Anna
Evmenova
East Carolina University
2003
Interactive
CD-Rom “Assistive Technology for Students with
Learning disabilities”
in
two languages: English and Russian
Since the first day I came
to America, I was thinking about making something useful that I
could take home, developing something interesting
for my Russian colleagues. That was why I decided to design the CD-Rom “Assistive
Technology for Students with Learning disabilities” and make
two versions of it: in English and in Russian. When I first started
working on it I thought the main goal would be to make it in Russian,
for Russian teachers. I believed it would be useful only to them.
But as I was working and working I found out that American teachers
didn’t know much about assistive technology in special education
for students with mild and/or learning disabilities either. I suppose
that has happened because the area of assistive technology for students
with mild disabilities is very new. Historically, assistive technology
devices and services have been associated with individuals with physical
and moderate or severe needs. The area of assistive technology for
children with learning disabilities was not researched for a very
long time.
According to the passage of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals
with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA), teachers are expected to
have an additional set of knowledge and skills about assistive technology.
But not a lot of teachers know about this phenomenon, and more than
that not a lot of teachers use it in their classrooms. So my training
CD turned out to be a success with American teachers as well as Russian
professionals.
Here is what I have done:
1. I did a literature review
in the topic "Assistive Technology
for Students with Learning Disabilities".
2. I found all possible resources for purchase assistive technology
for referencing on the CD-ROM.
3. I selected 5 teachers (for 5 different categories of AT for LD)
and interviewed them about their experience in and thoughts about
Assistive Technology in their classrooms.
4. I designed, developed, and burned the CD-ROM.
5. I translated it into Russian and burned the same CD only in Russian.
Some technical things about this CD: As this CD contains interviews
the special installation has to take place. There is a special button
under which you will find detailed instructions on how to do it. If
you have some problems with something on this CD you can click on
help button (you can find it on each page).
Interactive CD-Rom “assistive Technology for Students with Learning
disabilities” has eight sections.
Section 1 provides essential information (literature review) about
the phenomenon of assistive technology for students with LD. It is
called “Assistive Technology”. You can find literature
review on this topic here. From this sections teachers learn what
assistive technology is; for example, that “The IDEA defines
an assistive technology device as "any item, piece of equipment
or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified,
or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional
capabilities of individuals with disabilities”. Then there is
the information about who AT is for, where teachers can find it, for
example, that AT can be useful for students with learning disabilities
not only in self-contained classes but also in inclusion and students
without disabilities just love to work with such technologies and
it can really useful for them too. "How it works" subpart
tells you about some features of assistive technology for students
with learning disabilities. And the most important information is
in the subpart "Why it is important to use it for your students".
I hope that this information will persuade teachers to start using
assistive technology for students with learning disabilities.
Sections
2-6 give you the opportunity to learn about 5 different
types of assistive technology for student with learning disabilities:
• word processing,
• word recognition,
• speech feedback,
• speech recognition, and
• concept mapping.
In each section you will find introduction to that particular type
of assistive technology; the list of technologies available now; interviews
with teachers (5 different teachers) and the samples of using the
technologies in the classroom (e.g., lesson plans or student’s
work samples).
Here is the example of each section design on the example of the Word
Prediction section. The others follow the same design with a different
content. First there is Introduction to Word Prediction which include
the literature review (each section has different literature review
based on each type of AT for LD). For example, here we can learn that
according to Newell, Arniott, Booth, Bettie and Rickets (1992) word
prediction was originally developed for individuals with physical
disabilities to reduce the number of keystroke required to type words.
The person types the first letter of a word, and the program offers
a list of words beginning with that letter. If the desired word appears,
it can be chosen from a list by pressing the number n the keyboard
that is displayed next to that word – or pointing and clicking
with the mouse (Raskind, 1996). Recent studies with students with
learning disabilities made by Morocco, Dalton and Tivan in 1990; MacArthur,
Graham, Swartz and Shafer in 1995; Raskind and Higgins in 1998 indicate
that word prediction in combination with effective instruction can
enhance the writing of students with learning disabilities. It was
found by Booth and Bettie in 1992 that even those children with severe
spelling problems could produce the first letters of most of the words
they wished to write; they could recognize the word when it was offered
within a prediction list. However, there are still not a lot of literature
and studies about assistive technology for students with learning
disabilities. A lot of work still has to be done in this area.
Next, each section includes the main information – technologies
currently available in each particular group of technologies. In our
sample Word Prediction section, you can find "famous" technologies
like Co:Writer and AlphaSmart and also technologies that are very
new like Enkidu. You will find the description of each technology
and also websites where you can find more detailed information about
the technology and its prices.
Then there is the interview with different teachers. For example,
in the Word Prediction particular section there is an interview with
Laura Jones, special education teacher from GR Witfield School, Grimsland,
NC, who uses Co:Writer with her students with learning disabilities.
Mrs. Jones is an excellent and very experienced teacher and she uses
as many assistive technologies in her classroom as possible. She mentions
all technologies she uses in her interview but the main emphasis is
still on word prediction technologies. She shares her experience with
word prediction technologies (primarily it’s Co:Writer) stating
the reasons why she and her students really like it.
I have chosen to interview teachers for my CD because I believe that
these interviews are able to encourage inexperienced teachers. It’s
always a risk to start using something new, not well known, but when
other real teachers who really use it in their real classrooms tell
you that it good, you start to believe in it.
Then, again for example, in the Word Prediction section there is a
lesson plan where word prediction assistive technology is used. This
is lesson plan given by Alice McArthur from Wahl-Coats Elementary
School. I like this plan because it shows how students with disabilities
can work in inclusion and be on track. When other students write paper/pencil
story, students with disabilities use computer with Co:Writer and
Write:OutLoud . One more thing I like here is that Alice McArthur
use Co:Writer differently with different students. And it is mentioned
in her lesson plan: Students who are proficient in keyboarding are
not allowed just to select the word, they can use word prediction
to find the word, but as soon as they do, they have to type it in
by themselves instead of just choosing it. Students who have no such
skills can just go ahead and select the word and drag it. That helps
students with different skills to have approximately the same speed
and complete the task during the lesson time.
In other sections under the same subpart you can find the samples
of students’ works showing the difference with or without the
technology or the sample of teacher’s schedule showing how often
she uses assistive technology.
In the section “Tips for Parents” you will find the information
useful for parents who want to use assistive technology for their
child but don’t know where to start. This part can be interesting
not only to American parents and parents in Russia. Last years there
was an increasing number of Russian immigrants in America. And very
often they don’t speak English. Russian version of this CD and
especially “Tips for Parents” can help them to learn about
their rights and opportunities that can really help their children
who are ESL students.
The section “Resources” consists of references and website
links for all information about assistive technology. You can just
click on the link you are interested in and I will take you to that
website.
In Russian version of this CD-Rom everything is the same: colors,
pictures, design, except language. In Teacher’s Interview parts
I subtitled all interviews so teachers can listen to the original
interview and read the subtitles in the separate window.
I have learned a lot through this project. I don’t feel frustrated
any more when people start talking about this “strange” thing:
assistive technology. I have learned a lot of important information
that I’m sure will be very beneficial in my own teaching carrier.
The research about available technologies showed that there are a
lot of technologies right now that can really help students with learning
disabilities to overcome their difficulties and to improve their academic
skills. When I talked to teachers, all of them were really glad to
talk about it. Because they really like AT, they know from their own
experience that it can really help. And each interview inspired me
even more to finish this CD, so it can help and encourage other teachers
to start using AT to get the amazing results for the students that
those interviewed teachers already have.
Samples of
some CD pages are available in the PDF version.
