Digital Submission

http://specialneedsict.wetpaint.com
Rationale
Special education is an area of great personal, and I hope to find myself
teaching in a special needs classroom one day. From an investigative standpoint I was
curious to see what kind of information and communicative technologies existed to
support learning in a special need classroom. This submission is intended to create a
space where special needs educators can locate information and resources, and
discuss the ways ICT is integrated into their teaching. The literature reviews posted
on my wiki, evidence great value in the application of ICT in the special needs
classroom. There is great significance in K-6 teachers understanding the uses of these
technologies, and as Talent ICT explain, “the use of ICT is essential in enabling
pupils with Special Educational Needs to gain access to the curriculum” (2006,
para.1). Providing a more fulfilled education to students with learning support needs
is the key idea behind the area of study.
In selecting a format for this assignment I chose to create a wiki as it is a Web
2.0 tool that I have no experience in using. What I consider most valuable about the
wiki is the open access to the editing and contribution of site content. In completing
this assignment I aimed to create a site where teachers could collaborate their ideas,
and the functionality of a wiki will allow this. Ferris & Wilder (2006) examine the
application of the wiki tool in the classroom, discovering that “wikis by their nature
lend themselves to collaborative work by teachers and students” (p. 3). With a focus
based in the traditional print paradigm, wikis allow for collaborative work “across the
boundaries of time and place” with the benefit of “print-based features such as built-in
backlinks and records of changes” (Ferris & Wilder, 2006, p.3). Wikis therefore can
potentially accommodate any number of contributors, allowing the sharing of a
wealth of professional knowledge.
The resources included in my wiki have been selected because of their content
and its contribution to the professional development of educators. Judge notes that
there is insufficient training in the education system to prepare teachers (particularly
pre-service teachers like myself) for the use of communication technologies
specifically designed for high learning needs students, and a critical lack of support
for their ongoing classroom usage (2006, p. 21.). In an attempt to alleviate this issue,
my wiki includes informative literature aimed at providing educators with foundation
knowledge that will aid professional learning. Ideally, I would like to continue to
develop this website, and make it accessible as a learning resource for special needs
teachers. I have shared the website with a number of my collegial peers at my
practicum school, and hope they will access the website and post their own ideas to
the online resource collection.
References:
Ferris, S., and H. Wilder. 2006. Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom.
Innovate 2 (5). Retrieved October 22nd, 2009
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=258
Judge, S. (2006). Constructing an Assistive Technology Toolkit for Young Children:
Views from the Field. Journal of Special Education, 21 (4), 17 – 22.
Talent ICT. (2006). Special Education Needs and ICT. ICT Training for Teachers.
Retrieved October 23rd, 2009 from
http://ecs.lewisham.gov.uk/talent/pricor/sen.html