Veronica Marquez

EDTECH 554
Spring 2015

Who is on the Move?

Descriptive Profile of Mrs. P:
Age: 60

Years of Teaching: 35

Subject Matter Expertise: Educator for students with Severe and Profound disabilities

Education/Training: BA +60. Continued training through the Council for Exceptional

Children Certification in Special Education Moderate disabilities, Severe and Profound
Disabilities, Low Incidence Disabilities and ESL certification.

Technology Use: Computer, doc camera, Smart Board, iPad, iPod, iPhone,
augmentative communication devices such as DynaVox and iPad equipped with
ProLoQuo to Go.

The Cultural Attitude toward Technology at the Place of Employment: Mrs. P is

expected to implement all available technology into curriculum and is also expected to
the learning management system, Canvas, which this year the district is requiring for all
teachers to implement in their classes. Mrs. P feels this is sometimes difficult for the
students with significant disabilities as well as time consuming for staff and can be very
frustrating.

Experiences with former technology rollouts/changes (such as email, Smart

Board, doc camera, etc. implementation): Mrs. P states that there have been many
changes over the last 20 years in her district. This is her 5th year with a Smart Board

and questions where it has it been these past 20 years! The district has implemented
many changes the last 2 years, everything from the way attendance is taken through
Synergy to what they are allowed to download on our computers. This can be frustrating
at times.

Student/Parent/Client Expectations for Technology Use: Parents expect students

with severe disabilities to use technology when possible. Many of the students have
augmentative communication devices because they are either non-verbal or have
limited verbal skills. All students can use the Smart Board to answer questions with
support from staff. All students have access to iPad throughout the day. This can be
used for leisure as well as academic activities. Direct instruction is often followed up
with an iPad app on the same topic for continued instruction and practice.

Mrs. P and the CBAM Chart

Mrs. Ps case is unique as she is in two tiers. Teaching the population of students, Mrs.
P has implemented various technologies, outside of assistive technologies, to enhance
her instruction and make the instruction 21st century. She has created ways for her
students to use these devices both in school and outside of school to help them feel like
a typical 21st century teenager. Even if the students need staff support, she is still
exposing her students to technology devices. Due to her planning and use of these
devices, Currently, Mrs. P is in the middle tiers, management and consequence, of the
CBAM chart. She got to this tier by recognizing that there was technology change
occurring in the district. When she first received the Smart Board in her classroom, she
knew that she would have to gain knowledge on how to use and participated in
trainings. Also, around that time, she noticed some of her students using iPods to keep
daily schedules and as augmented communication devices. As she saw the rise of
these technologies occurring, she wanted to gain skills in using them for the benefit of
her students. She then pushed for her classroom to receive iPads. Not only did the

students technology skills improve but so did their fine motor, academic, and social
skills.
However now, Mrs. P has reached a new hurdle. That is the requirement for all
teachers to implement Canvas in their classroom to their students. Due this
requirement, it has brought Mrs. P back down to the lower tier, information. The
question is, how is it to look using Canvas with the population of students that she
teaches? Once she is able to find the answer to that question, she can then identify
what it will entail for her to implement it with her students. She may need to reach out to
other teachers that teach the same population as she does or go through trainings with
the districts technology specialist for ideas on how student with significant disabilities
can access Canvas. Once she is able to reach the next level and develop a plan for
herself on using Canvas, her students will benefit from it as they will be exposed to a
new technology.