Welcome to Web Tools for Special Populations. I am Kristin Firmery and I work on the CTE Education Excellence grant at the University of North Texas for the Texas Education Agency. This presentation was created by myself and my colleague Jessica Gonzales OTR.
Each one of these famous icons has or had a special need.
Special Needs is a generic term that identifies students that are at risk, students with disabilities, students with other learning needs.
Cher had over 100 million records sold and has won a Grammy, an Oscar, three golden globes, and many other accolades. Many people would have difficulty keeping up with those numbers, but it was even harder for Cher that had difficulty with numbers since grammar school. Cher suffers from a condition called dyscalculia, a learning disorder that makes it difficult for people to recognize, organize and understand numbers. Most of music is based in math, but her passion was not overtaken by her disability.
Vince Vaughn is know for making jokes; not being the center of them. He was put in special education courses in high school due to his dyslexia. He learned in those classes to make himself feel better by making others laugh at his jokes and not him.
Kiera Knightly often plays roles of upper class well-to-do roles, but at age six she could neither read nor write. This pirate loving actress called “stupid’ by many of her peers due to her dyslexia.
Sir Richard Branson was quoted in Times Business saying “Perhaps my early problems with dsylexia made me more intuitive: when someone sends me a written proposal, rather than dwelling on the detailed facts and figures, I find that my imagination grasps and expands on what I read”
These are some of the instructional strategies that CTE website identified as evidenced based that can be utilized with technology.
http://cte.unt.edu/special-pops
Technology can be an accommodation to enhance learning: a different way for students to take in information or communicate their knowledge back to you! Remember- this is only ONE tool and is not necessarily the answer for all students. Technology can be used to use a student’s learning style to help you deliver your information most effectively. This is an example of an accommodation.
Some examples are:
Books on tape
Note taker apps or recorded notes
Cue cards for steps of a task
Highlighting important facts in text
Large print
Written rather than oral directions
Allowing technology for written tasks
Information gathered from CTE website – refer to video for examples of accommodation vs. modification http://cte.unt.edu/special-pops
For some students with special needs, this technology may be intimidating or may be over stimulated by the lights and sounds. Be sure to adjust the sounds and brightness of the screen based on an individual’s needs. For younger children, these apps can be useful for encouraging the student to touch the device. If the student has expressive speech (the ability to communicate verbally), the Talking Tom app is a great motivator for interacting with the device.
These are simply suggestions--- the key is identifying an app that does not require a lot of interaction from the child– i.e. netflix and youTube only require you watch the screen--- you want to make sure it is something the child is interested in. If you identify an app that is very pleasing to a child, use it as a reward for behavioral modification (positive reinforcement) in the future! You do not want to use an app that will startle the child or create scary images as this may turn the child off of the device. Remember, this is not a suitable tool for all children, but it can be useful so give it a try if you think a child can benefit from one of the following tools we are going to show you.
The following slides have been broken up into some basic components of generating speech. For students who are non-verbal (do not speak at all), it should never be assumed that they are incapable of learning or understanding the material you have to communicate. The iPad, iTouch, and iPhone can be valuable tools in bridging the communication gap between student and teacher, as well as from student to student. These apps can allow a child to participate in direct and group communication. CTE identified 3 teaching styles mentioned earlier --- direct instruction (lecture), small group instruction, and differentiated (1:1). Communication is essential for these types of teaching styles to be effective.
For those students who are non verbal (all ages), I recommend using Proloquo2go as a tool for individualized communication. Others are listed for your information and consideration. Proloquo2go is a communication board that can be highly personalized and is easy to use. Students must have the ability to touch the screen in order to use this device. It is $189 for the subscription to this app and may be used on the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad. It is easily portable and does not carry a stigma as a “special needs” device. This communication application may seem expensive, however consider alternatives that have been used in the school districts for years. The following devices are also bulky and are not generally not recognized by other students and adults and carry a social stigma:
www.aactechconnect.com
Say It Sam- roughly $3,000
Prentke Romich Products range $500-$15,000
Dynavox Products $1000+
The use of virtual communication boards such as Proloquo2go is an evidence based practice that is widely used by professionals who work with special needs populations. It is a common myth that the use of these virtual boards will discourage students from leaning to produce speech on their own. Sennott and Bowker (2009) state there is no evidence to support this myth. Displayed is a picture of what this communication board looks like. The pictures on the screen can be replaced by photos of the student’s actual environment. For example, the picture on the screen for “apple” can be replaced with a picture of the child’s favorite apple. Consider this tool with students who are non-verbal!
Here is a great video of an individual using Proloquo2go successfully in a social situation:
ABC News 2 minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vomkNSluWW4
Social skills are important across the lifespan and across contexts (situations). They are especially important in the classroom and in the workplace. There are several tools to consider on the iPad to help students learn to recognize and respond to a wide spectrum of emotions in a socially appropriate manner. It is important that educators work with the student, the family, and the child’s team members (therapists, counselors, etc) to foster success in the student. If there is a behavioral strategy to get rid of unwanted social behaviors it must be consistent in your classroom as well. The following are some tools to consider for success in your classroom:
The 2007 study cited on this slide states that using assistive technology can help children identify emotions but it is unclear if they are able to recognize them in context. This is one more reason why it is so important that students with special needs be included in regular education classrooms. It is important that they learn these social skills necessary to make it in the real world.
