New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning

Elizabeth Moore

College of Southern Nevada

 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning1

Abstract

Technology has shown how it is useful in education and for students with any learning

disabilities and not limited to physical disabilities. Assistive technology (AT) is used to help the

visually impaired communicate and to read books. AT helps students transition easier and more

independently into adulthood with programs to keep them better updated in their AT devices.

The positive impact of ​information and communications technology​ (ICT) is evident in

educating students with learning disabilities in schools. ​Students with a learning disability like

dyslexia or students that have a hard time with any writing skills can use AT such as a ​livescribe

pen created to help these particular disorders. Mobile devices can become AT and we can make

AT devices available to everyone that needs them and can use them to help their learning

disabilities.

Introduction

Students with disabilities that can affect or make their learning challenging can have their

situation improved/ helped through technology. Technology is one of the many ways it can assist

students that have learning disabilities. Technology is always evolving, and because technology

is always evolving we have a new ways of improving​.​ Another great reason to stay on top of

technology is because since it is fast evolving, other technologies that are helping students with

disabilities improve their learning, their education and their lives beyond education.

Unfortunately, technology can become outdated within a couple of years. In order to prevent

this, teachers and parents should try to follow up to see what new technology is available to the

public every couple of years. Technology used for learning is referred to assistive technology.

Assistive technology can range from devices that physically can assist student to software that
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning2

are programed to help. Assistive technology is important to students with disabilities to help

improve learning in education. Assistive technology is not only used for learning purposes, but

can be used outside of an educational setting as well. Disabilities can range from visually

impaired to mental disability​,​ with assistive technology, students have access to many learning

opportunities to help further their education in school. Technology can be programs or software

created to help students with disabilities navigate and transition their lives to adulthood. Even

creating more books with braille for the visually impaired, or a gps that can be installed in their

mobile devices, will literally help guide them through their lives before and after school. A pen

created to help any student that struggles with ​dyslexia​ or a student that struggles with writing

can help them be involved a fully inclusive classroom​.​ Any technology that can be used to better

assist anyone with a learning disability is rescreach worth spending time and money on to help

improve lives and create equal opportunities for learning.

Literature Review

In the paper, “A Meta-Analysis of Tools to Assist Students with Disabilities Through the

Transition from High School to Post-Secondary Learning Environments,” McBurney, Eaton, &

Torunsky present a study of students with disabilities that have a difficulty transitioning from

high school to adulthood. Their research shows that assistive technology is a tool that can be

used to help the students transition easily. One of the problems observed is providing enough

information to the student of the many types of assistive technologies that can be used to help

their learning disability in high school and adulthood. The authors also determined that an IEP is

not enough help these students prepare for adulthood. McBurney, Eaton, & Torunsky determined

that these students need more resources to better assist them during the transition to adulthood.
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning3

The paper mentioned many programs that can be used such as, ​“Hey! Can I Try That?,​” created

through the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) and Oregon Technology Access

Program (OTAP), ​Student Environments Tasks and Tools​ (SETT). The reason the paper was

written was to help reduce the the unemployment rate of people that have a learning disability by

showing the lack of resources given to help them through their career and self esteem.

“Use of Assistive Technology for Teaching-Learning and Administrative Processes for the

Visually Impaired People” by ​Karanfiller, Tolgay. Silman, Fatoş.Yaratan, & Hüseyin,​ is research

of how technology can assist the visually impaired. In the introduction, a very important point is

made in that it is ideal for teachers to be knowledgeable with assistive technology for their

students with visual impairments because of how fast technology is evolving. Teachers need to

stay up to date with constantly new technologies to better stay on top of new assistive

technologies. The authors also detail the importance of the students needing to stay just as

knowledgeable in assistive technology as the teachers in order to bring further successes in

learning. The assistive technology is used to help students that are visually impaired go to a fully

inclusive classroom. The paper conducts research with assistive technology with the opinion of

visually impaired people that use assistive technology used for learning and the improvement it

brings to students that are visually impaired. Technology can always be improved to better assist

people that are visually impaired. The study even included suggestions on how technology can

be created to better assist the visually impaired that can be put on mobile devices in order to help

them navigate through schools, instead of needing an aid guiding them from class to class.
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning4

Printing more books in braille, or using a device that can read the text of a book out loud is

extremely beneficial to visually impaired students.

