Case study presentations

I really enjoyed listening to the other student’s presentations today. As a class, we had quite a variety of assistive technology and I feel I have learned a lot. As I sat and listened, I considered the ways I could use the apps or technology in my own teaching.

Michelle – Case Study Logan

·         Grade three, 9 yrs.

·         Anxious, obsessive, can become frantic and loud

·         Difficulty with social skills, fine motor

·         Distracted and disorganized – needs routine and struggles to get ideas down

·         Difficulty sleeping

·         A couple teachers have gone on sick leave, so Logan is working with new staff

·         Pencil and paper not working – used pic collage and pocket pond. Pic collage was a great way for student to show what he knows about a topic instead of writing or drawing.

·         Also used pocket pond to calm down when school day was unpredictable. Came and asked to use the app after being shown once. Worked awesome.  

·         Natural with iPad and parents are considering purchasing one.

·         I thought this was a great idea. I have used personal whiteboards and pens with children in the past, when they have refused to write with traditional pencil and paper. I found when children were given the choice they often went for the whiteboards and overall accomplished more writing progress.

Adelle – Case Study “J”

·         Grade5

·         Oppositional, uncommunicative, moody, has poor social skills, can be aggressive, is a flight risk.

·         Low reading/writing, easily frustrated, can work one on one but not in groups, only wants to do high interest activities, not a risk taker

·         Using a computer was becoming a discipline issue – gets sent to play games when he is being disruptive

·         Spends most of his time in learning center

·         Felt iPad would work well because he is good with technology, but perceives computer for just games.

·         Started with games like: rush hour, busy harbor, unblock me – had to demo game and have fun to lure in child and finally he gave it a try.

·         Also used Pic collage, camera and video, book creator, puzzles and photo booth

·         Used tiny steps and gave small instructions in preparation for next day.

·         I thought this was a wonderful way to build communication and social skills with “j.”

Kari –Case study Justin

·         Justin is 10 years old, was born prematurely

·         He is a very anxious – pulls out eyelashes and eyebrow

·         Hard worker  - wants to be part of the group

·         Gets into arguments on the playground – aggressive

·         He has fine motor issue, letter sounds difficult, enjoys using the computer

·         He is working on personal information –using whiteboard app to practice writing name over and over and within a week he had his last name

·         Also used handwriting without tears app – learned 31 new words in two weeks. Awesome progress

·         Great idea! The app is clean, easy to use and children really do love touch screen technology.

Heather – Case Study Ben

·         Ben is a grade five student

·         Great personality, strives on praise, immature at times, cries easily

·         Has an LD – writing and spelling

·         Needs a strategy before moving to middle school so he will cope and not get frustrated.

·         Greatest need is to access writing text

·         Used ipad for text to speech, listens and then copy and paste useful information into notes (pre-writing)

·         Dragon dictation and typ-o : typ-o word prediction app

·         Very effective, was able to get his point across. Need to work with teacher more so she directs him to ipad for work, instead of forgetting about the valuable resource. Teacher needs a bit more training.

Amy – Child “t”

·         5 year, entering school in September

·         Very social, busy, loving, sense of humour

·         Used 3 apps as school preparation – ABC tracing, sound sorting beginning sounds, ABC magic 2

·         Tracing was good but could have a prompt for direction or beginning location.

·         Loved the apps, motivated to do his “homework” mom impressed.

Shauna – student “c”

·         Grade 7, pleasant, quiet, struggles with math and LA

·         Insecure about work, disorganized, misplaces things often

·         Dragon dictation – app on iPhone and iPad- speak into phone and dragon converts to text, can then email to self or teacher.

·         So much more detail using dragon, not as much repetition. Student did have to go back through and edit some of the spelling

·         Hesitant to use it in front of other students but at home, mom loved it because it was free and very helpful for homework.

·         Gets better the more she uses it because the computer remembers her words and voice.

·         I think this would be a great this to encourage the whole class to use, so she doesn’t feel she stands out. Why not give assistance to all children?  

Jeff – Case Study, grade 12 student

·         Lack of writing – much more information can be received verbally.

·         Low self-esteem – disengaged

·         Confident with technology, great verbal expression

·         Extreme difficulty with writing

·         Inspiration program – manage own learning. Visually organize thoughts

·         Prior to inspiration, seemed tired and disengaged.

