Ed Tech Reflection 8

This week, Tracey Humpreheys, from the BCedAccess Society, came into our class to discuss technology and inclusion in the classroom. This was something I greatly appreciated as I feel this is an area I need to improve my knowledge in. Not in terms of inclusion, I, of course, respect any and everyone, but in terms of actually applying technology to assist students with disabilities. I believe this to be of extreme importance but I feel like we’ve hardly even touched the surface of this topic. In all my classes this semester, we’ve talked much about inclusion in the classroom and its importance but have rarely talked about actually implying inclusive methods/techniques in the classroom. I know in most cases, this is largely the role of a supporting EA, but as stated, this is in most cases. Very often is a teacher left to assist and manage a class of varying accessibility levels all to themselves. For example, in my Link2Practice class, there are three students who speak no English, one student with down syndrome and zero EAs to assist the teacher. This culminates in quite a tricky situation for the teacher as she has to ensure the students with accessibility issues are equipped for the activity at hand while also ensuring the rest of the class is on task. She often tells me that she wishes she could help the students with accessibility issues more, but she simply can’t. Largely due to a lack of resources and a lack of proper training.

For all these reasons and more, I truly appreciate Tracey coming in to speak with us. Although, I believe it is not enough. More effort needs to be put into teaching us actual methods to help students with accessibility issues. If my Link2Practice teacher, who has been in the career for multiple decades, struggles with helping all students, then how will I be able to assist them? If I was asked to teach a class with numerous students with accessibility issues right now, I would struggle to balance this situation greatly. Hopefully, this knowledge comes in a later class, but if not, I plan to take courses outside of school to ensure I’m capable and ready to assist all students. Who knows, maybe I’ll get in touch with BCedAccess Society!