Advantages and Disadvantages Of Assistive Technologies - Essay Example

? Annotated Bibliography- Advantages and Disadvantages of Assistive Technologies Annotated Bibliography- Advantages and Disadvantages of Assistive Technologies 1. Mulligan, S. A. (2003), Assistive technology- Supporting the participating of children with disabilities, Beyond the Journal, November Issue. This article points out the benefits of assistive technologies in terms of increased level of participation by the children with disabilities and increased level of interaction with the peers. It also explains some of the issues that are often witnessed in the process of adopting a suitable technology. This source is relevant since it discusses the challenges in the adoption process which are not found in many papers since much of the literature contains the benefits of the usage of the assistive technologies. The benefits in this article denote that the usage of assistive technologies brings about changes in the attitude of the child since he is noticed to gain interest in the surrounding on-goings. 2. University of North Carolina, (n.d.), Ethical issues in assistive technology, Retrieved from www.cs.unc.edu/Research/assist/et/notes/goldberg/ethics.ppt This source explains the concept of assistive technologies and different places where it can be applied. This source is useful since it points out a disadvantage of the usage of assistive technologies by children; the child might begin relying on the assistive technology to such a great extent that he might not exert the required effort in developing his own skills. This can prove to have adverse affects on the development and well-being of the child since he would not be able to perform tasks without the presence of assistive technologies. 3. Krull, M. et al., (2004), Study of Assistive Technology and California Community College Students with Learning Disabilities, High Tech Center Training Unit. This source includes discussion regarding several studies and surveys that have been conducted with the aim of evaluating the effect of the usage of assistive technologies on the level of comprehension and learning pace of the children. The authors also conduct a study with the aim of evaluating the effects on the basis of academic performance of the child. Such statistical figures and surveys can prove to support the arguments regarding the advantages of the technologies in an effective manner. 4. Brooks, J. G., Brooks, M. G., (1999), In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, Revised Edition, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. The authors stated that assistive technologies make the child motivated to learn and acquire education. One reason for such motivation can be the fact that assistive technologies bring the child out of his isolation and makes him participate with his peers at an equal level. This source highlights the degree of inclusion of technology in the modern classrooms and how they benefit the process of learning for all types of children, regular as well as children with disabilities. 5. Amiripour, P., Bijan-zadeh, M. H., Pezeshki, P., Najafi, M. (2011), Effects of assistive technology instruction on increasing motivation and capacity of mathematical problem solving in dyscalculia student, Educational Research, Vol. 2(10), pp. 1611-1618. This source also bases the hypothesis of the research study on the increment in motivation level of the child due to the usage of assistive technologies. The research activities of the authors are targeted to specifically evaluate the effect of assistive technologies on possible improvements in the logical skills for mathematics. An experiment was conducted by the authors on a sample of students with learning disabilities and the results showed that the assistive technologies motivated the children to learn more and improved their mathematics skills to a great extent. 6. Castellani, J., Jeffs, T. (2001), Emerging Reading and Writing Strategies Using Technology, Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 60-67. This source includes guidance for the teachers to incorporate the usage of assistive technologies in their classrooms. The article provokes the teachers to provide content in such a form that it can be easily readable by the screen readers and speech synthesizers. The article provides strategies for teachers to facilitate reading, writing and internet access with assistive technologies. Interests of the children with disabilities should be known by the teachers to be able to create interest inventories for them to retain their attention in the learning process. 7. Desch, L. W., Spira, D. G. (2008), Prescribing Assistive-Technology Systems: Focus on Children with Impaired Communication, American Academy of Pediatrics, doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0695. This source explains some of the common terms from the domain of assistive technologies that may facilitate the comprehension of the content by any reader who might be unaware of the required concepts. One of the biggest issues and challenges in the usage of assistive technology is the assessment process regarding which technology would be most suitable for the child. Every technology does not suit every child; the choice of an unsuitable technology is more likely to make the child dependent on an imperfect technology. The report mainly focuses on the usage of assistive technologies that are designed to tackle communication impairments; however, other technologies are also discussed. 8. Leung, P. et al. (1999), Assistive Technology, Institute of Disability Studies Deakin University, ISBN 0 642 23944 4. The author aims to comprehend the relevance of assistive technologies in the environment of post secondary education. The research aimed to highlight the issues that are faced by students who have disabilities and how they tend to benefit from the usage of assistive technologies. The author also provides recommendations for the students on how to get maximum benefits from assistive technologies and to improve their pace of learning. The article provided advantages of the usage of assistive technologies in terms of increased communication with the peers, increased level of participation and greater academic achievements. 9. Kelker, K. A., Holt, R., Moses, K. (1997), Family Guide to Assistive Technology, Parents, Let's Unite for Kids. This article serves as a guideline for the parents whose children have disabilities and are deprived of leading a regular life. It includes explanation about the concept of assistive technologies and accommodation; as well as explains the different types of assistive technologies that are available for the children. It enlists some important factors that are offered by assistive technologies to facilitate the learning process of a child; mobility, visual aids, augmented communication, social interaction and recreation, self care etc. All of these factors result in better academic performance for the child. This source also pointed out an important factor that assistive technologies may not be necessary for a child with mild disabilities. The children with mild disabilities may become dependent on the assistive technology and inhibit their natural process of development. 10. O’Connell, T., Freed, G., Rothberg, M., Shapiro, R. (2010), Using Apple Technology to Support Learning for Students with Sensory and Learning Disabilities, The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media. This paper discusses the endeavors of Apple in the field of assistive technologies with the aim of providing accessibility to the children with disabilities and making them an active member in the society. It includes a list of impairments and disabilities for which assistive technologies are present. This paper also stresses on the fact that one technology cannot be termed suitable for all children; the assistive technology needs to be chosen on the basis of the unique needs and requirements of the child to attain maximum benefits. An interesting, yet alarming research figure (for the year 2007) has been included in the paper which reveals that 4% to 6% of children in US public schools bear some form of disability; thus, amounting to 2.7 million children. The extravagance of the issue makes one realize that assistive technology is an important field of research and more efforts should be exerted to improve the learning processes for such children. References Amiripour, P., Bijan-zadeh, M. H., Pezeshki, P., Najafi, M. (2011), Effects of assistive technology instruction on increasing motivation and capacity of mathematical problem solving in dyscalculia student, Educational Research, Vol. 2(10), pp. 1611-1618. Brooks, J. G., Brooks, M. G., (1999), In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, Revised Edition, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Castellani, J., Jeffs, T. (2001), Emerging Reading and Writing Strategies Using Technology, Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 60-67. Desch, L. W., Spira, D. G. (2008), Prescribing Assistive-Technology Systems: Focus on Children with Impaired Communication, American Academy of Pediatrics, doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0695. Kelker, K. A., Holt, R., Moses, K. (1997), Family Guide to Assistive Technology, Parents, Let's Unite for Kids. Krull, M. et al., (2004), Study of Assistive Technology and California Community College Students with Learning Disabilities, High Tech Center Training Unit. Leung, P. et al. (1999), Assistive Technology, Institute of Disability Studies Deakin University, ISBN 0 642 23944 4. Mulligan, S. A. (2003), Assistive technology- Supporting the participating of children with disabilities, Beyond the Journal, November Issue. O’Connell, T., Freed, G., Rothberg, M., Shapiro, R. (2010), Using Apple Technology to Support Learning for Students with Sensory and Learning Disabilities, The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media. University of North Carolina, (n.d.), Ethical issues in assistive technology, Retrieved from www.cs.unc.edu/Research/assist/et/notes/goldberg/ethics.ppt Read More