Coming at you with another collaboration from Aria, Casey, and I! We have been talking to you all about lots of cool ways to bring in assisted tech to support students with learning disabilities. Today we want to talk about the general pros and cons of implementing this into the classroom. So, if you’re curious keep reading..
Okay, let’s talk about some of the pros! Most obvious assistive tech supports students that learn differently which will enable most children to be able to learn in the classroom despite their abilities. It can help students with diverse abilities become more independent and personalize their learning to their zone of proximal development. For students that have a hard time communicating, it can aid in giving students the voice they need in order to be successful in their educational journey. By enhancing student’s communication, assistive tech can reduce anxiety and enhance peer connections. Overall assistive tech will help to improve academic skills by fitting to the needs of each individual student.
Alright so we hope we have convinced you to all start implementing assistive tech in the classroom…but wait… what are the cons? Before you go ahead buying everyone an iPad lets talks about the concerns.
Like i mentioned above, assistive tech might involve having to have iPads in the class. Well, iPads can be expensive and as we all know, teacher budgets are not that big. If schools don’t provide these little screen geniuses, then we will all have a hefty bill to pay off. Assistive tech also takes training. The different apps, and resources we can implement in the classroom takes some knowledge to manipulate. So, unless you are super techy or have an EA in the class that has training you may be out of luck… and lastly… some teachers genuinely have no idea how to use tech and don’t like it. If this is the case maybe just retire? I’m kidding, but seriously, if you aren’t comfortable with using tech in the class well get comfy and take some classes, do your research because at the end of the day the pros outweigh the cons.
I hope these pros and cons have given you all a little bit more insight on whether or not assistive tech is for your class. All children deserve to get a chance to be successful in their educational experience. So do some learning of your own and get techy!
Check ya later! Kaylyn, Aria, and Casey
