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Coding or Computer programming is, a key concept in computer science, the languages used to give command or instructions to the computer. For instance, Java, C ++, SQL etc. In this technological era, it is cosmopolitan concept which is used in every commercial sector. People, after gaining proficiency on IT skills, pursue it as career or profession to earn their bread and butter. It is one of the highest paid professions these days. Experts in coding can adapt professions like Software developers, Engineers, Website designers etc. Nowadays, teaching of coding has been prevalent for students at educational institutes to fit in this digital era.

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I believe, if students learn Coding skills, they will be gaining expertise in this and get into certain professions successfully, such as Engineering and software designing. Thus, they can be successful professionals. They can be at higher positions in multinational companies and other related industries. Secondly, they can also start up their own business and get into entrepreneurship by designing websites, apps and games. Additionally, there is a fact that proficient coders construct logical thinking and problem-solving skills. Moreover, it also makes students creative and enhances creativity in them.

As per opinion, coding is used in every sector and if learnt by everyone, may draw benefit out of it. Programming is a concept, that is quite difficult to understand until it is practiced. Hence, it demands a large amount of practice. It benefits those learners who are IT literate and practiced a lot on coding. To do well in coding, one must have professional degree in it. However, students, who are not from IT background, can not gain proficiency in it and can not practice on it. Consequently, they will lack in computational skills and can not do well in it. Another downside of this is, it needs computer devices and internet connection, so one’s lacking these resources can not learn these programming skills.

If I talk about my personal experience with coding, unfortunately, I find it pretty much hard to learn. In terms of computer knowledge, I find myself at beginner’s level or basic programmer. Initially, I am from medical background and had not to learn coding ever and could not practiced much. I perceive, Coding or programming is not my cup of tea. But, to cope up with my recent curriculum, I have started looking into coding tutorials, so that I could also inculcate these skills into my students.

I have always been Science teacher and engaged myself, throughout my professional journey, with science teaching only. I have started learning coding skills from coding tutorials as learning computer languages is need of hour.

I agree with the notion that coding can be taught by experts who have certification for that because it a technical field which requires practice and certification too. Tech savvy person gains expertise in programming pedagogy and will be able to teach it to students. It is hard to teach these skills to undergraduate students until you have proficiency in computational skills which is only possible by practicing on it.

For this blog, I have been through, Teaching-programming-in-schools-pedagogy-review-Raspberry-Pi-Foundation.pdf

I have also read, An Overview of STEM, Robotics, Coding, and Maker Spaces

One of my main responsibilities as a teacher is to ensure that all students in my classes get the best learning environment possible. Therefore, usability in the context of learners with disabilities is not a matter of passing legal requirements with flying colors; it is a matter of making sure all learners can interact with the material and the classroom as effectively as they possibly can. In this blog post, I will present some of the technologies and techniques I employed or could employ in order to improve accessibility in face-to-face, flexible/blended, and online environments.

Furthermore, I define equality as simply giving all the students an equal chance of accessing educational materials and facilities. This reaches the disabled, the learning disabled, or anyone with other complications that may affect their studying. It is therefore important that we recognise inclusive technology to increase the chance of breaking barriers and enriching the learning experience for all.

Leveraging assistive technologies:

Basically, the most effective interventions are addressed through what is known as assistive technologies (AT). These tools have been developed to support educationally marginalized students to better interact with course material, such as visual aids, hearing aids, mobility ads, etc. Some of the examples are:

Speech Recognition Software

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The functionalities of this innovation include voice-enabled computation through the use of voice and voice commands for facilitating control and interaction with computers and other related devices. It transcribes spoken words; for instance, those who have writing challenges  will not struggle to write or express themselves. We are now able to voice type and voice navigate with officially supported products such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Closed Captioning and Transcripts

The feature of closed captioning offers a written text version of spoken words in the videos for benefiting the students with hearing impairments. The description also comes in handy when used in audio and video materials to enable the students to have something to read as they listen, especially those students who have issues with processing auditory information. The combined use of cooperation and competition makes information easy to understand and easier to remember.

