Assistive Technology Final Reflection
Heather Sanderson
Eastern Connecticut State University
Assistive/Adaptive Technology EDU612
August 14th, 2018
This class has made me so much more aware of the assistive technology that my students have available to them. I now feel like I know how the assistive technology works and am more confident in checking in with my students about their assistive technology needs. In the past when my students were using assistive technology, I always just assumed the special education professionals were assisting them effectively, so I never really asked any questions. Now that I know in detail how their technology works, I can ask them specific questions and really get a good gauge of how their assistive technology is helping them in my classroom.
The first assignment on IRIS gave me an overview of the many of the assistive technologies I see used in my classroom. I especially appreciated the detailed description of Bookshare. I have heard the special education teacher and English teacher talking about Bookshare many times, but I never really knew how it worked. Being a science teacher, I use magazines and newspaper articles in my classroom for current information. I never knew Bookshare had both magazines and newspaper articles. I have used The New York Times, Time Magazine, and Science News in my class and I just found out that they are all available on Bookshare. Next time I assign an article from one of these sources, I will make sure to let my students who qualify for Bookshare know that it is available there as well. Now my students who have had to struggle through tough science articles can use the Bookshare features to customize their reading experience and truly understand the articles content.
One of the most surprising things I learned in this class was how hearing aids and the FM System work. I have students every year with hearing impairments. Some with hearing aids, others with the FM System. I had no idea that for optimal hearing with a hearing aid you must only be three feet from a student. Also, the video that showed how much background noise impeded into what a student was hearing in their hearing aid was an eye opener. I have so much background noise in my classroom due to group work in labs that my students with hearing aids probably cannot hear the directions that I shout out during their labs. I will always make it a point going forward to approach any student with a hearing aid and give them the directions personally after I give out a direction to the whole class to make sure they understood. I can also put them at a lab table closer to the front of the room instead of in the middle to lessen the background noise, so they can concentrate on what the other members of their lab group are saying. I was encouraged to see how well the FM System worked at lessening the background noise and also extending where I could walk and still be heard by the student. One issue with the FM System is that sometimes the student forgets to give the microphone to the teacher when they enter the classroom. Now that I am much more aware of how essential the FM System is to my students learning, I will be more likely to remember if the student forgets to give it to me and I will ask them for it.
One of the things I took away from reading the Information Briefs on IRIS was how important parental involvement is in the implementation and use of assistive technology. Parents know their children better than anyone else and need to be strong advocates in making sure their child is successful. Children are usually more comfortable talking with their parents than the school staff and would probably let them know if they were having any difficulties with their assistive technology. I want to do a better job next year of keeping communication lines open with parents so they can let me know if the student’s assistive technology is properly supporting them in my science class. After taking this class I now know enough about assistive technology to have these types of discussions. I also learned about specific types of assistive technology that are helpful in my subject of science. I have always known that the vocabulary in my subject is quite difficult for some students but have never thought of using text to speech, as well as the dictionary and thesaurus features on the student’s iPads, so they can understand the text they are reading. I will remind my students who are struggling next year to access those iPad features to assist them. I also learned about audible thermometers and scales as well as calculators that would be very helpful in my science lab for students with vision impairments. I will make sure I have at least one audible scale and thermometer available. The talking calculator is already available on all student iPads.
Making the presentation was the highlight of this course for me. I spent a great deal of time watching videos on how to use assistive technology because I knew I wanted to include videos in my presentation. I feel I learn best watching a video rather than reading off a screen. Watching videos on how to use programs like Snaptype, Bookshare, and Dragon gave me a deeper understanding of how those programs work and will make it much easier for me to assist my students next year when they are using them. I also know about more assistive technology that is available to my students and feel more comfortable asking our adaptive and assistive technology specialists if they think a student may benefit from one of these technologies instead of waiting for someone in the special education department to recommend it. The sooner the correct assistive technologies are implemented the more successful the student will be.
Now that I understand all of the assistive technology professionals that work at my school and all of the assistive technologies that my students have available or are using, working with my assistive technology team will be more cohesive. I now know what questions to ask and who to ask them to. My students will benefit from a knowledgeable, interconnected assistive technology team.