The Interview Summary

 





Through the eyes of students with disabilities

     
Response Evaluation


       Overall, the interview process depicts that the school does support students with disabilities and their use of assistive technology. The follow-up from the interview included asking questions that reflect the process of the use of assistive technology. The choice of technology was the use of computer-based touch screen applications. This technology increased the student's ability to perform tasks that other students within the classroom performs and provides assistance for the individual needs. The application allows students to perform and participate as other students. This builds upon the student's motivational skills and encourages growth through the curriculum. The school supports the student's use of assistive technology by ensuring that the school meets the needs in accordance with the Individual Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and provides the student with the appropriate assistive technology that meets his/her needs. Additionally, the schools ensures that they establish the proper funding that meets the requirements for inclusion of the assistive technology.
      Training was a very important requirement in the selection process of assistive technology. The training depends greatly upon the category of the technology if it is low-tech or high-tech equipment. Within this interview, the follow up to the question of training being offered refers to the Touch Screen application used by the students. The requirement is for students, teachers and parents to attend training on the overall operations of the device. Overall, the members of the school support the initiative of apply assistive technology within their curriculum.


School Support for Technology Use

      The Assistive Technology Specialist along with other members of the school supports the needs of students with disabilities by helping to overcome their challenges with the use of assistive technology (AT). The school's goal is to meet the students needs through his/her IEP goals and assist in participating the general education setting as much as possible. According to Marino, Marino, & Shaw (2006), special education teachers should understand, and have the ability to explain, legal issues associated with current AT legislation when developing transition plans for individuals with disabilities. This will enable students and their parents to use the law when advocating for services (p.2). Additionally, the school focuses on the effect the technology has on all students who use assistive technology. The follow to the question of who does the technology impact is that they prepare  to meet the needs of all students who fall into that category.

Strengths and Weaknesses

     The strengths and weaknesses of the program included the ability to use  the technology, the training, and the implementation. First, the strength of the school's ability to use the appropriate technology begins with the knowledge of the AT Specialist and his ability to work with other members of the IEP team. This is very important to success of the selecting the proper AT device and meeting the student's needs. This team ensures that all members identified receive the necessary training needed to support the use the assistive technology. Raskind (2010) discusses how selecting an appropriate AT tool for a student requires parents, educators, and other professionals to take a comprehensive view, carefully analyzing the interaction between the student, the technology, the tasks to be performed, and the settings where it will be used. Keep in mind that AT assessment is an on-going process, and it is critical to periodically re-evaluate the match even after a technology tool has been selected. This will help ensure that the student receives the maximum benefit from AT and is able to reach her full potential.

     In contrast, the weakness to the finding is that the use of this the one particular device  meets the needs of students diagnosed with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities. This device meets the need of one student but the one size fits all is not the solution to the process. There was a discussion about other types of devices that meets the needs of the students. There is a need to take initiative in selecting more than this particular device in meeting the needs of the students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities. Raskind (2010) discussed how students with learning difficulties must function in a variety of settings. Technology that is appropriate in one setting may be quite inappropriate in another. Therefore, it is important to consider that the selection of technology relative to all settings where the student is likely to use the tool (e.g., school, home, work, social, and recreational or leisure environments). The fact that a technology successfully compensates for a learning problem in one setting does not mean that it will be effective in another. 

Recommendations

      The AT Specialist and the other members of the school should always seek ways of improving their services with the use of assistive technology. The school hold bi-monthly training seminars for the teachers, parents and other faculty members who work with students in need of assistance to the use of assistive technology. Additionally, the IEP team must work with other members to ensure the effective use of the assistive technology. Conduct routine evaluations of the students' use of their identified assistive technology device. This process provides feedback on the students' use and how well the teacher implemented the device in the lesson plans. The IRIS Center (n.d.) discusses that if AT devices or services are working, the team can make a decision whether to purchase the device. If the AT is not working, the Implementation Team should determine whether the poor results were due to reasons such as inadequate training or a mismatch between the student and the device, among other possible explanations. The team then needs to problem-solve to find appropriate AT. Once AT has been found that has proven itself to be beneficial, ongoing monitoring is necessary to determine whether the assistive technology: is used routinely with continued success; is only used intermittently, which raises questions about the actual benefits or has been abandoned. This is the recommendation that school should ensure to adapt to their assistive technology implementation plan.


Application of Learning

     This interview provided information that assists in working with students with disabilities by understanding the processes used when implementing assistive technology. This is a process that involves a large group of individuals to ensure in meeting the needs of the learner. Understanding the role of the Special Education teacher and the Therapist that support the disability is vital in the implementation of the assistive technology. Once identified, the assistive technology requires all members to continuously evaluate the device, the student's use, the teacher's implementation in the lesson plan, and how well the device meets the intended need of the learner. The IEP is the primary tool that provides information needed for the implementation of the assistive technology. The plan involves participation from all members of the team and provides information that guides the use of the technology. The plan provides members with contact information for coordination, what device and services used, the use within the home and school, the training requirements, and the measurement for monitoring and evaluation. Having knowledge of where to find information is vital for the implementation of any assistive technology device. This is very important to ensuring the selection process meets and supports the learner's needs.
 
