integrating technology in special education classrooms

Integrating Technology into Special Education Classrooms

Literature Review

The two pieces I reviewed include:

1. A webinar on espark.com titled: “I-Pads in Special Education”.
2. A blog written by: Saomya Saxena titled: “Integrating Technology in A Special Education Classroom”.

The Learning outcomes that this review reinforces include:

1. Demonstrating the understanding of how technologies can effectively promote student learning.
2. Evaluate and use a variety of current technologies to enhance content instruction and to advance students technological literacy.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the use of adaptive technologies and other digital resources to personalize and differentiate learning activities for every student.
4. Evaluate adapt and reflect upon emerging tools and trends in local and global learning communities and by reviewing current research and professional literature.
   

   

           The blog and webinar I reviewed discussed how technology can be integrated into special education classrooms.  The webinar was titled “I-Pads in Special Education”.  The webinar discussed the speaker’s schools personal journey with integrating I-Pads in their special education classrooms.  The two speakers were Mary Gurley, who is a student learning innovation specialist at Espark, and Genevieve Thomas, who is the director of integrated special education at Rocketship Education.  The blog I read was titled; “Integrating Technology in A Special Education Classroom” by Saomya Saxena.  This blog discussed the benefits of using assistive technology, and the different types of support that is available to special needs students.  Both pieces discussed how technology can greatly benefit special needs students and help teachers engage every type of learner. 

                        The webinar started off by asking having the listeners take a poll on “the biggest problem teachers’ face as a special education program”.  The top three responses were; differentiating instruction, supporting IEP goal progression, and managing behavior issues.  These three main issues were discussed throughout the webinar.  The first challenge they addressed was managing behavior issues.  Mary Gurley who was discussing this point believes that integrating I-pads into her special education classroom, promoted positive changes in the behaviors of the students. Some of the behaviors that changed were the fact that there was an increase in engagement that was met by applications and tools that were meeting the sensory needs the traditional teaching methods couldn’t do.  Mary also discussed how I-pads created predictability and fostered independence.  “I-Pads helped facilitate independence through the use of more personalized and dynamic visual schedules, and students had constant access to their schedules”. (Gruley, 2012)  The webinar explained how the how I-pads helpe facilitate functional behavior, which allowed for more teaching and learning time and less time on redirection and getting students back on task.  Here are some applications Mary quickly discussed that are helpful from a behavioral management standpoint.

Behavior Management Applications:

1. Quick Ques
2. Conversation Builder
3. Model for me going places 2
4. Proloquo2go
5. Sosh
6. And visual timer applications

The second problem was differentiating instruction. Mary discussed how technology provides appropriate accommodations and modifications by allowing access to tools that students with special needs can utilize. Some of the programs that I-Pads come equipped with such as cameras and videotaping, can be used to record mini lessons so students can go back and watch the teacher discuss the topic again.  There are applications that modify choices and differentiate content and assignments for multiple students at one time.  Before her school had these applications she would write different assignments for each student one at a time due to the fact they all have different accommodations.   

            The blog I reviewed discussed in detail how assisted technology like computers, I-Pads, tablets and applications help with differentiating instruction for every type of learner. Some of the disabilities Saomya discussed in her blog included mild cognitive disabilities.  She explained that there are programs to help students with reading problems can have the software read the text out loud to the student.  There are also interactive story books, voice recognition programs, word processing, and voice to text programs.  She also discussed programs that would benefit students whom have severe cognitive disabilities; some of the programs or applications consisted of; “software helps teach and reinforce functional skills such as money-management, daily living, etc., videos enhance acquisition, maintenance, and transfer of functional and community-based behaviors’.” (Saxena, 2014) The blog also discussed tools to help sensory disabled students.  There are tools out there that provide “text to braille” for blind students, also screen readers that will read what is on the screen.   There are magnification systems, listening devices and amplification programs to help the sensory disabled students.  The rest of her blog discusses how these applications work and why it is vital that students with special needs should have access to these tools and technologies. 

