Assistive Technology Education

Assistive Technology in Education for children with autism:

Technology can be used to assist education in many ways throughout the classroom. People and students that have disabilities have been aided by technology in various forms. So what is autism? How can technology help? And what is assisted technology education?

Autism is a disability that can be caused by a multiple of reasons and it has a broad spectrum of severity and symptoms. Autism is a disorder of complex brain development. The general symptoms that a child can experience involve social interaction problems, limited interest in activities, and verbal and non-verbal communication issues.

How can technology aid those with autism? Technology can be used to give children an opportunity to interact with other children and people through other ways of communication such as email, globs, or videos. Children with autism can express their needs and desires through different forms of communication. In addition children can interact with other children while working on a project that involves computer work. Some children with autism have a hard time sitting still in class so something like a pair of headphones that they can use to listen to music while completing a writing or creative arts project. In addition children with autism can use digital images, cameras, video recorders, or instruments to express themselves and connect with the classroom.

Assistive technology is something that is extremely beneficial for children with and without disabilities. Technology is a tool to aid learner but it is important to not rely completely on technology for information and learning. Much of autism and other disabilities have relations to communication. Although we can use technology to help us communicate with one another and we need to be sure and teach children how to communicate with each other without technology. I believe that in order to stay up to date with technology teachers should use resources such as the top technology tips for classroom teachers and free technology for teachers (see citations below). When teachers are aware of the latest technology tools that they can have the opportunity to use them. It is important for teachers to stay up with the latest technology and information in order to adapt their classroom to aid the children for their future.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ542823&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ542823

Evaluating, Selecting, and Using Appropriate Assistive Technology by Jan Galvin and Marcia Scherer.

www.freetech4teachers.com

http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/

Tech Tools

I found two really cool tech tools and I could not just choose one to report back on. One of the tools is called Tux Paint. Tux Paint is computer-drawing software for children and could be used in the classroom. This is a really neat program that I thought could have multiple uses in the classroom. In relation the all children having different learning styles, I thought this program is a good way to incorporate visual learning and technology in the classroom. However, the one problem that I found with using this tool is that when you save the picture you created, it is hard to find. It is easy however, to print your creating, but emailing it to someone seems tricky. This program is neat though because it is similar to Kid Pix (a program I used to use when I was young), but has more advanced features. You can blur the picture, add cartoon, add animation, lots of colors, stamps, dialog, fuzz, and much more. This is a really fun program to play with and would be a neat way to introduce children to a new unit because the children would have a blast coloring and exploring their creativity.

The other tech tool that I think is really neat is called Story Jumper. This is a website (http://www.storyjumper.com/) that allows anyone to create their own storybook. I remember for one of my literature classes, we all had to create our own children’s book. I made my book on shutterfly because I was unaware of other ways to get a bound hard covered book that included pictures. I was able to draw and make pictures and then scan them in on the computer and place the picture in the picture section of the book. However, this website would be most useful with second or third graders. What is really cool about this site is that I was recommending the commoncraft videos to one of my friends that is a fourth grade teacher and she replied by showing me this website. This is a website developed for the use of teachers in order to make writing and reading interesting and fun. This is a great way to incorporate technology while sticking with the fundamental skills of writing and creating art.

Blog following!

I chose to look at May, Sheng, Sarah, and Brianna's blogs this week. I found that all of them had red the same copyright article called, Copyright 101: for Educators. All of them were surprised and interested in the Teacher's Act. I found that all of the bloggers noted some new interesting finds about copyright and they also read some information that they already knew about. Here is a story I have written in response to the blog readings:

Once upon a time there were four girls that lived in a magical digital world. Every week the three girls would meet through a special reading in order to learn more about the world they live in. One week, Sarah, Brianna, May, and Sheng became interested in what a person has to do in order to make their idea protected. In addition, the girls wanted to learn what other people would have to do in order to give other people credit for their ideas and creations. In order to do this all the girls read the same article, "Copyright 101: for Educators." Not only did they find out what copyright was and how to get your personal ideas copyrighted, but they also found out about the Teacher's Act. All four of the girls wrote letters to each other about what they learned. Now the girls are training to become teachers and they will teach students the information that they have learned.

The End

sharing videos

I shared the commoncraft videos with two teachers, one friend, and my mom. I found that both of the teachers thought that the videos were basic and informative but not all that interesting. Not to say that they did not like them, just that the teachers already knew how to do most of the tasks and the description was just bland and boring. However, one of the teachers responded by sharing a website with me: www.storyjumper.com. I checked out this website a little bit and found that you can create a story book from scratch. THe teacher that shared this with me said that she has used this with her students and that she got a great response form the children. She recommended that I use this with 2nd or 3rd graders.

My mom, liked the idea of the videos however, she seems to lack the interest and/or patience in learning a new computer skill, so she did not give the videos much time. I find that with my mom's generation, it seems that people find new technology too intimidating or just not worth the trouble.

Copyright Readings

What did you chose to read or watch?

I chose to read The Purpose of Copyright by Linda Pallas Loren, Copyright 101 For Educators: Winter 2003, and Copyright for Educators. I found that The Purpose of Copyright by Linda Loren was very informative about the technicalities of copyright and what copyright is and how it works. I found that Copyright 101 for Educators was interesting when learning what sources one needs to site and how to teach our students why sopyrighted material is important and what the appropriate use of this copyrighted information may be.

What is the Teach Act?

The teach act is something that allows teachers to teach online to class and share images, videos, and other media to the class without dealing with copyright. For example when in a blackboard shell class, I can watch these videos that Lee has assigned us to watch and has shared with us through the shell. However, if I were to paste this video on face book or some other online site and claim that the video or pod cast was my own, this would be a copyright violation.

What is something new that you learned?

Based on the information from The Purpose of Copyright by Linda Pallas Loren, I found out that copyright is not to protect music of artists and inventors but rather to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." I have always thought, as addressed in this article, that copyright was to make sure that artist, inventors, and discoverers were protected and given credit. As addressed in Copyright for Educators, the copyright law does NOT say that if you use 10 seconds or less of a video or any multimedia that you do not have to site the source. I thought that if you used such a small portion of a piece of music or movie that I would not have to site it.

What is Copyright?

Copyright, according to Copyright for Educators, is what legally protects the work of someone from others taking their idea. This is something that becomes extremely complicated when money is involved and the reuse of commonly used images and media. For instance the image of Obama with the red, blue, and white is a hot topic these days because the print that was made by the artist looks like it was made from a photograph taken by another artist. For this reason, the initial photographer needs to be credited and asked for permission to use this image.

What are you going to do differently based on this information?

I found that the different sources gave me an insight to the different resources out there. What I found especially interesting was from the video, Copyright for Educators where a person from the audience spoke about her elementary students sitting photographs. I know that I personally use google images for multiple power points and other presentations, but I have trouble remember to site the sources.