Morgan Evans

ED 199: Exploring Educator Identity

Professor Knipstein-Meyer PATINs Write-Up

Kelli first told us that PATINs is an acronym that stands for “Promoting Achievement
through Technology and Instruction for all Students.” PATINs’s purpose is to provide resources
to classrooms to help teachers help students who may need assistance with learning. They have
a lending library where teachers can sign out various technology and materials to assist their
students. PATINs’s focuses are on UDL (universal design for learning), AEM (accessible
education materials), and AT (assisted technology). The universal design for learning that Kelli
told us about are providing multiple means of engagement to stimulate interest and
motivation, providing multiple means of representation of content, such as audio or a video to
reiterate what you say, and providing multiple means of action and expression by
differentiating the ways students can express their learnings (projects, presentations, etc.).
Accessible education materials are things like both printed and electronic textbooks or having
materials in other formats than normal print (such as large text, braille, audio, video, or digital).
We used a lot of assistive technology during Kelli’s visit. There were pens that could
connect to an iPad to convert words on a page to a digital format. This is helpful for students
who struggle to read on paper and need a digital format. Another piece of technology that Kelli
showed us were recording pens. There were two different models that Kelli showed us. With
one you just pressed a button and it recorded. With one, you drew something, pressed record
and tapped the picture, and it would record what the teacher was saying. Then later, you can
go back and tap the picture, and the pen will play back the audio that you recorded. One of
these items, which I had heard of before, was a robot that connected to an app that performed
various commands. I had read about him before in class being used to help people in a
retirement community with fitness by performing the actions. The robot could be used in this
way with students or could be used as a grounding technique by having students do the
movements or exercises with the robot. Another item that was SUPER interesting to me and
something I might buy for myself were the bone conduction headphones. They’re headphones
that you put on the outside of your ear (just next to it), and they play your music through bone
conduction. That way a student could hear music or possibly other auditory sources while still
hearing the teacher talking.
PATINs purpose reminds me of the College of Education mission and one of the core
values. On the college of education website, it says “We demonstrate transparency in the
ongoing and intentional development of our professional identities through self-examination
and self-transformation. We are engaged and active contributors to our professional practice
through collaboration and solution-focused advocacy.  We commit to keeping our teaching
practices relevant and engaging for all students across all identities. Our teaching and
mentoring must reflect what we hope to see revealed in our students’ professional practices.”
The things that stick out to me the most to connect to PATINs are “keeping our teaching
practices relevant for and engaging for all students across all identities” and “solution-based
Morgan Evans
ED 199: Exploring Educator Identity
Professor Knipstein-Meyer PATINs Write-Up

advocacy.” PATINs helps teachers help students by creating solutions to the barriers that keep
students from learning.
This training made me consider what my role as an educator is. Many students have
disabilities or other things that prevent them from learning the way their peers might. It is our
job as educators to help students find accommodations for these students. Places like PATINs
make that possible through their lending library, where teachers can check out accessibility
items for use in their classrooms. Not only is it morally our job as teachers to provide these
accommodations, it is also legally our job. According to IDEA regulations, “Schools will provide
specialized formats of print instructional materials to students with documented print
disabilities in a timely manner.” This means that if a student has a recorded disability, a teacher
will have an accessible form of materials needed for class at the same time it is distributed to
other students.

One thing that I thought was cool was that this actually qualified as an accessibility
training. I didn’t know that going in, and I didn’t realize until Kelli told us at the end that we
would be getting a certificate. I think this is one of those things about being a Butler prepared
educator. From what I’ve heard so far, my friends studying education at other schools haven’t
gotten to do a training like this this early on in their schooling. I feel like Butler really equips us
with any and all resources we could need to become the best educators we can.

Here's a Quizlet I made to go along with this Write-Up: https://quizlet.com/_apjt3a?

x=1qqt&i=40eg50
Morgan Evans
ED 199: Exploring Educator Identity
Professor Knipstein-Meyer PATINs Write-Up
Morgan Evans
ED 199: Exploring Educator Identity
Professor Knipstein-Meyer PATINs Write-Up