            The final problem Mary discussed dealt with supporting IEP goals. She went into detail about how data collection is a lot easier now due to technology.  There are applications that record data while using the specific program.  There are also applications for monitoring behavior. These applications record can help record anything from social cues, like saying hello to some to number of correct transitions in a day.  Here is a link to another application called Articulation Station, which is an assistive technology that helps improve articulation.  The creator of the application describes the application on this website.  The website is; http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=1563. This application is great for differentiation and accommodations.  This was very interesting because it really makes it a lot easier to record data, track progress and see what needs to be worked on more aggressively with the teacher or one on one paraprofessional.   This topic brings me to some of the ethical, legal and moral practices of this literature review.  While it is great that these and programs can record all of this data about individual students it raises an ethical question of confidentiality.  The second half of the webinar discussed how confidentiality is kept, and how it is very important to make sure the privacy of students are maintained.  Some of the suggestions Genevieve discussed include; making sure the students are properly signed out of the program every single time they were done with the I-pad, also having the teacher double check every time also.  It is illegal under IDEA to have any of these progress reports or any documentation out in the public where anyone can view it.   I have provided a link to the IDEA website so you can check out the rules about confidentiality, how IEPS are formed, what they do, and how they help students succeed in school. http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home.

            I chose the topic of integrating technology in the special education classroom because it is near and dear to my heart. I am a one on one paraprofessional for a nine year old boy who is severely autistic. We are in the general education for about two hours a day including specials and recess.  He is very low and doesn’t have social skills to communicate and intellectually he is at a toddler level.  He has an I-pad for his daily learning needs, from gross to fine motor skills to Lexia Core 5, which is a literacy and phonics application.  We also use it for brain breaks and as a choice.  I have seen first-hand how beneficial the I-pad has been to his learning and how crucial it is that we keep integrating different forms of technology for him.   When I see him using the different applications for different subjects I definitely see more engagement, than what I can provide on the white board and handouts.  The bright colors, fun voices and ways the applications grab and maintain his attention is so helpful.  His favorite application right now is an app from “Toca Toca”  it’s a cookie maker application, he can design cookies of his choice, which he thinks is great, but little does he know he is flexing his fine motor skills by the manner in which he has to design the cookies.  When I see my student working or playing as he thinks it makes me think of the quote from chapter three about constructing knowledge.  “True learning, deep retention, and knowledge construction really have little to do with school or teaching.  We learn because we want to, because it’s important to us, because it’s natural…” (Nussbaum-Beach, Ritter Hall, pg.46, 2012).  He may not know he is learning because the applications are designed to engage him and keep him captivated, but he is learning because he wants to play those games, he wants to win.  When he gets answers correct I always give him positive reinforcement, because the little feats like matching upper and lower case letters are hard, but these programs are making it easier for him.

            I really enjoyed listening to the webinar and reading the blog post about integrating technology and special education.  It was an educational experience for me in more ways than one, I can’t wait to try out some of the behavior applications and progress recording applications in order to make assessments easier for myself. I will also take some of the differentiation applications and apply them to my student now, because they would just enhance his current curriculum tenfold.  I enjoyed doing these reviews also because it is near and dear to my heart and I will take a lot of information away from this and utilize it in my future classroom.  I have also attached a link called “I-phone, I-pad and I-pod touch apps for special education.  The caseworker for my student and I were discussing applications for special education so she shared her knowledge about these applications with me which I found very helpful and organized.  Be sure to check it out and leave feedback! The link is: http://www.scribd.com/doc/24470331/iPhone-iPad-and-iPod-touch-Apps-for-Special-Education#scribd.

                                                                             

Works Cited

Gruley, Mary, and Genevieve Thomas. "IPads in Special Education." I-pads in Special Education. Espark, 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <http://www.esparklearning.com/blended-learning-webinars/ipads-in-special-education.html?submissionGuid=c84026ac-e33c-431c-8a40-e0e5ca201369>.

Hank, Heidi. "Mommy Speech Therapy." Mommy Speech Therapy RSS. Momy Speech Therapy RSS, 12 July 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. <http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=1563>.

"IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004." IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. U.S. Department F Education, 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home>.

Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl, and Lani Ritter. Hall. "Chapter Three." The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2012. 46. Print.

Sailers, Eric. "IPhone, IPad and IPod Touch Apps for (Special) Education." Scribd. Scribd, Oct. 211. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/24470331/iPhone-iPad-and-iPod-touch-Apps-for-Special-Education#scribd>.

Saxena, Saomya. "Integrating Technology in a Special Education Classroom." EdTechReview. EdTechReview, 05 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://edtechreview.in/news/855-integrating-technology-in-a-special-education-classroom>.