Chapter 15 – Technology in Special Education

1. Chapter 15 – Technology in Special Education Chelsea Pogar, Morgan Jones, Daisha Batts, Ashley, and Dyche Randolph

2. Technology Integration Example – Helping Students with disabilities blend in - • There are 6 Phases to helping students with disabilities blend in with technology. • Phase 1: Assess technological pedagogical content knowledge • Phase 2: Determine relative advantage • Phase 3: Decide on objectives and assessments • Phase 4: Design integration strategies • Phase 5: Prepare the instructional environment • Phase 6: Evaluate and revise

3. Introduction • Education for students with special needs encompasses strategies for BOTH those with physical and mental deficits and those with special gifts or talents. • The term impairment, disability and handicap are often used synonymously. • Differences among these concepts have important implications for the use of technology in the classroom.

4. …Introduction continued… • Impairment: involve abnormality or loss of function in a physical, anatomical, or psychological structure. • May be congenital or acquired through accident of disease. • Impairment limits an individual from performing an activity in a manner normally expected for human being (communicating with others, hearing, movement, manipulating objects, hearing, movement, manipulating objects, etc.) we refer to this as a disability. • In the United States, federal law recognizes several types of disabilities. • Most citizens know one or more individuals who have been affected by a disability in some form: • deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, mental retardation, multihandicapped, orthopedically impaired, other health impaired, seriously emotionally disturbed, specific learning disability, speech impaired, or visually handicapped.

5. …Introduction Continued… • A handicap arises when an individual is unable to fulfill a role due to an impairment or disability. • Special education technology has been a part of the United States educational system since at least 1879 • 1879- The United States Congress made a $10,000 grant for the production of Braille materials by the American Printing House for the Blind. • 1958- funding was provided for captioning films for the deaf

6. … Introduction Continued… • Federal government established two Special Education Instructional Materials Centers (SEIMCs) • Purpose was to explore ways to make educational technologies more accessible to special education teachers • The two original eventually expanded to a network of 14 regional SEIMCs, the Council for Exceptional Children ERIC Clearinghouse, four Regional Media Centers for the Deaf, and a Network Coordinating Office. • They were all disbanded later

7. … Introduction Continued… • The emphasis on technology for individuals with disabilities had been though of as assistive technology— • Extending the abilities of an individual in ways that provide physical access (wheelchairs, braces and sensory access (Braille, closed captioning). • General goals of specific application technology is to harness the potential of technology in ways that offer an individual with a disability increased opportunities for learning, productivity, and independence-opportunities that otherwise would not be available.

8. What does TPACK look like in Special Education? • TPACK: technological pedagogical content knowledge • In any discipline is the perfect union of three knowledge domains (content, pedagogy, and technology) to develop a knowledge base from which a teacher can view a lesson and understand how technology can enhance the learning opportunities and experiences for the students while also knowing the correct pedagogy to enhance the learning of the content.

9. …TPACK Continued… • In special education, a teacher is incorporating the TPACK principles when he or she reviews a lesson plan and, without hesitation, thinks about the pedagogy and technology that can be used to meet the unique needs of each student in his or her caseload and what adaptations might be needed to be made to that pedagogy and technology.

10. Issues and problems in Special Education • A number of issues affect the delivery of special education services. • There are six current issues that have an impact on uses of technology in special education: • Legal and Policy Directives • Implications of the No Child Left Behind Act for Special Education • Need for Trained Personnel • Requirements for Inclusive Classrooms • Universal Design for Learning • Web Accessibility

11. Legal and Policy Directives • Special Education, more than any other areas of education, is governed by laws and policies. • Teachers, administrators, and special education technology specialists must be well versed in federal and state law, policies, and procedures.

12. …Legal and Policy Directives Continued… • The following laws promote the use of technology by individuals with disabilities: • The Technology-Related Assistance Act for Individuals with Disabilities (Public Law 100-407), passed in 1988, provided funding for statewide systems and services to provide assistive technology devices and services to individuals with disabilities. • Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education act (IDEA) in 1997 (Public Law 105-17) mandates that every individualized education program (IEP) team consider assistive technology when planning the educational program of an individual with a disability.

13. Implications of the No Child Left Behind Act for Special Education • Has had significant influence in special education • One of the most important components of the law focuses on Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) • Requires documentation that each school is meeting specific performance criteria established in the law • Benefit of these new AYP requirements is that they focus public attention on the persistent underachievement of students with physical disabilities.

14. Need for Trained Personnel • Most teachers begin their career with minimal experience using technology in ways that • Enhance their own productivity • Enhance the effectiveness of instruction and the success of all students • Enable them to acquire and use assistive technology for students in need of performance support. • Current assistive technology delivery system was originally developed to respond to the needs of students with low-incidence disabilities. The size of the high incident population requires a rethinking of service delivery systems.

15. Requirements for Inclusive Classrooms • Students have been Mainstreamed (placing special education students in separate classes) but since the 1990s Students have been included in general education classes known as Inclusion • Although students with disabilities have been included in classrooms, general education is still limited. • Appropriate modifications have to be made for students with, physical, mental and psychosocial disabilities • Assistive Technology is needed for students in Special Education to help them to gain high scores with the NCLB expectations

16. Universal Design • Universal Design is the understanding of the design for physical environments of the disabled • One successful example of Universal Design are curb cuts • Universal Design has evolved into a wider range of accessibility for the disabled. • Recently, computers have been programmed with software with universal design concepts • Accessibility panels are available on every computer

17. Applying Universal Design for Learning • The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) believes that Universal Design is a critical tool in helping students with disabilities to access the general education curriculum • CAST and the US Department of Education’s Office of Special Programs established the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum to help create practical approaches for improved access to the general by weaving together new curricula, teaching practices and policies. • Link to CAST website http://www.cast.org/index.html

18. Universal Design of Learning guidelines

19. Universal Design of Learning guidelines(cont.)

20. Web Accessibility • Refers to the push to make websites usable for people with disabilities • Just like Universal Design of Learning, the purpose of web accessibility is to provide greater access of information for all users by designing websites for accessibility from the ground up • Criteria • Text equivalents with screen readers • Large or enlargeable images for people with low vision • Underlining and coloring links for the colorblind • Making website navigable with the keyboard only

22. Strategies for Students with Gifts and Talents • The primary issue surrounding and shaping education for gifted students is how to identify students who merit these “special services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school”. • “…The increasingly sophisticated use of technological tools and related methods will provide gifted students with greater connectivity and independence in the future.”

23. Strategies for Students with Gifts and Talents • -Electronic Communities • -Research