William+Wolfe

INTENTION I hope that this homepage might prove useful to other prospective teachers by providng them with an overview of my personal teaching philosophy and how assistive technology may be used to help students succeed in the classroom.

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY I believe in a Progressive philosophy of education. This means that education should be child centered rather than focussed on the teacher or the content area. The content of the curriculum ought to be derived from the students' interests and needs rather than from the academic disciplines. Effective taching takes into account the whole child and his/her interests and needs in relation to cognitive, affective and psychomotor areas. Learning is essentially active rather than passive. Consequently, the use of assitive echnology should be tailored to the child's needs. This should take into account the child's physical, emotional, educational and social requirements. If a child longs for social acceptance then their choice of assistive technology should take into account how that technology affects his/her ability to interact with classmates. If a child is reluctant to use a certain technology, the implementation of this technology will likely fail. The child must be on board with the program for it to succeed. A teacher may determine that a certain technology may be the best for a child, however, if the child refuses to use it, it will not work. The child's desires must come first when deciding what technologies to implement.

WEBSITES FOR TEACHERS [|enablemart.com] This website provides information about and access to a wide variety of assistive technologies. It gives users the ability to research available technologies and purchase them. [|assistivetechnologies.com] This site is dedicated to helping disabled people overcome their disabilities through the use of assistive technology. They make a wide range of assistive technologies available for purchase and offer technical support and comprehensive training. [|theraproducts.com] This site offers innovative products for occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, educators and parents. [|maxiaids.com] This site offers a wide range of products to promote independent living through assistive technology. [|isbe.il.us/spec-ed/html/assist_tech.html]

WEBSITES FOR STUDENTS [|Owl and Mouse Educational Software] This site provides free, easy to use educational software. These activities are designed to help children of different ages an abilities learn a variety of content areas. [|funbrain.com] This site provides fun, educational games and activities which students can access, use and enjoy on their own. [|palstech.net] This site makes available for purchase many educationalggames and software which promote learning for children of all ages and abilities.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICES AND SOTWARE

VISION: magnifiers screenreaders Braille embossers talking clocks/ watchers

HEARING: amplified phones amplification systems TDD/TTYs

MOTOR SKILLS: floor footprints floor ladder arm exercizers leg exercizers wheelchair mobility training track

ARTICLES [|ldonline.org/article/9924] This article discusses how assistive technology can be used to benefit students, not only in academically but for after school activities. [|Become an Informed AT Consumer] This article educates parents in how to use assistive technology in concert with a child's IEP. It gives tips and insight on how to select appropriate technologies and the state and federal standards surrounding their implementation.