Article Reviews - Recent Research in Assistive Technology...
Learning From Text
Dave L. Edyburn, Ph.D.
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I found the points raised in Edyburn’s article, “Learning from Text” to be very relevant to the topic of struggling readers. I agree with his idea that “for most literate individuals, the challenges of struggling readers are incomprehensible”. I think that this continues to be a challenge faced in high school especially, because there are a number of classroom teachers that may not understand what they can do with students who have challenges in reading. As noted, many of these students come with labels and a large history of school failure. I think that Edyburn’s discussion of some of the critical issues regarding the mismatch between the skills the that these students bring to the classroom and the expectations rooted in learning from text is very important to keep in mind.
I thought one of the most interesting questions raised by Edyburn was the following: “As special education teachers are required to support reading in the content areas of general education, when do they have the opportunity to teach basic skills to students with [IPP]’s that document considerable deficits in reading?”. This really speaks to one of the major issues with inclusive classrooms that Edyburn discusses - the balance between time, conditions and achievement. If only one instructional approach is used, the time needed for different students will vary and if we keep time constant, achievement varies. If we are expecting a certain level of achievement, then the time it takes and the conditions present must be different. I think the last scenario is where our current education system stands. With adaptations, we are altering the time and conditions for individual students, but as Edyburn points out, interventions with assistive technology are not often considered until there has been academic failure. If students are unable to read, what is it that classroom teachers are actually asking them to do - learning to read, or reading to learn? It is important to consider whether the best course of action is remediation, which would allow for additional time, or different approaches, or whether compensation would be more suitable. If remediation has failed, then compensatory strategies need to be put into place instead.
Edyburn brings up a number of ways that Assistive Technology can be integrated for Remediation/Instruction, as well as Compensation. One aspect of this article that I didn’t value was that it was written in 2003, so I felt that some of the technologies being suggested have been furthered and surpassed in terms of what can now be done for struggling readers. In terms of remediation, Edyburn discusses things that I consider to be regular practice for classroom teachers - reteaching the information, using alternative instruction strategies, breaking tasks down, providing additional problems. However, he points out that teachers seldom ask whether there are other ways of performing a task. This is where the process of Assistive Technology being matched to a student correctly is important. If technology can help students to demonstrate their knowledge, by eliminating or reducing the obstacles that they face, then why wouldn’t we, as educators, want to provide them the opportunity? Some of the examples discussed about making text accessible for students, and using text-to-speech software. A valid point was brought up about it being beneficial to everyone - this is where universal design for learning is so important to include as educators. Like I mentioned, there are a number of technologies that have surpassed the ones discussed in this article for bypassing, decreasing, supporting, guiding, and organizing reading - iPads alone have a number of apps that are incredibly useful for struggling readers, or more advanced versions of the ones mentioned by Edyburn.
This article is very important for anyone to read about why Assistive Technology can be beneficial to students who have reading challenges, especially educators. To quote Edyburn, “while inclusion has facilitated physical access to the general education classroom, little evidence suggests that the general education curriculum is cognitively accessible to students with disabilities”. This idea is pivotal for providing the support that these students require, and this article provided a number of suggestions that could be put into place for compensation when needed.