Unit 1: Intro to Assistive Technology

Welcome to our class! Our focus this semester will be on the development of activities and tools to support learning goals for students with special needs. On this page, you'll find everything you need to complete the first few tasks for the semester. Information will be in text and video format. Please make sure to watch all videos and read all text before attempting each task. If you normally skim long passages of text (I'm always guilty of this), this is not the semester to do that. Should you have questions along the way simply email, call, or text: 770-714-5295.

Two tips that will help you:

Make a checklist of everything that needs to be completed before you get started. I've highlighted the "action item" for each of the tasks to make it easier to create a checklist.
You have one week to complete all of these tasks. There are readings, several videos to watch, and a bit of writing. If you wait until the last minute - all the tasks run together and get pretty complicated.

Informational Video

Overview of the semester and Unit 1. I highly recommend watching at 1.5x speed. Some of the general "life" references are a bit outdated but the information about the course is still very much up to date.

Advice from last summer:

Before you get started on our course - take a few minutes to hear about the class from students who took the class during June Short Session. They also have some advice for you. Use this link to view their padlet posts.

TASK 1: GETTING ORGANIZED FOR CLASS

Grade value: 3% of total grade Time Estimate: 45 minutes to 1 hour

One of the most important things for you to do this week is introduce yourself to your classmates and provide us with some background information and your contact information. Although there are no group projects this semester, it's important that you get to know your classmates as much as possible during an online course to make it more meaningful. If you can get these small things completed by Wednesday, July 10th at the end of the day, you'll earn a late pass that will give you an extra 24 hours to complete another task this semester. If you can't complete them by the 10th - no worries, just get it done as soon as you can and definitely by the deadline for all tasks in Unit 1: Monday, July 15th at the end of the day.

STEP ONE: Use Padlet to tell us about yourself.

Go to our class Padlet. Click the + button on the bottom right of the Padlet screen to create your own post - you'll see a place to add a quick video to say hello and help us to pronounce your name correctly. You'll also see some required (and some optional) questions to answer.

Take a few minutes to view your classmates' responses using the same link.

STEP TWO: Complete the Student Information Sheet

Click here to complete the Student Information Sheet. Please make sure to let me know if your contact information changes at any time during the semester.

STEP THREE: Set Up Your Portfolio

You'll need a space to organize all of your work. We're going to use Google Sites to create a portfolio for you to keep all of your work. This is also how I will access all of your work in order to grade it. [If you've taken another EDIT course before - please make a completely new site for this course. It will be easier in the long run. Use the same Google login, just create a new site]

**Important note - you can't edit a Google Site unless you are using Google Chrome or Firefox as your browser. But honestly, if you're not using one of these two browsers already - it's time for an upgrade (your life will be better for it, I promise). If you do try to create/edit a site using Safari or Explorer, you'll be sent to the "classic" version of Google Sites and none of my instructions will make any sense.

You likely already have a Google account. If not - please go to google.com and set one up (you'll need it for several things this semester). Once you're set up with a Google account, go to http://sites.google.com/new to create your site.

**Important note - if you like to tinker with technology to figure it out, the instructions that follow should be sufficient for you to complete this task. If you prefer a tutorial, click here for an excellent overview on how to get started with Google Sites (then follow the instructions below). Ok - but the tutorial does recommend that you choose a template - I recommend you don't. Choose the "Blank Template" option and it will save you lots of frustration and deleting of random text boxes later. Also - if you've taken EDIT 2000 or EDIT 2000e (hi Maymester students!), you can use the same website, just add these 5 new pages OR create a new site but just do it with your same Google login.

Once you've named your site, you'll want to create 5 pages:
- About
- Definitions and Policies
- Mobility and Accessibility
- Communication and Literacy
- Academics and Study Skills
Most of your pages will be blank for the time being. On your About page, include a photo of yourself and a brief biography that's about 2-3 paragraphs long. You can see an example of what this might look like here. (Make sure to check out the About page - it has a really cute dog on it.)
OPTIONAL PRIVACY SETTING: If you don't want your website to be available to anyone on the internet, follow these instructions: Click the Share With Others button at the top right of your page (it looks like a person with a + sign on their shoulder). This is where you'll create some privacy settings for your site. Under "Published - Anyone can find and view" click the "Change" link. Choose "Specific people can view when published" and then click "Save." Then you'll have the option to invite me to view your website. In the "Invite people" box, add my gmail account: gthomasuga@gmail.com and then click "Done.'
Regardless of your privacy settings, click the Publish button when you are finished. Google Sites will save all of your work - but it won't be viewable publicly until you click the Publish button. If you'd like to see your website like others will see it, click the small arrow on the right side of the Publish button and choose View Published site. This will allow you to see what your actual website address is, too.
If it takes you longer than an hour to complete this activity, please text or email me (don't count the time it takes to pick out a picture and add 30 minutes if you're a perfectionist.)
Post your contact information, including your new portfolio address, to this form. Please note - your portfolio address will be similar to: https://sites.google.com/view/whateveryounamedyoursite

