Last year I had the experience of teaching a computer-based art class to a group of children that included a visually impaired child. After reading our class article, which was over 70 pages long, I was disappointed that I didn’t find any information surrounding the advantages/disadvantages of teaching a curriculum that involves computers/technology to visually impaired children.
My experience last year involved teaching a student who had some vision, but required individual attention and foresight on my part as the educator. I did some searching on the internet before that semester began, and I got a lot of advice from my co-workers, and the one thing I found most important was preparation. Whether or not I prepared myself appropriately for that lesson could make or break that student’s lesson for the day.
I had to become familiar with what adaptive technologies were available to my student for the class. It was my responsibility to find out what a Braille writer, a slate and stylus, and a Braille note-taker were. I needed to find out what equipment she had at home, and if this equipment was mobile/easy to transport in case my school would not provide her with the equipment she needed (because unfortunately that was what occurred for the first 2 weeks of class).
Luckily my student knew the intricate basics: how to use a mouse without being able to see the entire screen, how to click on objects using keystrokes, etc. I also had to learn these skills myself in order to be able to teach her the class lessons. My student had to show me how to use her screen reader and screen magnification software.
I watched my student use Microsoft Word, a translating/embossing Braille reader, the Windows file management system, Outlook Express, regular Web email, and OmniPage Pro (for scanning handwriting to eliminate time-consuming typing). In addition, I watched and learned how she configured Windows to be more accessible.
It’s difficult for me to remember everything that I had to learn and prepare for my class with this student. I want to give a head’s up to other educators who may need to do this at some point in their teaching careers. I felt that I mostly did this on my own and that my student taught me more about the process of learning than I taught her about graphic arts.
Through a lot of patience, she was able to learn from my class a variety of graphics skills along with some presentation applications (like PowerPoint). I should have been better prepared though my certification classes. Since I took 3 Special Ed classes in order to become a certified public high school teacher, I feel that I should have been better prepared in how to effectively teach the visually impaired. I should have been given a training plan or been given help in creating one by my school.
I think it is important that in this class, we all become at least familiar with the strategies a visually impaired student uses to perform tasks, so that we can facilitate the smooth inclusion of technology and/or specialized teaching assistance in our classrooms.
This year my student joins me in our after school art club. Luckily she has been given an Assistive Technology Specialist. She is pretty valuable to all the teachers of my student. This year she has taken over all the installing and configuring for the needed hardware and software, provided training and technical assistance to the other teachers and me, and helped me to identify the technology that will be a potential hurdle to my student. She also gives me regular training so that I can train my student.
Hi Radha –
I can somewhat empathize with your experience, just from my experience teaching, period. While I have never had a student who has required as much technological adaptations, I do understand feeling as though you are left on your own to accommodate students without adequate preparation or resources. I think that your concern is very valid and one of great import. Teaching at a private Catholic school we are not beholden to the same standards as public schools in regards to accommodating our students, however I feel that to truly call ourselves “catholic” (meaning universal) that we should be able to accommodate any and all students’ needs. I have never had any training whatsoever about working with students with visual impairments. I have had a great deal of training on how to academically accommodate students with varying learning disabilities – but just like teaching itself – how well did my training actually prepare me for working with my students? I think when it does come to teaching, training is so much more helpful when you are actively spending time in the classroom, and already have that schemata to attach to – otherwise the information, while good, is useless. So I guess my question for you is how much advance preparation do you think that teachers should receive to prepare them to work with students of all kinds of disabilities – particularly students with visual impairment? Or do you really think that the training/accommodations should jus tbe provided should the need arise?
Also – thanks for your comments to my post – I’m glad I’m not alone…!