Monday, October 6, 2008
Assistive Technology Day 1 Reflection 2
Matching the a person with the most appropriate technology reminds me of my fathers grumblings as he roots through my garage examining my husbands scattering of tools "There is a right tool for every job and when you don't have the right tool it makes the job difficult or impossible". Dr. Marcia Sherer's MPT (Matching Person and Technology) model is a thought provoking tool for the assessment, matching and implementation of successful assistive technology use. It is easy to become struck by the wonders of technology and start throwing it out to our students to use. "Finally, the answer to my students needs"; however, as Sherer explains in Chapter 8 (Dilemmas, Challenges, and Opportunities) from Living in the State of Stuck Version 4 it is not that simple. The influences within the Milieu(environment), personality and technology contribute to the outcome of the assistive technology and in turn are all interdependent and constantly changing. Thus, we must always be reassessing these influences and know exactly what our students needs are. These influences can contribute to a state of optimal use as well as a state of partial/reluctant use, avoidance or abandonment. As I read Sherer's description of the milieu and the facets within in this I became more aware of the social and emotional challenges that my adolescent students face when using assistive technology. It is not surprising that something as basic as an alphasmart is often avoided or abandoned. I am left with the thought that as an educator it is my responsibility to attempt to control aspects of the milieu by normalizing assistive technology within the classroom by perhaps placing several alphasmarts in each classroom and letting everyone have a turn.
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2 comments:
I completely agree that we need to expose all students to types of assistive technology that is available within a school. Many students avoid or are embarrassed by assistive supports or devices because they make kids "stand out" and because the assistive technology is new and foreign to the rest of the class. Explanations or demonstartions would go a long way in demystifying the support and make everyone more knowledgeable and accepting af AT.
I too had a student abandon an alphasmart last year. It lasted a few days and that was it. Unfortunately our school was only provided with 2 (!) by the district. That is for a school of almost 600 kids! Several in a class would certainly help reduce the issue of standing out in a crowd.
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