Using ICT to Support Students

with

Mild General Learning Disabilities

2

Professional Development and Support: Why?

• Isolation

• Unique and common problems

• Affirmation

• Pace of change in education

• Policy of integration

• Parental expectations and awareness

• Professionalism

• Educational partnership

3

Professional Development and Support: How?

Through the Internet:• Access to expertise/information

• On-line courses

• Chat rooms

• Message Boards

• Mailing lists

• Sharing of resources

Other:• Support groups in education centres

4

A special needs teacher may need:

• The facility to individualise teaching and learning materials

• New and exciting ways of learning to motivate students

• Administrative tools to help with planning, record keeping etc.

• What else?

5

A student with mild general learning disabilities

• Will have more difficulty learning than other children of the same age

• May need different approaches to learning

• May need to overlearn

• Will need extra reinforcement

• May need extra support in class setting

6

Memory Triangle

5%

10%20%

30%

50%

70%

90%

Lecture

Doing a Project Cross Curricular WorkDoing the real thing

Teaching Others

Giving a talkGroup Work

Watching a videoSeeing it done

Seeing/Demo

Hearing

Reading

We remember

7

Memory Triangle

• ICT facilitates active teaching methods

5%

10% 20% 30% 50% 70% 90%

Lecture

Doing a Project Cross Curricular Doing the real thing

Teaching Others

Giving a talk Group Work

Watching a video Seeing it done

Seeing/Demo

Hearing

Reading

C o m p u t e r

8

Memory Triangle

We remember:

• 10% of what we read

• 50% of what we see and hear

• 90% of what we do

9

Common types of ICT use

• Teaching tool

• Learning tool

• Administrative tool

• A source of educational content

• A collaborative tool

• A medium of communication

• A student’s functional aid (assistive technology)

10

How ICT can help the teacher

• Facilitates individual instruction

• Facilitates individual learning

• Facilitates provision of additional support in class setting

• Can be used as a source of professional development and support

11

How ICT can support students

• Supports basic literacy and numeracy

• Provides structured skills practice

• Facilitates pair / group work

• Facilitates customisation of student’s learning

• ICT can be used as an alternate method of presentation of information

12

How ICT can support students

• Combination of ICT and hard-copy programmes

• Range of software that can be selected and matched to students needs

• Talking books to encourage and support reading

• Talking word processor to encourage and support writing

13

ICT as a motivator

• View of ICT as entertainment

• Provision of non-threatening environment

• Confers status and confidence

• Can facilitate equality for low-achievers

• Enables communication among peers

14

Some interesting software features

• The facility to enable drafting and correcting

• Speech feedback

• Word prediction

• Word banks

• Spell checking

• Control of pace and level of work

• Provision of consistent response