The incorporation of
assistive technology does not remove a sensory impairment, it can help remediate
its effects so that a person is able to use a computer with full or nearly full
functionality. Just because a student may have hearing loss, or vision
impairment, doesn’t mean they cannot learn math like the rest of their
peers. They just may need technology to help them along the way.
Both the articles and websites
specifically concentrated on the types of assistive technology available to
students with vision impairments. I found the Microsoft website to be
very fascinating. I use Microsoft applications regularly, and consider
myself pretty knowledgeable about the software. I also found the tips on iOS
very insightful. I use Apple products everyday and have seen some of the things
mentioned in the guide but never knew what they did. My hope is that more
teachers read these quick guides because in a world where students with
disabilities are mainstreamed in general education classes, the more knowledge
teachers have about assistive technologies, the better the students will learn.
The webinar by Nathalie DeWit was long but
extremely helpful when it came to incorporating different types of assistive
technologies for students with multiple disabilities and visual impairments.
She looks at certain types of iPad apps, switches, and many more different
options. I can use many of her ideas in my classroom this year. This year, I have a student who is legally blind. The
student wears glasses to help with his,, but is still in need of additional
services. Currently we are doing our best to adapt materials for him. We get
enlarged textbooks, have ZoomText software available on a computer and
try to write in only colors he can see. He has been largely successful in our
class due to these implementations.
Dale,
ReplyDeleteI also hope that teachers take the time to read the manuals of things like iPads or even the tips for PC. However, I found the most reliable way to get this information is being a huge advocate of them. I did formal and informal sessions with my peers to help out. I found that even the most expert iPad users, people who used the iPad way more than me, had no clue about some of the accessibility features. Hopefully, this class and program will give you and your classmates the ability to be those advocates in your schools and districts.
It is funny how often so many of us get a new piece of technology and we disregard looking at any sort of guide on how to take full advantage of the product. I remember when taking applications of technology that I was amazed at all of the things that the Microsoft products could do that I had no idea about. Technology is so beneficial to the classroom and even just the using it in a simple way would help students. If teachers just learned how to use some of these technologies by taking a look at a basic tutorial they would be able to bring technology into the classroom in a way that they felt comfortable!
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