Summary:
Lisa Wahl’s article, “Assistive Technology: Enhanced Learning for All” (2003) talks about and describes different technologies for various students with special physical needs and learning disabilities. She starts off her writing by bulleting how these students are successfully using specific models of technology to improve and fulfill their specific academic needs. She uses an example of a dyslexgic child, who uses a special device called an AlphaSmart word processor to which he types up his work and edited on a computer. The author bullets more examples. These special Assisted Technology devices help students learn and function inside a classroom. As mandated by IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), classrooms in each state’s district must provide educational tools to give students with disabilities an opportunity to learn.
Wahl speaks about a classroom full of second graders and how four children have special tools to help them learn. She also went into details about one child, in a school district of 14 children with special needs, how he led the class with the Pledge of Allegiance using his special device while his teacher did the sign language. She goes on to explain how an assistant teacher writes on a small chalkboard for a student with poor vision, while his classroom teacher writes on the board located in the front of the class. Another observation she made was in a different classroom where older students volunteer to help inside a classroom with reading, writing, and math and utilize the AT devices with children with disabilities. These students are trained and licensed through a “…disabilities awareness…” program. Wahl’s final example is about students playing a Bingo game using special materials. She then concludes her article of a very brief summary on the importance of students’ portfolios and to include AT devices for parents and teachers to view students’ progress.
My Opinion:
This article gave general descriptions on how specific AT devices worked for specific needs: it provided information on how some of the devices worked for a children with physical or learning disabilities. If I were to rate this article between an “ 1-5”, it would be a “3”. Although this was written in 2003, it would have helped if Lisa Wahl gave the reader the pros and cons of the tools that were used inside the classrooms. But all I found was how these devices benifited the students she observed. Although, she did provide a few good examples on how each one worked, she did not rate them. What were the pros and cons of using them? More over, what were the pros and cons of utilizing AT devices in schools? I know that if I was surrounded by a good number of students with different devices, it would be overwhelming: I’d have to ensure that each one works properly, I would have to pay close attention to each student to make sure they’re using it right and if they got the right answers. What were the teachers’ point of view with these devices being utilized in the classroom? As this is not an article on statistics, but rather on observations, opinions about the use of technology with children of disabilities would have helped teachers give an insight as to what to look out for inside a classroom. In my opinion, this article sounds like someone who is trying to sell products rather than a research. It would benefit me, as a teacher, to gain more useful information about the use of AT in my classroom -- pros and cons.
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Wahl, Lisa. (August 5, 2003). Assistive Technology: Enhanced Learning For All . Retrieved from Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enhances-learning-all
