3.

4 Adaptive & Assistive Technology

Candidates facilitate the use of adaptive and assistive technologies to support individual student
learning needs. (PSC 3.4/ISTE 3d)
Artifact: ITEC 7445 Assistive Technology Initial & Final Thoughts
ITEC 7445 Assistive Technology Field Experience Reflection
Reflection
These artifacts were completed as a part of my ITEC 7445 course in the spring of 2016.
The field experience focused on the application of adaptive and assistive technology to support
unique student learning needs. The artifacts linked herein provide details of my experience
facilitating the use of adaptive and assistive technology (hereafter referred to as AT) to support a
junior high student with special needs identified in this case as twice-exceptionality of both
intellectual giftedness and dysgraphia. These artifacts offer an overview of my experience
facilitating AT and provide my initial thoughts, field experience report, field experience
interventions using AT, and my post-intervention analysis with reflection.
This field experience demonstrates my effective facilitation in the use of adaptive and
assistive technology (AT) to support individual student learning needs. The field experience
described in these artifacts required that I develop an AT plan and set up AT devices to improve
the learning outcomes of a student with special needs. I provided training to the stakeholders
involved in the assistive technology intervention on an ongoing basis throughout the process.
The assistive and adaptive technologies required specific facilitation to ensure suitability to the
students unique needs as both a learner with intellectual giftedness as well as a learner with
dysgraphia. A tablet device and a stylus with a large pencil grip were procured and free and preinstalled applications decreased the students level of frustration with writing. Digital assistive
technology such as word processing, speech-to-text, spell checker, grammar checker, etc. made

the writing process less stressful and reduced the amount of the time the student needed to
complete written tasks. Assignments were divided according to the length and formality with
some work requiring analog methods of writing by hand using adaptive technology such as
pencils with large grips and raised-line paper to writing with the stylus on the tablet to typing on
the tablet to typing on a keyboard on a computer to using speech-to-text tools.
If I did this AT experience again in the future, I would honestly like to make AT
implementation plans for all of the kids because I believe all children can benefit from assistive
technology and each child would have their own personal AT that would help him or her without
having to share. I would also ensure from the beginning that the tablet is fully kid-proof on the
inside settings as well as the outside, and connect the stylus to the tablet earlier in the process.
The impact on student learning and professional development of educators,
administrators, and support staff was immediately observed during and after this experience
facilitating the use of adaptive and assistive technology. All students can benefit from using
technology in an assistive and adaptive manner to improve their learning outcomes. With the
large population of students with twice-exceptionality of giftedness and a learning disability, it is
possible for technology to bridge the gap that too often causes these students to fall through the
cracks within many educational systems. Educators were able to observe the benefits of adaptive
and assistive technology in the academic improvement and reduced frustration level in the
student using the devices. The field experience case offered a valuable resource for professional
development trainings on assistive technology for educators, administrators, and school support.