AT for Sustaining Learning Engagement
09/02/23 18:32
It’s truly time for us to wake up to the fact that #assistivetechnology is an invaluable solution for sustaining learning engagement in struggling students while we in turn are struggling to get interventions in place. We waste children’s precious time planning how we’re going to assist them as they fall by the wayside. With Assistive Technology we can act immediately to alter their outcomes until our interventions take effect (and even after). Case in point so many children lose interest in reading while our interventions take considerable time to teach them how to do that independently. There is literally no logic behind preventing these children from listening and visually tracking text until they can do it on their own. As a matter of fact, research proves that assistive technologies actually foster greater reading skills, and if that’s not enough for you here’s a study that shows that students retain information just as effectively by listening or reading. Let’s wake up and stop letting kids fail unnecessarily. Furthermore, this isn’t just an Educational issue, this is a mental health issue when you consider students with learning disabilities are four times more likely to face this challenge as well because of the inaccessibility of learning materials they experience on a daily basis. https://www.jneurosci.org/content/39/39/7722
Chancellor's Dyslexia initiative in NYC
05/01/23 18:30
Here's hoping the #NYCDOE Chancellor's #Dyslexia initiative in NYC recognizes the value of #assistivetechnology in supporting all struggling students before, during, and after these new interventions are being put in place. We all need to acknowledge that in a school system of 200,000+ identified learners with disabilities, the shear volume of students who become disengaged, despondent, and even drop out on a daily basis cannot be addressed fast enough by this dyslexia initiative. But there is an immediate solution. Available technologies currently built into all classroom computers/devices could address their needs immediately until we can reach them with these interventions. It appears dedicated commercial products like Microsoft's Immersive Reader have been hinted at in these literacy trainings within schools, and that is definitely a small step in the right direction, but we need to go further (because one size does not fit all), and ensure that ALL schools promote these literacy supports for ALL students to preserve their childhood fascination with the written word. What's the value of becoming a reader later in your school career after these interventions have taken hold (which is not assured for all) if you've already lost your passion for the written word? Assistive technology not only provides the needed access to participate, but has also been proven to sustain engagement and motivation to read, and even provide multi-sensory support to the literacy interventions themselves. The archaic and #ableist belief that a 20th century print approach to literacy is superior to a #technologyenhancedlearning model @Dr.DavidEdyburn is based on #techacceptance biases and not research; whereas the use of AT to enhance literacy interventions is well documented by practitioners and backed up by research (another article attached for your libraries). #DyslexiaSupport #DyslexiaEducation #Education
Article: https://lnkd.in/e5S-qgGP.
Article: https://lnkd.in/e5S-qgGP.
AT in Education
05/12/22 19:28
Assistive Technology for Students
The dilemma for students is Time…
Even after four decades of use and countless research studies extolling its impact on creating accessible learning opportunities, Assistive Technology (AT) is still relegated to a reactive post-remediation plan for many of our students and is not seen as a proactive and integral path for fostering growth alongside other educational interventions. For example, if Text-to-Speech provides greater multi-sensory exposure to vocabulary and improves comprehension (Stodden, et al, 2012) then why isn’t such AT provided to students alongside typical remediation practices? We all know the complaints: “AT is a crutch”, “children will choose AT over natural skill development”, and other unsubstantiated claims. But that's not the real problem. The problem is us waiting until a child is struggling, is losing interest in learning, has been removed from participating with their peers one too many times, and is now doubting whether or not learning is within reach. Add to that the learning curve for mastering and integrating IEP recommended AT into a student’s classroom experience and you’ll discover the greatest challenge facing all children with disabilities–-time.
The Greatest Obstacle: Consideration
The need exists. The money for assistive technology exists. The skills to integrate it exist. The challenge is how it begins. The consideration of assistive technology by an educational team for a student is the most difficult factor to enable. The biased perspectives of educational professionals (and often caregivers), as well as a lack of awareness on the value of such tools for sustaining engagement and creating access are often what prevents AT from being considered. Ultimately an educator’s personal beliefs that a struggling learner has ‘reached their potential’ or that another child who is nonspeaking and physically challenged by the environment cannot ‘overcome’ obstacles we ourselves have created, will prevent that educator from pursuing alternative approaches like AT. Therefore we have to radically alter educational perceptions (in both academia and in the classroom) as to who really can be a learner thanks to these technological supports.
