Professor Dubusky 

September 12, 2018

Blog One 

 

            As I was reading the article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” one of the first things that stood out to me was when it mentioned is how different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures. Now-a-days, kids are growing up with technology and fast pace thinking and learning. It is going to be almost every student in our classrooms, so us (as a whole, maybe not personally) as “digital immigrants” need to do our best to teach meeting their needs, including technology. The second thing that stood out to me was that the teachers (immigrant instructors) now are struggling to teach the generation now that speaks an entirely different language, so to speak. Digital Natives (this generation of students) learn very quickly using technology and graphics, where as we may not appreciate that and use it to its’ max. We (me personally) need to come to an understanding that technology can be positive, and it will absolutely help our students be the best and most successful they can be. Thirdly is how we teach. We need to communicate in the language they speak, which the article states as “But it does mean going faster, less step-by step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other things” (Prensky). The content is next. The article says this, “here are now two kinds of content: “Legacy” content (to borrow the computer term for old systems) and “Future content” (Prensky). We need to teach meeting their needs, regular curriculum more quickly, and more advanced digitally.        

There are always positive sides and negative sides to things. One positive is that eventually, people who lack the knowledge of technology, will be able to teach their entire classroom. If we as educators continue teaching with what we are comfortable with, it may not reach the students. They are growing up different than we did, they think and process differently, and we too need to be able to learn and think that way, for their education. So, if we take the time to learn, this process of using technology and digital things and maybe changing content can change the classrooms for the best. A con would be having to change content and tools a little bit. Although that can be timely, I do not feel like there is actually a negative to this. It is a great way to meet the needs of our students. Like the example they shared in the passage, “In my talks I now include “thought experiments” where I invite professors and teachers to suggest a subject or topic, and I attempt– on the spot – to invent a game or other Digital Native method for learning it” (Prensky). If you’re concerned about being timely, it is possibly to think quickly. It is possible. This is a great article. The only question I am left with, which may never be able to be answered, is why now? Why is technology becoming so relevant now? And do we ever seeing it going backwards, to paper and pencil, or will it only grow from this point? 

 This summary helps people to grasp an understanding of assistive technology. The technology can be anything from a pencil grippy, helping a student to write, to a laptop that a student uses all day to speak for them. These kinds of technology can support learning and help a student grow or help to avoid challenges for students. And lastly, a teacher needs to incorporate these things into his or her lessons. Now that we have an understanding of assistive technology, the next thing I enjoyed reading was that most people overlook how powerful, unique, and helpful assistive technologies can be. Assistive Technology stated this, "We may not consider the default functions of word processors to be ground breaking, but for students with learning disabilities, functions such as spell check and text-to-speech can be a tremendous help when composing and decoding words." As a soon-to-be educator, it is important to understand not everybody will be learning on the same level at the same time. Some technologies we overlook can be extremely helpful to students who struggle with spelling, sentence structure, or writing in general. These software's on computers can help students with their sight words or typing for those who struggle with hand writing by using things like "speak to type". Computer software's help students with a wide range of disabilities and can be helpful for students without, too! And a third thing I'd like to discuss is the amount of considerations that come with assistive technologies. Students deserve the most help we can offer in the classroom, however it can be an extensive process. With more of the high-tech stuff, comes training, new classroom tools, and lots of money being spent that does go through higher up people. It can be a long process that requires a lot of work, and technology is changing so rapidly, it is hard to keep up.

One side, or way to look at assistive technology is that it is great for the classroom. Assistive technology is great for all students and can create a classroom of thriving students. There are several pros, like "helping students bypass the tasks of handwriting and spelling" and how assistive technology can " improve the writing skills of students with learning disabilities". Assistive technology can be as little as dimming the lights or as large as an entirely new computer system, it just depends on what's happening in your classroom. However, some look at this entirely different. This article states this, " In addition, research cannot be produced quickly enough to match the rate of technological innovations, and as a result, educators tend to rely on the claims of the producers of the technologies rather than evidence-based research" (Blackhurst, 2005). Technology is growing at the snap of our fingers and it can be hard to keep up. We lack the proper research when it comes to knowledge on assistive technology, we lack training, and we lack the money to keep advancing. People can base their knowledge off websites in hopes for the best, but it may not ultimately be best for the students in the classroom who have disabilities. 

Assistive technology can be a means of many things, high or low tech. Some items can even be found in your own homes needing no training but having the same effect in the classroom (helping students). So, I leave you with this. Do you think assistive technology is worth the process? If we are truly thinking of what's best for our students, shouldn't their needs be first, regardless of the effort? And lastly, how can we improve the understanding of assistive technology, if at all?