Technology is Special! To Special Education that is…4-3-09

Over Spring Break, I came to a realization or two concerning the wonders of technology. They were on both a personal and professional level.
Last week, I had lunch with my best friend from Elementary School who I had not seen in about 10 years. In that time, she has had two children, the eldest of which was born weighing a little over a pound. They were told not to expect Taylor to walk, nor talk if she made it at all. Miraculously, 9 years later, after numerous surgeries and therapy, she is an active third grade student in a regular education classroom in Anne Arundel County. Taylor does receive special education services and a number of accommodations and modifications that make it possible for her to be included in a class with regular education students. What really made me start thinking about how this all relates to technology was when she told me that Taylor qualifies for the use of a personal laptop that she carries between home and school. She said that without this, Taylor would be lost. She explained how Taylor is able to access programs she uses at school when at home allowing her to have extra practice and exposure to the material in order to help her keep up with her peers. She also went on to share how motivated Taylor is to get her assignments done. I began thinking about how wondrous it is that through technology, so many students with disabilities are able to speak and be heard just as their classmates are, and how they are able to reach their highest potential which may have never even been known without the use of laptops, headsets, and hearing aids in addition to so many other technological marvels. My question lies in the difference the access to these types of technologies such as laptops would make in the lives of every student. I know there are school out there that offer this – maybe not on a take home basis, but at least in the daily classroom. In terms of motivation, if this became the norm, would students soon become less enamored with their use and just as lackluster in completing assignments with technology as they are with a pencil? Something to think about…
Another realization I came to this week concerning the wonder of technologies is also on a personal and professional level. I know that social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have been on the front burner for many reasons lately. First, as everyone praised them for their ability to connect people and reconnect people with their past in a way like never before. I cannot tell you how many people who have been tremendous influences, dear friends, and valued colleagues that I had let slip away as the daily grind of life took over that I have found or who have found me through these types of sites. People who I thought to be miles and miles away who turned out to be just around the corner; including my very best friend from elementary school. Now, these sites are on the burner for a very different reason. This time, it's for taking over people’s lives, at times destroying them, and many times, becoming an addiction. While I do reward myself with time on Facebook as I complete less desirable tasks, and I was not one who chose to give it up for the 40 days of Lent, I certainly do not think of myself as a social networking addict. Still, I went ahead and read up on an article a fellow Facebooker shared just to be sure. I’d like to share it with you as well:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/23/ep.facebook.addict/
There’s also:
http://blog.guruofnew.com/featured-home/seven-signs-you-may-be-ready-for-a-social-media-detox
And let’s not forget to read about this: http://www.imagolady.com/Paula_Pile/A_Temptress_in_the_Computer.html
If these catch your interest, be sure to take the Facebook Compulsion Inventory:
http://www.imagolady.com/Paula_Pile/A_Temptress_in_the_Computer/Facebook%20Inventory%20Test.pdf
I scored a 44…Yikes! A little closer to being excessive than I would like…How about you???