Anita Olson

EDU 225
April 3, 2016
Mr. Clark

Introduction: (4-6 sentences) (http:AdvancingSpecialEducation.weebly.com)

Individuals with Special needs are most commonly depicted as someone in a wheel chair.
Although a true depiction, Special Needs individuals can also be autistic, have cognitive and
behavioral disabilities, as well as other physical handicaps. Advancing Special Education
through assistive /adaptive technology will increase these individuals ability to learn,
communicate, solve problems and complete tasks through the use of a computer (Gunter &
Gunter, 2015, pg. 39). The integration of technology in a Special Education classroom is vital to
the technology plan not only because technology is evolving on a frequent basis, but also
because it would go against the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Gunter, & Gunter,
2015). A crucial element of this law is that disabled individuals be accommodated equally;
therefore, teachers need to include current technology to further advance their students. Further
advancement includes enhancing communication between parents and students through the use
of communication features such as: Remind, Skype, Podcasts
and the most commonly used form of digital communication, E-mail.
Technology to Enhance Communication
Remind: Remind is a free mobile communication tool used for the purpose of reminding
students, parents and the global community of important information that the teacher would like
to emphasize during the course of the week. Remind is an at will service which means that
students and parents have to agree to receive messages from this site. All registered cell phone
numbers sent to Remind are kept confidential. Teachers only have student names listed not their
cell phone numbers. Studies have shown that one important element within a student-teacher
relationship is out-of-class communication and when the levels of out-of-class communication

increase, so will student learning (Dobransky and Frymier, 2004 as cited in Bobbitt, Inman,
Bertrand, 2013, pg.77). Remind is an effective communication tool because the message texted is
brief yet very effective. It can help keep students on track with their assignments, keep parents in
the loop about what is going on in school and keep the community connected with school events
or fundraisers.

Parents: Remind helps keep parents involved in their childs education. It provides a
topic of conversation between the parent and child which is beneficial to children as it
shows children that their parents are taking an interest in their day to day activities.

Remind also alerts parents if a teacher needs to schedule a meeting with them.
Students: Students like Remind because they communicate mostly through text
messages since their phone is with them at all times. Remind is their personal To Do

List (Bobbitt, Inman, Bertrand, 2013).

Global Community: Remind is an effective tool for the global community because it can
notify a group of people instantly about pertinent information going on in the community,
school administrators can quickly send safety alerts to parents, law enforcement and
social media networks. Remind connects the community and its leaders so that everyone
is kept informed on community or nationwide events.

Skype: Skype, is another digital tool that teachers like to use as a form of interactive
communication. Skype allows its users to collectively bring ideas to a whole new level. Skype
gives its members the ability to connect to each other by sharing screens which then allows the
users to create together and then send photos and files of any size so that the ideas continue
flowing (www.Skype.com). Also, members have the ability to call cell phones and LAN lines so
that a video web chat can occur and information can be exchanged. This form of communication
is beneficial to students, parents and the global community because the connection can be made

from anywhere in the world. In the Special Education field teachers can utilize Skypes video
calling, voice calls, instant messaging, screen sharing, and file sharing to provide information
with parents, students and the global community. In order to do this, they must gain certain
information from the childs parents, family members, or therapists involved in the childs
overall care. This process according to authors Wells and Sheehey (2012), is called PersonCentered Planning. Through Skypes numerous features, teachers can create a students profile
through the video calling and file sharing features if the parents are too busy to meet with the
teacher in person.

Parents: Skype is extremely beneficial to parents of children with Special Needs,

especially if there is more than one child in the family to care for. By using Skype,
parents can have video conferencing meetings with their childs teacher, guidance
counselors and behavioral therapists. Instant messaging, another Skype feature, can be

used to communicate with parents who may not necessarily know how to use Skype.
Students: Students can collaborate with other students in their classroom, nationally or
globally through Skypes screen, file and photo sharing features. Skype can be a huge
asset to children with Special Needs because they can visually connect with other
students who are facing the same challenges. Students who are not handicapped can help
their teacher develop personal goals for them by creating a video of what they would like
to gain from the course that the teacher is teaching. Letting the teacher know of their
strengths and weaknesses through their own words can assist a teacher in knowing more

about their students academic vision.

