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<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif;”>I work in an ASD class setting and as I have mentioned in previous forums, I find the immersive reader will be an absolute game changer in my classroom this year. I am teaching senior classes. An area where some children struggled this year is with creative writing, that is, they would have all the information and amazing ideas but writing or typing was a massive barrier to success for a number of reasons.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif;”>Keeping one particular student in mind, I thought of an activity for him due to some writing difficulties. Using immersive reader and the read aloud functionality he will read a chapter of a text from one of his favourite library books. Using the dictate function he could summarise the main ideas and concepts from the chapter. Following this, he would create a spider diagram of ideas that would help him to create his own piece of creative writing inspired by the text he has read (ensuring is fine motor skills aren’t completely omitted). Again using the dictate functionality he would create his own piece of writing. In the drafting phases editor would assist him to ensure correct spellings and grammar rules were followed. Once completed the child could illustrate the text (this is something he loves and is very good at) and then the text could be kept in the main school library for other children to access giving him a great sense of achievement.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif;”>CPD and lifelong learning is essential for all professionals including teachers. While I am relatively new to teaching, since I started my teacher training and embarked on my career the nature of teaching and the content etc. has changed and evolved in that short space of time. Without CPD and research teachers would never be able to keep up with best practice and expand their knowledge and skills to the detriment of the child. The Cosán framework supports schools in adopting a culture of continued professional development and outlines that is is imperative that all teachers engage in CPD. CPD benefits the whole school community and overall quality of learning experiences for each child.</p>This is my first time coming across this tool and at first glance it looks brilliant. I am always looking for new ways to enhance my teaching and this is definitely a tool I could see myself using a lot in our classroom. I work in an ASD class, and I feel like the immersive reader would benefit not only children who require additional support with reading but also other students in the class who present with varying needs such as ASD, ADHD, poor concentration skills and so on. This is a tool that seems quite versatile in its nature and could be used in mainstream settings and for more able students. The read aloud functionality appears like it would work very well and allows those that find reading a challenge to access a wide variety of content.
I particularly like the dictate function as I would have a few students in my class who find writing a struggle and this allows them to get the work done and be creative with confidence and no barriers, thus leading to more positive learning and classroom experiences. It would give the child an ability to succeed and achieve, which in turn helps with boosting their self-esteem. Microsoft Office Lens has many benefits and allows students to gather and access information from a wide variety of texts. This is a tool I will be implementing in the class in September.
There has been a huge focus on the use of digital technologies in primary schools over the past few years, probably in response to the way the world is moving and changing. As outlined in the Digital Learning Framework, digital technologies should be embedded into teaching, learning and assessment. When considering the use of technology in relation to children with additional needs, it can be used in varying ways to enhance their learning and life experiences.
The SETT framework is a tool which can be used to assess the AT needs of a student. The framework encourages teachers to evaluate different factors in relation to the needs of a child systematically. The steps involved include gathering information about the pupil, i.e., their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, information is required about the child’s environment(s) where the technology will be used and what exactly it is that the child will use the technology for. Subsequently, the main aim here is to see what the child’s needs are and what will help them to achieve their goals best.
To collate this data effectively, it seems that teacher would need to liaise with parents, caregivers, SETs and the multidisciplinary team to create a holistic view of the needs of the child. This information can also be found and noted in the SSF. Once AT is implemented it would be very important to ensure that it is being monitored and evaluated so that it is meeting the needs of the child effectively thus having the desired outcomes intended.
