Today in our first class we covered a lot of content and brought up some very interesting points through our conversations. As we discussed various software we would be learning about over the next few weeks, Barb mentioned that the software is only as good as those who are trained on it (and therefore those that carry out the programs with the students) This has been a real challenge for me as a Learning Center teacher; to have the EPA's trained on effective software use. I agree whole heartedly that everyone must be trained effectively on how to utilise software before the software is implemented into the students daily programming. This has proven very challenging in our board, there is minimal training done, the reason given is time constraints on the school boards end. There are so many great programs available that would certainly assist in the learning of many of our students, it is a shame that more students do not have access to them.
Since I was always told if you make a complaint, you must also have a suggestion....
How about the school board provide on-site training for EPA's, teachers and the students. An Assistive Technology Specialist should be available to visit each school during their School Planning meetings and the meeting should be focused specifically on the Assistive Tech needs in the school. Each students IPP could be reviewed, and suggestions for appropriate technology made. At that time, a training time should be arranged to ensure the software will be used effectively and authentically with the student. A follow up visit throughout the term should be made to ensure effective use of the programs.
As with all suggestions, they seems so easy to implement on paper (or computer screen), and I understand the difficulty in making such a plan work flawlessly. That being said, I am anxious to learn about these programs myself, in the hopes of passing along some of my knowledge to a student in order to assist in their further success in school.
4 comments:
Great comments Jillian. Don't forget about the need for assessments of AT to make the appropriate match. We have to observe the student working through the task we are asking them to complete ...with and without AT to determine if it will work like we want it to.
Oh... your emails are kicking back to me saying your mailbox is full. Didn't know how else to let you know:)
I like your idea about on-site training. We offer something like that but only with our autism consultants and the EA's working with those students. It would be a great idea to expand that idea though!
Training all staff is key. In the valley we have teachers who are given so many days of each school year to go to other schools and train other teachers and EA. We also have a tech team who will come to our school to observe students, look at outcomes and help make suggestions of AT that may be useful. Another option would be teacher initiated inservice days.
K.Pinard
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