Pedagogue Blog

In Autism Spectrum Disorder, children typically struggle with social engagement and the interpretation of non-verbal cues such as reading varied facial expressions, in addition to varying degrees of language and cognitive defects. These kids work better with fixed routines and may become destabilized when their routines are changed, and they also struggle with environmental sensitivity while fixating on things they like, almost to the point of obsession.

The combination of these may cause problems in the classroom for their teachers, but with assistive technology, the classroom experience is becoming better for these kids and their educators.

Early symptoms of ASD can be noticed by pediatricians or parents/caregivers before a kid reaches one year of age. However, signs typically become more prominently visible by the time a kid is two or three years old. In some instances, the functional impairment associated with autism might be mild and not visible until the kid starts school, after which the deficits might become apparent when amongst the peers.

Repetitive behaviors and restricted interests may include:

·         Extreme difficulty coping with change, inflexibility of behavior

·         Being excessively focused on niche topics to the exclusion of others

·         Anticipating others to have equal interests in those subjects

·         Sensory hypersensitivity

·         Difficulty tolerating new experiences and changes in routine

·         Arranging things, usually toys, in a very specific manner

·         Stereotypical movements like hand flapping, spinning and rocking

Social communication deficits may include:

·         Difficulty appreciating their own and others’ emotions

·         Reduced sharing of interests with others

·         Lack of proficiency with the utilization of non-verbal gestures

·         Disinclination to maintaining eye contact

·         Scripted or stilted speech

·         Difficulty making friends and/or keeping them

·         Interpreting abstract ideas literally

While there’s no cure for ASD, there’re several effective interventions that can enhance a kid’s functioning.

Social skills training: This is provided in individual or group settings and helps kids with autism increase their ability to navigate social situations.

Occupational therapy: It addresses adaptive skills deficits with different activities of daily living and problems with handwriting.

Speech & language therapy: It can enhance a kid’s understanding of language and speech patterns.

Parent management training: Parents learn useful methods of responding to difficult behaviors and inspiring appropriate behavior in their kids. Parent support groups help parents deal with the stressors of raising a kid with autism.

Special education services: Under an IEP provided by the school that accommodates their restricted interests, social communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors, kids with ASD can achieve their fullest potential academically.

It refers to a disorder that features difficulty speaking/conversing with others, hence detracting from a wholesome classroom experience for the teacher and student alike. Thankfully, several materials have been made available (and assistive technology is being deployed) to ensure the needs of children with this challenge are met and to aid proper communication.

Some common types of aphasia include:

Global aphasia: This is the most acute type of aphasia. It’s caused by injuries to the brain’s multiple parts that are responsible for processing language. Patients with this condition can understand no or very little spoken language and can only make a few recognizable words. However, they might have fully preserved intellectual and cognitive abilities that aren’t related to speech or language.

Broca’s aphasia: This is also called expressive or non-fluent aphasia. Patients with this condition have partial loss of their language ability. They’ve difficulty speaking fluently, and their speech might be limited to a few words at a time. Their speech is described as effortful or halting as they can only speak a few words at a time. They’re generally able to understand speech well and maintain their reading ability but might have limited writing abilities.

Mixed non-fluent aphasia: Patients with this form of aphasia have effortful and limited speech, similar to those with Broca’s aphasia. However, these patients’ comprehension abilities are more limited compared to patients with Broca’s aphasia. They may be able to read and write, but not more than an elementary school level.

Wernicke’s aphasia: This is also called receptive aphasia or fluent aphasia. It’s referred to as fluent because while the patients have an impaired ability to understand spoken words, they don’t have difficulty producing connected speech. However, what they say might not make lots of sense, and they’ll use irrelevant or nonsense words in their sentences. Often, they don’t realize that they’re using the incorrect words.

Anomic aphasia: People with anomic aphasia are unable to come up with appropriate words for what they want to talk about. They have a grasp of grammar, but they simply can’t find the right words to discuss what they want to. They also have trouble finding the right words when they write.

