Bring ideas to life VIA University College
Is this Language Inclusion?
Inclusive teaching practices with compensational IT tools
Senior Lecturer Anders Henrik Bendsen ab@via.dk
27 May 2015 Is this ianguage inclusion?
1
Concepts at issue
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Target group:
Pupils with reading and writing difficulties , including dyslexia
Individuals: Integration
Community: Inclusion and exclusion
Participation and diversity (Tetler 2000)
Political Inclusion Aims
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The Danish Inclusion Act of 2012 aimed at an inclusion rate of 96% (Quvang 2014).
This objective: to be achieved by the end of 2015 (Hagensen 2015).
Back in 2010, 14.3% of all pupils were SEN pupils, at a cost of 1/3 of all resources allocated to Danish Grade schools.
5.6 % of these were excluded, and were taught in special SEN schools.
(Ministry of Finance Report, “SEN Education in Grade Schools,” 2010:71)
The IT Class - its aims and tools
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For 12 weeks, pupils with reading and writing difficulties are excluded from ordinary classes.
They are taught to handle compensational IT tools in this special class, with units of 6 pupils at most.
Normally, pupils like these make use of a so-called IT
backpack. That is, compensational IT tools allocated by
the Danish Government (e.g. a pc, software, a scanner,
etc). To get this for free, dyslexia needs to be certified.
Is this inclusion or exclusion?
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In the end, the aim is to make exclusion inclusive.
IT Class teacher:
“We are moving a little beyond the limits to
inclusion, because if it was possible to
include them, they would of course have
stayed in their own classes... But since
they are given this opportunity, there is still
hope that they may be included after all.’’
Research questions
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How can more learning be achieved when we include pupils in their ordinary classes again, after a period of exclusion?
How can we accomplish that on their return, these pupils actually start using their new IT-mediated skills from
Special Education Needs classes, in their ordinary classes?
In short, how can they consolidate their SEN
progress?
How do SEN pupils feel
back home in their old class?
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Teacher’s strategies SEN Pupils’ reactions
Less homework Irritation Fewer class tasks Inferiority Different tasks Singled out
A lighter burden Sometimes: relief
Mixed-Ability Groups Enthusiasm
Same-Ability Groups Exclusion
How do things work together? What do teachers need to know?
Content, needless to say.
Technology: enough to support and scaffold SEN pupils’ use of their new IT tools
Pedagogy/didactics:
quite important to set objectives, and make contents and technology work together in education
The danger at hand: SEN pupils choose not to use their new tools and skills.
They are not embedded and consolidated, and therefore gradually forgotten
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TPCK Model
Mishra /Koehler
How do things work together? What do teachers need to know?
Content, needless to say.
Technology: enough to support and scaffold SEN pupils’ use of their new IT tools
Pedagogy/didactics:
quite important to set objectives, and make contents and technology work together in education
The danger at hand: SEN pupils choose not to use their new tools and skills.
They are not embedded and consolidated, and therefore gradually forgotten
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9
TPCK Model
Mishra /Koehler
Bottlenecks and Barriers
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• Rerouting pupils to the Grade School Class: Information access and channels - who knows what when - who passes information on?
• Generally, coordination between IT Class and Grade School Class
• School districts policies – updating and formatting/emptying pc’s
• Learning becomes secondary to identity issues:
(Erikson’s life phases theory)
The older they get, the more they focus on their roles in the class
• Parents and siblings play crucial roles: scaffolding;
experience
Mock-up or first-iteration chart
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Figur e 9.3 A simple interaction design life cycle model’ (Preece, Sharp and Rogers, 2011:
332)
Name, IT-class duration, objectives, teaching materials, compensational IT tools
Basic skills: logging on, Word, finding and saving pictures and photos, ppt, Publisher, Excel
TTS: Text to Speech software: a number of on-line and CD-Rom based ICT programmes and STT tools too (sound to text)
Scanners, virtual learning environment platforms, library services for the blind and reading- impaired
Teaching materials, license conditions, on-line resources , etc.
Information letters to heads of departments, class teachers, administration employees, parents, etc.
Successes and Signposts
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• Some SEN pupils were able to push on and succeed in using their compensational IT tools
• The good news is that sometimes only one resource person or consultant was needed
• How do SEN pupils and teachers get beyond this vicious circle, so that inclusion becomes successful?
More research no doubt needs to be done here, but provisional suggestions are as follows:
• A holistic approach to schools and decision making
– decisions that affect many levels
Digital Learning Architecture DLA
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• The concept is about decisions being made, and the interaction between them, at various levels.
These levels refer to:
• municipal or school districts decisions and priorities in schooling
• it-strategic considerations carried out by school leaders in individual schools
• teachers’ it-didactic competences in their own subjects and in cooperation with other subjects
• pupils’ use of ,and familiarity with various compensational IT tools inside and outside of
education.
More Signposts
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• Teacher teams may use cross-curricular approaches
in using software and programmes in a planned progression
– and include other colleagues along the way.
• Compensational IT tools may be made available to all pupils.
• IT tools may be trained and used when relevant
by entire classes
Dynamic teams processes at various levels
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–
The UFO Model– Spiral movement, using centrifugal force
Teacher teams introduce compensatory IT tools to their classes in several subjects
Pupils include teachers that were not included at first – Progression – first things first, advanced ones later
New iterations of this process, in classes and teams
Evaluation and assessment tools
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– Assessment programmes
NearPod screens cordination, no signing in, pin sent out, reports e.g. to gmail QuiaWeb many other question types than multiple choice, e. g ordering
Socrative quick quizzes, in class too, divides class into colour-coded groups, percentages
Kahoot fun quizzes., computers, cell phones, or other devices,. flashcards for review, embed videos, aliases
Zaption for in-flipping in class and using videos, ask questions after a topic in videos - lets you embed questions within the video.
– Backchannel Chat Tools
Chatzy, Today’s Meet, or Ning live chat that accompanies class discussion – for exit activities.
No BYOD?
Plickers and Mobile Scanners
No computers, no cell phones, etc? A smartphone or tablet?
Plickers : For verbal questions - create a page for each student. This tool will code in the student's name and answers. Hand each student their plicker card and ask a question. The student will hold the card up in the direction of their answer. Looking at the class through the camera on your smartphone inside the Plicker app, you’ll see the name of each student and whether he or she got the answer right to the question you just asked!
QuickKey For quick quizzes: a mobile scanning app for the iPhone. There are several others, e..g. ZipGrade and GradeCam. disadvantage: questions must be multiple choice.
Beware of excessive observation of pupils.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-fast-formative-assessment-tools-vicki-davis
So when is Inclusion for real?
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Updating and upgrading teachers is a crucial area in this issue.
At times, it may be necessary to exclude SEN pupils,
in order for them to acquire e.g. compensational IT skills that will make
it possible for them to work and live alongside other pupils in Grade School classes.
Full inclusion is not enough – we may need to focus on responsible and responsive inclusion.
One student about English, ”It was the first lesson I enjoyed in school.”
Similar statements were listed in McColl (2000).
Issues for discussion
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❖Does it amount to neglecting SEN children and their learning needs to keep them on in an ordinary Grade School Class?
❖Do children with special needs benefit very much from taking part in social and other activities in an ordinary class, and will their
learning therefore be of secondary importance in this connection?
Select Bibliography
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