Journal 8

Disabled Bodies, Able Minds: Giving Voice, Movement and Independence to the Physically Challenged
By Diane Curtis

This article encourages schools to invest in assistive technology for disabled students. The author talks about 4 students (Adrian, Niara, Susanna, and Lukas) who are disabled students that have benefited tremendously from assistive technology.

Adrian is unable to use any of his limbs, walk or speak and can only move his eyebrows to communicate. He participates in a program at his school called TACLE (Technology and Augmentative Communication for Learning Enhancement)which developed a headband for him to use that sensed his eyebrow movement. With this headband he could move the computer cursor to a row or line, select it, and the computer would speak those words for him.

Niara is in the same program and has Cerebral Palsy. She uses her cheek to communicate to the computer in the same way Adrian does.

Susanna is an outgoing college student who wants to be a TV anchor. She states "Without a computer, I couldn't do my homework, without my [wheel]chair, I couldn't get around. Without my cell phone, I couldn't call for help."

Lukas was born with very limited use of his arms and legs and is now a sophomore. He decided to play the euphonium (horn similar to a tuba) but could only play one note because he couldn't press the keys to open and close the valves. He was happy to do just this, but a school employee found a music store which agreed to create a euphonium with a joystick that would be used to open and close the valves. His music teacher states that the key to his success was his smile and great attitude.

Sheryl Burgstahler, director of DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) states "If they have access to their own computers, they can take their own notes, they can take their own tests, they can write their own papers, they can use the Internet and do their own research," She goes on to ask schools why they wouldn't want to invest in these students.

Aside from the financial aspect of including assistive technologies in schools, what might other reasons be to NOT use or invest in it? I'm sure different schools would come up with different answers or reasons but one could be that there is not much need seeing as many disabled students already have their own assistive technology.

On the opposite note, How responsive would students and parents be to a program offered to disabled students which created a specialized assistive technology for them? I think this program would be tremendously successful as was evidenced in the article! If I had a disabled child I would want the best there was to offer him/her and a program that tailor fit a device for my child to learn to their full potential is exactly what I would choose!

Journal 7

Envisioning the Future of Education
Learning While Mobile
Mark Van 'T Hooft

In this article the author discusses the pros and cons of learning while mobile. He first explains that learning while mobile is not only learning with the use of mobile technology and mobile learners, but looks at the constant mobility of knowledge and our society. He states "It focuses not on learners and technologies, but on the interactions between them, emphasizing that learning is a social process."

The two main components of this type of learning are context and conversation. Context is the location that learning takes place, such as a museum, classroom, workspace, etc. These are mobile because learners move from one location to another. Conversation is not only communication between two or more people, but the exchange of knowledge and information, creating active and collaborative learning.

Some examples of learning while mobile are MyArtSpace (where technology allows children to connect their experiences in a museum to school), Frequency 1550 (a artifact hunt done in medieval Amsterdam where students take on the role of pilgrims but use GPS-equipped cell phones to navigate), and National Museum of Natural Science (in Taiwan technology is used in this museum to create learning tours and much more)

The negative aspects of learning while mobile are:
Participation Gap-since there is unequal access to opportunities, skills, and knowledge, it doesn't fully prepare our youth for tomorrow's world.
Transparency Problem-much of the media in today's society is extremely biased in their distribution of information, and this makes it difficult for kids to make their own judgments.
Ethics Challenge-when traditional forms of professional training are broken down and thus not adequately preparing youth for public roles, ethical challenges occur.
Fear Factor-adults fear what kids will do with emerging technology and the potential negative side effects.

How can we find the balance of learning while mobile and yet sticking to traditional learning methods as well? It looks like a hard balance to find, but I'm sure eventually we will find it.