AT and Transition Planning

This entire blog has been focused on how AT can support the learning of students with disabilities. This specific post is going to discuss the implementation of assistive technology in transition planning for individuals with disabilities.

AT as accommodation for students with disabilities in college

AT can be used in various ways to help college students with disabilities during classes, testing situations, and in completing assignments. In order for AT to be effective and accessible to the student in this context, it must meet the following criteria: the AT tool must be easy to use and easy to customize; the tool must be age appropriate; the AT tool selected must be the student’s own choice; the tool must carefully match the specific task that needs to be accomplished and the environment in which it will take place; and training and ongoing technical support must be provided to students and staff.

Implications of AT needs in college for transition planning and implementation in high school

In order to access and use AT effectively in college, students with disabilities must be adequately prepared in high school. IDEA mandates that transition planning begin at age 16. Starting at 16 means that most students will have 2-3 years to learn the skills they will need in order to succeed in college. Transition plans for students with disabilities who want to attend college must include the development of two kinds of skills: AT skills for independence and self-advocacy skills.

Assistive Technology Model Operating Guidelines

Another excellent AT reference comes from the Oregon Technology Access Program. This website features training opportunities, information, technical assistance, and resources regarding the use of assistive technology for children with disabilities. 

Assistive Technology Implementation: Working Together to Make a Measurable Difference

The past few posts have been discussing how to incorporate assistive technology into mathematics instruction. The Texas Assistive Technology Network features a complete instructional module on AT implementation that includes an implementation form. Throughout the module, participants will learn:purposes and results of AT, big ideas in AT implementation, planning for AT implementation, and evaluating the effectiveness of AT implementation. 

Resources

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.texasat.net/default.aspx?name=trainmod.implem

Augmentative Communication Devices

The purpose of this entire blog is to explore assistive technology and the many ways it can support the learning of students with disabilities. This section is going to introduce augmentative communication and discuss how it can support students who have communicative difficulties.

Prerequisites to augmentative communication

An augmentative communication system needs to reflect the basic features of any traditional method of communication. In other words, it must provide the user with the ability to: construct a message using symbols, deliver that message to another person (receiver), and further respond to the receiver in a timely manner.

Myths and realities surrounding augmentative communication

Myths

-      - Augmentative communication will inhibit an individual’s development of speech

-       -Specific levels of cognitive abilities are required prior to using augmentative communication devices

-       -A student must present specific adaptive behavior skills such as eye contact and a well-defined point before augmentative communication may be considered

-       -Augmentative communication requires some level of literacy skill prior to consideration

Realities

-Augmentative communication does not inhibit an individual’s further development of speech, and in some cases, may actually enhance speech development

-There are no readiness criteria for teaching communication. Waiting for students to “be ready” only prevents the further development of needed communication skills

-Readiness criteria based on behavioral characteristics are unsupported by the research and should not apply to augmentative communication consideration process

-Augmentative communication devices can be used as a source of support or scaffolding in the educational process and can provide a means to further develop literacy skills

Who is involved in the selection and design of a student’s augmentative communication?

-The student provides input regarding successful existing methods of communication, personal preferences, and ease of use

-Teachers provide input regarding classroom environment and daily and communication needs in the curriculum

-Parent(s) and family members provide input regarding the home environment and daily communication needs in the home and community

-The occupational therapist provides input regarding the student’s fine motor abilities and sensory challenges

-The physical therapies provides assistance and support for the gross motor and seating or positioning needs of the student

-The information technology support person provides advice about and technical assistance in connecting augmentative communication devices to computers, the school network, and the Internet

-Peers of the student provide input to the appropriateness and function of augmentative communication systems from an age-appropriate perspective

Three major components of an augmentative communication system

-Symbols

-Vocabulary

-Access method

References
Dell, A. G., Newton, D., & Petroff, J. (2011). Assistive technology in the classroom, enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities. Allyn & Bacon.

Exploring an Educational Application for Math

My previous post explored a virtual manipulative program. This post is going to explore a specific educational application: Vizzle! 

Vizzle is software specifically designed to support students who learn best from visually supported materials. Vizzle can be bought and used on the computer, or downloaded as an iPad app. Vizzle can be used for a variety of subject matters, including mathematics.