Audiobooks:

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Audiobooks refer to recorded books you can listen to and capture the essence of the written word in the comfort of your preferable place. Gettable from sites like Audible or through the Libby app, audiobooks can be played through, or on, smart phones, tablets, and a laptop, which makes them adaptable to multitasking during car rides, exercise, and cleaning. They have enormous utility, especially to visually impaired or those with reading disorders since they act as a way of presenting content not possible using text alone. There are many genres and titles in Audiobooks, many of these consist of professional readers for the audiobooks to make the books more interesting with how they read the books.

Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Universal Design for Learning is a concept that I love to use in the class as it provides a structure way to meet the diverse need of all students, so first of all, I prefer multiple representations since there are several ways one can engage with content, and I offer a variety of options that are useful for class activities, group discussion, and project work that corresponds to learners’ preferred mode of processing information. Further, I would like to incorporate multiple means of representation to provide content in one medium, another medium, and a third medium by creating videos, infographics, and demonstrations to accommodate each of the students. Finally, I promote multiple ways of doing things and showing knowledge which enables students to use resources in ways that they enjoy and believe to be most effective including through presentation, projects, writing and so on.

Exploring Emerging Technologies

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New technologies are quite key in influencing the educational sector through granting new means of teaching and learning processes. AI is currently in vanguard, which through its ability to create customized learning pathways by incorporating content that addresses a student’s specific needs and through its capacity to deliver grades and feedback for students. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) components allow students to learn at a higher level and create a realistic experience that lets them travel around the world or a particular place virtually, or perform some exercises that will enable them to learn more effectively than just following theories or listening to instructions only.

In the same way, the use of games in the teaching and learning process, absorbs interest and active participation by using the features of a game that include challenge, reward, and competition. At the same time, the technology will develop and become integrated into every aspect of teaching and learning creating a more effective and efficient environment.

This poses the question is there a way that we as educators can make our classrooms favorable for students to learn in regardless of their problems or not? Using assistive technologies and applying Universal Design for Learning, discovering promising technologies, constructing supportive infrastructures, continuous training, and involving families, we can build the educational setting for all students with differences.

I have read these resources for this blog-

What are the Key Benefits of Assistive Technology?

https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl

Utilizing Technologies to Improve Accessibility in the Classroom

As someone who has only been in education for 7 plus years, and in small rural schools for the most part, I have had limited experience with assistive technology. The main exception to this came in my second year of teaching. I had taken a position in a small K-12 school teaching high school classes, and in grade 12 there was a student who needed the use of a wheelchair. This student was academically above average, but physically, needed the assistance of technology to help in the day to day life around the school.

The school had been equipped with a fully adapted washroom with everything needed to allow the student to use it independently. Ramps had been installed for easy access to the school and for up a step inside as well. The student had 2 modified lockers with lowered shelves for school supplies and belongings. They also had a couple of extended tools for reaching items that fell on the floor or could not be reached, say in the library. These are mostly technologies from the Establishment period, as we saw in the video from this week, The history of Assistive Technology Part 1.

As far as digital assistive technology, the only one I recall this student using was Speak to Text. This was not used often, but under extenuating circumstances.

As that school year came to a close, graduation brought up a new challenge; climbing the stairs to get on stage. We rented an electric portable lift, designed for this, and decorated it to match the ceremony colors. This technology would be from the Empowerment period.

Assistive technology takes many forms and serves so many vital purposes in our goals of inclusion. They are constantly evolving and growing to help our students have access to everything they deserve.

Assistive technology has a significant impact in transforming my teaching methodology. When I was working with the Pravah Organisation in New Delhi, India, and the National Trust for the Welfare of People with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Multiple Disabilities, I was deeply involved in creating awareness among people about the importance of inclusive education and integrating it with the assistive technology. I was pretty sure that this would definitely change the lives of the individuals with disabilities and would lead to a more equitable community. While moving forward in my journey, I faced a few challenges and experiences which I would like to address.

