This past week I was fortunate enough to attend a training session for the benefit of several of my students. Being an exceptional student education (ESE) teacher I use many pieces of educational technology just to help my non-verbal students communicate effectively with myself, other staff members, and their peers. I have five students in my classroom that use an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device on a daily basis to help them communicate. Four of my students currently use the same device, which is what I went to a training on.
Communication devices have always fascinated me just because of their shear ability to help a non-verbal person connect to those around them. This particular device is actually a tablet with a communication board application on it. Can you believe how far we have come in our technology that we can now have a deceive that we not only can watch movies, connect to the WWW, get our email and communicate with others! During this training I was able to really see the full depth of the program. The memory on both the program and the device is unreal! You can program anything you would like into the AAC that will be helpful to the student. During the session we went through and personalized our students device. By personalizing I mean, adding their name, their age, their birthday and so on. You can add mom and dad, brother, sisters, other family members, family pets, pretty much anything imaginable.
While going through the program another really cool feature that I learned was the pronunciation menu. This was a place where you could actually program the device to say words and names in the correct form so they don't sound so computerized. Being able to work with this program gave me another jump start back into my love for educational technology, specifically AAC devices.
I also use many over AAC devices in my classroom such as an IPad, a big switch, and general picture cards with my students to help them begin to communicate their needs and wants to others without becoming to frustrated or overwhelmed. I also this is in important to get those kids who are non-verbal to begin starting their own conversations with others, which sans these devices would be impossible.
In an ESE classroom educational technology in the form of AAC devices are essential for the communication needs of the students as well as to be able to teach them to become independent and possibly participate in the general education classroom.
So I ask you this, have you ever had to use an AAC device in your classroom? If so did you find it difficult to incorporate into the routine? Why?
Meg,
ReplyDeleteYour posting intrigues me because I've never dealt with AAC devices. I had no idea such programming existed.
Even better, you were able to get some training for the benefit of four of your students! Why does the 5th student have a different device?
I love the fact that you were able to program at least some words so they don't sound like a computer or a machine talking. That's the first thing that came to mind, actually, when I began your article: how does it sound...
Great info, thanks.
You know, Meg, that the fact that it can be programmed for pronunciation brings to light an application that can be useful not only for ESE class but all K-2 classes. A book could be put into the device, and one child could read along with the book as the book reads to them using head phones. Now imagine this in a class of 20 K-2 kids. They all could be reading what is appropriate for them to read, thereby implementing the use of scaffolding in their reading. The teacher could spend more time moving from student to student, giving individual help as it is needed.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that I am not a teacher, but I teach home school to my 2 girls. One has a vision issue, so I take her eReader and set the text to a higher font size so she is more comfortable reading and her eyes don't get as tired.
Thanks for the post!!
Anthony Roma
For this specific device there is no way for the program to read to the child, like an IPad or eReader can do, but I can program certain phrases from books that I will read into their devices so they can participate with the class answering questions and finishing rhymes and such.
DeleteIt is not very difficult. Sometimes we find it difficult to provide or incorporate it into the classroom due to the lack of fundamentals in the classroom, such as the Internet, electronic network, or the high cost of providing a device for each student.
ReplyDeleteMuneer Alkhaldi
I have not had the opportunity to work with AAC devices in my capacity as a substitute teacher. As a librarian and someone interested in working with people with disabilities, I am very interested in learning about AAC devices. The main library of the county system I once worked for houses the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources (FDLRS) Media Center and Child Find. Resources included AAC devices. I like how today's AAC devices can be programmed to each user's individuality, send emails, connect to the Web, etc. I also like how AAC capabilities can be used on more "mainstream" devices such as iPads. One day, I want to complete a web 2.0 program, "Discovering Assistive Technology" [http://discoveringat.csla.net/].
ReplyDeleteHi Meg,
ReplyDeleteWOW! Such a neat perspective on the uses of technology for education. I can at times be a very big skeptic of the "advances" technology are making in the classroom but there is no way to be skeptical about adaptive technology. Oh wait, I can think of one :) I coordinate tutoring for a college campus and was recently provided with JAWS and MAGic, two adaptive software products for our lab computers. I asked about the training for these and was told "dont' worry, the students will know how to use them." Guess what, they didn't. I can't emphasize enough how important the training component of new technology is for teachers and it sounds like you feel the same way. Glad you are enjoying use of those great new products.