Case Study Presentations-Last Class!!

Today was our last Assistive tech class. I was very much looking forward to everyone's case studies and they didn't disappoint! I just took jot notes for each as I found this the easiest way to listen and to retain important pieces of information that I thought were pertinent and things that I thought I would use in my teaching as well. Great assignment and such a valuable learning experience!


Case Study Presentations

Erin Carr--Connecting the Pieces

-Natty---moved from Nunavut, 9 in grade 4

-Autism, communication

-Has Proloquo at home and at school---lost capability or not enough practice?

-Started with PECS no order

-Cause and effects apps

-Getting her to participate with hand over hand is huge

-Music tiles app--good to find things she is interested in

-stylus for pointing

-First/then and reintroduce the Proloquo--

-training for EPA’s and parents would be essential

Erik Bauckman---”Jonathan”

-Drama class high school (grade 10)

-Finding ways for him to present and express ideas in a socially appropriate way

-Peers perceive him as pushy because he has an idea for how something is supposed to be

-trying to find a way for this student to complete reflection for the drama class

-Pretty cool for Erik to have opened up the assignment so its not written but completed in an audio file or video response for the student to show understanding in that way.

Stephanie Hardy

Student A--phonological challenges grade 5 student

--dependent on teacher

--IPP for LA (level N--late grade 3)

--learned helplessness is impeding progress--such a common problem!

--assistive tech introduced Google Read&Write

--Good idea to have a “Technology group”---brainstorm before they go on the chromebook to have the student more on task with chromebook

-Powerful to see what the student can create with Read&Write

Katherine Oxner

-Voice Switch

--grade 1--moved from Syria 2 years ago

-cerebral palsy

-switch used for cause and effect

-voice output communication----recorded phrases and activated by a button or switch

-talking bricks from ablenet

-taking student into class and having the student participate that way

-interaction with peers--amazing integration and the baking group

-love the joke idea

Amanda Thibault

-Proloquo4 text

-Male student in grade 12-autistic

-need to have strong literacy skills and able to navigate

-great to use activities with the technology--something we've been doing in our LC as well. I will incorporate the "my turn, your turn"

Wendy Bracket-Hill

-Student D Read&Write

-2/3 split

-imputing information with speech to text

-writer's workshop

-good to start off with teachers to give them tutorial

-everyone has to work together to help the student--doesn't end with resource teacher

-agree that it's hard to know

-Hear Builder

-Dreambox

-Simon sounds it out

Christina Roberts

-grade 4

ways to improve writing

-very complex classroom makeup

-outrageous love

Class Dojo reward system

-writing seems to be very challenging

-bubble up brainstorming app for chromebook

-The Literacy Shed-short wordless videos that have cliffhangers built in--provides framework for story instead of graphic organizer

-Flipgrid for brainstorming and self-reflect on learning target (video record their log)

-Padlet--kind of like pinterest where they comment on student work as a way to engage and promote digital citizenship (responsible posting)

-fantastic moment--great motivator

Justin MacKenzie

-Jaeda Grade 3

-Phys-Ed

-CP--unable to move legs

-recent surgery has limited her capabilities

-great to see so many adaptations put in place for the student and that she has the drive and want to participate.

-getting the students input so important and gives her so much power and control over her learning and development

Denise Bauckman

-Ty

-Student from trauma, challenging background

-Sad that nothing was really done for him up until this point?

-Proper adaptations need to be in place, he blends into background--these are the kids we are not servicing properly

-getting into technology to help him improve connections

-Read&Write is the app that was suggested, he could try other apps at home as well

-Nice to have parents on board and wanting to participate

-Another good example to see how much power the student can have to show their understanding

Sherrianne Russell

-Grade 3 IPP for Math and Literacy

-Diagnosis of possible ASD, sensory needs, inconclusive, language disorder, ADHD

-SELF assessment

-Barrier games, sounds like a good idea for students to mirror activity for building communication skills and following directions

-Hear Builder-software for building communication (student uses following directions program with headphones), Nice individual work time that can be monitored by teacher (data is collected for you!) Free trial is available online, might be nice to try!!

