Brief Introduction
"Regardless of the specific application of technology, the general goal is always the same: to harness the potential of technology in ways that offer an individual with a disability increased opportunities for learning, productivity, and independence--opportunities that otherwise would not be available"(Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 400)
Up until recently, technology integration in regards to Special Education has been purely classified or thought of as assistive technology.
Assistive Technology: extending the abilities of an individual in ways that provide physical access (e.g., wheelchairs, braces) and sensory access (e.g., Braille, closed captioning)
(Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 400)
Background Knowledge
However, the advancements of technology have allowed for creative solutions in order to address the specific teaching and learning needs for those special individuals with disabilities and handicaps. Statewide funding was not provided until after the Technology-Related Assistance Act for Individuals with Disabilities was passed 1988. In addition, the reauthorization of IDEA or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed in 1997 reinforces that every IEP team must "consider assistive technology when planning the educational program of an individual with a disability" (Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 400)Advantages of Integrating Technology
Promotes Independent Learning for Students
According to Charley Locke's published article via edsurge.com, her personal interview with Shannon McCord, an augmentative and alternative communication specialist with the Pajaro Valley School District in Watsonville, California, attributes 'bridging the gap' between special needs and the general education classroom to the presence of technology as an aid (Locke, 2014, http://bit.ly/1FK1sua).As defined by Doering & Roblyer (pp. 402), technology enables students with physical, cognitive, and sensory disabilities to participate in the process called main streaming where "efforts are made to include them in the general education classroom or what is known as inclusion".
Assistive Technology versus Technology Integration As Cognitive Aid
Although assistive technology is more often associated with addressing physical disabilities, technology integration in regards to cognitive disabilities addresses a completely separate category of abilities.Cognitive disabilities cause disturbances in "intellectual ability, attention deficits, memory, thinking skills, reading, language arts, mathematics, and social-emotional" processing (Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 406).
Most educators of the 21st century, whether specifically designated by the child's IEP or not, use productivity software, such as the AlphaSmart, in order to aid in production and assessment of writing skills as an alternative to pencil and paper. Although these students are not physically impaired, their cognitive disabilities could gravely impair them from effectively utilizing pencil and paper in order to properly express their comprehension and knowledge.
Provides Clear Foundation for Students to Build Skills
The two most foundational approaches for technology usage by disabled individuals involves remediation and compensation (Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 406).Remediation: "involves helping an individual learn or improve performance, often the focus of education, training, and therapy" (Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 406).
Example of Remediation: a graphic organizer that helps learning disabled students to process and organize concepts by visualizing the connections and relationships of these concepts to aid in comprehension and synthesis.
Compensation: "focuses on using technology to accommodate difficulties performing specific tasks" (Doering & Roblyer, 2013, pp. 406).
Example of Compensation: providing speech recognition software to students with physical disabilities that limit their usage of a pencil or a keyboard may help them improve their writing fluency by translating speech to text format.
RESOURCE
Disadvantages of Integrating Technology
Dependency, Crutches, and Laziness
Many advocate that educators and parents should be wary of over-dependency on technology. Those of an older school of thought believe that technology integration can be taken advantage of by those students who just seek to find quick answers, whether they are disabled or not.
Distracting & Unregulated
As detailed by Jordan Catapano via teachhub.com, "the distraction factor" of easy access to technology can be very detrimental due to the students' abilities to play games or access other applications on their iPads or tablets that distract them from the task at hand. With special needs students just like general education students, you must personally discern as an educator the pros and cons of technology integration and whether it does more harm than good. Also, the ability to access unlimited applications or resources via these technological devices can be very dangerous for those children who are not cognitively aware that they should not visit certain cites or download certain applications. Again, the restrictions and regulations placed on the device should be individualized, if at all possible, to cater the needs of the individual in order to promote safe learning (Catapano, 2014, teachhub.com).
RESOURCE
Specific Resources & Applications
Apps For Children With Special Needs
With the help of www.a4cwsn.com and
many other online resources like this site, parents and educators can discover
the most effective applications to target the specific needs for their
students.
Talk For Me: an application aiding in communication for adults and
students with speech delays or speech communication difficulties.
Dexteria Dots 2: an application that utilizes dots
in order to emphasize touch math methodology that utilizes fine motor
skills in partnership with visual tracking and memorization.
Talking ABC: an application that uses the fun association of animals
incorporated with learning the alphabet. It's primary function is to promote
engaged learning while providing speech therapy for students through the
ability of the child to hear the own words or noises played back to them.
REFERENCES:
Doering, A. H., & Roblyer, M.
D. (2013). Hypermedia Tools for 21st Century Teaching. In
Pearson Education, Inc., Integrating Educational Technology Into
Teaching (pp. 398-413). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,
Inc.
As a Collaborative Ed major, I am quite pleased that they are diminishing the term "assistive technology". I think that by generalizing the use of technology for the population makes them feel more included with the general population. By not distinguishing the use of technology for the special ed population, the application of technology with in the field can stay true to its goal "to harness the potential of technology in ways that offer an individual with a disability increased opportunities for learning" (Roblyer & Doering, 2013).
ReplyDeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! It seems clear that the advantages of integrating technology far outweigh the disadvantages in this regard. It's quite amazing how much technology can improve the quality of life for some individuals. As Roblyer and Doering state, "When technology is used to make the curriculum accessible, students with disabilities have the same opportunities to learn as their peers without disabilities" (p. 406).