Field Experience 13: The End to a New Beginning

This is my last post as an intern for the South Carolina Assistive Technology Program (SCATP) and as a student of the Coastal Carolina University Instructional Technology Educational Specialist program.

In terms of hours at the SCATP, I have obtained 30 hours. (First post: 6 hours, Second post: 2 hours, Third post: 3 hours, Fourth post: 1 hour, Fifth post: 6 hours, Sixth post: 2 hours, Seventh post: 2 hours, Eighth post: 2 hours, Ninth post: 2 hours, Tenth post: 2 hours, Eleventh post: 2 hours, Twelfth post: 2 hours…TOTAL OF: 30 hours.)

I would like to thank the following people during my instructional technology journey.

SCATP: Doctor Carol Page and Miss Tammy Wallace.

Coastal Carolina University: Doctor Jeremy Dickerson, Doctor Corey Lee, Doctor Joseph Winslow, and the other professors that have prepared me to become an instructional technology leader.

Thanks to my family and friends for their amazing support during my time as a student.

Finally, thanks to the Warrensburg Central School District (Warrensburg, New York), Siena College (Loudonville, New York), and The College of Saint Rose (Albany, New York…special shout out to Travis Plowman, whose WWW and the Internet graduate course got me interested in technology careers) for preparing me for this degree.

It has been an educational experience of highs and lows, but I am excited to become an alumnus of Coastal Carolina University, and hopefully an instructional technology professional soon.

I leave you with my final reflection video. It is not a perfect production, but I am proud of what I created.

Remember folks…”If you need me again, just replay me.”

Click here to see my video.

 

 

 

Field Experience 12: New Initiative at School! (Teachers Please Read!!!!)

Later in this field experience, Miss Wallace recommended this free resource called Bookshare. Click on this sentence to access the website.

This website allows individuals with print disabilities or schools to read free books online. Books include everything from Doctor Seuss up to Harry Potter and beyond.  Additionally, this website has a free book reader application which the program can read the content to readers.

Right now I am working with administration in my school to get this program for all students in my school. I am really excited that my work will lead to more enriching literacy opportunities for all students.

So, teachers, please let your administration know this website! It is free and  fantastic!

Total hours: 2 hours

 

Field Experience 11: Feedback from Supervisor on Tar Heel Reader Training

One of the most important aspects of being an intern is being able to talk to your supervisor after you complete a training.

Well, I had this opportunity to get feedback from Miss Tammy Wallace, my supervisor from the South Carolina Assistive Technology Program. She gave me two suggestions:

1. Slow down when I talk (I have had this problem in the past as a teacher, but she understood too I only had twenty minutes to present this website).
2. Use case studies to involve staff more into the training. She said I could have created scenarios which could have had staff think critically of using Tar Heel Reader.

Feedback from your supervisors is an invaluable tool for young professionals- constructive criticism can only help you develop into a better instructional designer.

Total hours: 2

Field Experience 10: Tar Heel Reader Training

After reviewing the data, I had the opportunity to present to adult learners.

First, here is the presentation. Teachers did receive handouts of the presentation while I was presenting.:

Tar Heel Reader Powerpoint Presentation.

Second, here is the video (NOTE: one section was edited for sound due to irrelevant conversation during the two minute drill).:

Twenty one minute presentation of Tar Heel Reader.

Third, here are some pictures taken by my assistant principal of me presenting:

Fourth, here is the feedback I got from teachers after presenting. I created this form using a feedback form from the Assistive Technology Conference.

Results of the Training

Some interesting takeaways from this experience.

1.  I wish the training was a little bit more interactive. Teachers have devices (Dell Laptops) at our district, and it would have been better to ask them to use their device while I was showing the website- some teachers did comment that in the evaluation form.
2. The two minute drill at the end should have been one minute. Many groups were done discussing after a minute. I would have hit my targeted time of twenty minutes if this change was implemented.
3. It was unfortunate that the login only worked for non-district emails.
4. I felt very prepared while presenting. It was certainly easy to work with adult learners.

