Accomodating the disabled in technology education
26-Sep-2019 09:18
Some accommodations are naturally evolving with changes in pedagogy as well as technology.
If teachers recognize and understand the needs of SLD students, they can begin to accommodate these needs with resources at hand.
Instead of focusing on our own frustrations with a particular student, we can focus on learning from his or her frustrations.
By accommodating SLD students differing learning needs, we learn how to teach more effectively.
Unfortunately these technologies are too rarely evaluated for how they might help "individuals with learning disabilities to compensate for specific cognitive deficits" (Day and Edwards).
Postsecondary administration and faculty must realize that these students are not just in developmental classes or in the community colleges; SLD students are enrolled in all courses.
Thus, our challenge as educators is to help SLD student discover different methods of learning, without requiring excessive amounts of time or dramatically restructuring our courses.
Additionally, more SLD students now begin postsecondary education because distance learning and on-line courses provide easier access for them (Cook).
A primary purpose of the Tech Act is funding grants for states to supply technological support to those with disabilities (Turnbull et al).
As a result, Day and Edwards contend that "virtually every postsecondary" educational institution has assistive technology available. In Florida in 1994, 90 of 91 colleges and universities provided such support.Many times I inwardly groaned in frustration at Alberts apparently irrelevant questions, late assignments, and misunderstanding of papers/activities.