After selecting my topic, I had a bit of a fear that I’d picked something too specific; that maybe it would be difficult to find information on technology for ESE students. Wow, was I wrong! There is a ton out there but at least in my first round of searching, a great deal of the information seems to focus on products—adaptive technology. So I decided that instead of picking something too specific, I really went too broad. I have chosen to focus on technology for students with learning disabilities since this information can and will directly impact what I do for a living.
So where to begin? I thought for the first two weeks I could focus on the subjects I teach. I’m starting with reading. Many of my students have reading disabilities. In fact the breakdown goes like this: of 20 total students the youngest is 9 and the oldest is 12. Age has no correlation to reading grade level. I have 11 students reading (some struggling) at the second grade level. I have 3 at the third grade level. There are 4 at the fourth grade level and 2 at the fifth grade level. Ironically, one of my fifth grade readers is only 9. So reading is a struggle for most of my kids. Probably the most high tech thing they use right now is a tape recorder to listen to their stories on tape. In fairness, my students have made terrific progress this year but I’m sure there are programs and devices that could help them more.
http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=1066
The link above takes you to an article about an organization called Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) that provides audio recordings of all varieties of books. These aren’t just regular stories. Many of the audio books they offer are actually textbooks. The books allow a student with a reading disability to listen along to assigned reading and stay up to speed with classmates. The article really hit home on some of the issues I find myself defending to other people who are not as familiar with learning disabilities and sometimes, sadly, even parents of students. One of those issues is that listening to something being read to you is actually cheating because you don’t have to read it yourself. The article disagrees, as do I, saying that anecdotal evidence provides countless stories of kids who once hated reading and now enjoy it (and who also learned to read in part by following along with the audio and the text). RFB&D calls audio books a bridge of the “remediation-accommodation continuum.” Essentially saying that while you’re trying to teach a student how you read, you also should provide them with a means to learn their other subjects since a reading disability creates a barrier to the understanding of all other subjects.
The article really validates what we do at my school which is a private school solely for students with learning disabilities. We accommodate students in any way we can and if that means giving them their lessons on tape then so be it. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to look into the services of RFB&D to see if any of our textbooks are available. Decades from now I know that most of my students will be leading successful and fulfilling lives and if they listened to their science rather than read it, who cares? There is no rule on how one must acquire knowledge. Audio books just level the playing field.
EmTech
3 comments:
I have to guiltily raise my hand and admit that I used to be one of those people who though reading the material was cheating. Not only did I feel like the students were cheating by not having to read, I felt like we were cheating them for not MAKING them read. I used to justify my feelings with "Who's going to read their job application to them when they get out in the real world?" But by not doing everything we can to teach them, they won't have as many opportunites to fill out job applications. And your argument is right, as we try to teach them to read, we shouldn't let their academics suffer because they can't read the material. You can call me converted!
I heard a reading teacher at my school once say that in the primary grades children learn to read. When they hit 3rd and 4th grade, they start reading to learn. What a shame it would be to deny children the chance to learn because of a deficit in their reading. I absolutely support the use of audio books. I can think of a few of my own students that I have seen struggle year after year that would benefit immensely from this adaptive technology.
I'm sorry to be so late commenting on the blogs but I will do my best to catch up. I love reading what everyone is writing about. I agree about allowing students to hear what is being read. Especially when it comes to content reading. Since I teach k-2 I see the benefit of students being read to at all 3 levels. I am reminded of how many students haven't been read to in their early years and come to school years behind in literacy. I also know that this idea is beneficial to my ESOL students. I like Anna's comment about learn to read and then read t learn.
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