There are so many good uses for technology. We live in a world full of technology that can be entertaining and can support students with a large range of ability levels. Can technology be useful for students with disabilities? Who can assistive technology support? Let’s find out.
Let’s back-track just a little. Whet even is assistive technology? Assistive technology is a piece of technology that can help a student reach their IEP goals by assisting with communication, be able to do the same academic tasks as their peers, be included and attend extracurricular events and programs, navigate the classroom and/or school, and much more. Essentially, assistive technology is an accommodation, or a support that helps a student get around their disability.
With this background knowledge, we can now answer the questions: 1) Can technology be useful for students with disabilities? and 2) Who can assistive technology support? Let’s start with question number one. The answer is yes. How? It’s simple. Imagine having a visual impairment making a daily life function, that most people take for granted, difficult? Using a magnifier or having a computer in which the text can be enlarged can be an asset for a student. That is an example of assistive technology. Having assistive technology is extremely useful for exactly that reason. Something that can help a student get around their disability and improve their learning is a useful, and wonderful, thing.
Lots of students with disabilities can benefit from assistive technology. For example, a student who is deaf or hard at hearing could choose to make a PowerPoint with an iPad. They can share and be able to communicate with the class through visuals and words on the screen. A student who has a visual impairment could be benefitted by a computer text-enlarger and/or text-speech technology, so a student can have a conversation with their peers. These are just a couple of examples. Utilizing a Smart Board, if applicable to your school district, can be a wonderful piece of equipment.
As an aside, I’d like to compare and contrast the two practicum placements I’ve had so far: Newfound Memorial Middle School (8th grade science) and Moultonborough Central School (5th grade). In Moultonborough, each student has their own iPad and they each have access to a desktop computer (in the computer lab). There is also a Smart Board in the classroom, as well as a speaker-system in which the teacher/speaker wears a microphone that magnifies their voice. Newfound had a projector and a computer-cart that could be checked out in advance. How do the schools differ in the usage of assistive technology? Do students in Moultonborough have an advantage over students in Newfound?
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