“Technological Advancements and the Impact of Actor-Network Theory,” by Adam & ​Tatnall is

a book about technology and the impact ​information and communications technology​ (ICT) has

in educating students with learning disabilities in schools. Information and communication

technology in school can become a very useful tool in assisting students that have disabilities not

only in a learning setting, but in their self esteem that continues outside of school and into their

adult lives. ICT helps improve the students’ education, Adam & Tatnall remarks that schools that

are highly involved and committed to adopting the new assistive technology in their curriculum

offer the best support to their students needing assistive technology. The use of online work in

teaching can encourage students to provide feedback as well as learning on how to be an

independent learner. One piece of the research, conducted in a school with the use of ICT, was

the use of a laptop for school and home use was proven to be quite useful.

“Assistive Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Glimpse of the Livescribe Pen

and its Impact on Homework Completion,” by ​Harper, Kurtzworth-Keen, & Marable,​ targets

students with ​dyslexia or students that have a hard time with any writing skills, such as, verbal

responses to writing down notes in class​. ​This assistive technology is an pen that can be

perceived as a normal pen to others. The pen features are a recording device, that can be

activated through the writing motion of the pen or to record a lecture. The recording can be

played back through audio that can be slowed down to the users liking. ​An infrared camera is
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning5

included to take images for later use. ​Memory is used to store recordings and written notes

captured or created by the pen. It can be paired to smart phones or can be connected to any

computer device to download notes to be stored. The goal of this pen is to help students that have

learning disabilities that are associated with writing and reading and to help students with

learning disabilities be able to be in a fully inclusive classroom. The pen has the appearance of a

normal pen, which helps mask that it is assistive technology. The study was performed by the

Yale Center fo​r Dyslexia & Creativity, six students were followed and observed using the pen.

The study concluded that the pen was a great assistive technology for students that have reading

and writing disabilities.

“Mobile Learning as Alternative to Assistive Technology Devices for Special Needs Students,”

by ​Ismaili & Ibrahimi​, is concerned with a making assistive technology available in all countries

to all students with a learning disability. The paper also covers requirements some of the

assistive technology needs to be meet to make it user friendly. Making mobile devices or tablets

a source of assistive technology to better assist students with their learning disability needs to be

user friendly and convenient. The paper compares apps from Google Play and other app services

ranging from affordability and functionality. The apps created can be for learning disabilities, for

physical and mental disabilities, hearing impairment, visual impairment, autism, or speech

articulation disorders. The assistive technology does not meet some of the requirements that

teachers and students would want. One is accessibility, rating the mobile device or tablet as easy

to use. Another, is flexibility/adaptability to make the mobile/tablet customizable to the teacher

and student needs. Lastly, the device needs mobility to travel to or from school.
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning6

Results

“A Meta-Analysis of Tools to Assist Students with Disabilities Through the Transition from

High School to Post-Secondary Learning Environments,” from McBurney et.al., worked to

determine teaching practices that can be used in order to create a program in secondary education

to help students take control of their learning to better prepare for the transition into adulthood by

designing programs to give students the access to tools they can use. There is a wide range of

strategies to help support students with disabilities that need to be given to help students, to give

them skills to be more independent beyond high school, like programs as, ​“Hey! Can I Try

That?​” created by the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) and Oregon

Technology Access Program (OTAP), which puts the student in the center of the

decision-making process. The program also provides opportunities to look back at the

technology and determine if adjustments or changes need to be made. It helps support people to

be more independent.

“Use of Assistive Technology for Teaching-Learning and Administrative Processes for the

Visually Impaired People” by Silman et.al, results show there are ways to improve the field of

assistive technology for the visually impaired by asking teachers and students who are visually

impaired for suggestions. One of the biggest returns from this was books. The average textbook,

when ordered would come in on time, but it would take a long time to receive a braille book. If

the braille book did come in, it would be thicker and heavier. Some of the teachers wish the

administration would have audio books included with the textbooks, in order for visually
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning7

impaired students to have access also. Some of the students want technology made for their

mobile devices that can help them navigate through their school to classes so that they won’t

need assistance from aids.

Technological Advancements and the Impact of Actor-Network Theory” by Adam & ​Tatnall,

provided results ​obtained in a special education class. The project was called “1-2-1” to help

bring more assistive technology to schools and to be more hands on. Some of the students were

able to have laptops that they could take to and from school. The school supported the students

with ​impact ​information and communications technology​ (ICT). With the laptops and using ICT

and AT the school, as well as making curriculum to better include the laptops as a result, they

authors yielded outcomes they did not expect. The students using the laptops showed

improvements, even excelling in their subjects, as well promoting self learning in online

homework.