Alexandra Heath

-"Jay" Grade 8

-Struggles with literacy

-Read&Write is life changing for students

-Great to hear that the Math component is being looked at as well as that gets left behind but this is all apart of literacy!

-Sounds like a real success story where the student is very willing to use and wants to explore the technology. Great to have student move off an IPP if possible. This is something that I always wonder about, putting students on IPP's in elementary.

-Equatio for Math 


Justine Skinner
-Student Rick 
-Autism and LD, grade 8 student
-Significant behavioural challenges
-Dream Reader and Writer apps used and Noteshelf for notes taken at home school
-Sounds like a very interesting pilot project of having students transition back into the school setting


Jennifer Corey
-P2G
-Grade 3 student
-Hard to support students with a divide at home
-liked the timeline of interventions, easy to follow
-encouraging to see student using the device and getting comfortable using talker to greet people and to initiate conversation


Heather Flick
-Student Drew in primary
-Great to see a "lower tech" presentation and awesome to see the many different ways we can accommodate children
-Lap desk with cushion
-band on chair
-kid size lawn chairs
-fidgets
-love having the idea of student creating the movement break card
-fake notes from teacher for responsibility great idea
-weighted backpack walks for calming

Final Reflection

I really enjoyed the class today and found it so interesting to see how everyone is using assistive tech in their schools and all of the various ways it can be applied. At the beginning of this course, I had VERY limited knowledge about what assistive tech was and was excited to see what would come from the course information. I have found it to be so helpful as I now have 3 students who use Proloquo. The knowledge learned about this app have been invaluable for me and have really helped me in my own learning about this tech which is new to me.

I thought the "low tech" assistive tech trip to the dollarstore assignment and activity was a great way to see that technology doesn't always mean something that is super expensive or hard to obtain. It was amazing to see everyone's creative ideas and gave me a lot to think about and motivation to use some of the ideas in my own learning centre.

Exploring all of the different technologies that are available to students who need various assistive technologies was very interesting to see. I have not had the opportunity to use many of them and found it very eye opening to see how many things are available to use.

I found that this course really reaffirmed my previous learnings about UDL practices in teaching and has motivated me to become a further advocate for all students to learn and show their understanding in their own way. It is eye-opening and I feel like it may be the most important piece of education today. I really hope and believe that this will be the future focus of regional centres to fully incorporate the idea of culturally relevant pedagogy, which is something they have been providing PD on for a few years now.

It is very motivating to have so many new ideas and ways to implement methods in my own teaching practice.I have gained so much information in the world of assistive technology through this course and to be able to directly apply things to my daily teaching has been huge.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed my blog!

Accessible Playgrounds

Case Study presentations 

I really enjoyed the last class with two peer case study presentations and then launching into the discussion and research around Accessible Playgrounds from a UDL perspective. 

I took so much from Angela's presentation and created my own tracking sheets for my students who use Proloquo. This is something I think is so valuable as a tracking tool and it really helped my EPA's see the progress and power of P2G. I love being able to see what others are doing in their own classrooms and learning centre environments through this course. There have been so many good ideas throughout this course and the resources shared have been an invaluable part of the experience!

Amanda's presentation about the student with the reverse progress with "Read & Write" was very interesting to see what can happen when a student (and family) are reluctant to utilize technology to their advantage. It creates an interesting discussion around the use of technology and how there needs to be a real shift in assessment practices and the value placed on what technology can do for people who may not learn in a typical way. 

UDL Playgrounds

I think this is such an important field of study and I can't believe how many playgrounds and children's play spaces are not accessible. I find it surprising how new spaces are designed or new buildings are constructed that are not built accessibility. 

Making the checklist and researching about some of the aspects of accessibility that are considered in the design and construction of these spaces was really interesting. 