After this presentation, I did have teachers come to me for individual help with the website. Instructional design is hard work!

Estimated time: 2 hours

 

Field Experience 9: Getting data on adult learners

So initially, I was going to present to schools about the benefits of Augmentative Communication in the classroom. However, since Augmentative Communication is typically for those students who need a voice and that requires an intensive needs assessments, I decided to look at websites/applications that would be practical to many different grade levels. You have to be flexible when you are an instructional designer!

I chose Tar Heel Reader with consultation from Miss Wallace since it definitely could help all teachers in a preschool to 5th grade elementary school. This website allows students to read books created by teachers and students, and allows students and teachers to create books as long as they follow copyright laws.

Next, I talked with my principal if I could present at a faculty meeting. We agreed on the time and how long the training would take in the faculty meeting.

So, I decided to utilize Microsoft Forms, which is provided to me from my district’s email. Teachers were not told what website I was presenting.

Here is my survey:

Here are my results:

Some takeaways from this experience:

1. Having anyone complete surveys before a training is a tough process! I am grateful for the twenty teachers that did do the survey. All commented it was an easy and quick process. I had my principal send out the survey and I tried to communicate with those in person before the training to complete the survey.
2. I found it interesting that teachers did not know what powerpoint book are. When I created the powerpoint, I really had to think the best way to explain this concept.
3. The websites that teachers commented they knew was really good information- I am always interested in new websites myself.

With this data, I created my powerpoint presentation and got ready to train my adult learners.

Estimated time: 2 hours

Field Experience 8: Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Sitting Consultation

After receiving and reviewing the data from the last post, I shared this information with Dr. Page. We then asked the speech therapist from my school, the parent, and her child to come to the Resource Center at the Midlands Center.

Before going into this consultation, here are pictures of the Resource Center:

Eye Gaze Technology Station.

Dining Assistive Technology Station.

Children’s toys section. This section is useful for younger clients.

Workstation.

First, the speech therapist gave his input – we discussed his Individualized Education Plan speech goals and his progress during speech time – before the parent came to the Resource Center. The speech therapist had to leave, so I was not able to show him the Augmentative Communication application on the Ipad.

However, the parent and her child did show up and stayed for about a hour. Dr. Page discussed strategies with the parent to help her child communicate better at the home and she wanted to know about the child’s communication at home. Meanwhile, I worked with the child first (NOTE: Student’s face was blurred using Adobe Photoshop because of confidentiality reasons).:

Student working with the Ipad.

The student and I working on the Ipad.

 

I utilized the Avaz application on the Ipad since I was comfortable working with application due to a prior screencast I did for my other class online. I put the Ipad on guided access because I did not want the child to go to other applications. I wanted the child to experiment with technology, and I allowed him to go into the food section of the application.

What a novel idea, huh? Experimenting? Every learner needs time to play with technology. What I initially saw the child was not very interested in this application and wanted to play with toys or run around the room – I will speak about that later in this post.

Next, I worked with the parent (NOTE: Parent’s face was blurred using Adobe Photoshop because of confidentiality reasons).:

I discussed how to edit pictures in the application and how to use guided access with the parent. She was very receptive to the training on the Ipad.

We also discussed about how the child was not sitting properly at a desk- instead of sitting on his bottom, he would sit on his legs. We look into using a ball seat, but my occupational therapists at my school decided to use a weighed vest to stop his improper seating.

After the consultation was over, Dr. Page and I decided to loan an Ipad to the parent and the child. We wanted the child to experiment with the technology at home and in my classroom.

Clients are allowed two weeks with the device before they need to return it. If they want an augmentative communication device after the trial period, they will need to fill out paperwork with Medicare to get one for free. (I, Miss Wallace, and Dr. Page find it bizarre insurance will pay for thousands of dollars for a device, but will not pay for a hundred dollar application on a tablet.) If the clients need more time, they are allowed more time.

