Technology is helping those with learning disabilities

11 May Technology is helping those with learning disabilities

Posted at 15:49h in Interactive Journalism, Level 6 by Terry

(Header image credit: Pexels)

Introduction

This is my contest entry for the Mencap Journalism Awards 2019, where the criteria was to create a piece of either written, visual or audio content around the topic of learning disabilities.my submission is a 1000 word article with a ~3 minuet long audio report about the relationship between technology in the classroom and learning disabilities, how technology and the rise of “edtech” has aimed to help students who struggle in various ways. The agreed output was a 1000 word article for the competition, and a 3 min audio piece as well for the submission. Original entry for the competition was 27th March before the original deadline of the 29th March, which was extended to the 29th of April.

 

Many have struggled with learning disabilities for a long time – and even though it’s not easy, we’re progressing faster towards a better way to help those with learning disabilities

Learning disabilities, such as Dyslexia have caused many young people trouble in education and can hinder their natural talent due to making them struggle when learning, and sometimes require extra help in order to progress in education. One area that’s kept on developing, however, is technology – and the many benefits it can offer to us for help, especially in an academic environment.

Technology that’s used to help around in the classroom, also known as “edtech” has been developing over recent years to boost the potential of students and become a powerful tool in the classroom to use. The meaning covers everything from the application of computers to help basic skills visually such as reading and maths, to creating virtual spaces to submit work, access learning resources and enable teaching tools of assistive technology.

Across England, roughly 1.5 million people struggle with learning disabilities according to Mentalhealth.org, but with applications of educational technology being introduced into classrooms – especially in those with younger students – could drastically affect these statistics and help lower the number even more in the coming years. Across the country, education establishments have been applying tech that helps their students learn – which is why the UK is a world leader in ed tech.

The impact assistive tech can have in the classroom for teachers and students is what makes edtech tools so powerful; it’s able to help both parties – students to learn and teachers to help teach. In turn, for those who struggle with with learning disabilities it’s a huge benefit, as it can offer ways such as visualising maths problems or reading text to make it easier for the student to learn. It also allows for teachers to have a different style of teaching, one that is more interactive and can encourage students of all abilities to get involved in discussions and collective problem solving in a very interactive and natural way.

Dr Eileen Kennedy, a Senior Research Associate at University College London, has been investigating educational technology and the applications it has in a classroom and how it can benefit students, making lessons more interactive and how it can help those especially with learning disabilities.

“Students are very unique with their learning process, and should be handled carefully and taught ideally one-to-one, but that puts more pressure on a teacher and not everyone is guaranteed to understand their style of teaching – including those with learning disabilities.” She explained.

“Education technology allows for that more one-to-one learning process, giving students a way to learn at their own pace by being interactive and adapting to how the user is inputting answers and learning their way of thinking, which is an AI and can be moulded to teach specifically how a student requires to be taught, being very accessible for example with those with Dyslexia.”

Many programs and types of technology are being made available in classrooms across the country, such as screen readers which can help those who struggle with Dyslexia to increase reading and speaking skills by highlighting words and being interactive so that students can study text at their own pace. Other methods of edtech include braille displays and tactile drawing boards to help students with disabilities learn in the classroom. Some technologies already have existed, but are being applied to modern technology such as virtual reality displays and interactive tablets; including methods like captioning, text-to-speech software and large-print keyboards that all help link to interactivity with students with disabilities that help them in the classroom.

All of these methods are described as assistive technology, pieces of tech that can enhance our daily lives by providing accessible ways to obtain, learn and study new information from anywhere we please, such as Siri which has become one of the worlds most famous piece of interactive technology. Siri is a powerful tool for learning, being able to search any kind of information you’d need using speech recognition when being asked questions. This kind of software is the basis idea for applying such an important tool to an educational setting such as a classroom, and can drastically improve student’s way of learning and their efficiency to learn – most importantly it can help incredibly to those with learning disabilities.

“Interactive virtual spaces, where students can come together to learn, be briefed on a lesson or input answers and discuss work allows more communication in the classroom and encourages a focus on group work” Kennedy says.

“More minds being put together will always be stronger than one, meaning more chance for everyone to come to a conclusion to an answer for example and makes work more rewarding for students and teachers” She added.

Technology is one of mankind’s few blessings, and as our understanding of it continues to grow so does the complexity and efficiency of creating technology and what applications it has in our daily lives – and what it can do for us. The future already looks very strong for education, with ideas such as interactive desks for students and the application of virtual reality spaces in classrooms to encourage a new way of interactive learning.

Sir Mark Grundy, of Shireland Collegiate Academy, believes the future of edtech is a very important and serious topic that should be kept in check and reviewed yearly to ensure students, as technology progresses it allows for newer generations of students, without the obstacle of learning disabilities.

“As 2019 heralds a new inspection regime and new relationships across Europe” Mark said.

“We need to champion the digital skills that our students have and can further develop.” He explained.

Terry
rock_liam@hotmail.co.uk