great video! This would be a great presentation to show to schools unwilling to make the leap into technology. There is just too much good that comes from technology to outweigh the bad. Ipads, smartboards, ereaders, etc. I wish I had these things when I was going through grade school.
I wish I had those things back then too. But I think the next generation will concur considering how quickly technology is advancing. It's incredible to think that 100 years ago the automobile was just becoming a mainstay, 40 years ago the very first desktop computers (actually more like calculators than what we think of as computers) were coming out, 20 years ago not many of us had Internet connections in our homes, and now I'm talking into my phone, asking it to check my schedule.
This was an excellent presentation of showing how today's technology help children with disabilities. It shows how inclusion is important in the live of children with special need. All teacher should be able to see this presentation on how how coming out of the old and into the new is how we can help children.
Great video! Thanks! Maybe it doesn't say it all, but it says what Macomb Projects staff have been doing and saying for more than 20 years with tech applications. They work! I'm sad to see the same arguments against tech that we've heard for so long. But change takes time - darn!
Very well done, thanks. Could be useful for our communities too (needing captioning on all materials and for "live" speech-to-text in the classroom (for hearing, literacy, language, and learning differences). The technology of captioning is not always labeled "assistive technology' yet it sure is vital for millions.
ccacaptioning dot orgs welcomes all with free membership, all volunteers for quality captioning inclusion universally
The important thing to remember is that EVERY learner benefits from assistive technology of various kinds. Some may benefit more than others, but we ALL need it!
It seems to me that all technology can be considered assistive...a smartphone, a computer, a car, text-to-speech. The more I think about it, the harder it is to distinguish "regular" technologies from "assistive" technologies.
Ben Johnston created this video as a presentation resource for special education teachers and assistive technology specialists in K-12 schools. His hope was that through this video new discussions would take place and that different approaches to learning would evolve for kids with disabiilties and learning challenges.
The main barrier is teachers' unwillingness to become skilled in using and applying technology and thus helping their students to become familiar too.. Lots of resistence out there. Maybe the next generationn of teachers?? It depends on what they are being taught in those stale education depts. in college.
@aelialicinia I agree. Another barrier to the use of AT is the lack of effective and efficient technical support. A third barrier is administrators' and spec ed heads resistance to AT - teachers can only implement what their bosses allow and support.
The future of AT is tech support-free. An example: one of our design goals for a new product we released called Bookstream was to make it so easy that it can be implemented in 30 minutes. If you have to install something and only your IT staff have rights to install, it will take longer than 30 minutes. It may take months. Looking at these issues, we made Bookstream "installation-free" and the most user-friendly AT product I've ever used. I've seen the future and the future is simple.
There's an excellent book called "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath that outlines ways where "average" people can make big changes. I think they have a model to move the unmovable. Teachers feel really beat up right now with the school bureaucracies, the focus on testing, and the tight oversight by administrators garnering a sentiment of mistrust. But when a teacher sees something that has a dramatic impact on a student, the teacher will embrace it. It's our job to show them that impact.
What skills will be valued when our kindergarteners graduate from high school 13 years from now, and how do schools need to change to prepare them for this continually changing world we live in? The only thing that seems likely is that globalization, competition, and technology create an environment that requires creative problem-solving and adaptability in the face of uncertainty. How do schools need to be structured to foster this?
Love this video -- and can we get some assistive tech for all the text? Voice over for version II please.
bpfheadstrong 1 month ago
Thanks for the feedback--it just so happens that I narrated a version on the Don Johnston...just search for "the case."
