Part of Cory’s accommodation is keyboarding for any writing assignments and assessments. A standard PC or laptop would be preferred, but the economics of providing same is not achievable by most school districts.
The most common deveice to meet this required accommodation is made by AlphSmart. The version my school uses is the Neo. It is a portable word processor with limited memory and functionality. Its limited 8-line LCD display is best configured for two lines of text. It can only store eight files in its 2MB of RAM and includes in infra red and USB ports for printing and file transfer to an Apple of Microsoft-based PC.
The $249 price makes it the least expensive item on the market to accommodate an IEP with a keyboarding requirement. Higher end AlphaSmart models include the Palm OS, a more robust word processor that includes a formatting option, an imbedded wireless network interface and an Internet browser. Laptop Magazine did a review on the Neo on 4/20/2005.
Students who have this accommodation use it primarily for document creation, however some have used it for taking notes. Members of the special education department provide training to students. No formalized training was conducted in the department, so basically one of them figured out how to use it and it became a ‘train the trainer’ situation. Directions for use are printed on the back and are clear enough to allow anyone with moderate PC experience to operate it.
These devices are only provided to students whose accommodation requires it. Examples would be dysgraphia, poor eye-hand coordination or difficulty with fine motor skills. One was pulled out of the Special Education Chairwoman’s unlocked desk and I tried to play with it, but it was missing the three AA batteries required to power it.
I asked how it worked for the students and was told the limitations of the device make it easier for students to just use one of the four available PC’s in the Special Ed room. This is an example of a product being acquired to fill a mandated requirement and not used because of its perceived limitations. Meanwhile in the general school population Cory is still struggling with pen and paper.
The $249 price makes it the least expensive item on the market to accommodate an IEP with a keyboarding requirement. Higher end AlphaSmart models include the Palm OS, a more robust word processor that includes a formatting option, an imbedded wireless network interface and an Internet browser. Laptop Magazine did a review on the Neo on 4/20/2005.
Students who have this accommodation use it primarily for document creation, however some have used it for taking notes. Members of the special education department provide training to students. No formalized training was conducted in the department, so basically one of them figured out how to use it and it became a ‘train the trainer’ situation. Directions for use are printed on the back and are clear enough to allow anyone with moderate PC experience to operate it.
These devices are only provided to students whose accommodation requires it. Examples would be dysgraphia, poor eye-hand coordination or difficulty with fine motor skills. One was pulled out of the Special Education Chairwoman’s unlocked desk and I tried to play with it, but it was missing the three AA batteries required to power it.
I asked how it worked for the students and was told the limitations of the device make it easier for students to just use one of the four available PC’s in the Special Ed room. This is an example of a product being acquired to fill a mandated requirement and not used because of its perceived limitations. Meanwhile in the general school population Cory is still struggling with pen and paper.
