You Need
Technology proves its worth at the Special Needs Fringe
"So, tell me, have I wasted my working life by
encouraging pupils with dyslexia to use computers?" asked a visitor to the
Becta stand at Olympia's BETT exhibition. She was referring to the article by
John Clare which appeared in the Daily Telegraph on January 10th, which
claimed: "Equipping schools with a million computers and connecting them all to
the Internet has had little if any impact on standards, according to a study
commissioned by the Department for Education."
Despite what the report called "unprecedented levels of Government investment" - including more than £1 billion over the past five years - it could find "no consistent relationship" between computer use and pupil achievement in any subject at any age.
John Clare's article is very opportune. Now is the time for a debate about ICT and what it really has to offer beyond the ability to motivate a generation brought up on television and the so-called 'zap culture.' Too often it is asserted that computers are a good thing, without sufficient analysis of the benefits of this most expensive educational resource. No one should spend a billion pounds without having a clear idea of what they are doing.
So are those of us who stand up for the value of ICT deluded? Is the Treasury's decision to spend £10 million over 2 years on the Communication Aids Project a waste of public funds? Anyone who doubts the value of ICT should have been at the Special Needs Fringe organised by Inclusive Technology and sponsored by Special Children magazine.
Here, exhibitors such as Mayer-Johnson and
IntelliTools from the United States and AutoSkill from Canada rubbed shoulders
with developers of music technology, speech devices and home grown favourites
such as Crick Software, Penny & Giles and Widgit. In one compact exhibition
you could find out about adaptive technology, early years software and
materials for literacy and update your skills from a choice of over 30
seminars.
Where else would you meet people who get up at 5 in the morning to travel to London to find a new way of using symbols or to share their experiences over a cup of coffee with people they have just met? Are these people zealots, hoodwinked by the snake oil merchants? No, they are ordinary teachers who see the real power of technology on a daily basis. They know it can help their pupils to speak, to read, to communicate with others and to receive information in a form they can understand. Technology can change a pupil's world from a bleak barren landscape and prove with stunning clarity that IT expenditure is truly worthwhile. Anyone who has seen a hitherto silent, frustrated individual use a communication aid to tell a joke or gossip with others knows that technology makes a difference.
Don't talk to us about key stages and raising standards, we are dealing with real people and real lives. All the talk of raising achievement in science at key stage 4 pales into insignificance for teachers who know some of their pupils will not live that long. Surely the use of computers in education must add up to something more than a set of exam results? The Special Needs Fringe 2003 showcased the true potential of technology.
Ministers and media alike wheel out disabled
pupils (often quite literally) at high profile events but then pop them back in
the ghetto in the intervening periods. 2003 is the European Year of People with
Disabilities so we can look forward to a whole raft of events, some of them
real celebrations of achievement and others patronising hype dealing in
stereotypes. Surely, if inclusion has any meaning, the needs of pupils with
disabilities and learning difficulties have to be central to the educational
agenda all the time, even when they buck the trends and don't fit the latest
soundbites.
The whole world of special needs defies categorisation. We are a tricky lot. Why else would we be the only group to have a Fringe show outside Olympia? Which other group of computer professionals would pay to be in 2 places at once? Where else in the software industry do exhibitors routinely recommend competitors' products if it is in the best interests of an individual child?
The software industry owes it to schools and colleges to provide them with the best possible service. That's what we saw at the SEN Fringe. The provision of software and training can be a cut throat world. Many IT experts are wondering what will happen as a result of BBC Digital Curriculum initiatives. Will some of the educational content providers on the web go out of business? Will it raise the baseline and ensure higher quality provision?
The manufacturers of SEN software are not immune to these commercial pressures but they are also very aware of their responsibilities to their communities too. Where but in the world of special education would 24 authors from 10 separate organisations agree to waive copyright, to let their materials go up on the web for anyone to use, without a penny changing hands? That's what we witnessed at the Fringe the very same day that John Clare's article appeared in the Daily Telegraph.
Ralph
Tabberer, head of the Teacher Training Agency, is very aware of the value of
the work of the 10 partners who form the Inclusive Consultancy and Training
Syndicate (ICTS). Their training materials will be available to a whole new
audience, from staff in mainstream having perhaps their first contact with
disabled pupils to learning assistants who want to improve their skills.
As he pressed the
Penny and Giles switch, Ralph Tabberer urged the audience to raise their
glasses and celebrate the launch of these free-to-air materials. He pointed out
that special needs had been the most successful part of the NOF training and
said, "How typical that it should be those who work in this sector who have
made such a tremendously generous gesture by sharing what's been created. This
has enormous implications for other providers." We will have to wait and see if
other sectors have the courage to rise to the challenge.
So, finally, to answer the question posed by my visitor at BETT: No, you have not wasted your working life by advocating the use of technology. You were just ahead of your time.
Sally McKeown of the TES, Special Children Magazine and BECTa gives her views on the Special Needs Fringe.