Global Community: Teachers can use Skype as a communication tool in the community
by notifying the school community of different activities being performed in the
classroom to promote classroom and national unity. For example: In an effort to promote

to the world what it is like being a Special Education Teacher; a teacher from the state of
Florida, named Chris Ulmer, streamed a video of himself complimenting each and every
single student in his class. The main goal of this video was to promote the power of
positive energy and how it affects his students. Mr. Ulmers students not only enjoyed
receiving the compliments, but they in turned paid a compliment right back to let Mr.
Ulmer know how much they appreciated having him as their teacher.
(www.abcnews.go.com).
Podcasting: Podcasting is an audio form of MP3 communication that has been widely used for
distributing audio files such as music, classroom lectures, political messages, news stories, and
television commentaries. Members subscribe to a feed and receive new audio files
automatically by using Really Simple Syndication (RSS), which is a protocol that allows users to
receive the feeds automatically (Gunter and Gunter, 2015, pg. 76). Once subscribed, the podcast
is downloaded and played on media player digital devices such as an iPod. From an educational
standpoint, there are three beneficial perspectives to podcasting. First, it provides lecturers with
the facility to emphasize the information, which they feel to be critical for the students, thus
augmenting the teaching material. Students like the flexibility and affordability of podcasting
cater to diverse students needs by enabling repeated learning and offering an opportunity for the
effective use of time; finally, from a University perspective, podcasting is a communication
enabler, reaching out to a wider community (Harris & Park, 2008, pg. 551).

Parents: Through teacher podcasts, parents are able to listen to important school related
announcements.

Students: Students can utilize podcasting by creating awareness podcasts in support of

their school. Teachers can assign students podcast assignments to integrate this form of

communication in their classroom.

Global Community: Podcasts can be sent out to a collective group within the school
community. Information regarding school delays and emergency closings can assist the
community in managing their daily routines. Podcasting can also be beneficial for the
school community by sharing information on a national level if the school is supporting a
nationally sponsored event such as Breast Cancer Awareness or National Food Drives in
support of food donations.

E-mail: E-mail is the electronic form of digital communication. It is the most commonly used
form because of its rapid speed through which messages are transmitted to recipients and it is
free, enabling users to connect to anyone across the country or other parts of the world. E-mail
enables users to create, send, receive, forward, delete and print messages (Gunter & Gunter,
2015, pg. 78). When communicating through e-mail, the sender can attach multiple files, pictures
and spreadsheets, permitting the recipient to receive a vast amount of information in one
message.

Parents: Parents prefer receiving e-mails from their childrens teachers because they can
quickly respond back or send any necessary paperwork needed by the teacher. In

addition, there is always a trail of prior communication for memory purposes.

Students: Students use e-mail as a form of communicating back and forth with their
teachers, and peers in a school environment. For students who do not feel comfortable
addressing personal issues in the classroom, e-mail allows them to send their teacher a

private e-mail so that a response can be quickly received.

Global Community: E-mail is a useful form of communication for everyone. Schools,
businesses and anyone who has access to a digital device can send an E-mail from

