In today’s class, we had a speaker Chantelle Morvay-Adams come in to discuss BCEdAccess Society which is an entirely volunteer-run organization that focuses on making education accessible to all. The organization helps serve families of children with disabilities and complex learners all over the province. We also went on to discuss ableism and how to identify it, in order to create a safe and inclusive space. Ableism is something that every teacher needs to be aware of, and how they can prevent classifying students as someone who needs to be ‘fixed’, and help students recognize ableism. When it comes to tech, ableism can be identified in situations where people believe students are “too disabled” or “not disabled enough” to use tech as a tool. Withholding tech from students who need it as an aid, for the purpose of “not making other kids jealous”, is an example of ableism, and is an idea that needs to be demolished, as equity starts with understanding that some people need tools in order to succeed at the level of everyone else. Explaining that everyone has a need that can be fulfilled to help them learn better is something that can help children understand this idea. There should also be a discussion surrounding what it looks like to use technology appropriately, and how it is used to support students.

We had a class discussion regarding two big questions : “What can you do to determine your students’ tech needs?”, and “What are some ideas of how we can normalize tech use in the classroom”. We can help demolish stigma in our classrooms by normalizing the use of tech, and being honest with our students, and how it can aid other students and giving them the opportunity to understand that not everyone needs technology as an aid, and it’s helping them to get to the same level of understanding as everyone else, and it isn’t an unfair advantage, nor is it a toy that some students get the privilege of using.  In order to get every child what they need, they need to be a part of the conversation. Getting the family and student involved can help develop further ideas for supporting the student, as well as give the student more support, and learn more about the student in order to find what works best for them. An idea to support the student, would be to send out a questionnaire to each family about the student so they can talk about their child and how they are best supported, and what has maybe worked best for them in their learning in the past. This would give parents the opportunity to talk about their child’s disabilities or learning blocks, and give the teacher more opportunities to support the student. Google lens, Google read and write, are apps that can be integrated into a classroom and used for those who need tech support. These are free apps making it more accessible for students. There are many ways technology can be integrated into the classroom, and finding what works best for those students who need technology to aid them throughout their learning can support them to feel there are less barriers, and feel comfortable using technology as a tool to provide them with the learning they need. 

Speechify is another tool that allows students to listen to documents, as well as highlights the words as they are being read

Sampling of Speechify

https://speechify.com/?utm_campaign=search_natural_readers&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhL2qmZD89gIV0RZ9Ch2czwCKEAAYASAAEgLE7vD_BwE