All Good Things Must Come to an END!

Well, my journey of learning has come to an end. However, this is just one chapter of my learning. With any good student or teacher, learning should never end and there should always be something you want to know more about. Especially as a teacher, I have found that there will always be new technologies to learn, new lessons to teach, and always new ways to modify and accommodate your students’ needs.

At the beginning of this blog, I learned a new concept called UDL (Universal Design for Learning). I never heard this term before, but now after learning so much about it, I have found that every lesson a teacher teaches, it should have UDL components in it. Assistive technology (AT) is also another main concept I had little understanding of until this blog. Having researched so many resources within this blog journey I now have an unlimited knowledge of AT devices, how to implement these devices, and trainings for these devices. This blog has allowed me to see accommodation and modifications that I can now use to help my students with specific needs.

Reflecting upon my beginning posts, and looking at my ending posts I have found that I am more confident in my learning, and have a better understanding about the concepts I am learning about. It has allowed me up reflect on my knowledge and learn new ways to implement my learning into my teaching. I have learned that research and exploration is a huge tool that teachers can use, and has help me open up my resource database to gain more information about things a knew little about, such as UDL and AT devices.

I want to be the best teacher I can be for my students. That means that just like them I need to constantly be learning new ideas, concepts, laws, AT devices, and resources. Through writing this blog I now know that learning is a never ending process, and I look forward to chapter two of my learning path.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives -Great Resource!

In the previous post I discussed a great resource called TechMatrix. In this blog post, I will be discussing my learnings from another great resource called, The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. This website gives interactive lessons for grades K-12 and all types of math lessons. Math lessons include: algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis & probability, and number & operations.

Some examples of lesson that I enjoyed and could see myself using was one for grades K-2. The lesson taught bar graphs and charts. It was interactive, which made it fun to do while still teaching the math concepts to students. Another lesson for teaching numbers and operations was on base 10 blocks. It gave multiple means of representation through visuals and auditory means. This would highly benefit students with visual impairments, as well as students with learning disabilities.

In my professional experience it is important to learn new resources that can accommodate my students and their specific needs. The website, The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is one of those resources that I will go back to and implement into my classroom.

Resources:

Dell, A; Newton, G and Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities. Pearson Education

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. (n.d.). National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

TechMatrix is AWESOME!

After learning about great resources for implementing AT devices in my previous blog post, this blog will be about activities/programs you can use for students with disabilities. The website TechMatrix (http://www.techmatrix.org) was an awesome website that allows you to type in your grade level, subject content you are looking for, the disability your students may have based on IDEA categories, and the instructional support you need. It then finds products and research based off your search requests.

For my personal use I typed in early elementary, math, autism, and all instructional supports that are possible. This website came back with 31 results that accommodate my needs.
A few products were a little expensive, however there were some that were free. One example that I really like was Classworks. Classworks is a web-based instructional software that provides interactive lessons that are customizable for learning and assessing students in grades K-12 for reading, math, and language arts. Classwork units are based on state standards and offer interactive solutions through multiple means of representation, which is great for UDL.

 

Another example that I really enjoyed and could see myself using in the classroom was, Coin Critters. This teaches students to use money skills. The cost ranges from $1-$50. Students with Autism, emotional disturbance, specific learning disabilities, and speech or language impairments would benefit from a program like this.

Overall, TechMatrix is a great resource for teacher to use if they have students' with special disabilities. I will be using this website in the future for my students.

Resources:

Dell, A; Newton, G and Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities. Pearson Education

Welcome to TechMatrix. (n.d.). Welcome to TechMatrix. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://www.techmatrix.org

University of Kentucky-Assistive Technology (UKAT) Project

In the previous post I discussed a great resource for implementing AT devices in the classroom setting. This blog is another great resource that Dell suggested for implementing AT devices. This resource is made by the University of Kentucky. After reviewing this website, I found it to be extremely helpful. It is easy to navigate through and gives great visuals of what it is explaining. Through powerpoints and an awesome toolkit, it really give great tips and information about AT devices and how to implement them.