Primary progressive aphasia: This is a neurological syndrome in which people lose their ability to use language progressively and slowly. While most other types of aphasia are caused by stroke, primary progressive aphasia is caused by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. The condition progresses as the tissue in the brain’s language centers deteriorates over time.

Only slightly different from Attention Deficit Disorder, ADHD is chiefly denoted by a failure to concentrate, with classroom educators having to time and again redirect and prompt these students when they have to carry out regular, daily tasks. Again, it is very difficult for the students, their classmates, and teachers to cope with the constant need to be hyperactive, as exhibited by children with ADHD, as this detracts from the full classroom experience.

Assistive technology continues to find ways to help solve this challenge and help children struggling with ADHD learn satisfactorily at their own pace.

ADHD has three subtypes: predominantly attentive, predominantly hyperactive/impulsive, and combined.

The symptoms of ADHD in kids are well-defined, and they’re generally noticeable before the age of six. They happen in more than one situation, such as at school and at home.

The main symptoms of inattentiveness include:

·         Getting easily distracted and having a short attention span

·         Making careless mistakes such as in schoolwork

·         Losing things or appearing forgetful

·         Appearing to be unable to follow instructions or listen to

·         Being unable to continue tasks that are time-consuming and tedious

·         Having difficulty organizing tasks

·         Constantly changing task or activity

The major signs of hyperactivity and impulsiveness include:

·         Constantly fidgeting

·         Being unable to sit still, particularly in quiet or calm surroundings

·         Excessive physical movement

·         Being unable to focus on tasks

·         Acting without thinking

·         Being unable to wait their turn

·         No or little sense of danger

·         Interrupting conversations

These symptoms can cause substantial problems in a kid’s life, such as poor social interaction with other kids and adults, underachievement at school, and problems with discipline.

The signs of ADHD are harder to define in adults. Since ADHD is a developmental disorder, it’s believed that it can’t develop in adults without it first occurring in childhood. But it’s known that signs of ADHD often persist from childhood into an individual’s teenage years and then adulthood.

According to some specialists, the signs associated with ADHD in adults include:

·         Lack of attention to detail and carelessness

·         Poor organizational skills

·         Continually starting new tasks before completing old ones

·         Continually losing or misplacing things

·         Inability to prioritize or focus

·         Edginess and restlessness

·         Inability to deal with stress

·         Speaking out of turn and trouble keeping quiet

·         Irritability, mood swings, and a quick temper

·         Extreme impatience

In children with this disorder, their major challenges include focusing on learning materials/lessons taught, engaging in time-sapping tasks, and listening to/obeying instructions given in class. Indeed, it can be challenging and frustrating for instructors who routinely have to redirect these children, often with very little progress seen. Nonetheless, with assistive technology, the world of education doesn’t have to be as tasking/frustrating for students with ADD and their teachers alike.

ADD is an outdated term and medical professionals no longer use it. However, it’s often still used to refer to a specific subset of symptoms that fall under the umbrella term ADHD. While many people interchangeably use the terms ADD and ADHD, they aren’t the same thing. ADD is the colloquial term for one specific type of ADHD – Predominantly Inattentive Type.

People with ADD struggle to stay focused or pay attention for long periods of time. Some common symptoms include:

·         Difficulty staying on task

·         Being easily distracted

·         Difficulty following directions

·         Forgetfulness

·         Not paying attention to details

·         Losing personal items

·         Short attention spans

·         Problems staying organized

Those with ADD often lack the hyperactivity component and may appear disorganized or disinterested in the classroom or the workplace. In fact, since kids with ADD are most often not disruptive in school, they might be mistakenly viewed as just “shy.” If parents suspect their child has ADD, they should talk to the kid’s teacher, school counselor, or physician about appropriate treatment. Earlier intervention can ensure that the kid experiences fewer disruptions because of the condition. There’s no single test for ADD. The doctor will review for any ADHD symptoms demonstrated in the past six months to make a diagnosis. The doctor might also carry out a physical exam and review the kid’s medical history to rule out any other psychiatric or medical conditions that can be causing the symptoms.