DonJohnstonInc 1 month ago
Bring on the ipad competitors so apple can stop holding everyone in at over a barrel...
antipop198 2 months ago
@antipop198 ippppaaaddd rulez
MrBarFoox 3 weeks ago
great video! This would be a great presentation to show to schools unwilling to make the leap into technology. There is just too much good that comes from technology to outweigh the bad. Ipads, smartboards, ereaders, etc. I wish I had these things when I was going through grade school.
edgarv704 3 months ago
I wish I had those things back then too. But I think the next generation will concur considering how quickly technology is advancing. It's incredible to think that 100 years ago the automobile was just becoming a mainstay, 40 years ago the very first desktop computers (actually more like calculators than what we think of as computers) were coming out, 20 years ago not many of us had Internet connections in our homes, and now I'm talking into my phone, asking it to check my schedule.
DonJohnstonInc 1 month ago
This was an excellent presentation of showing how today's technology help children with disabilities. It shows how inclusion is important in the live of children with special need. All teacher should be able to see this presentation on how how coming out of the old and into the new is how we can help children.
darlanita 4 months ago
Great video! Thanks! Maybe it doesn't say it all, but it says what Macomb Projects staff have been doing and saying for more than 20 years with tech applications. They work! I'm sad to see the same arguments against tech that we've heard for so long. But change takes time - darn!
drpattih1 9 months ago
Very well done, thanks. Could be useful for our communities too (needing captioning on all materials and for "live" speech-to-text in the classroom (for hearing, literacy, language, and learning differences). The technology of captioning is not always labeled "assistive technology' yet it sure is vital for millions.
ccacaptioning dot orgs welcomes all with free membership, all volunteers for quality captioning inclusion universally
siglmgga 9 months ago
Excellent way to get a point across in a short time! Especially pertinent in this age of Ipods and now the Ipads!
evak9338 10 months ago
Thanks Ben another useful resource for our toolbox!
pswals 1 year ago
The important thing to remember is that EVERY learner benefits from assistive technology of various kinds. Some may benefit more than others, but we ALL need it!
paulhami 1 year ago
It seems to me that all technology can be considered assistive...a smartphone, a computer, a car, text-to-speech. The more I think about it, the harder it is to distinguish "regular" technologies from "assistive" technologies.
DonJohnstonInc 1 month ago
Ben Johnston created this video as a presentation resource for special education teachers and assistive technology specialists in K-12 schools. His hope was that through this video new discussions would take place and that different approaches to learning would evolve for kids with disabiilties and learning challenges.
atadvocate1 1 year ago
The main barrier is teachers' unwillingness to become skilled in using and applying technology and thus helping their students to become familiar too.. Lots of resistence out there. Maybe the next generationn of teachers?? It depends on what they are being taught in those stale education depts. in college.
aelialicinia 1 year ago
@aelialicinia I agree. Another barrier to the use of AT is the lack of effective and efficient technical support. A third barrier is administrators' and spec ed heads resistance to AT - teachers can only implement what their bosses allow and support.
amzara 4 months ago
The future of AT is tech support-free. An example: one of our design goals for a new product we released called Bookstream was to make it so easy that it can be implemented in 30 minutes. If you have to install something and only your IT staff have rights to install, it will take longer than 30 minutes. It may take months. Looking at these issues, we made Bookstream "installation-free" and the most user-friendly AT product I've ever used. I've seen the future and the future is simple.
DonJohnstonInc 1 month ago
There's an excellent book called "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath that outlines ways where "average" people can make big changes. I think they have a model to move the unmovable. Teachers feel really beat up right now with the school bureaucracies, the focus on testing, and the tight oversight by administrators garnering a sentiment of mistrust. But when a teacher sees something that has a dramatic impact on a student, the teacher will embrace it. It's our job to show them that impact.
DonJohnstonInc 2 months ago
What skills will be valued when our kindergarteners graduate from high school 13 years from now, and how do schools need to change to prepare them for this continually changing world we live in? The only thing that seems likely is that globalization, competition, and technology create an environment that requires creative problem-solving and adaptability in the face of uncertainty. How do schools need to be structured to foster this?
DonJohnstonInc 1 month ago
Effective message and one that needs to be shared with and discussed by educators at all levels.
LaceyS1000 1 year ago