One example that I really appreciated was a form that the website provided that helps guide you through the process of implementing an AT device. (Http://serc.gws.uky.edu/www/ukatii/toolkit/AT_implementation.pdf)


By using this website as a resource I found it to be very informative and really explains how to implement AT devices. I will surely be using this website in the future.

Resources:

Dell, A; Newton, G and Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities. Pearson Education

UKAT Tools. (n.d.). UKAT: Sample Application of the Tools. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://edsrc.coe.uky.edu/www/ukatii/toolkit/index

Making It Work: Effective Implementation of AT Guide

When having a student with special needs it is important to use as many resources to help with your questions you may have. One great resource that Dell suggested was, “Making It Work: Effective Implementation of Assistive Technology” (319). This resource is the Learning Centre on the SET website. This provides educators with a guide of how to successfully implement assistive technology devices for students with disabilities.

This website has seven sections of how to implement assistive technology into the classroom.
These seven sections include:

1.       Gather Relevant Information

    2.       Establish IEP Goals

3.       Conduct Assistive Technology Trials

4.       Identify Assistive Technology Solutions

5.       Develop Assistive Technology Implementation Plan

6.       Adapt Lessons for Technology Integration

7.       Follow up and Plan Transition

This website accommodates everyone and has PDF forms about each of the sections provided. I found this website to be extremely useful, and I plan on using it to help implement assistive technology into my own classroom.

 

References:

Dell, A; Newton, G and Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities. Pearson Education

"Making It Work: Effective Implementation of Assistive Technology (2007)." Making It Work: Effective Implementation of Assistive Technology (2007). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.setbc.org/setbc/topics/effective_implementation_of_assistive_technology.html

  

Augmentative Communication System Designed for the Home and Community Settings

Providing support is very important with a student has an augmentative communication system at home or in the community setting. The next step is to design the system to meet the demands and needs of the student in the home and community.

For the home setting, in addition to the training that can be provided to the family about the augmentative communication system, it is important that the family members encourage the student to use the system as much as possible. Working with the students’ teacher to learn specific techniques is also a great idea. They have experience with using these systems and can really help give input on transitioning them to different settings, such as the home and community.

For the community setting, like mentioned in the previous post, having field trips set up that are designed to bring awareness to using augmentative communication systems is a great way for the student to gain new experiences.  Especially if the student gets the chance to work with someone who knows little about such devices, it allows the student to have that experience and a chance to work through that challenge of communicating with them. They need to have such experiences, because not everyone they come into contact with will know what to do or say.

Lastly, the greatest accommodation that could be made for a student with an augmentative communication system is to have deigned boards that match the activity they are about to do. For example, if they are cooking something in the kitchen have a board that has cooking vocabulary. As seen below.

References:

Dell, A; Newton, G and Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities. Pearson Education

Augmentative Communication System at Home and in the Community

Having the augmentative communication device integrated into the IEP for a student at school is very important. What happens when the student is at the home or in the community? What needs to be done for that student, so they can continue to succeed with using the device?  For students’ with an augmentative communication system it is crucial that the support and same social objectives be continued at the home and in the community setting. This is important, because it helps the student to continue using the device in different setting which can be difficult. Training for the family to use the augmentative communication should be provided.

In my personal experience, I have worked with a student who used one of these systems and the parents’ received several trainings of how to use the system at home. This really helped the whole family become familiar with the vocabulary needed and in turn helped the student succeed with using the system at home.

In the community setting, many people are not familiar with augmentative communication systems. This can cause many challenges for the student who needs one to communicate. By having things like field trips and activities that will allow the student to have positive experiences with using the augmentative communication system in an community will build confidence for the student and also allow it not to be such a scary and challenging thing to do.

I think this is a great idea for schools to plan, especially with students who do not have positive experiences with using their augmentative communication system in a community setting.

References:

Dell, A; Newton, G and Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities. Pearson Education.