Week 4: Communication Impairments

For many of us, the World Wide Web has been an integral part of our lives for some time now. Between researching information to networking with friends and family; is it an integral and necessary tool for navigating arenas such as "education, employment, government, commerce, health care, social networking, and recreation," (Bryen et al., 2010, p. 21). It is not however, accessible to everyone. I am not referencing individuals who cannot afford a computer, or lack connectivity to the Internet, but rather those with communication impairments so severe, that navigating a mouse, trackpad, or keyboard is impossible. Bryen et al. discuss how activities and maneuvers that we take for granted "may be particularly difficult for those who utilize head pointers, joysticks, or switches because they cannot operate a mouse or trackball," (Bryen et al., 2010, p. 22). Even mouse emulation they explain is inefficient and inaccurate (Bryen et al., 2010, p. 22). In their study, they pilot a program called WebAAccess, which they describe as an overlay for typical websites that assign a two character alpha-numeric code to individual links on a webpage. Instead of "tabbing" through hundreds of options then, individuals can more quickly and efficiently navigate any website when they apply this overlay.

In my class room I have my students navigate websites like regentsprep.org or fafsa.gov, often to help teach and convey content. A program like WebAAccess would help students with communication impairments (and even fine motor impairments!) navigate the same sites as their peers. I would be very interested to try this program out for myself, to test its ease and intuitiveness.










References

Bryen, D., Heake, G., Semenuk, A., & Segal, M. (2010). Improving Web Access for Individuals who Rely on Augmentative and Alternative Communication. AAC: Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 26(1), 21-29. doi:10.3109/07434610903561654

Week 2: Misunderstood Minds

When the WGHB Educational Foundation describes key components in helping us identify students with math disabilities; they argue that one of the focal points is the cumulative nature of math. They state, “because math is so cumulative in nature, it is important to identify breakdowns as early as possible,” (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002). This echoes the sentiments of RTI that has infiltrated the world of teaching mathematics, especially to lower level math students. The best models of RTI (Response to Intervention) target individual skill sets that a student is lacking, and customizes a plan to develop those skills. Many such plans are computer generated, thus each student response determines the next question or prompt that they will see. It is likely that no two students will be lacking the same exact skills, and this program will not likely generate two identical intervention programs. The program that we are piloting at my school is called Algebra Edge, and can be found at http://www.learningupgrade.com/algebraup/au_demo_lgl.htm. One of the greatest benefits to Algebra Edge that we have found over other similar RTI programs is that is it interactive. It doesn't just play videos or have students click a "next" button, they are required to move manipulatives to represent quantities, and change sliders to adjust parameters. Algebra Edge transforms learning from a passive to an active process, customizable for each learner.

One of the suggestions that WGBH offers for teaching students who have difficulty thinking with numbers really spoke to me. As WGBH suggests, “Teach basic concepts using concrete objects. Let children explore number concepts by adding and subtracting objects in the room (for example, add the legs of a chair to find the number four or subtract crayons from a box). Move from concrete materials to pictorial representations to numbers (abstract representations),” (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002). Teaching from the concrete to the abstract make sense from Kindergarten all the way through Calculus. It seems intuitive if you are teaching basic arithmetic, in fact I cannot think of any other way to teach children how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide than with objects. So many teachers though, at the upper levels of mathematics struggle with this (and I understand why; sometimes it is very difficult to model complex phenomena in a concrete way). Many days of notes in upper level math begin with copying a formula, and then practice with inputting values and evaluating. Although this is traditional, and is actually what many learners and teachers prefer, I find that on the days that I let students develop formulas, notice patterns, and work from the concrete to the abstract; they are able to understand and retain so much more than when I use traditional formulaic and algorithmic methods.

References

WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002. Misunderstood Minds. Retrieved from  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/index.html on January 24, 2012.

Week 1: Introduction to Diverse Learners

In the contemporary American classroom, there are learners with all sorts of disabilities, strengths, cultures, preferences, dialects, learning styles, skills, background knowledge and aptitudes. The contemporary teacher’s job is to adapt content so that all of these students are able to access it.

Universal Design is not a one-size-fits all model, but describes rather a multi-faceted, customizable task, that is flexible in the respect that teachers and learners have the ability to adjust features to meet the needs of individuals. The National Center for Universal Design (http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl) provides the graphic below, in attempt to define Universal Design for Learning, or UDL. The organization outlines three aspects of UDL: presentation, student-expression, and engagement.

 Technology is the natural platform upon which universal design for learning should be discussed. “A computer connected to the Internet and running standard software provides a wide array of features, as well as access to a vast amount of information,” (Duffield and Wahl, p. 3, 2005). The authors cite MS Word, and Inspiration as invaluable tools for enlarging and reading text and creating visual aids that help students make connections and interact with curriculum. Ironically, a good enough universally designed task can easily differentiate instruction for many unique learners.