ED527 Module 1 Blog Posting

Culture and equity technological issues have plagued classrooms both in the past and today.  Assistive technology is defined as, “devices and methods [that] are available to help students compensate for their physical and mental deficits and allow them equal access to technology and learning opportunities” (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. 18); however, this has not been the practice in public classrooms.  In the past, technology was designed to be used at the university level.  As it began to trickle down to the public schools during the microcomputer era, students with disabilities were still not being afforded equal access.  The use of computers in school addressed the needs of society as a whole; however, there was little or no assistive technology available to those with physical and/or cognitive disabilities.  The lack of available technology became an issue for all teachers but directly impacted those that could not access basic technological advances of that time.  Ironically, Molnar (1978) “warns that non-computer literate students will be educationally disadvantaged” (as cited by Roblyer & Doering, p. 9).  This is a virtual “double whammy” for students with disabilities.

Today, all students regardless of ability or need are required to master the standards of the general education classroom with accommodations.  The emergence of assistive technology has provided access for all students to access the curriculum (http://www.at-video-tutorials.com/).   New technologies such as the “LiveScribe Echo smart pen” (p. 28) for use with students with a reading disability and video phones for deaf individuals are just a few of the new and developing technologies.  However, another concern is the rapid pace in which this technology is developing thus leading to insufficient teacher training and equipment often going “unused” (p. 18). 

As a special education teacher, the profession has been taught (and some still believe) that learning occurs when “knowledge is transmitted to people and they store it in their minds” (p. 37).  This is why so many of the remedial programs are scientifically research-based and grounded in the objectivists’ practice of direct instruction.  According to Roblyer and Doering (2013), “directed methods work well for addressing certain kinds of teaching/learning problems, …[and] direct instruction is more effective and efficient than minimally guided instructing when learners do not have enough prior knowledge to be self-guided” (as cited by Kirschner, Sweller, & Clarke, 2006, p. 40). However, this does not imply that technology cannot be a tool in the classroom using this particular method of instruction.  Many software programs develop prior knowledge through video clips, virtual tours, and live streaming.  There are programs for remediation (skill and drill), but these newer types of technology allow the student that may never have the opportunity to experience certain aspects of life to encounter and have knowledge beyond his or her means.  Not only do the new technological concepts enhance a stale and often boring method, but it improves instruction through an authentic and meaningful manner while opening the classroom to the world instead of just looking at pictures and reading about it.

Roblyer M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). 

                Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson Education Inc.

Zurita, L., Lynch, K., & Laarhoven, T. V. (2009).  Encyclopedia of Assisted Technology [Webpage].   

Retrieved from http://www.at-video-tutorials.com/