Class Summary

It seems like I blinked and the past 3 months have flown by!  When I first started this course I felt I had working knowledge of computers and some other technologies but was eager to learn about assistive technology specifically.  During the past few school years this term has come up and I always felt like no one was ever able to really go beyond pencil grips and computer time when AT was mentioned as a possible accommodation for some of my students.  When I saw this course was being offered, I signed up immediately!

 

At times I found this course very overwhelming.  It seemed I was not as knowledgeable as I had thought!  Not everything worked the way I wanted it too, and things that may take others no time at all left me sitting here at my computer for quite a while.  Taking all this time to not always get the outcome I desired may have added to my frustration levels, but it also gave me something else - empathy.  How many of my students go through this every day?  How many know they should be able to do something, but just can't seem to get it to work?   The different steps that our brains need to go through to read and write are two examples I took from class.  If I can incorporate AT into a lesson that makes a missing connection happen for a child, then I've succeeded!  To see how a blog can aid in lessons the whole class can enjoy as well as help those with special needs feel included and not so out of the ordinary after all was great!  Learning about how aps can give confidence back to students who before had been so self aware of using something different from their classmates and now they fit in like everyone else makes such a difference.  There is just so much out there beyond pencil grips!  Here is a video I found of a presentation that goes through many of the AT available to students in today's classrooms.  Check it out! 

 

This course gave me so much information and resources that I now feel so much more prepared to help my students reach their potentials.  Just being made aware of what is out there, to go beyond the simple steps my school has been taking and know to reach further was worth taking this class for!  The group work allowed for more communication and shared learning about various topics and getting to see the results of everyone's hard work was fantastic!  A great resource for sure!  Thank you so much to everyone for sharing your knowledge and hard work during this course, it made every Wednesday fly by!  Good luck with the rest of your classes or congratulations on finishing up!  Yay for us!