A brief reflection on the immediate impact of assistive technology - Duke of Connaught P.S.

Duke of Connaught grade 7 & 8 class recently completed their first segment of an itinerant referral via a collaboration between HSP intermediate teacher Patrick Darkhor and east Assistive Technology itinerant teacher Valia Reinsalu. Darkhor wanted his students to explore the use of specific graphic organizer program SMART Ideas as an assistive technology support for his students' writing. The students learned how to use SMART Ideas in conjunction with Read and Write Gold in order to generate ideas about the topic of Community.
This is the first step of the process which Darkhor aims to have his students regularly self-select assistive technology tools and software to support their learning.

A few samples of the brainstorm process.

Here's Patrick Darkhor's reflection following the first sessions of the itinerant referral:

"Their (the students') responses slightly varied but majority of them thought that their work shows more information when they do it on computer using the AT. They also thought they can focus more on the task when they do it on the computer using the Read and Write program. They feel they can do more work using the program. My observations of their completed task also indicate that the quality of their assignments has significantly improved using the AT. Their work is more organized, more detailed and to the point in most cases."