Assistive Technology Helps All Kids Learn
Meredith Wykoff
August 22, 2006
DCI 598
“Assistive Technology Helps Kids Learn”
by Bridge Mutimedia
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech220.shtml
This article was about how assistive technology helps all children learn, even handicapped children. Six million school-aged children are currently being served by special education. All the classes in our public schools serve children with physical and/ or learning disabilities and because of the new technology these children do not have to be removed from the class to learn in other classrooms but can be taught right along with the friends. There are many new tools that we can use to help special needs students. Some of the new technology is speech recognition, personal reading machines, talking calculators, and video descriptions. The older technology is still being used such as large print for the blind, assistive listening devices and closed captioning for the hearing impaired. Today not only do the special needs children use technology but all children in the classroom use laptops, wireless internet, CD-ROMs, and e-books, which help all students to have access to many different sites while still sitting at their desk. In the 21st century Washington felt that technology was so important that they allocated $11 billion in grant funds for the development of technology-based programs. Technology is changing the way that we educate our students whether they have special needs or not. Computers are used in elementary as well as college dorms. Teachers of today, are making students ready to face the world of technology and be successful.
This article was very interesting since I work with special needs students and I am always using technology for the hearing-impaired. Whether it is auditory FM equipment, closed caption, or language boards, I didn’t realize that we considered this technology so I guess I am not as backward with this equipment. I feel today that I need to get more actively involved in technology that goes beyond what I do for the hearing impaired. It is important that I teach my students how to use computers and how to access information through websites on the internet. Too many of my students only learn the basics and need to broaden their knowledge. This article showed me that although my students have access to many different types of technology that they can benefit from many more as can the other students in their classroom.
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Your personal reflections were interesting. I agree that your students can benefit from more technology, but also, kids today need to be taught the ethics and safety of using online tools. They "get" technology, but have not had enough guidance in how, when and where to access resources.
September 3, 2006, 12:00 am [ report as inappropriate ]+80
cstafford