- How exciting to see all the amazing ways technology can assist and support our learners with special needs.
- How hopeful to see all these amazing educators who will change the trajectory for our students; they care so much for their students, it makes me proud to be an administrator.
- How profound this course has been for me in opening my world as an educator. I loved learning about how accessible teachnology can be, how inexpensive, how quickly they can be integrated with our students to better support their learning.
Now that I have completed this course (and degree), I am able to focus on school-wide intiatives to promote the use of assistive technology to better support all our learners. I have convinced our parent fund-raising group to shift their focus from raising money to purchase a portable laptop cart to a class set of mini-iPads. There have been changes and shifts in thinking from my staff to view using iPads not as an add-on but as an effective tool to better meet the needs of their students, save teacher time and effort in daily tasks, and best of all, instant motivators used to increase student engagement.
I strive everyday to shift thinking from technology being used as an obligatory tool to the Redefinition stage as Dr. Ruben Puendetura suggests in his blog. Everyday I ask:
'Why should we look at schools as the only places/spaces for learning? With the technological tools we have, let's blow these four walls and extend learning way beyond the classroom! Let's turn technology into teachnology. Let's use technology to teach us to teach students in revolutionary ways. Why not develop true partnerships with our students and learn side by side; let's learn from them as much as they learn from us.'
Thank you Barb for creating new visions on what is possible with assistive technology. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge to make me think of assistive technology in new ways. I will be forever grateful!
Makiko, Thank you for posting the link to your Pinterest boards. They are very comprehensive and will definitely be a resource for me in the future!
ReplyDeleteI, like Stephanie want to thank you for the Pinterest boards. I hope you don't mind, but I've added them as a link on my blog. I want to make sure I have access to the in the future.
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