I thought I'd share with you some of the brilliant ICT resources that the classes I am working with for teaching rounds are using. This is more so to remind me about what is out there that I could access when I have a class of my own, but also to share my experiences with you. I am at a school for children with disabilities, primarily Cerbral Palsy. The teaching and available resources are amazing. My class consists of 5 non-verbal students around 10-12 years old. Each has their own personal communication devices which they use in a variety of ways. The computer software primarily used in lessons is called Clicker 5, a tool originally marketed for younger year levels (prep) or students at risk in their literacy development. However, this program has been adapted to be used in the classroom with amazing results.
I have also used a multimedia literacy program called Galaxy Kids, created by Sunshine Books with some of the students. The computers set up in the classroom can be accessed by using either a touch screen or clicker switches. These switches are colour coded (one red, one blue) which represent different actions (red for scrolling through actions, blue for selecting the action they want). MightyMo and MiniMo Communication Devices
MightyMo and MiniMo are personal communication devices used by the students in my classroom. They have a large screen that can be accessed as a touch screen or using the clicker switches. Verbal messages can be recorded to allow students to communicate information they would like to share. The program works on word-symbol recognition, and each button has a verbal output. For example there are pages for places, people, food and drink, school etc. Under each page are more categories to choose from. The students in my class had had access to these devices for about a year and consistent and constant modelling and verbal prompting by both the teacher and speech pathologist allowed students to become increasingly proficient in their use.
Clicker 5 is a reading and writing program that utilises spoken word, written text and word-image connections to help students develop their literacy skills. In my classroom we used this program to run our 'News from Home'. Using their personal communication devices, students select the "News from Home" page, on which a member of their family has pre-recorded a message to be played. Each student was given the opportunity to present their news, which was written up on the Interactive Whiteboard using a Clicker 5 program that connected images to specific words (com-pics style images). Once each student's news was written up, Clicker 5 has the option of text speak - the program reads aloud what has been written, giving the students multiple tools to comprehend what was written - first by listening to their family member's recording, the teacher reiterating what was said to the whole class, writing it onto the board, connecting the written words with images and then following along when the program re-reads the words aloud.We also used clicker 5 Learning Grids to create class books about the things that we had done. This week the students and I co-created a story about the excursion to the bowling alley. Each student was asked to choose a photo of themselves and, using their communication devices and non-verbal cues, tell me what they wanted to write about each image. We also co-created a class book for National Literacy Week about making vegetable soup, a integrated unit that had been running over the last term.
Clicker 5 Learning Grids were also used within an Integrated science
unit of work about animals with 'Fur, Feathers and Fins'. A matching game was created in which an animal was presented (such as a bird) and students were given 2 options, a picture of a feather and a picture of fur. Pre recorded instructions asked students to determine whether the animal pictured had fur or feathers. Students selected their answer using the touch screen or with the switch method (mentioned previously). When students selected the correct answer the screen moved to the next animal. When students selected the incorrect answer, the instructions were repeated again. Working one-on-one with students using this program was very interesting. Even though their mobility and control of their limbs was not great, when the students focused they were able to successfully complete the tasks. It just goes to show that your disability does not define you. Each student in the class was very intelligent and with the modelling and use of the different communication devices, these students have a greater chance of communication in the wider community as they grow older.