Social stories can be used with a wide spectrum of students and the 2010 study cited states some of the benefits of using these social story apps. Social stories can be useful for all students when learning professional behavior as well as the virtue of respect for working in collaborative teams and groups. This is an essential skill for all workers. Consider these apps when teaching your students how to be successful in the workplace! The following slides have apps to consider for this purpose.
GREAT example of a teacher utilizing a social skills app (this app was not originally intended for this purpose) “show me” to help a child self regulate (calm down). I LOVE this app! Just a side note….this app is great for student’s presentations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VeKlc3mF8k
Video modeling is a wonderful tool to help your students who have difficulty understanding a concept. The example used in this 2009 article was the transition of getting on and off the bus before and after school. All students in this sample were non verbal and had intellectual disabilities (IQ below 70). The use of video modeling and video priming was successful in getting rid of negative behaviors that the school staff was seeing (anxiety, agression, distress, refusal to participate). Transitions were maintained at 98%!
Use these tools with technology in your own classroom to facilitate transitions or completion of steps of a task in your classroom. Consider the apps listed to employ these strategies. Remember--- the more personalized the videos the better!
For students with special needs who have difficulty with handwriting, word processing (typing) is a great option.
Some reasons for difficulty handwriting include: fatigue, efficiency (amount of time it takes), problems with vision, problems with motor planning (the brain telling the hand what to do), tremors, paralysis, or positioning needs (wheel chair seating systems sometimes prohibits handwriting or increases fatigue).
Dragon dictation has a free option that works well for students who have a lot of text to generate but not enough control of their hands to type efficiently. Speak into the microphone (be sure to say the punctuation) and watch text appear on your screen.
Notability is a great note taking app that has the option of typing or writing with touch or stylus. It also has a record button to be able to record classroom directions, instructions, or lecture. Easy to use and I recommend for those function at or above a 3rd grade level.
The pictures in this slide illustrate the notability app and the Apple wireless keyboard.
One problem students with special needs often have is the amount heavy load they carry in school----literally…in their backpack.
Many students, whether from a physical disability or difficulty with organization, could benefit from the iPad for the purpose of eliminating or condensing paperwork.
Here is my suggestion for how to do this. I have used this method successfully with middle school aged students (4th-8th grade students) in Dallas ISD and Highland Park ISD. With these tools as a basic foundation (along with a computer), you should be able to help your student reduce their physical school load.
JotNotPro ($2.99) is a virtual scanner. Scan documents into your device using your camera and save as a jpg , gif, or pdf (I like to do pdf’s)
iAnnotate ($10.99) is a PDF reader. Upload your scanned, e-mailed, or saved documents in this app and highlight, write, or generate text (great for completing worksheets or highlighting important sections in articles). You can upload documents in this app that you scanned using your JotNot Pro app. E-mail or save your marked up document. Teachers can open completed worksheets this way, edit and send them back for instant feedback! Paperless! I like to use this app for research papers.
Drop Box is an like your desktop on your computer. Use this app on all your devices and your computer and all of your documents, photos, and videos are all accessible from whichever device you want to use. You use a login so multiple people can access their documents on one device.
iCloud works similarly in that it syncs all of your Apple devices together. This way you have access to all apps, music, and photos you use on all of your devices. I personally think it is not very intuitive and only recommend this app for students who are tech savvy.
Mighty Meeting is the only app that I am aware of to date that allows you to share and display powerpoints. You cannot create powerpoints using this app, but you can upload them and download them. Use this app for teachers who give handouts of powerpoints----upload your powerpoint on mighty meeting and create a meeting room. Give your student the meeting room name and password and they instantly have access to your presentation and can follow along without having to shuffle through papers.
Read2Go is a wonderful resource available to students through assistive technology coordinators in the school districts. You must obtain a username and password through the school district or qualify for services. You may also pay for this service out of pocket but it is expensive. Check out their website for more information: http://read2go.org/
This app gives students access to e-books including all textbooks and novels being used in the classroom. They also have access to leisure reads that they would have access to in a school library. This app will read the story to you, highlight the word being read, but also gives student the ability to read it independently if they choose to turn off the voice over function.
Evernote is a wonderful tool that works like Pinterest---by that I mean a virtual pinboard. I like to use this app to make notes about PDF’s. It allows you to attach documents and websites to notes you take. This app is also through an online server that allows you to access your saved documents from any device. There is a learning curve to this website so I recommend using the tutorial and using it with older students. It is a wonderful tool that can prove very useful after high school.
Picture/visual schedules can be useful both in an out of the classroom for students of all ages. Many students need assistance with what is known as executive functions. These include managing their routines and schedules, and assisting with memory. In addition, visual schedules can assist students when transitioning from one class to another, between subjects, or arrival and dismissal from school. Assistance with transitions are especially helpful when unexpected events occur in the classroom (tornado or fire drills, substitute teachers, spills, unexpected student behaviors). These can help assisting a student in emergency procedures in and outside the classroom. This is a particularly helpful tool in the workplace for older students learning vocational skills.
The structure of these schedules can be basic to complex. You may have one student who only needs help transitioning from class to class throughout the day, but another student who needs a detailed visual schedule to complete the steps of a task. Both students can learn more effectively with this tool. The iPad and iPhone both have cameras that allow these schedules to be personalized with pictures or videos of the students actual environment. Having personalized pictures versus clipart of objects increases your chance of success with this tool.
