Wrap Up

I can't believe this semester is ending. I feel like it was just yesterday I started this blogging process. When I first started this class, I knew very little about assistive technology. Over the duration of the semester, I learned how important it is for students to have their own voice and a lot of times they get that voice through their assistive technology tool(s) it allows them to feel "normal" and be an active member of their classroom. It also makes their life easier.

I also learned how important it is to put the UDL model to work in all of my lesson plans. My blog demonstrates my ability to include various techniques such as pictures, words, and even audio/visual to appeal to the different types of learners there are in the world.

I'm forever grateful for this opportunity to learn along side both veteran teachers and novice teachers especially in my group because everyone was able to learn something from each other. We all brought a unique perspective to the table.

Until next time, keep learning and making a difference. 

AT and Social stories

Social stories are a great way for students to express themselves. If a student has an iPad at their disposal a social story can and will help them improve and understand various social situations and how to interact with others (behavior) through visual strategies. The best feature is the social stories can be customized for each individualized child and their own unique needs and it can also be customized to the child's level of understanding (words, pictures, etc). In order for the child to be successful, he or she needs to continually reread their social story. This is a great tool for students with autism.

Here is an example of some of the social stories for ideas specially targeted towards educators and students. 

http://carolgraysocialstories.com/social-stories/

Accommodations at Cabrini

Currently, I am getting certified to teach special education at Cabrini University. Cabrini offers numerous academic accommodations for students with various special needs. Cabrini encourages collaboration between not only the student and their professor, but also the Disability Resource Center.

Here are some of the accommodations they offer:

• classroom and testing accommodations
• assistance with course selection
• individual academic support 

Cabrini also offers tools for students to check out. We had the pleasure of hearing Freshmen undergrad student share her experiences with the LiveScribe and how it has helped her though her first semester at Cabrini. 

https://www.cabrini.edu/about/departments/disability-resource-center/academic-accommodations

iPhones/iPods/iPads providing visual support

With each year that passes technology is becoming more and more popular. Almost everyone has an iPhone, iPad, or iPod and many apps roll out each year some specifically targeting children and/or people with disabilities.  These devices with show visual representations of a day in the life of a student starting with brushing their teeth to putting their PJs on.

Here is a list of reasons why apple products can be used for students to provide visual support:

• It supports picture schedules and activity sequence.
• Helps cue the student.
• Reduces anxiety and confusion.
• Helps students gain more independence.
• Helps students stay on task.
• Helps students transition between activities.

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Assistive technology in college

Assistive technology can be a reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities in college because it helps students during testing situations and with handing in their assignments on time.

Here are some ways to make AT easier for college students:

• The assistive technology tools must be easy to use and easy to customize because the whole goal is to make the task easier for the student to complete. 
• The tool must be age appropriate.
• The technology should be the student's own choice. This option is important because the student knows what his or her weaknesses and strengths are and what works and what doesn't for them.
• The tool must match the specific task it's need for. Example: If a student has a problem with taking notes a LiveScribe would be a good idea for him or her.
• Students must be able to access their tool easily.
• Training and ongoing technical support for students and staff are vital to the success of their AT device.

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Assistive Technology Model Operating Guidelines

The Oregon Technology Access Program (OTAP) is run by the Douglas Education Service District and sponsored by the Oregon Department of Education. The websites main purpose is to provide training, information, technical assistance, and resources to help disabled children with technology. OTAP's services are good for students from birth until twenty-one years old. The website also offers a parents, teachers, and services tab. They also have business services and video streaming.

This website looks really helpful for both educators and non educators like. It has a lot of awesome information available such as weekly professional development and you don't even have to live in Oregon to participate. I was especially interested in the writing workshop. It helps teachers find the best plan of action for their students to become better writers. Some of the suggested writing for secondary levels is "Show the drinking age be lowered from 21?" This is recommended to 11th graders and I think this would be a wonderful research paper topic. I remember being in 11th grade and writing a research paper on this very topic. It's something relevant to many high schoolers. 




http://www.douglasesd.k12.or.us/otap/

University of Kentucky Assistive Technology (UKAT) Project

The University of Kentucky's special education department has a website dedicated to AT and the tools associated with it. The main goal of the website is to help educators thought the AT delivery process. Beginning with consideration and going all the way up to assessment and monitoring. This tool kit took 6 years to research and the college evaluated the locate public schools in Kentucky. 

