Reflections of Assistive Technologies

Cerebral palsy is a motor conditions that cause physical disability in a person's development, primarily affecting various areas of body movement.  Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain.  Resulting limits in movement and posture cause activity limitation.  Students suffering from this disability have the opportunity to utilize wheelchairs and laptops with voice recognition software.  Wheelchairs provide mobility for these students, and the voice recognition software allows them complete assignments and tasks quickly.  Voice activated demands eliminate issues that would inhibit a person with impaired motor function to use a keyboard or laptop, thus is an excellent tool for someone diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Amyoplasia arthrogryposis multiplex congenita is most generally characterized by the immobility of one or more joints of the limbs.  Arthrogrypotic deformities of crooked stiff joints are presented at birth; newborns with this condition lack the normal range of motion.  Students suffering from this disability have the opportunity to utilize wheelchairs, laptops with or without voice recognition software, and (in this case) musical instruments designed with a joystick.  The ability to play a musical instrument usually requires full use of joints in the hands, however, by altering the horn to function through the use of a joystick, students without full use of their hands can learn to play.  Designing different instruments and tools to offer these students the opportunity to pursue what they are most interested in is another example of what technology can do to assist.

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.  Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize.  The signs usually develop gradually and diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old.  Students suffering from this disability have the opportunity to utilize AbleNet supertalker, and AbleNet bookworm.  AbleNet supertalker and AbleNet bookworm allow a student initially described as "primarily nonverbal" to find their voice, essentially.  Becoming comfortable with identification can be the first step in a student's verbal interaction.

Rhythm Games

After playing this game for just five minutes, I was addicted.  It reminds me of the dance pad games from back in the day, and the Guitar Hero/Rockband games from not too long ago.

The unique experience this type of game offers players is one of engaged urgency.  The different colored arrows facing every which way continue to appear in time with the music and it is up to the player to control with just their fingertips.  This type of game has an impact on a player's muscle memory and hand-eye coordination.

I played every level of this game until I had improved enough to complete each of them.  It took me quite some time to get the hang of it, but there was no stopping me once I had it down.

Spreadsheets

I view spreadsheets as an opportunity to organize information and present clear outcomes quickly and efficiently.  In my high school art classes, I would use a spreadsheet project to show relationships, solve problems, and estimate.

During the time I spent in my high school art classes, the thing most of my peers and I struggled with was time management.  Procrastination was the name of the game almost everyday leading up until the final due date.  I had to learn my lesson the hard way time and time again after having received a less than perfect grade and feedback on the picture I had stayed up all night attempting to finish.  This approach only ever produced more work in the long run and was definitely not worth it.

At the tenth grade level and above, I would have the class participate in grading past work by both students who had spent the amount of time needed to successfully finish an assignment, and those who had not.  Comparing the finished pictures side by side to see the difference working in class can make.  After having discussed and graded the images presented, I would have the students enter the grades given with the amount of hours spent into a spreadsheet clearly displaying the outcomes of poor time management. 

A spreadsheet like this one will do a number of things; show the relationship between hours spent on a project to the success and grade given, allow students to plan ahead and solve issues of time constraints, and estimate their ability to accomplish tasks given to achieve the results they desire.

Realm of Creativity or Succubus of Dread

Daydreaming about the classroom I will one day teach in is one of my favorite pastimes.  Envisioning day to day activities/assignments and thinking about the inspirational lectures/lessons I will be sure to give is exciting.  Having to sit down, seriously contemplate and make a plan in order to establish the classroom environment that I want is, however, difficult.

It is easy to get lost in the daydream of a perfect classroom, but it is not so easy to create it.  This is where the dividing line lies amongst teachers; the ones that are able to construct a realm of creativity vs. the ones that produce a succubus of dread.  All the planning in the world will not prepare me for the first day/week/month/year and all the things that will be thrown my way, but having a clear vision of the outcomes I desire will help certainly help a great deal.

Creative Technologies - Augmented Reality Visualization Tool

The model of the Augmented Reality Visualization Tool would be useful in my high school art classroom.  Having the ability to simulate a visual representation of any object would be benefitial when teaching.

When presenting new material to class regarding historical works of art, this type of augmented reality would give the students an opportunity to get up close and personal with each piece.  Allowing students to interact intimately with the techniques and concepts used on artwork would provide a better understanding of them.  This interaction could spark new ideas and ways of thinking, while committing the important details of the works to memory.  As the students become more familiar with the technology, the possibilities are endless.

Everything Worth Knowing - Schema

In the book "Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse OR Your First Year of Teaching," schema is defined as "collections of experience and knowledge about how to react, interpret, or operate in an environment."  Basically, it's all relative.

The methods of measuring student intelligence generally involve some type of test questioning their knowledge base of the subject matter presented to them.  These methods aren't necessarily accurate, though.  As the book explains, students knowing or not knowing something is not directly related to their level of smartness or dumbness.  

Each student will enter the same situation with their own experiences guiding their interpretation of it.  Some experiences allow one student to excel in certain situations while others will struggle.  This is not a division of intelligence, but rather of circumstance.

The Future of Education - Similarities & Differences

The predictions made in the videos made in 1987 about the classrooms of the future have both accurate and inaccurate aspects.  The first similarity I noticed was their depiction of a conference call.  In the video, the teacher is able to update a student that is missing school on the assignment and project expected of him.  Later, that same student stays in video contact with his classmate while working on their project together.  This type of predicted technology came true with the development of our modern day "Skype" and "FaceTime" applications.  I have yet to see practical use, such as the ones displayed in the video, in the classrooms of today, but am confident we are not far from it.

The voice recognition, voice synthesis, and artificial intelligence presented in the videoes are not unlike what we have manufactured today either.  The electronic devices the student uses to research the topic at hand look a little different from what we've got, but the concept is close.  The technology recognizes and obeys the commands given by the student the way that our modern day "Siri" does.  The predictions made in the videos are not far off, and our technology only continues to advance.

In the future, I predict that there will be entire classrooms of holographic students and teachers, and mobile device technology will be permanently attached to each individual person.  The benefits will come from instantaneous information available even faster than it already is now.