Here is an example of a math activity on Vizzle. I have seen Vizzle used with a variety of students and I think that is a great way to present academics to students with disabilities, especially students with autism. 

Exploring Virtual Manipulatives

The past three posts have discussed various ways to use AT to support mathematics instruction. This post is going to introduce another method: virtual manipulatives. Virtual manipulatives can be used when teaching number & operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, or data analysis & probability. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives provides activities for a variety of grade and ability levels.

I explored the above activity, found in the K-2 grade range. This activity is a great way for students to practice sorting, addition, and subtraction. I feel as though this will be a great tool for students with disabilities, especially visual learners!

This activity, found in the 3-5 age range, is a great way to introduce students to bar graphs!

This activity, found in the 6-8 grade range, is a great way to make geometry accessible for students with disabilities.

Overall, I think that the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is an excellent resource for all educators! I can see these activities being beneficial for students with or without disabilities. I cannot wait to explore them and try them out in the future!

References
Utah State University. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

At and Math: Educational Apps part 2

The previous post introduced the concept of using educational apps in the classroom to support mathematics instruction. This post addresses a number of other questions to consider when using educational apps. 

What key questions should be considered when selecting educational applications to meet students’ goals and objectives?

•        What is the goal or purpose of computer use?
•        Does the content of the educational application match the goal or objective?
•        Does the educational application match the student’s needs?
•        Can the visual display be customized for student’s needs?
•     Can sound or music be turned off?
•      Can levels be selected or modified?
• Can specific content be selected?
• Can speed and reaction time be modified?

What kinds of educational applications can be used to address automaticity/ math fact fluency?

·       FASTT Math (Fluency and Automaticity through Systematic Teaching with Technology) is a math intervention educational application that helps students gain math fact fluency by assessing students’ command of the basic facts by measuring response time and generating customized activities based on the results. Through FASTT Math, students’ progress through customized series of activities to strengthen memorization of facts. Teachers can monitor students’ progress via generated progress reports

·       Timez Attack (Big Brains) focuses solely on multiplication facts: the 2 to 12 times table, to be exact. This program engages students in a high-tech video game-like manner with high-quality graphics.

·       ArithmAttack can be played online or can be downloaded for free and played off-line. With this program, students can practice basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Customized problem sets are easily generated by setting the highest and lowest numbers to use so student’s practice can be targeted to their particular areas of need.

      What kinds of technology tools can be used to address visual-spatial or motor control difficulties?

o   MathPad (Cambium Learning) is a talking math worksheet program that allows students to perform arithmetic computations with whole numbers on the computer in much the same way they would using pencil and paper. Students with fine motor difficulties can demonstrate their skills by using the keyboard or clicking the mouse. Students with severe disabilities can utilize the scanning feature  or customizable speech output.

o   MathPad Plus (Cambium Learning) extends all of the features of MathPad to arithmetic computations with fractions and decimals.

o   Virtual Pencil (VP) Arithmetic (Henter Math) is an educational application designed for students who are unable to operate a pencil effectively. VP Arithmetic allows students to solve problems in a similar way they would using pencil and paper, including performing and showing immediate steps.

      What kinds of educational applications can be used to teach math concepts, math skills, and problem solving?

o   Math Playground provides many resources to support learning math concepts, skills, and problem solving. Free, online math activities are provided in the categories of Math Games, Word Problems, and Logic Puzzles.

o   Conceptua Math focuses on fractions and offers a variety of tools for teachers to use to enhance their whole class instruction.

o   Destination Math (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology) targets the development of skills in math reasoning, conceptual understanding, and problem solving. The use of animation and audio output helps keep students engaged.

What kinds of low-tech and mid-tech adaptations can assist students with disabilities in completing math assignments?

o   Mid-tech:

o   Talking calculators

o   See’n’solve calculators which allow students to see entire problem on screen at once

o   Calculators with oversized buttons

o   Low-tech:

o    math manipulatives

o   fraction rubber stamps

o   manipulative number line

o   laminated addition and multiplication tables

o   ruler with transparent overlays to help students understand the relationship between the different units of measurement

Overall, I think that educational apps are a great tool to support mathematics instruction for students with disabilities. I've used a number of educational apps with students before, but none that were mentioned in the text. I am very excited to try some out in the future!