ONE LAST THING BEFORE YOU GO ON TO TASK 2:

**If you are currently enrolled in the Learning, Design, and Technology undergraduate certificate or you are interested in enrolling - please complete this short form.

TASK 2: WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY?

Grade value: 5% of total grade Time Estimate: 1-2 hours (depending on reading speed)

Before we can do much of anything in our course - we need to make sure we all have a basic understanding of some general terms, policies, and definitions related to assistive technology. In this task, you'll read an article, take some notes, and create a study guide for yourself to practice your understanding of this information. Your study guide is not preparing you for a quiz or test - but to use as a reference for future projects, readings, and writing tasks for this course.

Read: Viner, M., Singh, A., & Shaughnessy, M. F. (2020). Assistive Technology to Help Students With Disabilities. In A. Singh, M. Viner, & C. Yeh (Ed.), Special Education Design and Development Tools for School Rehabilitation Professionals (pp. 240-267). IGI Global.
Take notes in whatever way you normally do - pay close attention to definitions of terms and information about US federal policies. Note the reasons stated for using assistive technology and why teachers might face challenges in identifying appropriate assistive technology for their students. Try to find one or two "takeaways" from each of the different headings in the reading.
Using Appendix C (p. 264) from the reading - explore at least 5 of the 8 US Government Resources listed. Add additional information you find to your notes.
Watch these really short (and interesting) videos about Discovery, Planning, and Assessment (it's a video from Canada but the procedures discussed are very similar to US schools) and 5 Myths of Assistive Technology to fill in some gaps and/or address concerns you might have from your reading. Add to your notes as you see fit.
Create a study/reference guide that you can use for the rest of the semester: it can be a chart, an infographic, a slideshow, a Quizlet (an original one), a simple set of highlighted or color-coded notes - whatever makes the most sense for you. Once it's completed - provide an image, a link, or the embedded Google Doc or Slides (see embedding instructions below) on your Definitions and Policies webpage that you made in Task 1.

Should you choose to insert a Google Doc/Slides - here are the directions (you have to share it, then insert it):

Before you leave your Google Doc/Slides, click on the Share button in the top right corner. In the "Share with People and Groups" box that pops up, in the "Get Link" section at the bottom, click the "change to anyone with a link" option. Then click "Done" Here's a really short tutorial video to show you how.
Go to your website, navigate to your Definitions and Policies page, and click the Insert tab on the top right.
Scroll down the Insert menu and select Document or Slides
Choose your Document or Slides
You'll need to do this each time you embed a new Google Document (or Slides or Spreadsheet) on your website.
DON'T FORGET TO CLICK THE BLUE PUBLISH BUTTON!!!

TASK 3: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEWS

Grade value: 5% of total grade

Part One - List to a Podcast about ADA: In your reading in Task 2, you should have come across information about the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (likely from looking over resources in Appendix C). NPR's Throughline has an excellent podcast on the 30th anniversary of the passage of the act. It's an hour-long podcast and I'd just like you to listen to it while you're taking a walk, sitting outside somewhere pleasant, or just taking a break somewhere. If you prefer to read the transcript, that's available, too (but still sit outside somewhere pleasant). Please don't skip this task just because there isn't a quiz - this podcast does a great job of helping give context to what is simply a sentence or two in your readings so far.

Podcast link (you can also use any podcast app and search for Throughline - the name of the specific episode is: ADA Now!

Transcript link

Part Two - Read about Person First Language: You'll be writing a number of short reflections and summaries this semester and it's important for you to have a style guide to assist you. However, the style guide I'd like for you to use is not The Elements of Style or the MLA Handbook (we actually don't even use MLA in the College of Ed - we are all APA in Aderhold), it's a People First style guide distributed by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. This style guide has nothing to do with being politically correct and everything to do with affording everyone the same respect when we make references to them in a reflection or summary. Please make sure to refer to this style guide as you are writing anything for our course and whenever you make reference to a person with disabilities. But also understand that people have the right to decide how they are to be "described" by others - so this People First guide is just that, a guide, but we should be comfortable with individuals choosing their descriptors. And at the very minimum, stop using the word "retarded" to reference any living thing, thought, or action. It is offensive and if you hear someone else use it - ask them to use a different word.

