are unable to clearly communicate their wants and needs.  Sometimes assistive technology is the tool that finally gives an individual a voice to be heard.  What a relief that must be for the individual, their family, friends, teacher and anyone they come in contact with.

Want to go on a WebQuest?

Who doesn't love a good scavenger hunt?  I think webquests are an awesome way to really engage students on a topic.  I kind of got sucked into looking at some of the webquest examples posted on the tutorial.  I think this type of lesson would be specifically interesting to a student with ADHD, it's a quiet, seated activity that can really keep a students attention due to the fact that you visit different websites, videos,activities, etc.

The ACC webquest we went on wasn't particularly exciting, but it also wasn't geared towards children.  The information provided was great, however most of the websites were very boring to look at and there were also several broken links that I came across.  Overall I think it did a good job of educating about assistive technologies.

Assistive Technology

To be quite honest, before departing on my webquest I had very little knowledge of assistive technologies and AAC.  It's difficult to have prior knowledge of these tools when you have little to no prior experience in special education.  I have seen students with communication boards before, but I had absolutely no knowledge of how they worked.  I imagine as a special education teacher I will quickly become familiar with various types of assistive technologies, as they seem to be very useful and effective.  I can't wait to jump in and get some hands on experience.  No matter how much I read about it, my real comprehension will begin when I enter the classroom!

Facebook for the Classroom?

Each day I become more and more open to technology.  I have several friends that are active in the teaching field.  A couple of those friends have accepted friend requests from students on facebook, which I find completely inappropriate. However, I think a good solution would be signing up for a professional facebook account with another email address, while keeping your personal account hidden.  Facebook offers many privacy options, one even allows you to only be searchable by a friend of a friend.  This drastically cuts the chance of a student finding your page. Facebook suggests that if you are viewable "You can also model safe behavior by being careful about what you share online".  This is a great point, however the social aspect of this makes it difficult to control what your friends post.  let's face it, most of cannot say that each person on their friends list would use the same judgement about the appropriateness of some material!

A classroom facebook account could be a very useful tool, especially for keeping contact with parents.  Also for parents, it will allow for better parental networking.  Everyone will have a better opportunity to stay in the loop.

In the online article, A case for social media in schools, written by Sarah Kessler she mentioned another benefit, this time out of the classroom.  The social aspect helps to better prepare you for the workplace.  So much school work has been focused on individual, independent work, but when you get out into the real world you are expected to work in teams to get work done.  the interactive nature of social networking may help with this transition.