Assistive Technology Questions

Why is inclusion important both to the student with special needs and the culture of the class?

To me unity in a classroom is very important and I can see how it would be difficult to include someone with special needs, but with modern technology teachers can. If a class is divided it can be very hard to deliver the same message to everyone. If that group of popular kids all sit together will they really be listening or distracting others around them. A person with special needs is much the same. A student that has a hearing disability, their signer is a huge distraction for students in the class room. A student with a learning disability might loose interest in the lesson and begin to get restless, distracting others. If teachers can use technology to include these students, just like everyone else in the class, then the amount of distractions can be lessened. If a deaf student can sit through a lecture, and get the material, like everyone else then everyone is focused on the material being presented to them.

What technology tools do you find specifically valuable that assist students with visual, hearing, motor, learning, or language disabilities?

There are technologies I find I could use in the classroom for some of these disabilities.

For hearing disabilities computer programs that take voice and turn it into text would be very useful if I’m talking to the class and I have a microphone I could be talking to the computer and the computer talking to the student. That would work for text or the computer signers that are in development. This could eliminate the need for a signer if there is not one available or for the distraction of one.

Learning disabilities pod casts or interactive books, something that can be repeated or stopped at any point for further discussion would be very helpful. Associating things with games can be a helpful learning tool as well. The use of “Math Blaster” type software can associate math problems with a fun game that can be repeated over and over again.

Students with Motor Disabilities can have a very hard time with using computers today almost everything involves them. Several things could be used in a classroom to help this. Input devices such as special keyboards and mice with gyros. I think that the gyros mice are very useful with these a student can navigate a normal computer system. With a little practice the world of computers can open up to them.

Bryce Redinger