Teaching Information and Communication Technology for Special Students Needs - Essay Example

1 Teaching ICT for special needs students, theory and practice ICT is a primary subject area and a diversity feature of the national curriculum in most developed countries and pupils with special education needs. In order to effectuate ICT for students with special needs, it is mandatory that there is access too: Software via devices such as switches Key board alternatives Key board guards and joy sticks Communication tools The Special Education Needs Act states that there should be a provision for people when special education needs are holistic. There is an extremely broad spectrum of special education needs and they are often interrelated. In an exploration into the codes of practice, which consists of four categories, children will have needs which fall into one of four areas. These are noted as the four categories of the code of practice; Communicaton and interaction Cognitive (understanding) and learning Behavior, emotional social development Sensory or physical ICT Influence Teaching and Learning in Special Needs Some pupils may have a learning disability which was caused by a physical disability, a problem with their eyes, the way they articulate, or experience simple difficulties with writing or 2 reading numeracy or just plain speaking. The use of ICT is regarded as essential in enabling pupils with additional or special education needs to gain access to the curriculum. “Nearly 7 per cent of the elementary age children in the United States - - more than 1.6 million kids—have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, according to the first nationwide survey of the problem. According to the Atlanta based Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the numbers were actually higher than was expected. “The America Academy of Pediatrics has estimated an overall rate of 3 to 5 per cent of children. The CDC study also found that 7.7 per cent of children - - 1.8 million- - have learning disabilities”(CDC). “The tow disorders overlap; 2.6 million children have either ADD or a learning disability or both. Overall. 3.3 per cent of the children in that age group have ADD, 4.2 per cent have learning disabilities, and 3.5 per cent have both conditions”(US Bureau of Census) Early Interventions “The concept of early interventions takes into account two intimately related aspects. The Childs age and the action itself. The action can begin at the birth of the child or in the very first years of life, before the child starts school education. Early intervention can be considered as a range of all necessary interventions and measures – social, medical, psychological, and educational – targeted towards children and their families, to meet the special needs of children who show or risk some degree or delay in development”(European Agency, 1998) The Continued Development of ICT and Special Needs 3 Over the past twenty years the educational field has come up with significant developments in Information and Communication technology. Of course the am is to guide and support teaching and learning of children who possess additional needs. Some of those needs are; Sensory and/physical needs – there is a broad spectrum of sensory, and multi-sensory and physical difficulties. Identification Assessment and provision – Each child’s progress must be monitored throughout the educational process. Whenever it is determined that a child is not making progress in a particular area, then there must be a push towards alternative forms. If progress is still not a reality, then different opportunities must be offered. Emotional., Social development behavior – The problem with some children might be their outward behavior and their social and emotional development. Medical Conditions A medical diagnosis or a disability in and of themselves do not necessarily dictate or imply special education needs. It is not always necessary for the child or pupil to have a statement. The issue which is paramount is this situation and others which are ostensibly guided by “professional assessments”, is that it is educational needs of the child which are important and should receive credence over the medical diagnosis. “Studies on early intervention underlie the importance of setting up clear objectives, that is, to provide an early diagnosis, to prevent further difficulties and to stimulate the child and their environment as much as needed. Three key issues are raised here; early intervention concerns early age (mainly from birth to three years), so it must not be confused with early education, early intervention means a multi-disciplinary approach (several disciplines are involved and need 4 to work together) and also an ecological approach (the focus is no longer solely on the child but on the child family and the community”(Peterander,1996) Cognition (understanding) and learning “Pupils demonstrate features of moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties, such as dyslexia,, or dysphasia, require specific programmes to aid progress of cognition (understanding) and learning. Such requirements might also apply to some extent to children with physical and sensory impairments and those on the autistic spectrum. Some of these children may have associated sensory, physical and behavioral difficulities that compound their needs.” (ATS) “Dylexics who have trouble reading words on line and in print may soon find relief in a new type face being developed by a dutch designer. Unlike traditional type faces, which reuse the same forms of multiple letters - - such as b and d, or p and q—The Read Regular type face makes each letter significantly unique so that dyslexics can more easily distinguish one character from another”(Assertative Technology for Students) Interaction and Communication Difficulties “Special needs possess strengths and weaknesses in, some or all of the areas of speech, language and communication. These special needs pupils’ communicaton must be complex and diverse. Specific learning disability means a condition within the pupil affecting learning relative to potential and; A. manifested by interference with the acquisition, organization, storage retrieval, 5 manipulation, or expression of information so that the pupil does not learn at an adequate rate when provided with the usual development opportunities and instruction from a regular school environment. B. demonstrated by a significant discrepancy between a pupils general intellectual ability and academic achievement in one or more of the following areas; oral expression, listening comprehension, mathematical reasoning, basic reading skills, reading comprehension and written expression. And C. demonstrated primarily in academic functioning, but may also affect self-esteem, career development, and life adjustment skills. A specific learning disability can occur with, but can not be primarily the result of visual. Hearing, or motor impairment, cognitive impairment, emotional disorders, or environment, cultural,, economic influences, or a history of an inconsistent education program. A pupil has a specific learning disability and is in need of special education when the pupil meets the criteria it items A,B, and C.”