When I was working with Pravah Organisation on various community engagement projects, I realized that a significant barrier in adopting assistive technology is people have lack of awareness. Many families were not aware about the tools that are available to enhance mobility, communication, or learning for individuals with disabilities. Additionally, people face societal stigma in using these technologies very openly. While working our motto was to make everyone aware by demonstrating the value of AT in fostering independence. Secondly, there are many assistive tools which are economically not affordable which is a major disadvantage for lower income communities. I encountered various families who want to use special communication devices for their autistic child but they cannot because of its high cost. This encompasses the need for affordable devices which are available for everyone. Even I met those parents who anyhow purchased the Assistive device like an adaptable wheelchair for their children but struggled with its maintenance and its operation.

In my opinion, Assistive devices should be customized according to the needs of the individuals as we know that disabilities are unique so we cannot follow one size fits all strategy here. Moreover, many assistive technologies run on electricity or internet connectivity but the rural areas lack these. I think the government should initiate projects or schemes which design unique AI that functions in a low resource environment. Lastly, the major challenge while dealing with the assistive technology was cultural and social attitudes towards disabled people using these digital devices. In our society, people feel hesitated to adopt useful assistive technology in their day to day life due to the fear of judgment. In my perspective, the open communication and organizing campaigns and workshops would change the mindset of the community. 

To be honest, it makes me very happy to see how the world is getting more and more accessible to people with special needs. In the past, learners with learning disabilities were often labeled as “weak” or “bad” students, but nowadays they are getting actively accommodated and included at schools. Michael Halpin believes that assistive technology fosters inclusive learning environments and enhances learning outcomes. There is certainly still a long way to go before education becomes completely attainable for absolutely everyone. However, disabilities are not as much of an obstacle to learning anymore, and we should acknowledge and celebrate it.

I personally have not had any experience teaching people with visible disabilities so far. I also haven’t had a student share with me that they are have any disabilities. Nevertheless, as I teach adult English learners, I do suspect that I have had some students with undiagnosed special needs. For instance, I have taught at least two learners who excelled at all skills but spelling. One of these students used to copy numerous pages from the books we were reading in class to improve their spelling, but it still didn’t help. That is why I suspect that those learners might have had dyslexia. Unfortunately, I am not a doctor to precisely state that, but I must admit that if the cause of those spelling struggles was clearly identified, it would make it a lot easier for me to find the right approaches.

So, what do I do to make learning equitably accessible to all of my learners?

• Individual Approach is Always The Best Method

I teach two groups of students, about 15 people each, so it is not an easy task to find an individual approach to everyone. Nonetheless, I still try to do it. If I see that a particular student is experiencing more difficulties than others, I provide them with some assignments for additional practice. I may not know the real reasons for their lack of progress – they can range anywhere from learning disabilities to simple tiredness. But my job as a teacher is to help, and I would do everything in my power to support a student who is struggling.

• Mind Mapping

As Aysha, Kevin, and I have mentioned in our presentation, mind mapping is a great tool for learners with ADHD as it helps organize information effectively and focus better. We often practise mind mapping in my class – either using Miro or just a regular classroom whiteboard. This activity is beneficial for all learners as it helps visualize information (e.g. vocabulary) easily and in a fun way. By the way, I really loved the mind map you created during our presentation!

• Text-to-Speech Tools

  

We do not use text-to-speech tools too often because ESL students are supposed to build all of the four skills – Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing – simultaneously, so voicing the written/printed text all the time would not be ideal for us. However, we have a Reading Hour every Friday, when my students are supposed to read a book on the Raz-Kids website and comment on it and/or note down some new words. The platform has the option of listening to the books instead of just reading them, so it can be a great help to students with eyesight issues. This can also be a great support to learners with dyslexia as each of the voiced words gets highlighted in the Raz-Kids books, which can assist dyslexic students in building connections between what a word sounds like and how it is spelled.

What Else Could I Use to Make Learning Easier for My Students?

