Assistive Technology

Everyone learns a different way. With kids who have multiple intelligence and have multiple ways of learning. Some learn better hands on and others do well listening. It’s important for a teacher to be flexible in how they teach. When I have my first classroom I’m going to have to adopt a bunch of different strategies in my lessons so everyone is learning the same information.

Although we as teachers will have a specific style of teaching, we will need to create a “universal design” for our classrooms. A universal design is a way of adapting our material for all students and their diverse styles of learning. We need to be flexible on how they learn, express and use technology.

It’s important to include technology in the classroom because it’s a great way to tap into our students learning abilities. Some students we will have in our classrooms are disabled and will not be able to use all the technology. The Disabilities’ Act set up Section 508 that says that there must be different tools and ways to access the use of technology. It’s essential to follow this law because every student deserves the same opportunities so the more tools that they have, the easier it will be to use it.

Some of the tools that were in the Kalikow Center helped students that had physical disabilities. I used a modified mouse that students could use that had a hard time griping smaller items such as a mouse. The track ball was a huge ball that had buttons on the side. It was very easy to grasp and would allow them to perform the same operations a mouse would use. I also played with fraction blocks. These blocks would be great for students who needed concrete objects when they were learning about fractions. The blocks were meant to compare to other blocks. For instance, three blocks that were showing one fifth fractions would be the same size as six blocks that were one tenth fractions. Another instrument that I used was the LOMAC. It had a headband that had a laser on it. It also had a keypad that you would use the laser with. It would allow the student to still type without actually touching a normal keypad. Voice recognition software is also very useful for students who have a hard time typing or writing. The software recognizes their voice and will record what they are saying. This is helpful when students are better at speaking and know exactly what they are trying to communicate but are stumbling through writing it. All of these tools are good to use when creating an inclusive environment. Have resources that help make technology more accessible is very important because it gives students access to strategies in making learning easier.

The resources at the Kalikow Center are vast and very useful. It’s important in being flexible and having resources available. Creating a method to making lessons more open and easy to follow along for every student takes practice. I look forward to the day when everyone will be able to learn the way that they are capable of and to use the tools necessary in accomplishing this.