Assistive Technology: The Future of Learning

As one of the forefront figures of education in a student's’ life, teachers take on the duty of not only ensuring that students learn and obtain the knowledge they need, but to also ensure that all students have the same opportunities, regardless of any shortcomings or any extra needed assistance or support. Special needs students are everywhere, and the likelihood of having a special needs student in the class is now expected. In the past, special needs students were usually separated from the rest of the class and more or less left to a corner, however, after congress enacted IDEA in 1975, special needs students finally received the help they rightfully deserved, and because of it, they were slowly integrated back into the class classroom.

So what exactly is a special needs student? According to the online article, “What are Special Educational Needs?” the term ‘special educational needs’ refers to children who have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn as compared to other students the same age. So if given a specials needs student, how does one go about teaching and interacting with a special needs student? The answer is simple; through any means of communication that is possible, hard work, patience and cooperation. In the beginning of the video, Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams, Susanna Sweeney-Martini, a young college student at Washington University explains just how pivotal the role of assistive technology plays in her life. Without it, “I could not exist as I am today…” (The George Lucas Foundation, 2005).

Like Susanna, thousands of other students in the U.S suffer from disabilities. According to the U.S Department of Education Website, 12.1 percent of the nations’ K- 12 students have disabilities. This entails that now more than ever, assistive technology is essential for these students to be an active participant in the class. So in terms of adapting and modifying a lesson plan to suit the needs of the special needs students, it is important to start off by getting to the know the student. Using the ASSURE model, the first step would be to analyze the student. What is she or he capable of? What problems or difficulties might arise for the student? By getting to know the special needs student beforehand, a teacher saves time and shows initiative and interest in caring for the academic needs of the student. The second step is making or modifying a lesson plan is to state the objectives. Plan and state specifically what you want and expect of the student. Even if they have a disability, that should not stop them from learning, no matter how little that may be. Once that is established, manageable goals should be created, and along with it, have a plan of reward or support from other classmates to encourage the continuing effort to learn. The third step is a combination of selecting the appropriate materials and media and utilizing them in a manner in which the special needs student is able to use them.

For example, if there was a student who is hard of seeing, in his or hers best interest, it would be advisable to have a separate laptop or similar device for them to have, whereupon the lesson is projected or shown in a manner that is easier for the student to understand (e.g., bigger font, pictures instead of words and in the most severe cases, an audio version of the lesson). The fourth step is where upon the student takes an active part in the lesson. If the lesson has been planned and or revised accordingly, then the student should not have too many problems during the lesson. The last step, evaluating and revising is where the teacher is successful or not either with planning or modifying the lesson in the first place. It is important to know that evaluating a special needs student is and should be different from evaluating non special needs children. As a teacher, different methods to ensure that special needs students have learned as much as they could is needed. An example would be an oral exam in place of a written exam for a student with physical difficulties. If they student has learned and managed to retain what they have learned, then for that particular lesson, the challenge has been conquered and the teacher can consider that lesson a success.

Throughout the Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams video, many assistive tools were presented; specialized wheelchairs, speech recognition and generated programs, and musical instrument aides. Yet, despite these technologies being available, in particular to Guam I still feel like the government and Department of Education does neither have nor place a high enough concern for special needs students. Having heard and seen the experiences of my older sister, whom has a learning disability and one of my closest friends, who suffers from Fibromyalgia, a physical disability, I can say that for them, it feels like the education system does not care for them as much as they should.

In my sisters’ case, the school did not provide any assistive technology for her; rather they just supplemented her with extra classes only after my mother berated the administration. However, instead of an extra math class as requested by my mother, they put her into a computer programming class, of which was especially difficult for her because of her dyslexia. In my best friend’s situation, she was given a laptop customized to her needs as well as having the emails of all her teachers stored into the laptop. However after that, the school did not do much else. She eventually stopped attending school for awhile, and aside from a few phone calls, nothing else happened.  So what is the importance of these particular cases; time span. My sister and my friend are approximately ten years apart, and although they could just be isolated cases, the matter of them still happening is concerning.

In these cases, it is apparent that some of Guam’s educator and educational institutes do show a lack of regard of special needs students, which is frustrating. It would be almost common sense by now with what all assistive technology is and can do in today’s society, that even specials needs students can actively participate in regular class lesson plans, but that is not fully true nor realized today. Admittedly, it is not right to place the blame on any one specific figure or individual, rather, it is a culmination of factors that contribute to lack of knowledge and need for assistive technology. However, as a technologically dominated generation, I think it should be normal now to have various assistive technologies in every single classroom, regardless of grade level.

Reference

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2005). Assistive-Technology: Enabling Dreams [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

What are special educational needs? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-are-special-educational-needs

How many students with disabilities are in our school(s)? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.data-first.org/data/how-many-students-with-disabilities-are-in-our-schools/