Part 1: Complete the form below to develop a plan for implementing a new AT tool with a target student.
Week 8 Assignment: Part 1
Q1. Describe important, frequently occurring activities that provide embedded opportunities for the student to develop and use priority skills. Include when, where, and with whom they take place.
Many embedded learning opportunities help students develop priority skills, such as playing with blocks and other daily activities like washing hands, getting into the car, early reading, object identification, and writing. Other important learning opportunities also helps student develop skills like peer observation, coaching, collaborative planning, and mentoring. This takes place in a classroom as a short teaching episode by the teachers and with disabled or non-disabled students of a particular institute.
References
eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov, (2022), Embedded Learning Opportunities, Retrieved from: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/publication/embedded-learning-opportunities-faqs [Retrieved on: 23-12-2022]
Q2. Identify existing barriers that make the performance of the skills or participation in these activities difficult or impossible for the student.
Many barriers are identified as the primary reason for restricting active participation in embedded activities, like lack of resources, poor classroom planning, and lack of technical skills or knowledge. The teachers have to instruct students with different types of disabilities like autism, difficulties in speaking, language impairment, difficulties in seeing objects, and many others. Therefore, the instructor may need more knowledge and experience to encourage active participation among all of them, which is another important barrier to the successful implementation of such technologies.
Q3. Describe assistive technology tools to be used to remove barriers to performance and enhance the student’s ability to develop targeted skills within the activities. Provide viable options for performance.
Many assistive technology tools are available free of cost and can be used to remove the barriers to instructional teaching to disabled students. CarloRead Plus is an effective tool for a student who is having reading as well as writing difficulties. It is a multi-sensory software solution that helps in supporting both reading and writing. This tool speaks any on-screen text loudly, and students with issues in the reading text can repeat it. Written accuracy is also improved using this tool, including spell check, homophone check, speaking dictionary, thesaurus, and many other essential features (ldrfa.org, 2022). The tool allows students to learn each typed word using the word-spoken function.
References
ldrfa.org, (2022), Assistive Technology Tools for Students with Learning Disability, Retrieved from: https://www.ldrfa.org/top-assistive-technology-tools-and-apps-for-better-writing/ [Retrieved on: 23-12-2022]
Q4. Determine additional strategies, accommodations, or modifications that will be used to encourage the student’s participation in the activity to be more active and powerful.
The instructor must implement assistive technology tools to instruct students with different disabilities as it will help them to encourage activities with maximum participation of students. The traditional tools or techniques used by instructors must be replaced with software solutions as they will provide start-to-end training to instructors before executing any activities. The complexity of teaching will be reduced with some advanced features, and students can go with the pace. Students should be encouraged to participate in assistive technology learning by providing them with different tools and resources.
Q5. Determine when and how tools and strategies will be used within the activity. under what conditions? When what happens?
Assistive technology tools like CarloRead Plus can be used for teaching read-and-write activities of different texts in a lesson. For example, the teacher can use this tool to teach how to write words correctly with proper grammar. They can also use this tool to enable text-to-speech features. With this technology, a student who cannot read any word from the book can easily hear and learn those words.
Q6. Describe cues to be used to support student learning and success. Include strategies for fading cues.
The student can learn words using CarloRead Plus by repeating the same words again and again after hearing them. The teacher must provide any verbal cues before performing any transitions and provide plenty of time to students for learning and preparing activities like group projects, reading assessments, writing assessments, and many others. The questions for the assessment should include fill-in-the-blanks and circle questions to cut down handwriting (understood.org, 2022). The teacher must not set any time limit for taking tests; the workspace must be quiet and without any distractions. Proper training, continuous monitoring, and tracking can be the best strategy for fading cues.
Reference
understood.org, (2022), Classroom Accommodations for Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-nonverbal-learning-disabilities [Retrieved on: 23-12-2022]
Q7. Describe the major area(s) of expected change (Communication, participation, productivity) and ways in which change is expected to occur. (independence, rate, accuracy, quantity, frequency, spontaneity, duration, etc.)
The most important changes will be expected or observed in the methodologies followed to encourage the participation of students. The student will be allowed to learn words and speech using the best software features and tools, which do not include any traditional method. The teacher will make the class more interesting by introducing short quizzes, games, and other fun activities with rewards to improve the participation and productivity of disabled students. The text-to-speech function of CarloRead Plus software will also improve the productivity of students as they will move at the same pace as other students in class.
Q8. Describe what successful participation in this activity or use of this skill “looks like” for this student in an observable, measurable way. What is the minimum performance criterion for success?
Successful participation can be measured by checking or monitoring the growth of students. For example, it can be monitored by taking regular assessment tests to determine how the student performs in each section, like reading, writing, speaking, and many others. The student’s performance can be measured based on scores and time for completing different activities. The student must be able to complete assessments and other activities in time and score at least satisfactory grades in each section to achieve minimum performance criteria for success. They can deal with their difficulties in a greater way and with less support.
Q9. What factors might undermine reaching success? How will they be captured in the data?
The factors that can undermine success are insufficient training for instructors, poor setup of tools, lack of student encouragement for participation, less management support, lack of resources, and others.
Q10. Determine what, when how, and by whom data will be collected and analyzed for evidence of change. What will it take to convince you and others that the student is making progress?
There should be some quality assurance team that will collect each student’s performance data in every institute and then generate a report according to it. They will present reports to higher management showing class participation progress, assessment performance, instructor support to the process, and many others. Students with reading, writing, or speaking difficulties can deal with their situation successfully and move at the same pace as non-disabled students. This factor can be used to convince about student progress.
Q11. Under what conditions will this plan be modified if data indicates a need for modification? How and by whom will these decisions be made? If a change in the plan is indicated, is it in the tool(s), strategies, cues, skills, tasks, or another dimension?
The different factors like budget, environment availability, and student capability will be monitored first to execute the process. The process condition can be modified when the budget is less and students need more time to adapt to new technology or learning methodology. The decision will be made by the institute’s higher management and the student’s parents. The changes can be made in teaching strategies and if any extra features or components are required for disabled students to improve participation.
Q12. Determine action steps. What will be done by whom? By when? Evidence?
The reports will be generated every week by the quality assurance team. Then higher management, along with parents of students, can decide to follow the same approach or make some necessary changes. The management team will review each student’s performance and, based on its tools and teaching methodology will be decided. If the management finds tools like Carlo Read Plus are highly effective, and the disability of students is improved with pace, then the same approach will be followed.
