Universal Design applied to Assistive Technology

A few years ago I had  chance to work for the TDSB SEA department.  It is a department that supports students and teachers with the use of assistive technology throughout our board.  This week, through the AQ course I am taking, I was reminded that no matter what we are teaching, we are all special education teachers.  I was reminded also of the principal of universal design and specifically how it applies to the use of Assistive Technology.  When we work with children, we never really know whether they are working up to their potential until we put absolutely everything we can put in place to ensure their success.  If we take a universal design approach to using Assistive technology it levels the playing field for the children who have identified special needs and more importantly for those who have unidentified special needs.  

Another thing became very clear to me as I was working through this topic.  A few years ago when I was at the SEA department, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what Assistive Technology options were available but in a few short years, the number of excellent options has increased and continues to increase exponentially!  That is why I have really come to value the Professional Learning Network in my course.  Everyone had experience with a different type of software and shared about  it's features and how to apply it in the classroom. I feel that this type of professional learning - sharing of useful tips between colleagues and reflecting on the merits of different Assistive Technology tools - is very much what is meant in our Standards of Practice for the Teaching profession, when it says that, members should "refine their professional practice through ongoing ...dialogue."  Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession

Three programs I really want to try as a result of this professional dialogue are Preposit and Storybird.  All three are apparently free.  Thank you Heather Webb Makin for teaching me about these.  Preposit is useful for making interactive video lessons.  Storybird is for making visual storiess.  As I work on improving Millwood's #Geniushour program I would like to integrate these.  Stay tuned for updates on our progress with using these programs.

Assistive Technology 'Necessary for some, good for all'.

Whether teaching a homeroom class or rotary class, there are always some students who really need Assistive Technology to access the curriculum.  Sometimes they may have a SEA computer that they bring to class in order to do their work, but if the other students aren't using the same tools, they can be reluctant.  Over the years I've found that if I teach the whole class how to use Assistive Technology and treat it just like any other tool we use for learning in our classroom, it removes the stigma and the children who really need it aren't embarrassed to use it.

There has been another silver lining to this practice.  Other students who were NOT identified as having special needs benefitted from it also.  That's how universal design works.  When you build a wheelchair ramp, people on rollerblades or people pushing strollers also benefit.  Well when the whole class knows how to use Google Voice typing, students with spelling difficulties or graphomotor difficulties benefit, but so do students who have more ideas in their head than they could type in the time available.  If you use online mind-mapping tools for students with executive function issues, their work is more organized, but so is the work of any student in the class who uses it.  It is also a really attractive and effective way of communicating ideas and any student may prefer this alternative sometimes.  If you use text-to-speech with students who can't read, students who are just a bit tired to read on a given day or whose eyes are bothering them due to seasonal allergies will also benefit.  When I was trained in Read and Write Gold I learned that students who look at the screen while a program like Read and Write gold reads to them and highlights each word as it is read, will improve their sight word vocabulary and reading fluency.  What student wouldn't benefit from that?  That is why using Assistive Technology with the whole class is a good idea.

Embracing the Idea of Web 2.0

I've been thinking about the term "Web 2.0" and how to shift what we do in our classroom from being consumers to producers on the internet.  When I asked myself why we were so slow to share our projects, and realized at there was really only one thing standing in our way.  The biggest barrier was the idea that our work needed to be totally perfected and refined before sharing.  A paradigm shift was needed here if we were ever going to feel ready.  Since we are supposed to celebrate the journey more than the destination, then why not open up our journey so others can follow along?  At first, students posted their projects that were "under construction" on Google Classroom where only their classmates could see them and give them feedback.  This went so well that, as long as their work was mostly done, many have chosen to post on our class website.  Now, once a child feels their project is ready "enough", they post so their parents and other supporters can follow along as students complete their journey during these last six weeks of school.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive.  Our students feel motivated and encouraged by having others react and respond to their work.