The UKAT Toolkit includes seven tools:

1. Consideration: preliminary tool used to see if AT meets a student's needs.
   
2. Pre-Assessment Profile: tool to help gather information about the student. Helps assessors know where students are having difficulty. 
   
3. Assessment Data Collection: helps with planning AT assessments. 
   
4. Assessment Report Outline: helps condense assessment data for other team members.
   
5. Trial Implementation: data reporting tool for AT trials. Also helps weed out what is helpful and what isn't helpful. 
   
6. AT Implementation: planning future AT implementation. Also good to have at an IEP.
   
7. Knowledge & Skills Survey: self rating scale.
   

The above listed tools are a great way to monitor students and evaluate their goals, objectives, and AT needs.



http://edsrc.coe.uky.edu/www/ukatii/toolkit/index.html

Vocabulary selection for AAC devices

In all the blogs leading up this one, I have talked about the importance of AAC devices in the classroom. Now I will be discussing different vocabulary used for different grade levels.

Kindergarten (story time):
*Besides common words like you, I, no, yes, etc
All
Are
Ate
Be
Black
Brown
But
Come
Did 
Do
Eat
Four 
Get
Good
Has
He
Into
Must
Like
Food
New
Now
On
Our
Out
Please
Pretty
Ran
Right
Saw
Say
She
So
Soon
That
There
They
This
Too
Under


Fourth and fifth grade (nature hike):
*Besides basic words like I, me, saw, see, etc
Trees
Levels
Bugs
Animals
Grass
Rocks
Logs
Clouds
Green
Brown
Light

High school (at the mall):
*Besides basic words such as I, you, me, etc
Wanted
Pizza
Food
Court
Clothes
Shirt
Pants
Jacket
Sports
Football
Toy
Watch
Jewelry
Sit
Eat
Walk
Fun
Friends
Love
This
Buying
Bought
Money
Here

Here is a video of a child using an AAC device. This video shows how awesome these devices are for kids that need them and how they can finally communicate with help. Timmy was once in life skills, but with his AAC device he is now in an inclusive classroom.

http://www4.esc13.net/uploads/low_incidence/docs/BTH2013/Friday/Vinson_CoreVocabulary.pdf

Ecological inventory and AAC devices

As an English teacher, I think it's easy for a the questions  who, what, when, and why to come up in general conversation. I think the first step is to allow your non verbal students to have a voice and encourage them to raise their hand and get involved with the discussion. The AAC device at first may take time for the student and all his or her teachers to get the hang of, but with the correct modeling done it should take no time at all. It's also best to start off with small targets and allow students to build their confidences. Make sure you listen to your student as they communicate with you.


Additional strategies:

1. Sitting closer to the teacher or aids in the classroom incase issue arise.
2. Partner student with a stronger student in the class for pair activities.
3. Educator should try and come up with easy ways to incorporate AAC device into everyday classroom life.
4. Support student so they will participate in discussions/small groups. 

This video shows how the students use their AAC devices to communicate with their teacher and peers. 

Student's AAC device being designed for their community and home use

I mentioned in my prior blog a little bit about how AAC devices can be designed the demands of both the community and home, but here are some other options besides culture, activities, and favorite places.

Examples of at home:

1. Students can participate in birthday celebration
2. Family functioning
3. Participation in religious activities

Examples of in the community:

1. Participating in scouting 
2. Assemblies 
3. Field trips

Here is a picture of a younger child using his AAC device at home to communicate with his mother about dinner.

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

The importance of augmentative communication systems at home and in the community

In the last two blog posts, I talked about the importance of a non verbal student using AAC devices in the classroom, but it's equally as important for them to use their device to communicate with there family and community. When students use it in place other than school it helps to reinforce what they've learned at school. In order for this to work, there needs to be a collaboration between students and parents so the carryover is appropriate. This means the teacher needs to know what the students actives are, places they frequent within the community, and a little bit about their culture. School and home/community have different communication demands. Training for family is vital to the success of the child in his or her home and community. 


Here is a picture of a little boy with autism using his AAC device to communicate with his grandfather.

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Argumentative communication systems and IEPS

In the prior blog I talked about the importance of argumentative communication system and how they can give students the voice in the class they do not possess and allows them to interact with peers. In this blog, I will talk about the how argumentative communication systems can be integrated into IEPs. 

Firstly, argumentative communication systems should be considered for all non-speaking students and once the IEP decides it is an important tool for the child to have in class it should be outlined in an IEP. The IEP should also include how the augmentative communication system should will be used by the student on a day to day basic in the classroom (both instructional and non instructional periods). The team will make objective and goals based on the students continued use of the argumentative communication system. 