·         Using inspiration was able to find pictures and make a information web to help organize his thought and ideas.

·         Great for all students not just those with LD. All students struggle to organize thoughts for a research essay.

·         Need to look at validity of other forms of showing what you know – inspiration. Does it really have to be written in sentences to prove what a child knows? I think if they can prove knowledge in any form we, as teachers, should be able to assess.

Rebecca – Case Study, 8 year old boy

·         Autism spectrum – wants to engage but doesn’t know how to interact and does not have the language skills

·         Abc pocketphonics, book creator, visual timer were used

·         Tracing letters, letter sound

·         Personal space – book creator to make a social story with pictures of him

·         Tell me about it – for receptive language,

·         Word bingo – site word recognition, word play, report card feature so teacher can get report. Could read 7 sight words for the whole year and learned five more quickly

·         Great motivator, increased confidence as a learner, decreased teacher time creating resources.

Anne – Case Study, Will

·         Autism – non verbal

·         My brushes, puzzle maker (used own pictures)

·         Encouraging use of iPad to communicate instead of bulky binder PECS system.

·         Will follow up with mom to see how things go and try new apps.

·         I think more training for the mom and child are needed and this situation could really improve.

Alana – Case Study, Rex

·         Grade 4

·         Frustrates easily with commitment and concentrating (socially and academically)

·         Does not like to sit for very long, stands to do work

·         Started medication – concentration pills feel he can concentrate better now

·         Difficulty in visual motor skills

·         Goal to organize, complete class work, focusing

·         Sit and fit cushion – for focusing, rex not a huge fan, doesn’t like to sit for long

·         Fidget toys – constantly moving, loves his “stress balls”

·         Portable laptop – named the laptop , thinks laptop knows what he is thinking – cowriter

·         Into the book – very visual, reads and does examples.

·         Is able to escape and use fidget toys, pillow when he needs.

·         Work level improved, amount increased, better quality

Jenn – Case Study, student “J”

·         Diagnosed with LD

·         Working memory and processing speed difficulties

·         Gives up before he tries

·         Hesitant to use technology

·         Extremely disorganized, not motivated, likes to do well.

·         Google calendar to help j get organized – free, easy to use, multi user accessibility, reminders emailed or text, can access anywhere he has a computer. Found too much going on and difficult to use

·         Soshiku – easier to use, calendar and can be course specific. Free, email, can share by inputting things into calendar by teacher. Got reminders. Helped j hand in more because it was more on his mind.

·         Still a need for j to actually follow through with it.

·         Recommends track class to assist in note taking as well

·         My homework

·         Evernote

·         Egretlist – creates to do lists

·         Ihomework – more advanced for older students

·         Making technology for everyone, not just for AT. Mainstream technology

Jackie – three students

·         tinyEYE – backpack – games. SLP plays with you. Would be good for him to make use of online SLP because he doesn’t get much from school SLP. Students can see SLP see how to form words.

·         Smartboard

·         Pointer – for student b but everyone uses it to point on smart board

·         Tumblereaders – more high interest books, leveled and at the right age. Used a lot of comprehension.  Animation and voice good. Keeps interest.

·         Grade seven, spends most time in LC and extra time in gym, FS and Tech ed

·         Interacts well with others, loves hockey, music

·         The pointer is awesome, because it allows all students to be able to participate in smart board activities. Helps extend the arm.

Janna – Case Study, student k 16 years old

·         ADHD and verbal LD

·         Major anxiety

·         Tools4students – graphic organizers

·         GflashFlashcards and test – making up your own flashcards or download test

·         Taught to use googlemaps so her anxiety of getting lost will get better.

·         Used laptop to write exam, incredible difference between written work and typed work using tools4students. Much of the content is lost when hand writing because too much concentration on forming letters.

Jillian –

·         Developmental delay

·         6 years

·         No concept of words, strings of letters

·         Toca boca  and book creator

·         Taking screen shots on toca boca to use as prompts for her writing.

·         Making own books in her own language. Understanding of print improved hugely. Very good with using technology independently.

·         Could become her journal.

·         I loved this idea. I have only heard of social stories recently, and I can see huge potential and benefit from using them. Using book creator is a great way to encourage students to write as well. Toca Boca was an excellent source of ideas for this child, but having a device that can take pictures, opens up huge potential for generating ideas for struggling writers.