3.4 Adaptive and Assistive Technology
Candidates facilitate the use of adaptive and assistive technologies to support individual student learning needs.
Candidates facilitate the use of adaptive and assistive technologies to support individual student learning needs.
Artifact - Unstructured Field Experience ITEC 7445
I chose my unstructured field experience for ITEC 7445, Multimedia and Web Design, as my artifact for this experience. In this artifact, I documented my efforts to facilitate the use of adaptive and assistive technology with a student at my school who has severe learning disabilities. Over the course of this assignment, I learned how to identify assistive technology to address a number of disabilities, including reading, writing, and short-term memory issues.
The student with whom I worked is an 11th grader at my high school. He is living with foster parents who have children of their own who attend my school. When they took Ryan into their home three years ago, he had been living virtually alone for a year and a half in a hotel. His mother is a long-distance truck driver and is seldom home. He had been bounced around several schools a year his entire life and had fallen through the cracks of our educational system. It is hard to tell if his issues are inherent or a product of his upbringing. Nevertheless, Ryan is failing everything because he cannot read or write beyond a few 3 letter words.
My task was to find assistive technology to help Ryan master the content. I looked for technology that would relieve the mental processing necessary for reading and writing. I downloaded Don Johnston's "Read Outloud" and "Write Outloud" software on his tablet. These programs can read any website, document, or electronic textbook out loud so that Ryan can listen and understand without having to struggle with reading. It will also allow Ryan to dictate his work, turning his oral dictation into written documents, thus relieving the struggle to write. This program should help Ryan in all content areas. We also downloaded some learning to read apps and flash card apps onto his tablet and I identified an adult literacy program which Ryan can attend for free to help him with his reading and writing. He qualifies for this adult literacy program because he is 18 years old. Ryan also needed assistance with his short-term memory which was affecting school and work. He cannot remember lists of things to do. I recommended he download a voice recorder so that he could record what he needed to do and replay it as needed.
I really enjoyed working with Ryan and learning about assistive technology. It has often been my observation that students with disabilities work twice as hard as regular students to succeed. It was a rewarding experience to provide tools that will help Ryan in his efforts education and life. If I had to do this field experience again, I would like for it to be during the school year instead of over the summer. I think input from teachers would have been valuable and reinforced the experience for Ryan.
The work I spent creating this artifact impacted student learning by giving Ryan the tools he needs to be successful in overcoming his disabilities and learning to read, write, and organize his life.
The student with whom I worked is an 11th grader at my high school. He is living with foster parents who have children of their own who attend my school. When they took Ryan into their home three years ago, he had been living virtually alone for a year and a half in a hotel. His mother is a long-distance truck driver and is seldom home. He had been bounced around several schools a year his entire life and had fallen through the cracks of our educational system. It is hard to tell if his issues are inherent or a product of his upbringing. Nevertheless, Ryan is failing everything because he cannot read or write beyond a few 3 letter words.
My task was to find assistive technology to help Ryan master the content. I looked for technology that would relieve the mental processing necessary for reading and writing. I downloaded Don Johnston's "Read Outloud" and "Write Outloud" software on his tablet. These programs can read any website, document, or electronic textbook out loud so that Ryan can listen and understand without having to struggle with reading. It will also allow Ryan to dictate his work, turning his oral dictation into written documents, thus relieving the struggle to write. This program should help Ryan in all content areas. We also downloaded some learning to read apps and flash card apps onto his tablet and I identified an adult literacy program which Ryan can attend for free to help him with his reading and writing. He qualifies for this adult literacy program because he is 18 years old. Ryan also needed assistance with his short-term memory which was affecting school and work. He cannot remember lists of things to do. I recommended he download a voice recorder so that he could record what he needed to do and replay it as needed.
I really enjoyed working with Ryan and learning about assistive technology. It has often been my observation that students with disabilities work twice as hard as regular students to succeed. It was a rewarding experience to provide tools that will help Ryan in his efforts education and life. If I had to do this field experience again, I would like for it to be during the school year instead of over the summer. I think input from teachers would have been valuable and reinforced the experience for Ryan.
The work I spent creating this artifact impacted student learning by giving Ryan the tools he needs to be successful in overcoming his disabilities and learning to read, write, and organize his life.