There’re several ways in which ADD looks different from other types of ADHD in everyday life.

·         Kids with ADD may rush through a quiz, skipping whole sections or missing questions they know the answers to in their haste.

·         Children with ADD might have trouble staying focused during organized activities such as sports and games or tasks such as picking up their rooms.

·         Kids with ADD might seem absent-minded when spoken to directly, even though there might not be an obvious distraction.

·         Many children with ADD struggle to follow through on instructions, failing to complete schoolwork.

This is a term referring to academic resources that are easily accessible online by students without there being any copyright infringement. OERs are potent learning materials for students, especially low socio-economic status students who get their education from relatively poorer school districts.

Open educational resources offer a plethora of benefits for the K-12 education sector. These include:

Cost savings: One of the most crucial benefits of OER is the availability of quality materials to students and teachers at very little cost or at no cost. This makes it the ideal alternative to expensive textbooks. It makes education more affordable and accessible to students who cannot afford to buy course materials. They can mean the difference between students staying or dropping out of schools or students passing or failing an exam. With appropriate intervention from the teachers, the open course content can be tweaked and augmented to meet the needs of different students.

Improved quality of education: Open educational resources not only help students, teachers, and schools save on money, but they also enhance the quality of education by providing thousands of teachers with access to a massive resource of quality instructional material. Educators can augment existing materials as per their comprehension of the subject and their pupils’ needs and then share them with the education community. As the process continues, a collective effort by education experts and teachers can curate top-quality teaching resources.

Flexible and customized learning: OER also resonates with students, teachers, and institutions across the K-12 education sector for their flexible and customizable nature. Teachers can improve existing learning materials using videos, assignments, exercises, infographics, or any other tool they deem fit to enhance student engagement. Besides, the scope to remix and revise content gives teachers room to decide which part of a specific learning material they want to leave out and which they want to use. The customized content gives students access to relevant, pointed information that they can benefit from and are interested in.

Better retention rates: The collaborative nature of OER nurtures a pedagogically sound learning experience. What a community produces together is, naturally, more robust and far richer than what an educator can create individually. This is known to positively affect the students’ retention rates of knowledge and new information.

Digitized learning: Even though many open educational resources are designed to be utilized in the printed format, digital distribution can help leverage their optimal potential. Institutions have the option to implement digitized learning utilizing these resource materials in a model of their choice.

Denoted as a form of learning where learning materials are broken into bits, and each bit is delivered within a relatively short time span. For each micro-learning unit, there is usually one learning outcome or objective. In a bid to be effective, this learning objective should be properly communicated to students prior to the delivery of the lesson, so they can assess their understanding of the subject matter in light of the learning objective as the lesson progresses.

Microlearning appears with both benefits and drawbacks.

The benefits include:

Anytime/anywhere learning: With microlearning, students aren’t bound to a classroom setting. They can engage with the content at any time, from anywhere, and at their own pace. The availability of microlearning modules on different platforms makes it easy for students to consume the content. As microlearning is often informal training, it allows students to self-direct, focusing on the lessons they consider most valuable to them. This ease of access and self-direction leads to a notably fruitful return on their learning efforts.

High engagement: Videos, animations, slides, presentations, etc., are often included in microlearning courses. This multimedia variety captures the students’ attention and helps them remain engaged for a longer period of time. As microlearning modules come in small chunks, students are better able to invest time and effort in completing them. These small chunks also allow students to stay focused on a small amount of content at a time, without much time for boredom, distractions, or repetitiveness to obstruct their learning.

Better information absorption: When human brains are more relaxed, they’re better able to retain and recall what they’ve learned. According to research, learning that’s done spaced out over a longer period of time results in stronger retention. Microlearning reinforces the learned content by giving the student proper time to absorb the ideas and concepts presented in the course.

The drawbacks of microlearning include:

Not ideal for detailed courses: Microlearning isn’t ideal for teaching complex or detailed courses like quantum physics, for example. Easy topics, just-in-time objectives, and pointed tasks are the fundamental components of microlearning modules.