The Solution: Assistive Technology Literacy for All Students (ATLAS)
We can’t predict who will have a learning challenge, or whether professionals will be prepared with AT solutions when needed–-so the only solution is to teach AT skills to ALL students and create a culture of multiple literacies in learning tools. We need a more proactive and holistic interventions that encourage early exploration of AT in order to support “access and sustained engagement” (Edyburn, 2010) with rigorous academic content and skill development for all students, creating a more equitable classroom experience for all. All students should be taught basic assistive technologies alongside 20th century learning tools before any learning struggles are observed. If children were to learn these tools before they needed them, then they would immediately recognize that there are alternative paths to learning and would be less intimidated by any obstacles to participation that they encounter. The profound impact that this would have upon their educational experience never mind their mental health is immeasurable. Children learn how to use a pencil before they need it for writing; and so children should also learn how to use text-to-speech before they may need it for listening to educational content. It's that simple. These are the 21st-century tools and they need to be mastered before they are needed. That's how we solve the assistive technology dilemma.
The dilemma for students is Time…
Even after four decades of use and countless research studies extolling its impact on creating accessible learning opportunities, Assistive Technology (AT) is still relegated to a reactive post-remediation plan for many of our students and is not seen as a proactive and integral path for fostering growth alongside other educational interventions. For example, if Text-to-Speech provides greater multi-sensory exposure to vocabulary and improves comprehension (Stodden, et al, 2012) then why isn’t such AT provided to students alongside typical remediation practices? We all know the complaints: “AT is a crutch”, “children will choose AT over natural skill development”, and other unsubstantiated claims. But that's not the real problem. The problem is us waiting until a child is struggling, is losing interest in learning, has been removed from participating with their peers one too many times, and is now doubting whether or not learning is within reach. Add to that the learning curve for mastering and integrating IEP recommended AT into a student’s classroom experience and you’ll discover the greatest challenge facing all children with disabilities–-time.
The Greatest Obstacle: Consideration
The need exists. The money for assistive technology exists. The skills to integrate it exist. The challenge is how it begins. The consideration of assistive technology by an educational team for a student is the most difficult factor to enable. The biased perspectives of educational professionals (and often caregivers), as well as a lack of awareness on the value of such tools for sustaining engagement and creating access are often what prevents AT from being considered. Ultimately an educator’s personal beliefs that a struggling learner has ‘reached their potential’ or that another child who is nonspeaking and physically challenged by the environment cannot ‘overcome’ obstacles we ourselves have created, will prevent that educator from pursuing alternative approaches like AT. Therefore we have to radically alter educational perceptions (in both academia and in the classroom) as to who really can be a learner thanks to these technological supports.
The Solution: Assistive Technology Literacy for All Students (ATLAS)
We can’t predict who will have a learning challenge, or whether professionals will be prepared with AT solutions when needed–-so the only solution is to teach AT skills to ALL students and create a culture of multiple literacies in learning tools. We need a more proactive and holistic interventions that encourage early exploration of AT in order to support “access and sustained engagement” (Edyburn, 2010) with rigorous academic content and skill development for all students, creating a more equitable classroom experience for all. All students should be taught basic assistive technologies alongside 20th century learning tools before any learning struggles are observed. If children were to learn these tools before they needed them, then they would immediately recognize that there are alternative paths to learning and would be less intimidated by any obstacles to participation that they encounter. The profound impact that this would have upon their educational experience never mind their mental health is immeasurable. Children learn how to use a pencil before they need it for writing; and so children should also learn how to use text-to-speech before they may need it for listening to educational content. It's that simple. These are the 21st-century tools and they need to be mastered before they are needed. That's how we solve the assistive technology dilemma.
The True Value of Assistive Technologies
05/03/21 18:29
The value of assistive technologies to individuals with disabilities is immeasurable. Who can be a learner? Who can be a worker? Who can be a gamer? Who can participate in our increasingly technology-driven culture? Anyone. Seriously, anyone. A blind, nonverbal child who is also a quadriplegic spells her name on a computer through a simple head movement. A programmer with ALS continues to work full-time typing with his eyes. A student with dysgraphia and dyslexia, demoralized by weak-minded educators who think the mechanical aspects of writing are the only path to critical expression, survives public education to attend a prestigious college. A nonverbal child with cerebral palsy, "classified" with "moderate mental retardation" via inaccessible psychometric testing, fails to pass any of the standardized tests throughout his academic career, only to years later make dramatic gains and eventually pass all of his Regents' exams (only possible because he was allowed to stay in an inclusive setting).
Chalkboards, pencils, and paper are not the only paths to learning--wait, let me retract that weak example and be far more blunt--reading, writing, and speaking are not the only paths to becoming a learner. If a blind child can be respected for his mind's capability to learn without paper and pencil, and is allowed to approach his learning in a nontraditional way (and one day he becomes the Governor of New York no less), then the fact remains that all children who face challenges in accessing traditional curriculum for learning should be viewed as having immeasurable potential to learn with the right alternative (or technological) supports.
