Response to Reading #7

I really enjoyed reading about using technology with students with special needs. I strongly agree with both the positive and negative sides of integrating technology. I have found that my younger students with special needs do have a difficult time with typing. They have not been exposed or have had the experience. However, even though the typing process can take quite some time, I think that students being able to write their work on the computer can help them to be more successful. They are able to check their spelling. Using the computer is something fun and exciting and is also an incentive for my students. On the computer program we have, the program will read what you have written back to you. Students can hear when they make a mistake or misspell a word. Most of the time my students write a rough draft on paper. We sit together and edit/ proof-read their work and then I allow them to type it onto the computer and include graphics. I have found this to be very beneficial to my students. I also really liked the piece on speech recognition. I think that my students would truly benefit from this type of program. I like that they can also spell the word into the computer. Even though there has been errors with these programs, I feel that we can make the problems a teachable moment.