Difficult to see the big picture: The bite-sized nature of microlearning modules can keep the students from observing the bigger picture.

May lead to confusion: Building on the issue of the inability to observe the big picture, microlearning students may have a hard time connecting the dots. Developers of microlearning modules must design the content in such a way that the students can easily link seemingly fragmented bits of information.

Refers to a college where associate’s degrees are offered over a two-year period, and it typically forms a connection to the regular four-year-long programs via which students get their bachelor’s degrees.

On average, attending a community college is less expensive than attending a four-year school. Therefore, students can save a significant amount of money on tuition by attending a community college for initial two years and then transferring to a four-year university where they’ll complete their degrees.

In addition to saving money, students attend community colleges for several other reasons. Some important ones include the following:

Academic flexibility: Attending a community college may be a good way for students to become familiar with the world of higher education. This is particularly true for students who aren’t sure if they want to invest a significant amount of time and money in college or students who struggled in high school.

School-life balance: A significant percent of community college students attend the institution part-time, so anybody interested in taking just one or two classes at a time won’t feel out of place. This makes community colleges a good choice for nontraditional students such as parents and older students who want to balance school with career or family obligations.

Transfer agreements: Many community colleges have admission agreements with public colleges that allow eligible students to transfer their credits toward obtaining a bachelor’s degree.

Personalized attention: Many community colleges have smaller class sizes than larger institutions, meaning students can get one-on-one time with instructors and more personal attention. This can be advantageous for students who like to ask plenty of questions and learn at their own pace.

Students should consider the following aspects of attending a community college before finalizing their decisions.

·         Most likely, students won’t have an on-campus living experience while attending a community college. Some feel that the social atmosphere provided by on-campus living is an integral part of the entire college experience and development.

·         Community colleges may not have extra programs such as sports teams, drama and dance groups, etc., that students will find in a four-year school.

·         Many students attend community colleges with the idea that they’ll transfer after completing their associate’s degree and continue their education at four-year institutions. They need to ensure that all their coursework is transferable and will be counted as credits required at their target transfer colleges. Articulation agreements are routinely updated, so students shouldn’t rely on old information when deciding on which community or four-year college to go to.

These are the kids born to Millennials. The first birthday of the pacesetters in this generation was in 2011. Children in the Generation Alpha club are immersed in technology and defined by diversity in key areas, including ethnicity and race, family finances, and family structure. Generation Z follows the members of generation alpha. The birth years of Generation Z members were between 1995 and 2010. They’re followed by the members of Generation Y, commonly known as Millennials, who were born between 1980 and 1995. One effective method to envision how all these groups fit together: Generation Alpha members are usually the kids of Millennials and younger siblings of Generation Z.

If current trends continue, Generation Alpha children will be more ethnically and racially diverse compared to their Generation Z counterparts. Generation Alpha members will also be more likely to receive college-level education, more likely to be surrounded by college-educated people, and more likely to grow up in single-parent households.

Generation Alpha kicked off in 2010. It’s the same year in which the American Dialect Society voted “app” as the word of the year, Instagram made its debut, and Apple launched its first iPad. Surrounded by technology right from the very beginning, this generation considers digital tools omnipresent instead of just a trendy accessory. Growing up linked up and logged on, helped by the likes of Alexa and Siri, and engrossed in videos and everything visual, can have its unique advantages, including greater digital adaptability and literacy.

In early 2020, when the pandemic forced institutions and most employers to operate remotely, different technologies came to the rescue. For many children, including Generation Alpha’s oldest members that are now in elementary school, screen time soared. Before the pandemic, experts forecasted that Generation Alpha children would follow the activist footsteps of Generation Z and prioritize sustainability. Now, the pandemic’s radical reset of societal norms can further intensify this generation’s interest in reimagining a healthier, greener world.

With census population projections estimating that the country will become minority white by 2045, it can be safely said that Generation Alpha children are on track to become America’s most ethnically and racially diverse generation yet.

