What Next?

I began this course with limited knowledge of AT. I've used Co-Writer and Fusion Writer this year, I've also done PD on the whole Solo 6 program and a variety of other low, mid, and high tech AT options through the HRSB 36 hr workshops. None of that really prepared me for how overwhelmed with possibilities I'd become when we began to examine the iPads on the first day of class. I'm glad that we still examined non-iPad options, as I do think that there is a time and a place for them. But really what it comes down to is that iPads and other mobile devices are the way education is going as far as AT is concerned, so I need to embrace that and learn as much as I possibly can about how best to use them with my students. By doing a task analysis on both reading and writing, I'm now better able to understand where these technologies will fit into my students' learning process. I won't say I feel like an expert in this area - I don't - but I can see the importance of knowing how various learning disabilities may interrupt at a specific stage of reading or writing and the domino effect that may have for a student. I don't know what school I'll be at next year or what type of classroom I'll be teaching in, but chances are that some of this Apple technology will be available to me, and certainly I can gain access to Co-Writer and other software programs. What I don't have at my fingertips already, I can do some fundraising or apply for a PDAF grant for. The possibilities are overwhelming, but as I look back through both of my blogs I now have a whole lot more understanding of what to use and how to use it with students. I just need to keep reminding myself to use my new knowledge, and maybe even teach some of my colleagues a thing or two as well.