You Need
How much work would you do if you had to share a keyboard?
As adults we are rarely asked to sit at a computer with another person, to cooperate over a task using a single keyboard. What would happen in this instance? Well, you have seen it in countless school computer rooms around the country… one types and decides what to type, while the other thinks about what they will do after school that evening.
There are good examples of collaborative work - but how much easier it would be if two keyboards were provided. Then collaboration could result in turn taking and editing the text, while each user had easy access to the keys that do the job!
AlphaSmarts, Neos and Danas all offer this facility. Just attach them as you would to send work to a computer and laptop and they will work happily alongside the existing keyboard.
I have seen this work so successfully, both to engage all of the students and to increase output. In one case students began taking away the Neos to continue their work, downloading it at their next lesson as they attached the Neo to work alongside the main keyboard.
This shows how the right access devices can create a true connection with the task. Unfortunately I see it infrequently and am continuing my one woman mission to make ICT suites more flexible and inclusive. Have you ever seen a suite that had mice on the left hand side, small keyboards and rollerballs set out as standard?
I am often told kids hate to be different. So… don’t make the rooms all the same!
The power of using AlphaSmart devices as secondary keyboards can be especially effective when a student is receiving one to one support.
Take the year 5 child who has a laptop but who is only able to type slowly and often tires before he has set down all his brain knows. (In this instance he does not process quickly enough to use predictive text and has too much of his own to say, to use on-screen grids.)
His support assistant has an AlphaSmart attached to the laptop and they work in two ways:
- Student dictates, assistant types… the student can sit right in front of the screen to check text and see what he is saying appear. He is then left to edit what he has dictated.
- The two of them can work in partnership, the assistant taking over the typing for a while to give the student a rest.
Advantages include:
- There is no leaning over the student to reach the keys, so the assistant’s back benefits.
- It increases the student’s independence (and personal space).
- The student has full editorial control.
In some classes the assistants have got so used to doing this that they take notes on the AlphaSmart during the listening bit of the lesson. This is sent to the whiteboard for all to see, where the teacher can highlight, bullet point and differentiate that text for individual users. If individual students had an infra-red Neo or AlphaSmart, that work could then be sent straight to their own device to support their work.
Remember that the Neo has Kaz the typing tutor built in, so not only could students hone their typing skills but maybe staff would appreciate this easy way to practice too!
If you value versatility, AlphaSmarts and Neos are trouble-free ways to get electronic text into the hands of more students, without spending hours working through training sessions or spending more than there is in the ICT budget.
Maggie Wagstaff - Advisory Teacher IT & SEN