Assistive Technology in the Classroom

I had specifically thought that assistive tools used in the classroom were for someone with a disability. Growing up, I had never used any assisting tools in my education and only people with disabilities used these tools. It had never dawned on me growing up that people with disabilities needed these tools in order to do well in class, until I read Section 508. I had not realized how much work goes into preparing for a child with disabilities in a classroom, especially reading what goes into Section 508 and the tools that a child might need. However, I feel as though that assistive technology can benefit an entire class, not just those who have a disability.

Growing up, I had never really seen anyone in my classes with any assistive technology. I hadn’t witnessed it up until sixth grade, where I had a girl in my class with hearing problems. The teacher wore a microphone and it connected to a computer speaker, which projected it to her so she could listen better to lectures. It was really awesome because I would always sit next to her and I could hear the lessons better, especially if I sat further back in the classroom. However, it’s not just microphones and speakers that could help out a classroom. I had always seen kids with a special type of keyboard, called the Alpha Smart, where they could type onto it and it would save it. It seemed like something I always wanted to use, but the option was never offered to me since I did not have a disability.

Now that I will have my own classroom, I feel as though tools such as the Alpha Smart will benefit not just the disabled, but it will help my other students succeed. It would be ideal for me that my class would type on those, instead of writing in a reading journal. Although writing has its benefits, a lot of kids don’t know how to type. It also gets kids familiar with using computers at an early age. Of course, assistive technology doesn’t have to be computers. I would also love to give my kids the option to use other tools, such as musical instruments or large foam blocks for class projects or to help them learn not just in a lecture style. I want all my students to do well, even if they have a disability. I feel as though familiarizing all my students with different tools, including ones that disabled children might use, will help them learn new methods of understanding.

What does it mean to be an educator in the 21st century?

Teaching has changed throughout the years. It has changed from the teacher teaching all ages and levels at once, to teaching one specific age group, and now to working with the children in the age group to get them engaged in learning. Today, we as educators are learning to not teach lecture-style. Many professionals and students have learned that there are many different ways of teaching the same information. However, as technology advances and more people are learning how to work with the technology to produce new ways to provide information to students of all ages.

I had not realized how much technology is used in the classroom now, especially for younger children. There is quite a debate about if technology is a positive influence or a negative influence in classrooms, but I feel that it is a pretty positive tool. Students of all ages are being able to research information that wouldn’t be offered to them in their school library. It’s offering them many more tools that they can learn from and develop throughout their years in school. In “Media Assassins,” Salina Gray was able to take inner city kids and introduce them to new ways of finding information on the internet and other media clips. The kids were excited about what they were learning, which is the most important thing to me as an educator. Salina was able to help the kids learn more about topics that were interesting to them, but also how to comprehend the information better and increase their reading capabilities.

I found that the stories about different uses of technology in the classroom to get students to want to learn more were very inspirational. I have found that most of the articles were in response to today’s occurrences. Students, even as young as 4th grade, were able to understand what is going on and wanted to change it. The example of the students looking for information on presidents and slaves was an eye opener to the fact that students aren’t seeing everything in a textbook. The students, after a lot of research using C.D. encyclopedias and other methods tried to have that lack of information changed because they didn’t feel it was right. The same goes with Salina Gray’s classroom, where they contacted their governor about lack of health care and how it wasn’t fair. It inspires me to teach knowing that children want to change the world, with the help of technology.

I know that most of the examples I have mentioned are directed at younger children and not the college age, but that is because by college, students are able to move themselves around a lot of technology, including the internet and C.D.’s. Younger students might not understand all of it, while students my age have grown up with the internet and such. The younger students, I feel, know a lot about how to move around the internet, but they need guidance about what they need to find and where to find it. College students know where and when is appropriate to research and find specific information.

My First Blog

Ok, so we will see how this goes...This is really interesting. I will tell you about me a little bit. I love pasta. I love rubber ducks. I drive a zamboni. I love music. My home is in VT, which is possibly the coolest place ever. 

Hopefully this goes well!!!