Achieving inclusion for people with disabilities all boils down to one simple idea: we must enable their participation, not just "allow" their presence. If you invite me to communicate, my AAC device enables me to join in, rather than just stand by; if you invite me to play, my adaptive gaming tools make me a competitor not observer; if you invite me to show you how employable I am, my adapted technologies reveal my productivity, not merely my legal accommodations. I use the idea of "invite" not to condescend and say that people with disabilities must wait for mainstream acceptance and an "invitation" to be in the world, but rather as a challenge to the mainstream public--we need to recognize who are already members of our community and embrace their participation made possible by advancing technologies, which in turn also allow us all to retreat from prejudices. Limitations to any individual's participation in learning, work, and leisure activities in the 21st century has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with our perception of them as participants.
Chalkboards, pencils, and paper are not the only paths to learning--wait, let me retract that weak example and be far more blunt--reading, writing, and speaking are not the only paths to becoming a learner. If a blind child can be respected for his mind's capability to learn without paper and pencil, and is allowed to approach his learning in a nontraditional way (and one day he becomes the Governor of New York no less), then the fact remains that all children who face challenges in accessing traditional curriculum for learning should be viewed as having immeasurable potential to learn with the right alternative (or technological) supports.
Achieving inclusion for people with disabilities all boils down to one simple idea: we must enable their participation, not just "allow" their presence. If you invite me to communicate, my AAC device enables me to join in, rather than just stand by; if you invite me to play, my adaptive gaming tools make me a competitor not observer; if you invite me to show you how employable I am, my adapted technologies reveal my productivity, not merely my legal accommodations. I use the idea of "invite" not to condescend and say that people with disabilities must wait for mainstream acceptance and an "invitation" to be in the world, but rather as a challenge to the mainstream public--we need to recognize who are already members of our community and embrace their participation made possible by advancing technologies, which in turn also allow us all to retreat from prejudices. Limitations to any individual's participation in learning, work, and leisure activities in the 21st century has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with our perception of them as participants.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY IS FOR EVERYONE
05/02/20 18:23
After four decades of use and countless research studies extolling its impact on creating accessible learning opportunities, why is Assistive Technology (AT) still being relegated to a reactive post-remediation plan for so many of our students and not seen as a proactive and integral path for fostering growth alongside other educational interventions? If Text-to-Speech provides greater multisensory exposure to vocabulary and improves comprehension (Stodden, et al, 2012) then why isn’t such AT provided to students alongside typical remediation practices? We all know the complaints: “AT is a crutch”, “children will choose AT over natural skill development”, and other unsubstantiated claims.
But that's not the real problem. The problem is us waiting until a child is struggling, is losing interest in learning, has been removed from participating with their peers one too many times, and is now doubting whether or not learning is within reach. Add to that the learning curve for mastering and integrating IEP recommended AT into a student’s classroom experience and you’ll discover the greatest challenge facing all students with disabilities–time. We can’t predict who will have a learning challenge, or whether professionals will be prepared with AT solutions when we do–so the only solution is to teach AT skills to ALL students and create a culture of multiple literacies in learning tools. This interactive session will promote a more proactive and holistic approach to remediation that encourages early access to AT in order to support “access and sustained engagement” (Edyburn, 2010) with rigorous academic content and skill development for all students, creating a more equitable classroom experience for all.
Welcome to the AThelp Blog. Blogging is such a self-indulgent exercise. I will pontificate, of that I'm certain. But at least it will be for a reason that matters. Bear with me and I will try my best to make this a useful venue for all readers.
But that's not the real problem. The problem is us waiting until a child is struggling, is losing interest in learning, has been removed from participating with their peers one too many times, and is now doubting whether or not learning is within reach. Add to that the learning curve for mastering and integrating IEP recommended AT into a student’s classroom experience and you’ll discover the greatest challenge facing all students with disabilities–time. We can’t predict who will have a learning challenge, or whether professionals will be prepared with AT solutions when we do–so the only solution is to teach AT skills to ALL students and create a culture of multiple literacies in learning tools. This interactive session will promote a more proactive and holistic approach to remediation that encourages early access to AT in order to support “access and sustained engagement” (Edyburn, 2010) with rigorous academic content and skill development for all students, creating a more equitable classroom experience for all.
Welcome to the AThelp Blog. Blogging is such a self-indulgent exercise. I will pontificate, of that I'm certain. But at least it will be for a reason that matters. Bear with me and I will try my best to make this a useful venue for all readers.