Part Three - Reflect on what you learned: What did you learn from the podcast? From the style guide? What context did the first-person accounts of the passage of the ADA bring to your understanding of the law? What's changed about references you'll use after reviewing the People First style guide? Write a short reflection that answers these questions (if you want to know how long a reflection should be - use your current age as a guide for the average number of sentences you'll write - or somewhere around 20 - but please don't count your sentences (I won't) just write about what you learned). You can write this directly on your Definitions and Policies page or write it on a Google Doc that is then inserted onto your Definitions and Policies page.

Should you choose to insert a Google Doc - review the directions for this found at the end of Task 2. Seriously, please review them - there are 45 of you and it's really going to slow down grading if you insert a Google Doc without sharing it because I'll just see an empty box. The best way to check is to look at the SHARE button in the top right corner of the actual Doc (not to be confused with the Publish button on your Google Site) - if the SHARE button is a padlock image - I can't view your Doc. If the SHARE button has a globe - well done! That means I can grade it.

TASK 4: AT IS EVERYWHERE!

Grade value: 5% of total grade Time estimate 30-45 minutes

Take a few minutes to think about tools you use to get your academic work completed - how many of those tools could be considered assistive technology? Would any of the tools you used to create your resource guide in Task 2 be considered assistive technology tools?

Create a set of 3 Google Slides to take us on a brief tour of the assistive technology that supports your own learning goals. Identify an example of a low-tech, a mid-tech, and a high-tech tool that you use and create a slide for each. Each slide should contain a picture of the tool and a 3-4 sentence explanation for how that tool supports your learning. Pictures should be taken by you - not pictures downloaded from the internet. Make sure to add a caption to each slide with the type of tool (low-tech, etc.) and why you chose it.

Once you've completed your slides, follow the same set of directions for inserting your slides onto your Definitions and Policies webpage as you did to insert your Google Doc in Task 3. The only difference is that you're inserting a Slide instead of a Doc - but you still need to make sure it's been shared (look for that globe icon on the SHARE button). And don't forget to click the PUBLISH button on your site!

image of table of contents icon - three rows of a long and then short horizontal line

This is what the table of contents icon looks like that you'll use to get to Ch. 4

TASK 5: HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER

Grade value: 10% of total grade Time Estimate: 2 hours

READ: Rose, D. H., & Gravel, J. W. (2010). Universal design for learning. In P. Peterson, E. Baker & B. McGraw (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (pp. 48-56). Oxford: Elsevier. This goes into fantastic detail about what Universal Design for Learning really means to expand on what you read in your textbook this week.

**You will have to create a free Teacher account to read the chapter - but the web version has some nice accessibility features that might be useful to you. I particularly like the option to have any text that you highlight read to you. Once you've created the account, click on "Resources" and then scroll all the way to the bottom of the resources and you'll see the book. You're basically just reading all of chapter 4 - and there are videos included that you are not required to view but might help to explain UDL a bit better. To access chapter 4 - click on the table of contents icon that you see in the top left and then you can choose the correct chapter.

Each week, you'll be asked to connect the work you've done with at least 1 of the 3 principles of UDL - based on the information contained in your assigned readings and the UDL chapter you just read. This week's writing will be more of an overview of your understanding of UDL and how it applies to your own learning. Your CONNECT writing for this week should be 3-5 paragraphs.

Open a new Google Doc - write about your understanding of Universal Design for Learning and the role it plays in learning for all students. Think about your personal learning needs - which of the three principles of UDL is really important to you? What's an example of a time you were provided with the opportunity to have multiple means of representation, action/expression, or engagement? How do the three tools that you talked about in Task 4 support one or more of these principles?

Insert your Google Doc onto your Definitions and Policies webpage - following the same directions as found in the previous tasks - look for the globe icon on the SHARE button to ensure you've shared the document correctly. Also, don't forget to click the PUBLISH button on your site! At the end of the semester, you will have several entries (3-5 paragraphs each) about UDL Connections on this same Google Doc.

That's it! You've finished your first set of tasks. Please make sure to email, text, or call me if you have questions or concerns at any point in these tasks. Please remember that all tasks are due no later than Monday, July 17 at the end of the day. No need to email me once you're finished - I'm able to check on all of your work through FlipGrid and your Google Site. The next set of tasks will be posted by Monday, July 17 at noon.

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