“Assistive Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Glimpse of the Livescribe Pen

and its Impact on Homework Completion” by Harper et.al, had results founded by transcripts

created by the livescribe pen and checked for accuracy. The livescribe pen was used in an

education setting, by students that had ​dyslexia. During the study, they found indications that the

livescribe pen had an impact, in different ways, on the student using the pen. One of the results

was that the pen seemed to make the student happier, because the pen made it easier to do their

studies resulting in more free time in academic and social endeavors. The livescribe pen was able
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning8

to improve the students academics because the students were able to review lectures by listing to

the recording again, and referring to notes the pen was able to capture.

“Mobile Learning as Alternative to Assistive Technology Devices for Special Needs Students,”

by ​Ismaili​ & Ibrahimi determined some alternative technology devices that can be used when

other apps or devices are expensive. One of the examples used is Tobii Dynavox: Dynavox, that

is known for leading trademark in the autism industry. The device is leading because they are

speech generating, or include an eye tracker for people that have cognitive issues that includes

autism. These devices can cost $5,000 to $12,000. An alternative technology is an application

that is downloadable to any mobile device or tablet designed to help special needs children that

have autism or speech issues. The review on the app showed that 76 % of reviewers were happy

with the app. Using mobile devices for assistive technology by downloading apps, was shown to

save a lot of money. The use of a mobile device can save money to help assistive technology to

be used by all children who need AT.

​Analysis

Technology is a great tool for students with learning disabilities. Assistive technology is shown

to have a great impact on students, not just academically, but it is shown to have improved

happiness life in a social aspect. Technology can be used to create programs to give more

resources and help transition from high school to adulthood more easily. The negative thing

about technology is that it can be slow, and becomes outdated fast. Because of this, teachers and

students can easily fall behind and not have the most updated assistive technology. Another
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning9

negative is that assistive technology can be expensive, making it so other students that have

learning disabilities are unable to use this resource, but there are alternatives to help bring down

the cost. Bringing all types of assistive technology to help students that have learning disabilities

that can help them in their education and in their later adult lives.
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning10

Work Cited

Adam, T., & Tatnall, A. (2014). The impact of ICT in educating students with learning
disabilities in Australian schools – an ANT approach. Technological advancements and the
impact of actor-network theory. Tatnall, A. Hershey, IGI Global: 1–14.

Harper, K.A., Kurtzworth-Keen, K. & Marable, M.A. Educ Inf Technol (2017) 22: 2471.
Assistive technology for students with learning disabilities: A glimpse of the livescribe pen and
its impact on homework completion. ​Volume: 22 Issue: 5 Page: 2471-2483

Ismaili, J. & Ibrahimi, E.H.O. Educ Inf Technol (2017) 22: 883. ​Mobile learning as alternative to
assistive technology devices for special needs students. Volume: 22 Issue: 3 Page: 883-899

McBurney, H., Eaton, S.E. & Torunski, E. (2017). A meta-analysis of tools to assist students
with disabilities through the transition from high school to post-secondary learning environments
(Werklund School of Education Working Papers #2017-002). Calgary, Canada: University of
Calgary.

Karanfiller, Tolgay. Silman, Fatoş.Yaratan, Hüseyin. (2017) ​Use of Assistive Technology for
Teaching-Learning and Administrative Processes for the Visually Impaired People. ​ Cyprus
International University, NORTHERN CYPRUS.
 New Technology to Assist Persons with Disabilities in Learning11

Individual Education Plan

Specific challenges that an IEP team that would be confronted with are constantly improving

technology, and how expensive that technology would be. As a student, parent, and teacher

would agree, they want the most recent and up to date technology for the continuing success of

the students as well as determining what caters to the student’s individual needs. As far as cost,

and individual might need to find other alternatives that give the same service for a reduced

price. An example of this would having a tablet and downloading apps the student may need. A

program that can help many students in have an IEP is called​“Hey! Can I Try That?,​” created

through the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) and Oregon Technology Access

Program (OTAP). The program was created to help students transition from high school to

adulthood more easily. The purpose of the program is to help the student learn to become more

independent. The program also helps keep the students updated with the opportunities to look at

previous technology and changes that need to be made. Depending on the student’s disabilities,

there are many programs and assistive technologies that are able to help students. Technology

can be a wonderful thing and can always be made to be better.