Our checklist for determining accessibility:

Accessibility Playground Checklist

Accessibility Feature	Yes	No	N/A
Play area access?
Play equipment access?
Is the play surface material accessible? (soft ground matting, turf, rubber)
Are their signs with icons, words and braille?
Are their multiple access points?
Are the paths wide and smooth to navigate easily?
Routes to ground level-are there hills? Access points?
Swings --accessible swing? Hammock swing?
Wheelchair Slide
Height considerations of who can access equipment
Proper drainage and slip resistant surfaces
Visual barriers and defined spaces for people with visual impairments
Shaded areas and sun protection
Fencing around the whole space to provide safety
Accessible washrooms, fountains, seating, eating areas

Extension:

I've visited Westmount Playground in Halifax numerous times over the past few years with my own children. It is such a nice space and is a great example of an accessible playground clearly designed with many types of children in various stages of development in mind. 















Assessment of my school's playground: 


The playground at my current school is not accessible. We do have a wheelchair swing that was installed when we had a student who was a wheelchair user, however it is currently in storage as we don't service this student anymore. This doesn't make much sense of course, as there could be many other children who would visit the playground and members of the public who could still utilize this swing. Something to consider perhaps reinstalling? Located at the bottom of a hill, all of our play areas are filled with pea gravel rocks and are set in raised wooden beds. The paths are gravel and not very wide. We have 2 benches to sit and a basketball court. 

If I was to complete the checklist we created using my current school as the test, it would fair as follows: 

Accessibility Playground Checklist

Accessibility Feature	Yes	No	N/A
Play area access?		X
Play equipment access?		X
Is the play surface material accessible? (soft ground matting, turf, rubber)		X
Are their signs with icons, words and braille?	X
Are their multiple access points?		X
Are the paths wide and smooth to navigate easily?		X
Routes to ground level-are there hills? Access points?		X
Swings --accessible swing? Hammock swing?		X
Wheelchair Slide		X
Height considerations of who can access equipment		X
Proper drainage and slip resistant surfaces		X
Visual barriers and defined spaces for people with visual impairments		X
Shaded areas and sun protection	X
Fencing around the whole space to provide safety	X
Accessible washrooms, fountains, seating, eating areas	X-Benches only

Obviously from looking into this, I can easily see that our playground needs a lot of work to become accessible to all. Very interesting topic to look into and makes me view things in a new light! 

"Low Tech" Presentations & Alternate Access Stations

"Low Tech" Assistive Tech Presentations

I really enjoyed this class and the dollar store assignment.

It was great to see everyone's ideas and refreshing to know

that you can make "low tech" assistive tech cheaply and easily.

Some highlights for me included:

--A pool noodle for identifying personal space or to act as a visual barrier for work

spaces

--A ping pong paddle with red and green sides for stop and go or yes and no

--Jumbo balloons + garland with jingle bells as a sensory ball

--Magnetic pivot light

--The "Reading Buddy"---A manila folder plus plastic duo-tang laminated together

as a way to highlight words on a page (thought this would be good for students with dyslexia)

--A dog chew toy that has a knot in the middle and two loops so it could act as

a ”hand holder” for children with sensory needs who don't like to hold hands

--A foam mat for dice rolling. Again a nice 'sensory sensitive' idea and all around

just nice to not have loud dice on tables in a class!

--Bingo daubers for fine motor development- I use bingo daubers currently with

two of my students and I printed off and they love using them!

--Using cookie cutters for play dough. Another inexpensive tool and could be

made seasonal and fun for students

--The silicone cutting board with an outline of a shoe, velcro and laces for shoe

tying practice I think was a GREAT idea and one that I want to implement as apart

of a life skills bin system that I will be starting with my students next week!

**The second part to this class was going through 8 different alternate access

stations and determining the SETT (Student, Environment, Tasks, Tools) of each tech.

We were asked to comment on each of the stations and take pictures of us trying

the tech out. To remind myself exactly what I was looking for I like the following

framework of questions and picture below used to describe the SETT framework when considering assistive tech.

