Assistive Technology
Assistive technology refers to assistive devices that are used by people with disabilities and consists of the process that is used to select, locate and use the assistive technologies. Assistive technologies promote independence by enabling disabled people to perform tasks that they were unable to perform before, or had difficulties performing them by offering enhancement to or modifying the method of interacting with the technology required to perform the tasks.
There are different kinds of assistive devices including walkers, wheelchairs, computer software and hardware that enable them to access computers and other information technologies. Students should be able to get, store and demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired in class. However, the learning approaches and learning skills are not the same for majority of the student. Not each student is able to communicate effectively as for some communicating is a hard task.
Technology is a way of empowerment for disabled people and denying them the technology worsens the effect disability has on their academic life. Hence , educators are determine to eliminate barriers that affect the achievement of students in school by implementing a broad range of assistive technologies in the classroom. Assistive technologies have become a major issue in the society as people have varied views. Some think assistive technologies should not be approached with a “one size fits all’ mentality” as this affects student’s achievement and learning (Beard, Carpenter, Johnston, 2011).
Assistive technologies should not be approached with a “one size fits all’ mentality” as there are different kinds of disabilities. Disabled people have different needs depending on the type of disability they have. Disability is caused by impairment of different subsystems of the body. Examples include physical disability, sensory disability etc. Physical disability affects the functioning of the limbs and this makes it hard for disabled people to perform their daily tasks. Sensory disability refers to impairment of one of the senses. It consists of visual impairment and hearing impairment. Both of senses can be affected.
People with visual impairment, hearing impairment and physical disability have different needs as different parts of the body are affected. Many people believe that the “one size fits all’ mentality” is the solution to help students with disabilities learns like other students and attains their goals. They believe that one assistive technology will world for any impaired student or all (Lewis, 1998). However, a “one size fit all’ mentality” in assistive technologies has a negative impact on student’s performance as it might not be effective. Assistive technologies should be changed often as what has helped students previously might not be useful to them today.
The assistive technology should be tailored to the needs of the students. Different assistive technologies work for various students like teaching strategies used to deliver instructions. Thus, the technologies can help learners with different disabilities and needs. Assuming assistive technology will work for all students can have a detrimental effect on students and teachers. It affects the performance of the students as teachers are not able to meet the needs of the students. In addition, it makes it hard for the teachers to deliver instructions to students with disabilities. Taking time to select the suitable assistive technology that functions for an individual student can improve the performance of the student greatly as the teachers are able to meet the needs of each student (Milone, 2000).
To ensure the assistive technology meets the needs of the student, several steps should be followed when deciding assistive technologies. First, the current level of performance of the student should be considered (Cavalier, Ferretti & Okolo, 1994). Teachers should consider various areas like communication, vision, reading, hearing etc. Considering these areas will ensure the technology is tailored to the needs of the students. Second, the teacher should determine needs of the student. Different students have different needs and hence the teacher should understand the need of every student.
The teacher should identify the activity the student is supposed to participate in. Most studies have shown that assistive technologies are not matched to the needs of the students and this has resulted in the technologies being too complicated for the learner to use. The teacher should determine the learner’s functional ability to perform the task. He should review the difficulty of the activity and determine if the student is able to perform the task or not. This will enable him identify students needs. The teacher should develop IEP objectives (Poel, 2007).
Third, the teacher should determine if the learner needs assistive technology to attain the goals or objectives. The educator should use data about the current performance level of the student, the environment and activities that the learner is supposed to complete to determine if the student needs assistive technology. Failure to determine if the student requires assistive technologies makes it difficulty for the educator to provide appropriate technologies. Lastly, the educators should document the decision made concerning assistive technologies and determine the type of assistive technologies that students use (pecht,Howell &Young, 2007).
Reference
Beard, L.A., Carpenter, L.B., & Johnston, L.B. (2011). Assistive technology: Access for all students (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc
Cavalier, A. R., Ferretti, R. P., & Okolo, C. M. (1994). Technology and individual differences. Journal of Special Education Technology, Vol12,issue no , p175-181
Lewis, R. B. (1998). Assistive technology and learning disabilities: Today’s realities and tomorrow’s promises. Journal of Learning Disabilities,vol 31,issue no1, p16-26
Milone, M. (2000). Special teachers for special needs. Technology & Learning, vol20,issue no 9, p40-44
Poel, E. W. (2007). Enhancing what students can do. Educational Leadership, vol64,issue no 5, p64-66.
Specht, J., Howell, G., & Young, G. (2007). Students with special education needs in Canada and their use of assistive technology during the transition to secondary school. Childhood Education, vol83,issue no 6, p385.
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