Technological Assistance in the Classroom

I was prompted to write this message after reading in my Educational Psychology textbook about the technological advances that are available for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is amazing to see the new devices that can assist students.

• Cochlear implants provide sound information for adults or children who have hearing loss in both ears. It consists of a small microphone located behind the ear that sends signals to the brain (of course it is much more complex than that). A great website to find out more about this devise is http://www.pbs.org/went/soundandfury/cochlear/cochlear_flash.html
• A software tool called Bobby evaluates websites and determines whether they are accessible to users with a hearing loss http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/about.jsp
• An online sign language dictionary that contains videoclips of signs http://www.handspeak.com/ - very useful for teachers too!
• Telecommunication devices are telephones with small screens. When one person calls another they can type their communication into the device which transfers text onto the screen.
• Closed captioning is available for television programs and increasingly for home DVDs. Big screen captioned movies are also becoming an option. Check out this website for InSight cinema http://www.insightcinema.org/
• There are so many informational sites on the Internet that provide support and assistance to teachers to help students with special needs succeed.
  

Some of the technological advancements that are being developed to assist special needs students and their teachers are amazing. I think that the Internet is a powerful tool for teachers as it provides them with a wealth of information that can assist them in effectively teaching children with special needs in their classrooms.