New technology fosters new possibilities

An elementary special education student struggles with writing legibly. His hand shakes and it is hard for his fingers to always clutch the pencil. Frustration often leads to distress. Although his teacher has tried to help, she still has trouble reading and grading his in-class assignments. But now this young learner and others like him can use a specialized wireless keyboard to type his assignments. This technology addresses a need that at one time seemed insurmountable.

Laptops, eBooks and iPads are becoming increasingly prevalent in classrooms. Yet, only recently has technology been invented for the improvement of special needs education and lifestyles. With assisstive technology being demanded and manufactured, more special needs classrooms are beginning to witness improvements in students’ education.

Katie Hanna, a senior special education major at Georgia College, is the Knight Foundation Community Service Scholar for 2010-2011. She teaches at Digital Bridges, a Georgia College venture focused on creating community-owned initiative for Milledgeville in the information age.

“A project I worked on for Digital Bridges started off working with a child who was 3 who couldn’t communicate,” Hanna said. “So I helped him learn how to use his Dynavox, which is an augmentative communication system that costs about $8,000. All the student has to do is touch the picture for it to vocalize his thoughts and wants.”

The 3-year-old suffered brain injury when he was 1 month old.  His speech therapist recommended the technology to his parents. However, the machine was never used because it was too difficult for their family to find time to program it. In fact, Hanna discovered the best way to program it for the child’s benefit.

“I took the manuals home and studied and studied… played with it and then studied more,” Hanna said. “By getting to know him and the software at the same time I was able to determine what he needed from the Dynavox.”

By observing him and programming the device to best suit his needs, Hanna was able to ultimately use the device to teach him the connections between cause and effect – if he pressed this button, the device speaks, etc. It can send text messages, emails and pictures, and provides an easy-to-use touchpad.

The child who previously struggled to be understood by anyone other than his parents, can now utilize technology to communicate with others.

This opens doors to his future. And the Dynavox is just one of many Augmentative Communications Devices for people with Autism, ALS, cerebral palsy, brain injury or other speech related conditions.

Like Hanna, Cathy Hollis has also witnessed schools beginning to embrace technology. Hollis is the support services coordinator at the Early Learning Center. She has assisted many instructors with utilizing iPads in preschool classrooms.

“We began using the iPad this year with our children with special needs,” Hollis said. “All the feedback I have received from our teachers and speech pathologists has been overwhelmingly positive. Communicating with others is at times a big hurdle for a lot of children with special needs and we have found that the iPad has been able to assist in helping to fill that void.”

The center is trying to build one hearing-impaired child’s Sign Language vocabulary.

“We use the wireless Internet to have a signing website available at all times so when we need to use a sign that some staff may not be familiar with it can be easily retrieved and communication can be maintained with this student,” Hollis said.

Another popular teaching method that is swiftly spreading is the use of SMART Boards, an interactive whiteboard that uses touch detection for user input.

“SMART Boards are huge at my (placement) school, Gray Elementary,” Hanna said. “Every single fifth grade classroom has one. The students get to come up and interact. It has all the kinesthetic methods, which kids respond to best.”

According to the company that makes SMART Boards, collaborative learning software has now been downloaded in 175 countries

For special needs students in particular, the SMART Boards enable both visual and audio learning. The teachers can record and quantify the students’ work on the board for analysis later. According to Futuresource Consulting, in 2009 SMART Boards “led the interactive whiteboard category with a 61 percent annual share in the United States and 48 percent globally.”

Yet, there are some obstacles to using this cutting edge technology. Sometimes a SMART Board might not be fully appreciated and utilized, and which may be due to the teacher’s own struggle with adjusting to the technology.

“The student is the one who benefits so it is difficult when the adults are the one’s cutting it out and not allowing the student access,” Hanna said. “The students, the generation behind us, love the technology even more than we do. They love to calibrate it or work on this or change that. They even beg me to get to erase the board after class.”

Other personalized technological additions are being implemented. In fact, that student mentioned earlier- the one who could hardly grasp his pencil – is in Hanna’s placement class at Gray Elementary and due to his new keyboard, can now easily upload his comments on a Microsoft Word document and print it for assignments.

“This way we eliminate the messy handwriting and the stress. His thoughts can actually come out on paper,” Hanna said.

Overall, technology is slowly becoming an asset to special needs studets.

Technology is more than educational.  It arms these young people with confidence and inspires them to realize their potential.  According to FERL, a post-secondary site providing research on the use of information learning technologies, reports that special needs students show increased motivation and enjoyment when interacting with SMART Board technology. Plus, tutors can use multimedia resources for learning efficiency.

“(SMART Boards) make the learning fun and engaging. It is a versatile program by putting the same information but making it exciting way for the students,” Hanna said.

Heather Holder, director of Digital Bridges, says she sees infinite possibilities for the growing spectrum of technical appliances and devices.

“I believe technology is a tool that can have infinite impacts on the special needs population… through experimentation, observation and creative application individuals are able to overcome many challenges that were once limiting,” Holder said.

Now the main issue for many educational programs is funding. Many poorer counties’ educational systems do not have the funds to allot to new technology. Hollis said the Early Learning Center is lucky.

“As a program, we know that technology will improve every year and so we have been fortunate enough to be able to budget for some of that need,” Hollis said. “At times, we have also applied for grants that are specifically targeted at improving the use of technology in education.”

As technology continues to evolve in the commercial market, it is likely educational technology will follow suit. Many believe one elementary student having more confidence in his writing or a 3-year-old enabled to communicate makes all this technology more than worth it.

Posted by Chelsea Thomas on Mar 10 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.