Debrief - Module 7

       My first web quest was successful.  This web quest was easy to follow and had links that explained everything it was talking about.  If you were reading and thought of a question in your head the next link would answer it.  As I was reading John’s case study I felt his pain.  To be a teacher and having to grade papers must be a pain in itself.  But to be blind and have to do it is on another level.  It seems that their are multiple resources and tools made for those in his very position.   One website I found that was really interesting was called Ability Hub.  This is a tool that can read anything on your desktop.  This includes items on the menu, words on a spreadsheet, numbers on a website, even graphical items.  If John has his students submit papers online or even use a scanner he can easily hear the papers out loud and make his corrections.  This seems like a great AT resource created for those like John.  I would use this in my future special education classroom because their might be a student that has John’s disability.  Their also might be students have more severe disabilities or mild disabilities.  This web quest helped me gain several resources for not only funding but for tools I could potentially use in my classroom for those with special needs. 

      One important thing that I learned about Assistive Technology is that funding can be hard to get sometimes.  This could be a huge factor in wether or not a student has the tools he or she needs in the classroom to continue learning.  This could put students behind or even at a standstill when it comes to learning.  Funding is a very important aspect in AT since it can be very costly sometimes.  Without funding most Assistive Technology assets will not be able to be used.  As I read John’s case it stated that sometimes charity functions can be helped to fund for these tools.  This is a touching idea and would be worth every penny that people donate.  Special needs students have the ability to be educated just like every other student.  They should be able to get whatever technology they need to do so.  
      Before reading about Augmentative and Alternative Communication I didn’t have that much insight on it.  Everything that I read on this article was helpful to me and gave me a lot of background knowledge.  Something I learned was that some students with autism and down syndrome speech may not fultill their communication needs.  This was news to me considering I thought that if they had their speech and it was provided in a way just for them that would be enough.  In this article it explains other ways that can have important benefits.  These techniques include picture, symbol, alphabet, and word boards.  Signs and gestures, speech generating devices, and specialized computer systems.  This main thing I got out of this article is that teachers will need to know how to help their students use AAC effectively and efficiently.  If teachers do not know anything about this topic or how to implement it, it will have no result at all.