Here is what we explored:

Station 1 -Headmouse and Onscreen keyboard
S-anyone with limited to no mobility, wheelchair user
E- any classroom or learning environment or a home with access to a computer
T-speaking, communicating, writing, emailing, text, games
T-easy to use as long as you have the chair positioned properly in front of

screen, and depending on dot placement, student would have to practice to

become comfortable with the program.

Station 2- Eye Gaze
S- any person with no mobility in a wheelchair but with
cognitive ability to follow movement and pictures
E-any environment school or home
T-any speaking and communication activity, literacy,
numeracy apps and games
T-easy to use after calibration and fun!




Station 3

Powerlink and Switch Access
Direct-- hold and let go-- you control start and stop

Latch-- start and it keeps going when you let go then you have to
touch again to stop
Timer activities--after set time it goes off on its own

S- student needing practice with cause and effect, following directions-
practicing receptive language skills

E-any classroom or home

T-Anything you plug in, can access through powerlink board--

T-easy to use, nice immediate reinforcement and feedback

Ten things you could plug in and use with a powerlink board

1-Microwave

2-Electric mixer

3-Hairdryer

4-Radio

5-Music player

6-Turning a light on/off

7-Blender

8-Bubble machine   

9-Fan

10-Any toy that is pugged in

Station 4

Onscreen Keyboard and Scanning

This was by far the most laborious and frustrating tech we used.
Much patience required and in order to access this tech,
cognitive ability and significant literacy skills would need to be
there in order for student to accurately use. We found the hover
technology easier to use then the scanning option.

Scanning keyboard

S-student would need high level of literacy skills to choose appropriate letters.

Patience required!

E-classroom, home, any environment with a computer to access

T-writing, navigating the computer, research, reading, communicating

T-better to use slower speed, frustrating as it loses connection, student would

need lots of patience and explicit teaching and practice with technology to make

it work. Attention to task needed

Trackball mouse (with hover capability)

S-would need some literacy skills but there is word prediction so that helps.

E-classroom, home communication

T-writing, navigating the computer, research on internet

T-hover technology was easier to use with mouse, student would need lots of

practice with it to get good at navigating

Expanded Keyboard

S-would need literacy skills and basic knowledge of keyboarding. Good for
student with fine motor control challenges.

E-classroom, home

T-any learning setting with computer access

T-easier to use, much more space for a student with mobility issues to use then

regular size keyboard

Station 5- Sensory Twiddle Muffs

S--any student needing sensory play as apart of programming, use of a fidget

for concentration and attentional issues

E--learning centre, sensory room

T-sensory learning, break time, calming tool

T-easy to use and manipulate in various ways for a variety of students.

Station 6- Ipad switch access

S-student with limited mobility, fine motor control issues who can’t finger point

on ipad

E-classroom, anywhere really

T-any learning activities, different app access, P2G user could use it so eventually

student could use this switch to access

T-easy to use but would need a lot of practice to use, would need to be able

to understand general set up of ipad in order to operate

Station 7- Bluebee Pal

Six activities where a Bluebee Pal could be used...

1. Reading to the students (Read aloud)

2. Giving the students instructions for an activity

3. Counting practice

4. Practicing the days of the week or months of the year (songs you may do
daily with young students)

5. Leading an art activity

6. Meditation or yoga lead, self-regulation tool

S-any student in classroom, learning centre, resource room, general school
environment

E-any learning activity that requires directions or oral language component

T-kids could use it take a video of themselves reading or doing presentation
and speak it through the bear. Morning message linked through video

T-easy to use and navigate through...would be easy for kids to use with some
explicit teaching and modelling

Station 8- Alternate keyboard

S-anyone with typing capabilities and someone who is working

on an ipad and needs to do writing activity that requires typing

for long time

E-any learning environment

T-any longer writing activity

T-tech was ok but keyboard had some different key placement

and it was small so it would take some time to learn how to navigate

and become comfortable with for longer writing tasks.