June 6

Overall this has been a very interesting and informative course.  I had zero previous experience with blogging and had never even really looked at others' blogs.  I think that the blog itself as an educational tool could prove to be quite valuable.  I do not have a website and any other type of online sharing has always seemed time consuming to me.  I think that running a blog would be an easy way to continuously provide my students with extra resources for the courses I teach.  It would also be a good way to provide students with copies of notes from class.  Those students who miss class would be able to quickly access notes from classes they missed.

Next year I will have a student who is visually impaired in one of my grade ten classes.  In the past, teachers and EA’s have had to make enlarged copies of handouts as well as tests and quizzes.  It would be great if he were able to have access to an iPad in order to make use of magnification apps to save on paper and allow him to receive the same material as his classmates (lessen the divide a bit).

In working with my students who make use of assistive technology another thing I will remember is the importance of regularly reviewing the technology and assessing its’ effectiveness.  This can also be extended to other types of interventions such as adaptations I make for individual students.  All too often something will be put in place and then never reviewed.  Even something that is very effective to begin with needs to be assessed over time to make sure it is still appropriate and effective for the given student.

Something that really stood out to me from an earlier class was the point made about assistive technology being more than a toy.  I would compare this to the use of manipulatives during math class.  Often times when I get them out students will play with the blocks and try to build things with that are unrelated to the course material.  In a similar way, it is important to ensure that students who make use of assistive technology do so in a way that aides them in their learning.

The importance of assistive technology was emphasized when we saw the videos featuring some students who struggled with learning disabilities.  We saw students who because disengaged with school and who eventually gave up after years of doing poorly in school.  This lead to all sorts of other problems as the students often got involved in drugs and other harmful activities. 

As a whole I enjoyed reading others’ blogs and hearing in class about how successful students are able to be through the use of assistive technology.  In general, I believe that more students are getting the chance to have success and build confidence than in the past.  Hopefully this will only continue as time goes by.