anywhere in the world. This capability enables people to contact people from different
parts of the world so that a meeting of the minds can occur and ideas can be exchanged to
create, produce and alter projects.
Communication Internet Security and Safety:
A teachers main responsibility is to teach their students the core subject that they chose
to specialize in, to keep their students safe, and to assist their students in making educated
decisions. Today, school districts require teachers to incorporate technology when teaching their
students. A teachers responsibility of keep their students safe during school hours, is no longer
just centered on physical safety but it now includes teaching them about the dangers of
communicating while using digital devices. While it is no longer a secret that children have been
labeled digital natives because they know more about the usage of technological equipment
(Prensky, 2001); present day situations, involving children and internet communication, indicates
that they are not practicing safe Internet communication with others. For this reason, teachers
have to educate themselves, their students, their parents and the school community about the
hidden dangers of Online communication.
Although it is not an easy topic to tackle, teachers must find creative ways to present the
risks involved every time a child logs into their computer to chat, play games and post videos on
media social networks. Children and teens are very susceptible and can be easily enticed into
talking to online predators, sending pictures to online predators, providing personal information
to online predators and actually meeting up with online predators. The Federal Bureau of
Investigations has notified the public of such accounts via their government website. According
to the FBI, a man from Houston, Texas was sentenced forty years in prison on child sex
trafficking charges after identifying and contacting young girls through social media platforms

and then luring them into prostitution (www.fbi.gov/news/stories/). Actual accounts of what
other children and teens have faced as a result of not using Internet safety tips can be a beneficial
way of teachers getting their point across to their students and parents. If students and parents are
informed of what law enforcement is encountering on a daily basis, then they are more than
likely to make sure that they pay closer attention to whom they are communicating with Online.
Teachers can also discuss the hidden dangers of the Internet by utilizing what students favor to
during their free time; which is playing video games. Kids.gov is an official United States
Government web portal designed specifically for kids to teach them about Internet Safety
through online safety games such as: FBI Cyber Surf Islands, Friend Finder, Invasion of the
Wireless Hackers, Living Life Online and Webisodes-Stop Bullying.gov (kids.usa.gov/playgames/online-safety/index.shtml). Communicating with people (parents, children and the
community) about dangerous behaviors can be risky if done improperly, but it can be very
effective if teachers take the time to consider to whom they are speaking with, what message
needs to be conveyed and what method they will use to convey their important message. Sugar
coating what goes on in todays world is not going to be effective, which is why teachers must
understand that children have been already exposed to hidden dangers while online. Therefore,
richer conversations must take place with young people about what it means to participate in
public space and the risks, the powers and consequences of such participation (Facer, 2012, pg.
410, para.2).
Concluding Paragraph (4-6 sentences)
How one communicates their thoughts will either positively or negatively impact another
persons point of view. Digital devices, computer software, the Internet and Web Applications
have become key terms when someone is trying to communicate their ideas quickly and

effectively. Web tools such as Remind, Skype, Podcasts and E-mails have proven to be popular
methods for people to not only connect locally but also universally. Users of these
communication tools must also pay careful attention to the impact of providing personal
information can have not only on their own lives but in the lives of others if the wrong person is
the receiving this information. Users can also utilize these communication tools to bring
awareness to others about the importance of Internet Safety.

References
Bobbitt, R., Inman, R., & Bertrand, E. (2013). Using Remind 101 as a Classroom:
Communication Tool. NACTA Journal, 57(4), 77-78.

Facer, K. (2012). After the moral panic? Reframing the debate about child safety online.
Discourse: Studies In The Cultural Politics Of Education, 33(3), 397-413
Federal Bureau of Investigations (2014). Sex Trafficker Receives 40-Year Sentence. /Retrieved
on 12/7/15 from: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/october/sex-trafficker-receives40-year-sentence/sex-trafficker-receives-40-year-sentence
Gunter, G. & Gunter, R. (2015). Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology In A
Changing World. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Harris, H., & Park, S. (2008). Educational usages of podcasting. British Journal Of Educational
Technology, 39(3), 548-551.
Kids.gov (2015). The U.S. Governments Official Web Portal for Kids/Retrieved on 12/7/15
from: https://kids.usa.gov/
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214629645?accountid=7374
Shaw-Brown, G. (2015). Florida Teacher Starts Each Day Complimenting Students One by
One:/Retrieved on 12/7/15 from: http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/florida-teacher-startsday-complimenting-students/story?id=35259600
Wells, J. C., & Sheehey, P. H. (2012). Person-Centered Planning. Teaching Exceptional
Children, 44(3), 32-39.