For General Alpha children growing up in the nation’s poorest households, the challenges intertwined in their family finances are long-lasting and wide-ranging. Poverty elevates a kid’s risk of experiencing health, social-emotional, and behavioral challenges. Child poverty also decreases academic outcomes and skill-building opportunities, weakening a student’s capacity to graduate from high school, learn, and more.

Machine learning is known to be that arm of computer science that utilizes mathematical principles to help computer systems become markedly better performing on detailed data-driven tasks without any ambiguous programming. Good examples of the incorporation of machine learning into education are the use of artificial intelligence and learning analytics.

Some important machine learning applications in the education sector include:

Adaptive learning: In this educational method, a student’s performance is analyzed in real-time, and teaching methods and the curriculum are modified based on that data. It tries to adapt to the individual student for better education and helps to build a personalized engagement. The software helps in advising learning avenues that the student should take.

Increased efficiency: Machine learning appears with the capability to better organize and manage content and the curriculum. It helps to bifurcate the tasks accordingly and understand everyone’s potential. It helps to identify what works for the student and what work is ideal for the teacher. It also has the ability to make teachers more efficient by completing tasks such as scheduling, classroom management, etc. Therefore, the teachers are free to concentrate on tasks that machine learning cannot accomplish and require a human touch.

Learning analytics: Sometimes, teachers get stuck while teaching. As a result, the students cannot properly understand the insights and gist. Learning analytics helps teachers gain insight into data and perform deep dives into it. They can sift through lots of pieces of content, interpret them, and then make connections and conclusions.

Predictive analysis: Predictive analysis in education revolves around knowing the needs and mindsets of the students. It helps to make conclusions about the occurrences that may happen in the future. With the half-yearly results and class tests, it can be understood which students will have a tough time in the exam and which students will perform well.

Personalized learning: This is one of the best usages of machine learning in the education field. It’s customizable and individual requirements can be taken care of through this. The students can guide their learning through this educational model. They can make decisions about which subjects to learn and how to learn.

Evaluating assessments: Machine learning is used to grade exams and student assignments more accurately than a human can. While some inputs from educators are required, the final results will have higher reliability and validity when a machine does the work as there’re fewer chances of errors.

Educational equity refers to a process whereby everything is put in place for all children, regardless of their backgrounds (e.g., lower socioeconomic status, minorities, English as a second/third language children), can succeed without favoring one over the other, and not denying them opportunities for growth and instead, giving it to kids from privileged backgrounds.

Quite sadly, we need to recognize that education policy in this country has a poor history of true educational equity, with glaring commitments that prevent these bodies from making it a priority. The present educational equity structure is replete with several gaps and issues that must be addressed if there would be progress – no matter how insurmountable those challenges appear.

There is also the matter of political correctness that is hard to attain with this kind of duty. Nonetheless, if the educational system must rise to the ideals portrayed by fundamental American qualities and principles, this hard work must be done.

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), equity in education appears with two closely intertwined dimensions. These include:

Fairness: It means ensuring that social and personal obstacles aren’t obstacles to achieving educational potential. It bans discrimination based on ethnic origin, gender, or socioeconomic status.

Inclusion: It makes sure a basic minimum standard of education for everyone. For instance, all should be able to read, write, and perform simple arithmetic. If some students require more to get there, they should obtain it.

Educational leaders should take robust steps to introduce equity into their classrooms and schools. The following approaches may change teaching dynamics and better outcomes for pupils of all backgrounds.

Personalized learning: Educators have to develop the skills to comprehend pupils’ individual needs to excel academically. This typically necessitates implementing individualized lesson plans and advocating for individual pupils who might need tailored educational opportunities or resources.

Cultural responsiveness: Culturally responsive teaching is an important skill that all teachers have to implement within their classrooms. Pupils from diverse cultural backgrounds should be provided with a safe environment in which to learn.

Early intervention: Providing dedicated, personalized support at an early stage in the process is key to achieving educational equity. Early intervention may substantially impact a student’s future success by helping to foster strengths and develop crucial skills for overcoming challenges.

