Ipads Iphones : Speech And Language Therapy

As the number of technological devices increases dramatically in the U.S. so does the arguments for and against these devices being placed in little kids hands (Hanes). Even if these iPads and Tablets have “educational apps” the impact they make on children shouldn’t be praised. UCLA scientists found that sixth-graders who went five days without a digital screen did tremendously better at reading human emotions than sixth-graders who continued to spend hours each day looking at their

It is estimated that one in every sixty eight children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (CDC, 2014). In schools around the country these students are struggling in their classroom environment due to deficits in three areas; communication skills, social skills, and repetitive behaviors or interest (Marder & Fraser, 2012). Implementing the use of technology in the classroom like iPad, iPod, android tablets, e-readers, and computers is beneficial to students with autism spectrum disorder. It can increase communication skills, can help make their classroom experience more pleasant, and it gives them the best chance at success.

iPads and tablets have become a popular choice of teachers in many classrooms worldwide due to the positive impact it has on the students. Tablets offer a wide variety of educational applications that have the ability to be downloaded onto the tablet for the students to use. The use of tablets in the classroom, “offer a unique home-school connection by providing students with a classroom experience that relates to the technology-saturated real world” (Blackwell, 2013, pg. 233) The use of iPads and tablets in the classroom provides students with a hands on learning approach to any

With informational technology such as laptops, tablets, kindles, and iPads being more and more prominent in education like high school and college, it opens many doors to new possibilities of learning. Now it obviously has some negative outcomes like bullying and students being unable to acquire certain technology for school, but these negative situations all have solutions to make them positive. Informational technology lets students connect with teachers in new ways outside of just the classroom.

Students don’t just watch, listen, or read with iPad — they create with it. iPad

In the study, by van der Meer et al. (2011), success was reported for two out of the three participants with developmental disabilities making requests for snacks and toys with the use of Proloquo2Go on an iPod Touch1

Samantha Light, grade 1 teacher at St. Juans catholic elementary in Toronto, Ontario noticed that her students learn better when they use technology, such as iPads. Light wants to make learning more enjoyable not only for her students, but kids everywhere, as she thinks it will make students want to participate in their teachers lessons more.

Learning methods have also been transformed by technology. Before technology was incorporated in schools, essay writing was hand written, regardless of how long the essay was. Mathematical problems were solved mentally or calculated on paper until the solution was found. Handwriting skills in children was good, because of the amount of practice they had using it everyday in their school work. Furthermore, children developed a vast amount of book knowledge by using library resources from actual books. However, today it is not the norm. Almost every school issues students with devices like iPads or tablets from as early as kindergarten. It is important to realize that with the use of technological devices, children would prefer the quick action of iPads and tablets in contrast to handwriting or reading a book to find reference points. To put it another way, children will end up using mobile devices both in and out of school, leaving no room for outdoor forms of recreation. A Northlines article, “Information Technology and Children”, mentions that the availability of Internet connection on mobile devices is harmful, because they can use it negatively, giving children an uncontrolled source of entertainment and connectivity. Similarly, the availability of

al, 2016). ICT provide safe and controlled environments, motivation, high level of interactivity, immediate feedback, and contribute to the improvement of visual processing skills and short-term memory or working memory inadequacies (Kalyvioti et. al, 2012). They also help develop interactive experiences and optimistic learning surroundings, that can motivate and help children, thus helping them address their disability early on and possibly mitigate its various negative effects (Skiada et.al, 2014). The use of ICT offer support in several fields concerning learning difficulties (Kalyvioti et. al, 2016). Digital technologies can be used in order to train, assist and even enable the learning process (Skiada et.al, 2014). Specifically designed applications can stimulate students interest, but may also help students with disabilities fit into and progress within mainstream school environments (Skiada et.al, 2014). One of the main groups of people with special educational needs, such as dyslexia, could potentially gain many benefits from ICT (Skiada et.al, 2014). As an ICT, this Chrome Extension has the ability to be able to motivate and help children learn and improve their comprehension of the English

The XPRIZE article, “Students Build Apps for Peers in Special Education” by Joni Blecher, explains how students use the technology skills they have learned in school to help others in need of befitting from it. Allen Brooks is an entrepreneur turned teacher. During one of his days working at San Elijo Middle School in San Diego, he witnessed some students in need extra learning tools as they had disabilities that hindered them. When he saw these students in Mrs. Dudley’s class, he though of SMART Technologies’ SMART Tablet and how much it could benefit these students in need. He then put his computer students into groups of six to observe a class filled with disabled children. Brooks assigned his students to create an app that would help these

Ian is a 2nd grade student who is non-verbal with a hearing impairment. He needs support in a classroom and home environment to help gain an ability to communicate. Ian uses visual tools of an electronic PECS system to be able to receptive and express his language. The student hearing impairment is not severe and he is able to use sign language and hearing device to communicate with his teachers and a paraprofessionals. Ian’s classroom setting is a part of the Delaware Autism Program (DAP) and his IEP suggested his least restrictive environment suggested he be in separate school for other students with Autism. The students in the classroom uses visual tools such as a smartboard and schedules to help guide the classroom routine. In addition, the teachers and paraprofessionals in Ian’s classroom provides an electronic devices of a PECS system to allow Ian and his peers to be able to communicate.

The author provided a literature review of the popularity of use of the iPad in the classroom, among students with or without disabilities. The review found that students with disabilities had greater engagement and behavioral response rates when using iPads and teaching applications on the iPads as opposed to more traditional methods of teaching. Through this background knowledge, the author sets up her research proposal.

“…If all of my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose the power of communication, for by it I would regain all the rest. Daniel Webster” (Lloyd, Fuller, and Arvidson 1).

Omer Faruk Sozcu, Smail Ipek, Erkan Taskin all agreed that "The establishment of preschool children's classroom environmental setting needs to be able to guide children in to participating in active play, silent reading, music, drawing, blocks ...ECT. for motivating children's interests." Which brings up the impact of technology on teaching and learning; in my classroom we use an app on the ipad called speakazoo which is an interactive zoo experience; the friendly speakazoo animals will ask you questions and respond appropriately. Although I personally feel that, since we downloaded the app our children have increased the amount of talking they do, not only with the app animals but with their friends and teachers; There are others that feel using these electronic learning devices takes away from important human interaction that children need at that age.

Education has found its way into the loop of technology. Teachers are using ipads and laptops during class time to help conduct experiments, or share a presentation. This is allowing the students to gain instant access to the information they are seeking. Students also receive the opportunity to complete their homework online and print off their assignments instead of just using paper and pencil. Another pro for Technology in Education, there are countless sources out there which help enhance learning. In one research conducted, they compared the performance of teaching kids how to read a clock. One group was coached by an online app, another was shown by a toy clock, and the last group was trained by a drawing example. The results revealed that the children that were taught by the toy and app exceeded the paper drawing group (Galetzka).