Here are some examples of communication goals in an IEP:

1. The student will increase his or her use of appropriate communication with unfamiliar partners within the community.
2. The student will independently change his or her augmentative communication device without assistance or prompts.
3. The student will communicate more complex messages by selecting the three-icon-sequence. 

The goals and objectives depend on each individual student and their specific needs.

This video shows Bella, a non verbal child with Down Syndrome, use an augmentative communication device to communicate with the secretary at he speech therapist's office. She was able to become classroom monitor in her classroom because of her AAC device. 


Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Teacher strategies to overcome "learned helplessness"

As educators, we have all encountered a student who may feel like taking an active role in their classroom environment, but sometimes special education students do not have an option because they are non-verbal. We have to do our best to encourage them to speak via their augmentative communication system so they are able to interact with their peers and have an active role in the class. 

Here are some tips for learned helplessness:

• Build daily exception of communication though choosing activities such as picking a book to read, figuring out what they want to do during recess, or letting them choose what to eat for lunch.
• Have a daily report that the student communicates to their parents.
• Allow the student to be a multitude of environments even if they are set up for less support.
• Allow the student to use his or her augmentative communication system when making choices whenever possible.
• Give students powerful phases on their device to protest something.

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Additional Educational Resources

Here are some wonderful Math resources:

iPad/iPhone (apps align with CC):
*All apps are free unless otherwise noted

1. Demos -- This is a graphing calculator, but offers adaptions such as zooming. 
2. Sketchpad Explorer -- User can drag, manipulate, and animate visual math to help develop a better understanding of math concepts. 
3. Geometry Pad -- User can  create shapes, explore and change properties, and calculate metrics. Also offers a zoom feature.
4. Algebra Genie -- Interactive textbook. Helps students learn through fun. Some of the topics covered are exponents, linear relations, and systems of equations. Price varies between $1.99 and $2.99 for each topic.
5. Probability Tools -- Interactive application for students to perform probability trials. Sections can be modified. This cost $1.99
6. Math Ref -- Offers over 700 formulas for math and science. Some helpful options are the search bar, can print formulas out, editable notes, and zoomable equations. 

Websites:
* If you click the link of each name it will take you to the website

1. MathTV -- Offers math videos for students to watch. Students can search via topic or by their textbook.
2. Math Frame -- thousands of interactive math games. Helps students develop mathematical thinking skills.
3. The Math Forum -- Run by Drexel University. It offers puzzles, mentoring, problem solving, and so much more. Students are able to learn in a fun way. 
4. Math Drills -- Thousands of Math drills are offered on this website. Can be used at home and worksheets can be enlarged. It goes all the way from K-Pre Calc.
5. Absurd Math -- Interactive game where users have to solve math problems. 

Online Activities:
*If you click on the link of each name it will take you to a website

1. Mathalicious -- teaches students though things they care about such as sports and shopping.

Math with your Friends

After looking thought various apps available on iPads and iPhones, I came across Math with your Friends. It's 100% free, which is always an awesome feature. When you download it and make an account you're shown the option to play with friends or random opponents. 


























There are multiple math options and instead of using the traditional letters/words the user uses numbers and mathematical symbols such as +,-, =, and many more. There is even a chat options for papers and users can go at their own pace and pay as many as 30 games at one time.


This is a great way for students to brush up on their math skills in a low stakes environment. I could see this being beneficial for many grades most kids have an iPad or iPhone at their disposable. Adaptions can be made such as larger font. 

Low and mid tech options in Math

There are many adaptions available for students with disabilities to use in a Math classroom. Today, I will be talking about tools used specifically for low and mid tech.

Some examples of Low tech:

Math Manipulatives 

















Graph Paper


Enlarged Worksheets



Math Smart Scripts


Some examples of mid tech:

Calculators 

Adapted Keyboards

Flashmaster

http://www.wati.org/content/supports/free/pdf/Ch8-Mathematics.pdf

The different kinds of educational applications used to teach math concepts, math skills, and problem solving

I talked about in prior blog posts the importance of finding an educational application that works for each individual student's needs. A big factor is the tool must match their developmental level. 

Some useful tools are:




Utah State University's National Library of Virtual Manipulatives this website helps to support the development of math for grades K-12. It offers categories such as Algebra. Measurements, or it goes by specific grades like 6-8.