(Special Learning Disability) General Information Sources on ICT “There are many diagnostic categories of special education children, such as development disabilities, neurological impairments, learning disabilities, physical disabilities and so on. Some sources of information about ICT in special education are” Eric clearing house on disabilities and gifted education. http://ericec.org The family center on technology and disabilities provides assistance to programs and organizations to respond to the technology needs of parents and families of children with disabilities. http://fctd.ucp.org 6 National Center for assessing the General Curriculum (NCAC) is seeking to provide vision on how new curricula, teaching practices, and policies can be woven together to create practical approaches for improved access to the general curriculum by students with disabilities; http://.www.cast.org The National Center to improve tools of Educators (NCITE) aims to advance the quality and effectiveness of technology, media, and materials for individuals with disabilities; http://idea.uoregon.edu The CPB/WGBH National Center for accessible media (NCAM) is a research and development facility that works to make media accessible to underserved populations such as disabled persons, minority language users, and people with low literacy skills; http://www.wgbh.org” (Ability Hub) “Technology has become ubiquitous as a tool for teachers and students P.L. 100-407. The technology related assistance for individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 (TECH ACT) was designed to enhance the availability and quality of assertive technology (AT) devices and services to all individuals and their families throughout the United States. Public Law 105 -17, The Individuals with disabilities Education Act (IDEA), uses the same definitions for assertative technology as the Tech Act and mandates that Assertative Technology be considered in developing individualized education programs (IEP) for students with disabilities”(Assistive Technology on line) Considerations in Information Technology Education Students with special needs may require resources that are completely different from 7 those needed by most other students. Students with special needs may require special directions and more time to practice with the equipment, perhaps with the help of a peer. Issues of safety in the computer lab, difficulty reading manuals, and special adaptations of computer equipment must be addressed before some students can realistically participate. Adaptations may be required to enable students with special needs to successfully meet the prescribed learning outcomes”(BCMinistry of Education) The Disability Law Resource Project 2004 The Disability Law Resource center initiated a survey in an attempt to assess IT Accessibility which has been identified as an excellent tool for improving educational outcomes for students with diverse needs. As a matter of fact, “the majority of respondents indicated that, for some students with disabilities, technology provides their only access to curriculum”(DLRP). According to some respondents, “when working with some students with disabilities, teachers often make use of the same technology and implementation strategies used with non-disabled students”(DLRP) “When discussing teacher training, respondents reported that it varies greatly from one district to another. More uniformity in training and increased cohesiveness in ongoing professional development opportunities would provide all teachers with the knowledge and understanding of how to use IT to best benefit pupils with disabilities”(DLRP) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA was enacted to ensure that students with disabilities would have access to an 8 appropriate public school education in the United States. Survey respondents were asked to identify and describe the impact IDEA has had on IT for student with disabilities. “One respondent expressed that it is critical to maintain the provision for full funding as initially described. As the need for teaching increases, appropriate levels of funding will be needed to support the training of personnel, hardware/software and maintenance addressed under IDEA”(DLRP) Inclusion versus Non-Inclusion “In an inclusive setting, teachers and students seem more tolerant of the use of technology”(DLRP). One survey respondent said that inclusive environments have much better accessibility but not always superior hardware. Self-contained (or non inclusive) settings often have more technology to meet the individual needs of students special education while inclusive classrooms do not always have the support they need for a particular student”(DLRP) “No Child Left Behind (NCLB) promotes the inclusion of students with disabilities. However, the paranoia over adequate yearly progress (AYP), contributes to ineffective practices in instruction and assessment and curriculum to address standards. On the positive side, NCLB may have facilitated districts’ work in determining ways to modify testing for students with varying abilities, including the use of IT”(DLRP) “The integration of Information Technology in teaching is a central matter in ensuing quality in the educational system. There are two equally important reasons for integrating information technology in teaching. Pupils must become familiar with information technology, since all jobs in the future will be dependent on it, and information technology 9 must be used in teaching in order to improve it in quality over time and make it more effective”(Jensen) Teaching and Learning “Teachers must be trained concurrently in the continuing and increasing use of IT. New knowledge based on the latest research and alternative interpretations of existing knowledge can be sent around the world in seconds by means of information technology and electronic communication. Knowledge is being changed constantly or is so quickly made obsolete that the disseminators of knowledge – the teachers- can not always be up-to-date”(Jensen) “The role as the teacher as planner and mediator of teaching must be developed concurrently with the integration of IT into education, since with the new developments, there will be a growing demand for the sorting of information for the conversion of accumulated information into usable knowledge. In the future the teacher must also be able to work as a guide and sparring partner for pupils and students”(Jensen) “In all training scenarios, training should aim toward helping teachers include ICT in their daily practice generally and the individual education plans for pupils specifically. ICT training in the main, needs to be made more flexible and take into account the individual needs of the teacher.In addition, any training in the use of ICT needs to examine methodologies, diadactics, and the organization of learning with clear connections made between theory and practice”(SNIE,2003) “This new interpretation of the traditional distribution of roles between teacher and pupil or student is necessary if the latter are to take a greater share of the responsibility for their own education and have the opportunity of displaying greater independence in the learning 10 process”(Jensen) Bibliography Agency for the Development in Special needs Education- A Report highlights the role of ICT in Special needs Education, Retrieved on line on January 4, 2008, from www.adsne.uk.org British Columbia Ministry of Education, Retrieved on line on January 3, 2008, from www.bcme.edu Disability Law Research Project, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, federal Region VI, Retrieved on line on January 4, 2008, from www.dlrp.org European Agency, 1988 Early Intervention, Children and their parents, retrieved on line on January 3, 2007, from www.ea.uk.org Peterander, A, (1996) Study in Early Intervention in Special Educational Needs Assessment, Retrieved on line on January 4, 2008, from www.sen.uk.org Read More