By Shelly Blake-Plock
As a parent of a dyslexic elementary schooler who happens to be obsessed with all things tech -- especially iPods and WoW -- I've been thinking recently in terms of what his future might look like. And I keep coming back to the idea that mobile tech is the single best vehicle for addressing the confidence and practical needs of many of our kids with learning differences.
I don't mean to say that the tech itself is the 'difference', what I am trying to say is that the tech -- and especially the personalized and always-on facet of mobile tech -- will provide the connection to the tools, the teachers, and the interventions that will make the difference in a way both unique and also requiring a re-thinking in terms of how we offer relevant services to students with learning differences.
And two things need to happen if we are to make the most of what the current digital situation represents. First, we need to explain to developers what we and our students need from them. Even better, we should be calling for Ed Schools to provide instruction in app making and digital design so that we -- the teachers -- have the capacity to program our own teaching. App design and personalized programming might do very well as a standard requirement for a master's degree in education.
Second, we need to push now for an end to the access issues facing all of our schools: public and private. So let's start by writing mobile tech into the IEPs. Let's make districts come to the realization that mobile devices and mobile access are the point-of-entry for learning right now. Let's put state funded devices in the hands of kids who need them and let all kids bring their own INTELLECTUAL EMPOWERMENT DEVICES to class.
My son learns better and understands better when he has access to the net. And given some common sense simple provisions, there is absolutely no reason why he nor any kids like him nor any kids at all in this day and age should not be allowed the resources the world has to offer them and that are offered anywhere but within the confines of a 20th century school building.
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