Illuminations offers various activities on their website for helping students develop math concepts. This website is available to students in K-12 and run by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 









Computing Technology for Math Excellence is a website that helps students understand math using virtual manipulatives. 













Internet 4 Classroom is a free website used by educators to help reenforce content or to for materials to use in classroom instruction. There is content for grades K-12.









Math Playground is a website that helps support new or confusing concepts, skills, and problem solving to students. The best part is this website is 100% free and students can go back and look a their work after each step and receive feedback from the website.






Conceptua Math is a website that focuses on fractions and it also offers tools for educators to use in their classroom. This program works best with he younger grades (2-7). It shows visual models and spoken text to help students understand the content better.







Destination Math is a tool that helps math reasoning,conceptual understanding, and problem solving skills to students in grades K-12. This program uses animation and audio to keep students engaged and learning in a fun way.







There are certain math applications offered solely to students with cognitive disabilities such as  the Attainment Company who offers a program that teachers students how to compute, have basic money skills, and tell time. IntelliKeys is available for students who need an alternative keyboard to use any or all of these programs/websites. 

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Educational tools for students with visual spatial or motor control difficulties

Many students have issues with writing numbers, aligning digits, or creating visual representation in the form of angles or shapes. Students with these problems have motor control difficulties or visual spatial difficulties. There are many tools available to help them such as MathPad, Virtual Pencil, Number Navigator, Microsoft Word, MathType, and Scientific Notebook.

MathPad is a talking math worksheet program. It allows students to do arithmetic computations with whole numbers. It is very similar to the way students would do it with a traditional pencil and paper.



Virtual Pencil (VP) is a tool designed for students unable to use the traditional pencil. This is a common tool for students who are blind or who have motor control difficulties. This offers students the same thing traditional paper and pencil would. There are different types of VP. The VP Arithmetic offer verbal feedback to the student. The VP Algebra helps with algebraic  equations.  Here is a video all about the VP.

Number Navigator is a program that is simply a math processor it does not offer any special features. Students are able to solve basic math with this program. Colors, size, and font are customizable.



Microsoft Word is a program most people are familiar with and can be used as a math processor. This program would specifically be good for students with handwriting difficulties, but can use the mouse.




MathType is an alternative to Microsoft Word. Students in higher level math classes would be better suited for this program. This program offers more variety and color coding. 




Scientific Notebook is an application designed for students in higher level math classes. It allows them to participate the same way their peers do. This tool not only allows students to write equations, but it also solves them.





Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Educational applications and automaticity/math fluency

In the prior blog, I talked about the importance to find the right educational applications. There are so many applications available, but this blog will talk specifically about fluency in math. Fluency is the fast, accurate, and effortless process of content information. Some useful educational apps to have are FASTT Math,  Timez Attack, The ArithmAttack, and Arcademic Skill Builder. 

FASTT Math is a program designed to help students with math fact fluency. It assesses students on basic facts by measuring response time and based on each individual student's time they will be given a customized activity. Here is a video of a student using and explaining FASTT Math

Timez Attack is a program that focuses on the multiplication table only (2 to 12 times table). Here is a video that explains how to use Timez Attack.

The ArithmAttack is a program helps students practice basic math skills such as addition, multiplication, ratios, fractions, and many more things. This program customizes problems and can be downloaded right on to the computer. Here is an example of a teacher talking about ArithmAttack and all it's benefits.

Arcademic Skill Builder is a program designed to help fluency in subtraction, division, integers, and so much more. This game can be played with more than one person or solo. Here is an example of a student using the program.



Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

Meeting students goals and needs with educational applications

When choosing educational applications for students to meet their needs and goal certain key questions need to be asked such as: 

• What is the intended outcome of the application? Ex: Is it mean to help strengthen student's math skills in problem solving.

• Will the application fulfill its purpose? Ex: Does the tools possess the ability to show students where they are going wrong by providing feedback?

• Can the application be used in place of traditional classroom actives to help student's participation? Ex:Will the student's learning be as effective as traditional classroom learning? 

Assistive Technology in the Classroom Enhancing the School Experience of Students with Disabilities 

AT & Math introduction

This set of blogs will focus primarily on Assistive Technology (AT) and Math. I will discuss the different types of technology available and the students who would benefit from these tools the most. 

The next set of four questions will focus primarily on questions that need to be asked before students receive tools and types of tools students with various needs many need including assistive technology in low tech, mid tech, and high tech.