Gia Shafer

EDU 120 Midterm Part 2-A

Ms. Siobhan Tumbleson is as Speech-Language Pathologist what works at Courtney

JHS- M/TH, Silverado HS T/W/F and Hinkley ES as a Coordinator of coverage for speech

services M-F. She uses a variety of educational software for student learning such as; iPad’s for

therapy, articulation apps for drill therapy, articulation apps with pictures that allow the student

to record their responses and determine if they produced it correctly by listening themselves and

language apps for questions, classifying, following directions, etc. Fluency apps that provide

models or ability to record or choral read. One of the most helpful apps is Proloquo2go, which

allows non-verbal students to communicate using pictures. Ms. Tumbleson also uses iPad for

data tracking, Microsoft Word for report writing, Encore for IEP writing, EdPlan for tracking

data which is reported to Medicaid, Infinite Campus for viewing grades and dropbox for saving

files and viewing at different locations.

Ms. Tumbleson finds Proloquo2go for students to communicate as the most beneficial

and effective software to evaluate and teach her students. Any programs that are required by

CCSD teachers/staff to use, the teachers are trained during a staff development day on how to

use it. However, if it is a program or app that the individual chooses to use, the person is

responsible for getting trained. Many of these are offered through the school, but not all. The

time it takes her to teach her students the applications she uses for therapy require only a few

minutes.

Ms. Tumbleson does not feel like there is a digital gap in the schools, but there are

problems with families who cannot afford a computer or do not have internet. A lot of what
students are required to do are done on technology and some parents don’t know how to use

these things, can’t afford them, or don’t speak English and can’t access them. These people are

told to go to the library and some of them don’t have a car, or work and can’t take these kids.

Also, not every school has access to the same amount or type of technology. For example, some

schools received grants which allow each student to have their own iPad for the year, but other

schools don’t even have enough computers for the students. She feels technology can only

interfere in the class if more time is being spent on how to use a program than actually using it,

but with the advances in technology the pros outweigh the cons. She only suggests have the type

of technology that is uses be the same across all schools. Also, ensure each student is able to

complete any type of assignment without the use of technology or is allowed to check one out for

their home.

After interviewing Ms. Tumbleson, I agree technology is extremely useful in the

classroom for both students and teachers. The internet and apps that created offers endless

opportunities to learn and develop. I also agree with her that the use of technology should be the

same across the school district but I do understand that there are funding issues, hopefully as we

continue to grow this issue can be resolved. To get a better understanding I asked her if she feels

that some of the older seasoned teachers dislike learning to use technology as that could present

another issue but Ms. Tumbleson feels that most of teachers embrace the new technology,

although the learning and training process can be frustrating. I also asked if she feels teachers

could still teach at the same level without technology and she said no, it is so helpful for the

students to learn various ways and for the teachers it is such a wealth of information and makes

their job easier. For my final question I asked if she had any suggestions on how to improve the
school/home technology issue and she said she supports how the individual schools are handling

this and one option is to have community computer labs that students and parents can access or

more mobile friendly apps.