Technology Helps Special Education Students Find Their Voice

Technology Helps Special Education Students Find Their Voice

 "At Ashley Elementary School, a fifth grade student sits at lunch, talking with friends and using an iPad. He looks like any other student his age. He fits in. But there is something different. The special education student has challenges communicating due to autism."

This article shows how technology, mainly IPads, have positive impact on special education students not only educationally but socially and verbally as well.  IPads allow students to be apart of the crowd, to fit in, and to communicate effectively.  This technology allows students to be a part of the class and even the world instead of being an outsider because they are unable to communicate.  Students who were non-verbal used to be taught sign-language, however, when they would go out into the classroom or even out into the public they were unable to communicate because very few individuals know and understand Sign Language. 

My favorite part about this article is how it showed how IPads take away some of the students' disabilities and allowed them to be typical for just a little bit in some way.

This article hit very close to home for me because this past year I had the amazing opportunity to work with a student with Autism who was low verbal.  We used the IPad a lot and he loved every minute of it!  We were able to work on social skills, create stories about his new school (he was a 6th grader and heading to the high school for this next school year), watch his favorite music videos, watch tornado videos (his favorite movie is Twister), work on math, reading, and spelling.  It was very engaging for him and he loved when we worked on it.

Not only did I use my IPad for him but for also my other students.  It has so many engaging educational apps that my math students loved being able to work on it when it was their turn.  I was also able to put their spelling lists on one of the apps and the kids worked on spelling words (for some reason practicing spelling is much more fun on an IPad than on paper).  There are a million ways to incorporate an IPad within any classroom as long as the teacher is willing to take the time and figure everything out!  Technology engages students - use it to your advantage!!

   

"How Educators And Special Needs Students Are Using iPads In The Classroom”

http://www.howtolearn.com/2012/04/how-educators-and-special-needs-students-are-using-ipads-in-the-classroom

For my technology article review I chose “How Educators And Special Needs Students Are Using iPads In The Classroom” from HowToLearn.com by Mari Jane Williamsast year my school went one-to-one with iPads for grades five through twelve.  Being that we were one of the first schools in our area to do this many of our teachers felt very overwhelmed.  This article spoke of several schools throughout the country and how they are using the iPad to better education for special needs students.  From video interviews with scholars to being able to video chat teachers during their plan periods, the interactive tablets are greatly enhancing the initiative of students.

Even though this article was focusing on meeting the demands of special needs students, I found two reasons how this article could aid me in my classroom next year.  First, the assistance that the special needs students are receiving from the iPads could be very beneficial to other students as well.  The article talked about how iPads have increased a teacher’s capability to give instant feedback to their students, an attribute that all students I am sure would love.  Secondly, over the last few years more and more special needs students are being infused into the regular classroom.  Some educators are relying more and more on paraeducators for assistance.  iPads are allowing teachers to lessen their dependency on paras by increasing the capability to provide more direct instruction to all students, but most especially the special needs student, who will often silence their need for clarity due to a less than positive social stigma.

http://www.pelinks4u.org/articles/lleightNichols_1011.htm

Summary
This article details the different types of iPads and how they can be used in schools.  There are lots of apps that do not require wi-fi, but there are many others that do, so make sure you do your homework and figure out what type of connection will work best for you in your setting.  The iPad also comes preloaded with an app for YouTube, iTunes, App Store, Videos, Photos, Notes, Maps, iPod (music, tv shows, movies, podcasts, etc.) and Safari (Apple’s web browser).  After some more brief information regarding iPads the article goes into apps and ways they can be used in PE class.  Some fitness apps they discussed with some brief detail are 1 - Fitness Class (free app) allows teacher to stream workout videos with over 230 routines to choose from.  It can be put through a project or SmartBoard for class to see. 2 - Fitness Free HD - Again over 300 exercises with photos and instructions on how to perform exercise.  It also provides exercises that'll work certain body parts.  3- HITT Timer which is an app that allows you to create time intervals for stations, fitness run, etc.  This article has great detail on apps to be used in the "special" classes - PE, music, and art.

Reflection
Our school is looking at turning over to 1:1 with iPad in the next few years.  It's an exciting time bringing technology into our school, but finding ways to use it in Physical Education was initially a difficult thing to do.  After reading this article and partaking in a webinar on iPads in PE, I'm very excited to use this device in our class.  As you can see, there are many, many apps that tie physical fitness and iPads together.  As the students are able to see these apps, they can use them outside of the class and possible on their own iPhones or iPads.  This is a new way to teach physical education and it'd be a greater motivator to engage students for years to come. 

The Single iPad Classroom

http://elementaryedtech.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/the-single-ipad-classroom/

When asked to select an online article on technology, I asked myself "where do I begin searching?" There are so many different types of technology applications and websites out there to post about. Last week I took an assessment course and during one of our discussion days, she brought up the fact that her school is moving to one to one iPads in the classroom. Their textbooks are on the students' iPads, etc. She made several comments about the organization and school management being horrible and that kids are taking advantage of these iPads to a completely new level. I decided that this would be a great way for me to narrow down my search.

I found brief article on single iPads in the classroom and not one to one iPads. This article hit on a few points. Points such as sharing what you have on your iPad and how you share it to the class while teaching. Some teachers share it by passing it around (shocked me because that would take so much time) gathering into a circle to look at it, doc camera, or project with dongle or belkin switch. When only being able to have one iPad in the classroom you need to make sure there is a sense of organization when determining which students get the iPad and when. Some teachers use sticks, same groups during the week, centers, and even just taking turns. Another topic that was hit during this article was keeping students on task during specific time and making sure that they stay stay on the app when asked.  Monitoring, previewing, and modeling were the top three that teachers used. A lot of them also mentioned honest which is very powerful. Once a student misuses it, it's no longer in their hands, simple as that.

I enjoyed this article because previously was informed about how schools are now going one to one iPads in the classroom, but yet I know some schools are still just using the one iPad. Regardless, students are able use this technology as a learning tool which is the most important part in my eyes.