References

Edyburn, D. L. (2013). Inclusive technologies: Tools for helping diverse learners
       achieve academic success. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Marino, M. T., Marino, E. C., & Shaw, S. F. (2006). Making informed assistive
       technology decisions for students with high incidence disabilities. Teaching
      Exceptional Children, 38(6), 18-25. Retrieved from
      http://public.wsu.edu/~matthewmarino/documents/at.pdf

Raskind, M. (2010). Matching assistive technology tools to individual needs.
     GreatSchools. Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/special-
     education/legal-rights/968-matching-assistive-technology-tools-to-individual
     -needs.gs?page=all

The IRIS Center. (n.d.). Assistive technology: An overview [Module]. Retrieved
      from http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/at/chalcycle.htm

 

Introduction and The Interview

 

  


Greetings,


 My name is Braley McCutchen. This blog depicts the benefits of the use of assistive technology for students with special needs. The presentation includes the interview of an assistive technology specialist from Beach Creek Elementary School. This interview took place in person. Additionally, the presentation contains follow up questions to the answers of a few of the initial questions. The presentation covers an analysis of the school application of assistive technology, examines the strengths and weaknesses of the findings, recommendations for continuous improvements for assistive technology implementation, and lessons learned that supports working with students with disabilities.


The Interview
 

 

 

Q: What is the choice of technology for students?

A: The choice of technology is Touch Screens (Computer Based) for students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities. The choice is critical to the needs of the student. When selecting the technology device, the Individual Evaluation Plan Team has input for the type of device based upon the student's needs. In this case, there are students who have difficulty with speech and the Therapist with other members of the team agreed that the use of the touch screen computer based program best supports the needs of this individual.

Q: How is the technology implemented?

A: The implementation of the technology begins after the Individual Evaluation Plan (IEP) team determines the type of technology for the student. Then, there is written plan that provides information on the team members responsible for assisting with the implementation. Each teacher who works with these students must attend training on the software and overall operations of the equipment. These teachers use the technology within their classrooms but contact the AT Specialist and provide feedback after weekly sessions.

Q: Funding (Did they receive grants, or where did the funds come from? How were funds allocated?)

A: The overall funding for the devices came through grants. The process began with the identification of the individual needs and the implementation of the student's IEP. The state provided grants for students throughout the county. Each student met the requirement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Q: Who are the population served?

A: The population served includes over 11,000 students within the county. There are students who receive different types of support based upon their special needs. This involves teachers, different types of specialists, and parents of the children that fall into this category.

Q: Who is impacted? (Is there a universal impact, or does it affect one student?)

A: This is a universal impact because it affects all students within the school district. Regardless of the special needs, identifying a student within the district with a special need impacts all because their are special requirements needed to support that individuals needs. The district as a whole learns from each other in the field of special education and pass that information to others so that everyone has access to different types of devices that supports the learning of these individuals with special needs.

Q: What ways are the technology incorporated within the curriculum?

A: The students have the same curriculum as the other other students, however, the Moderate Intellectual Students complete their assignments with the computer. The special needs students have access to computers as do other students but when there are writing assignments the students use their computers to complete that assignment as well as speech assignments.

Q: How is training offered for the device(s)?

A: Initially, the students, parents, and the teacher go through training designed by (me) the AT specialist. The training includes the operations of the device and how it meets the needs of the student. The student uses the device with the assistance of the teacher and the parent (if applicable in the home). There are weekly training sessions used for teachers who have that student in their class for different subjects. The training includes operation, troubleshooting techniques, and how to contact support personnel. On site, there are information technology personnel who assist with the device operation and maintenance.

Q: How are the technology devices maintained? (What happens if one breaks?)

A: The information technology personnel maintains the equipment by ensuring the hardware and software have current updates. These personnel are on call within the school operations and provide parents with information for contact in the home. If one of the devices break the technology personnel has access to replacements as a loaner until the broken device returns from repairs.

Q: What are the review likes and dislikes ?

A: The likes of the device is that the overall operations of the equipment is user friendly. The use of the touch screen application has the capability of increasing the font and image sizes. The program assist the student with his/her needs and overall produces great progress. The dislike of the program is that there is not enough to supply some individuals with the equipment needed in their homes. This would increase the learning of the individual and prepare him/her for future success in education.

Q: Do they have any way to track whether it is beneficial to student learning? If so, how? If not, why not and how could they?

A: The answer to the first question is yes. There are assessments given to teachers during their individual training sessions that provide them with a means of assessing students ability to complete assigned tasks. The teacher records that information and compare it to other information based on their previous performance. This process tracks the student's ability to maneuver through the program and accomplish the work given. This is beneficial because this process allows the student to express him/herself based upon the work they provide. The process enables the student to learn more about what it takes for him/her to accomplish the given task and provides results of his/her individual work.