• Larger Keyboards

I am very grateful for the opportunity to work in the computer lab my students, but I feel it would be a good idea to have at least one or two enlarged keyboards and/or computer screens for the students with eyesight problems.

• Games

We often play online games with my students using a smart board (just look what cute pumpkins we “carved” for this year’s Halloween!). I would like to incorporate more games for learners with special needs as Michael Halpin believes that specialized educational gaming apps aimed at incentivizing productivity can help students with ADHD become more focused.

You can find this game here.

• Speech-to-Text Tools?

One of my new students came up to me recently asking if they could use an app to transcribe what I was saying because they did not understand everything yet. I was a little surprised by this request, but I eventually approved it on the condition that they would use it temporarily as I expect the learner to try to understand my speech over time. I would not suggest all students to use such a tool because it does not support the development of the listening skills, but if some individual learners find it helpful, I would not mind granting them my permission to use it. Again, it is all about listening to each person you are teaching and finding the approaches that work specifically for them!

Although assistive technologies are becoming more and more common, we still need to be aware of the barriers to their implementation, such as lack of training for instructors, student factors, and the accessibility of specialized software or devices (Lamond & Cunningham, 2020). As a teacher, I will always do my best to create a maximally comfortable and inclusive environment for all of the learners in my class, but I realize that implementing assistive technologies takes a lot of time and team effort.

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Additional Material

I was immensely inspired by this video on how assistive technologies have changed the life of a student with a learning disability, so I decided to share it with you. Such stories remind me how much assistive technologies really matter!

Image from Goodteaching.ca

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the integration of various educational theories and technologies is crucial for creating an inclusive and effective learning environment. This blog post explores how Assistive Technology, Generative AI, Constructivist Theory, the Zone of Proximal Development, Behaviorism, and Collaborative Learning Theory are the foundation for learning success for students.   We will also be discussed under the umbrella of Universal Design for Learning.

Assistive Technology (AT) are tools and devices designed to support students with disabilities, enabling them to participate fully in educational activities. I would also suggest that AT can apply to all students.  All tools at our disposal should be made available to students.  All students can benefit from screen readers and speech-to-text software etc.…   All students are unique, and we need to teach them how to use educational technology tools in a manner that will help them experience success.  Generative AI which is part of AT is not only a technology that can enhance the efficiency of teaching by supporting differentiated instruction and addressing the unique needs of each student.  Furthermore, it should be noted that students need to be taught how to use the educational technology tools in a manner that will promote success in their learning journey.

Constructivist Theory presented in our class pointed out that learners construct knowledge through experiences and interactions with their environment. This approach emphasizes the importance of active learning.  It is critical that we teach students not to fall into the passive learning trap while using technology such as watching videos.  Rather, educational technology, needs to facilitate engagement by providing immersive and experiential learning opportunities.  One such activity that I have had success with is with Minecraft and in tandem with the Zone of Proximal Development theory (ZPD) refers to the range of tasks that a learner can perform with guidance but not yet independently.   Collaborative Learning Theory emphasizes the importance of social interaction and teamwork in the learning process. Have you ever asked a student to concede a digital device at school.  At times there is resistance from students to do so when using Minecraft.   Technology used in a skillful way can help teach students that they can gain insight when they not only concede their device but also their opinion on how the perceive things.  Students need to be encouraged to share ideas and to learn from each other.   Through collaboration an amazing group project in Minecraft for example can be created.   Please don’t forget the importance of behaviorism which focuses on observable behaviors and the use of reinforcement to shape learning.  Educational technology can incorporate behaviorist principles through gamified learning environments.  I have seen the level of engagement from students increase when we use gamification strategies and it is incredible to watch.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that aims to create flexible learning environments that accommodate the diverse needs of all students. Simply put educational technology will bring a set of new skills that teachers will learn, increased resources that are required for UDL to be successful in reaching all students.  By using educational technology as a lever, educators can ensure that UDL principles are effectively applied, making learning accessible and inclusive for all students.