Community engagement: Education goes beyond the classroom and into the homes of students and communities. Educators should engage communities and families in the learning process. This will motivate diverse voices to review and rectify system inequities, further improving educational equity for all pupils.

It refers to a plan which provides as much help as is necessary to a child. Notably, private schools have few services provided to students. While public schools automatically create individualized education plans (IEPs) for children, kids with special needs who attend private schools can only partake in the Individualized Service Plan programs from the local education agency.

However, even though the number of services available for private school attendees is significantly less, if a child has one of 13 pre-specified disabilities covered in the IDEA, they should be able to access these services.

The local school district pays for an Individualized Service Plan, and it doesn’t need to ensure that a kid is provided with FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education). An ISP mentions the special education and associated services the local education agency will make available to a kid. While parents don’t need to pay anything for these services, the student may not be able to receive those services at the private school. Instead, the local education agency can require the kid to go to a public school for services such as speech therapy sessions.

Under ISPs, students don’t have an individual right to receive the same special education and associated services as they’d in public schools. Instead, they’re entitled to receive “equitable services,” which is based on the funding available for private schools.

To qualify for an Individualized Service Plan, a kid must meet the following criteria:

·         Be placed in a private school by the parents (not as an out-of-district placement)

·         Have one of the thirteen disabilities covered under the IDEA

·         Need special education to successfully access and benefit from a general education curriculum

Parents have to give written consent for their kids to be evaluated, and the local education agency will conduct the evaluation. A parent may request that the local education agency in which the private school is situated evaluate a kid instead of the local education agency in the child’s local district. However, the local education agency will make the final decision.

Local education agencies have to evaluate students in private schools who may require special education, which is known as Child Find. If parents think the local education agency has failed to evaluate or identify their kids, they may follow “due process” procedures.

According to IDEA, an Individualized Service Plan has to be reviewed “to the extent appropriate” as frequently as an IEP. However, it doesn’t specify how frequently such a plan has to be updated.

The Individualized Family Service Plan refers to a clearly outlined document whose major aim is to serve young kids that need interventional services. Each IFSP is specifically suited to each child and incorporates a plan for the family since families may require education on how to best care for their children too. Considering the above, each IFSP is “individualized” and unique.

IFSPs are covered by the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and are created for eligible kids from birth to age three who need additional help with cognitive, physical, self-help, communication, or social-emotional skills. The IFSP process starts with an early intervention evaluation that looks at a baby’s or toddler’s skills. The evaluation also involves conversations with families about their resources, their needs, and their concerns. In fact, families have to give written consent before the IFSP goes into action. All the information is utilized together to see if a kid is eligible for an IFSP. If the kid is eligible, the team develops a plan of supports and services to meet the kid’s and the family’s needs.

A service coordinator helps to set up and schedule the services. Services may include:

·         Physical or occupational therapy

·         Speech and language therapy

·         Psychological services

·         Medical, nutrition, or nursing services

·         Home visits

·         Vision or hearing (audiology) services

·         Social work services

·         Transportation

Apart from a service coordinator, an IFSP team has to include the following individuals:

·         The parent or the kid’s legal caregiver

·         An advocate from outside the family (upon the family’s request)

·         Other family members as requested

·         Professionals directly involved in assessments or evaluations of a kid’s needs

·         Those who’ll provide early intervention services for a kid or family

Depending on a kid’s needs, the IFSP team may include specialists, such as a:

·         Child development specialist

·         Therapist

·         Health care provider

·         Social worker

Every IFSP has to contain certain key components. Parents should check with the appropriate education agency to learn state-specific guidelines. Components that are found in any state’s IFSPs include:

·         People and organizations involved

·         The kid’s current levels of functioning

·         Family information

·         The specific services that the child will receive

·         Specific, relevant, and measurable short-term goals

By law, the IFSP team has to meet to review the plan every six months. The objective is to determine whether updates like new outcomes are needed. Parents may request an additional review at any time if they feel the IFSP isn’t serving their kid’s best interests or if there has been a significant event or change in the kid’s life.