However, due to his ability to verbalize his thoughts, the child lost overall interest in this application. Dr. Page and I discussed after this consultation on a separate day that child could lose interest- and he did.

Overall, I feel I did a good job presenting information to the parent and the child and I know this by communicating with the parent and Dr. Page after this consultation. What I liked about this experience and the others I have mentioned- I was able to work with a highly experienced and trained speech professional- and we worked as a team to complete consultations with clients. As an instructional designer, it was great to work with individuals who are passion to provide services to individuals with disabilities.

Estimated hours: 2 hours

 

 

Field Experience 7: Looking at the data before a Consultation

As I have stated previously, the needs assessment is where you can gather data on your learners before you conduct a training.

However, especially for Augmentative Communication consultations where the target learner may not be able to communicate their needs, you definitely want to look at data from various different sources.

I have a student in my classroom I thought Augmentative Communication could benefit his growth of verbal communication. From observation, he does have verbal communication but it is limited in the classroom setting. After talking with Dr. Page, we decided to bring him and his mother for a consultation.

Before this meeting, I used the WATI to gather data from the speech therapist at our school (NOTE: I could not show this information on this blog due to confidentiality reasons). Additionally, I utilized Microsoft Forms to gather additional data from the speech therapist and also the parent.

Speech Therapist response:

Parent response:

Finally, I looked at the child’s most recent Individualized Education Plan to see what the child is working on with speech goals. The re-evaluation data from his preschool was examined also. (NOTE: I could not show these pieces of information on this blog due to confidentiality reasons).

All information is vital to designers, but it is how they use this data to determine their training experience.

Estimated Time: 2 hours

Field Experience 6: SCATP Conference

During the week of October 16th to 20th, I had the opportunity to attend the South Carolina Assistive Technology Program Conference in Columbia, South Carolina. I listened and participated in a session where we discussed about dividing school districts into different tiers, where the highest tier has resources and support for Assistive Technology, while the lowest Tier has no resources or very little support for Assistive Technology.

Also, I attended sessions on the legalities of Assistive Technology for students in school districts and how to make Microsoft Word Documents accessible for everybody.

Additionally, I helped Miss Tammy Wallace set up the conference and break down after the conference was over. I was able to connect with other Instructional Technologists from other districts across the state. It was a great experience to see how other school districts provided Assistive Technology for students.

Estimated Hours for this post: 6 hours

SCATP Conference

SCATP Conference

Field Experience 5: A Learning Experience

During a mentored communication consultation at the South Carolina Assistive Technology Program, I made a few mistakes.

1. I said to clients they should ask the school if they were willing to download an Augmented and Alternative Communication application so that the application would be available at school. However, Doctor Page corrected me in saying that the application should be available at all times and not only at school. We decided to pursue a pathway where the client would go to a Speech Language Pathologist outside of the school district to get the recommendation for the Augmented and Alternative device.
2. I did not quite know how to navigate an application for a speech therapist, but I did receive some assistance. We were trying to eliminate choices to reduce cognitive load, but did not know where I should go in the menu. Doctor Page assisted me in this matter.

These errors have taught me I should be prepared in understanding the way that clients get devices for communication and that I should view and understand each application before I do a consultation.

Estimated Time: 1 hour

Field Experience 4: Learning other AT

While a majority of my time at the beginning of the SCATP field experience was learning the communication technologies, I have learned about other assistive technologies in a workshop.

Please view the captions of each photo get an idea of what I experienced. Additionally, I have experienced eye gaze technology, which you have to look at an object to make it move. That was certainly not easy!

Estimated hours: 3 hours

This mouse is a joystick with two buttons that allow for left and right clicks.

This mouse uses a ball to move the cursor around the screen. The blue buttons allow users to stimulate the left and right click buttons.

This picture shows Zoomtext, which allows users to magnify the screen. Users can also add other options to help them see images on a computer screen better.

 

This Assistive Technology is for someone without fingers to type on a Ipad. Note the different styles of the tool for individuals with different strengths. Also, notice the grid that helps an individual type using this tool.