Enabling Dreams: May No Child Be Left Behind

         Diversity.  At the beginning of each school year, I base my first week's worth of lesson plans around that theme.  I welcome my students at the beginning of the year and try to make them feel safe enough to be themselves around their classmates.  I teach them how collaborate with and encourage each other.  They grow to learn that successful teams usually consist of people using their individual strengths to achieve a goal.

        One of the most challenging parts come in creating lessons in which all students have a fair chance at succeeding at a specific task.  Because students are different- in ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, styles of learning, and abilities just to name a few- teachers must make accommodations and modifications to ensure the highest possibility of success.  It takes a while to plan and prepare an enjoyable, worthwhile lesson.  It takes even longer to plan a good lesson which meets the needs of all students.
        In the video, 'Enabling Dreams', a few challenges that arose in using assistive technology were that some teachers did not know what kinds of technology were available to them, and they also found it time-consuming to incorporate the technology in each of their daily lessons.  I can attest to that thought.  I create lessons on the Promethean Interactive Whiteboard installed in my classroom.  Creating a lesson on the software that accompanies the Promethean Interactive Whiteboard can take anywhere between 1-3 hours for me.  Creating lessons using ActivInspire, the Promethean software, entails editing each page and reformatting layouts to fit the lesson.  I teach third grade students, and one of the best ways to keep their attention is to have a lot of visuals.  It takes a while to find the right pictures and animations to place in the lesson.  Then it takes a while longer to format and secure everything on the page.  In the video, it was also mentioned that it takes quite a bit of money to purchase and maintain technology equipment.   

Click on the ASSURE Model picture above to view a short video explanation of the model.

                                                                               
        The first thing a teacher should do to assist students with disabilities is to modify the lesson plan.  They can also make accommodations for the students with disabilities.  Following the ASSURE lesson plan will help with this.  The ASSURE model is helpful in designing lessons incorporating different types of media and allows the teacher to use more than just the textbook.  When using the ASSURE model, teachers have to think about their students as learners, learning objectives, materials/media to be used, methods of using the media to teach the lesson, participation, and evaluation.  Following the ASSURE model will help the teacher understand the student with a disability more because they have to learn more about that disability to know the student’s learning style.  They would have to decide on what type of technology media will work for everyone and may have to make accommodations for the students with disabilities. Heinich, Molenda, & Russell (1993) recommend teachers include analyzing the learners, stating objectives, selecting media and materials, utilizing media and materials, requiring learner participation, and evaluating and revising the lesson.

        Assistive technology can be used to close the gaps between students with disabilities and their classmates in the general education classroom.

        I have a nephew with down syndrome.  He uses an iPad to aid him in understanding concepts he learns in school.  When I first started teaching, one of my students used a large machine which was to be used to enlarge text in books and on worksheets.  Presently, I conduct most of my lessons using a Promethean interactive whiteboard.

References

Edyburn, D. (2006). Assistive technology and mild disabilities. Special Education Technology Practice, 8(4), 18-28. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.457.2720&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Heinich, R., Molenda, M., & Russell, J. D. (1993). Instructional media and the new technologies of instruction (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan.

Liang, T., Huang, Y., & Chin-Chung, T. (2012). An investigation of teaching and learning interaction factors for the use of the interactive whiteboard technology. Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 356-367. http://www.ifets.info/journals/15_4/30.pdf

Murchland, S. & Parkyn, H. (2011). Promoting participation in schoolwork: Assistive technology use by children with physical disabilities.  Assistive Technology, 23, 93-105. http://www.waisman.wisc.edu/~rowley/sb-kids/publications/education/Promoting%20Participation%20in%20Schoolwork%20-%20AT%20for%20students%20with%20PD.pdf

Peterson-Karlan, G. & Parette, H. (2007). Evidence-based practice and the consideration of assistive technology effectiveness and outcomes. Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, 4(1), 130-139. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ899372.pdf

The Digital Learning Classroom: A Summary and Reflection

          Because of performance disparities in academic achievement between English Language Learners (ELL) and regular (non-ELL) students documented by the US National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) decided to implement the Digital Learning Classroom project which is an initiative focused on the improvement of English Language Learners' learning using interactive whiteboard (IWB) technology.
          The two main objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the extent IWB technology could foster performance equality in academic achievement between ELL and non-ELL students, and (2) to determine whether and the extent to which the Digital Learning Classroom could increase ELL students' academic learning relative to that of ELL students in traditional classrooms without IWBs.
          Five teachers, from the third and fifth grade levels, were selected among three different schools in the RRISD based on their willingness to undertake the intensive on-going technology training, ability to design new untried curriculum materials build around the IWB technology, and confidence to self-initiate changes in instructional practices.  A quasi-experimental evaluation research design consisted of two sources of student-level data: the district's benchmark test data for mathematics and reading from fall 2006 and TAKS test data for mathematics and reading from spring 2007.
        According to Lopez (2010), performance equality was not achieved between ELL and non-ELL students in traditional classrooms.  ELL students had lower rates of passing the TAKS tests than non-ELL students in each grade.  The results strongly suggest that performance equality was achieved between ELL students in Digital Learning Classrooms and non-ELL students in traditional classrooms.  There is evidence which suggests that the Digital Learning Classroom increased student achievement for ELL students compared to ELL students in traditional classrooms.
       Lopez (2010) discusses a few pedagogical implications for teachers of ELL students within the context of Digital Learning Classroom project implementation.  The first implication is that the Digital Learning Classroom promotes a learner-centered pedagogy where both teacher and ELL students are learners, which allows them to jointly produce outcomes.  The most obvious difference between teaching with the IWB was the teachers' use of direct instruction.  Students were motivated to go to school because they wanted to "play" with the IWB and see what it could do.  Both teachers and ELL students help each other with technical difficulties that arise when using the IWB.  This creates a "safer" environment in which the ELL can thrive.
       This article was very informative.  It added to my knowledge base and will be a strong asset to my review of literature for my upcoming thesis research regarding the usage of the interactive white board and its relationship to academic achievement among ELLs.  Lopez suggests recommendations for future research which I found to be really helpful.  One objective could be to study the extent the Digital Learning Classroom is able to help ELL students learn more curriculum in the same unit of time than ELL students in traditional classrooms.  Another objective could examine whether and the extent the Digital Learning Classroom is able to help ELL students learn a given unit of curriculum in less time than ELL students in traditional classrooms.  The overall finding of this paper is that the IWB technology ultimately benefited ELL students, and may be worthwhile to use in the classroom to improve student achievement.



Reference

Lopez, O. (2010). The digital learning classroom: Improving English language learners' academic
     success in mathematics and reading using interactive whiteboard technology. Computers & 
     Education, 54, 901-915. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131509002590