Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By:   Kimberly Chouinard , EC-SEAT Scholar App Review : SeeSaw Learning During this time of remote learning, as of April 2020, it is important to consider a few features in selecting the right app for your program's needs and students in presenting, monitoring and assessing student performance: 1. How easy is this SeeSaw Learning app to use for teachers? This app is easy to navigate. It offers tutorials and support pages for teacher to support its use. 2. Ease of use for families and security of information? Parents are invited by teacher to join SeeSaw via email using their email and student code.  For remote learning, parents need to join as the "student" in order to complete work and share with teacher on the app. Compatible with several devices including, Chromebooks, computers, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, Android phones, and Kindle Fire. 3. What ways or modes will this app give teachers to share learning experiences? The app contains a library of activiti...

By: Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar The following blogpost includes sample emails and a reflection about how to teach with the Novel Effect App. Read the sample emails, the reflection, and follow the links to learn more.  Using the Novel Effect App - https://noveleffect.com/  - to Enhance Reading Online Location: Screencastify Videos and Emails Audience: Preschool Team Members and Preschool Families Book: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-dHeNfXtgc Sample Email to Preschool Families: Hello Everyone, I have an app called Novel Effect that I want to share with you all! It is an app that adds sound effects while you read. I feel as though you and your children will love it as much as I do. Check out my video on the Novel Effect app  here .   The website also has great information for you to explore: https://noveleffect.com/  I have also created a read-aloud of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus, by Mo Willems f...

By: Carrie Portrie , EC-SEAT Project Coordinator As we continue our conversations on special education, families and young children, we can acknowledge that technology floods public consciousness and daily life. Many may imagine that the majority of children and families use technology daily, have Smartphones, and spend most nights using their tablets to watch shows or movies, read and play games. Commercials and media depict our world in this way. However, between July 17th - 22nd, 2013, 2,242 individuals completed the HarrisPoll . Bloomberg reported 38% of individuals surveyed owned tablets and 54% owned Smartphones. Although this sample is small in comparison to the population of the United States, it does illustrate that a large majority of people live and play without smart technology and tablets at home in the United States. These statistics make me wonder: Who has access to technology? And how is it being used? Adults stare at screens for hours a day as a prerequisite for mak...

By: Chelsea Emery , EC-SEAT scholar  Following Ezra  is an eye-opening book written from a father’s perspective. Tom Fields-Meyer is Abba, the father. He describes his view of the world while raising his son Ezra who has autism. His story explains how Ezra sees life from a different level, and how he does his best to understand and know the unique and extraordinary things about his son. The author writes about events from the past ten years of their lives. He wrote this book with the intention to understand his son and hope to relate to other families who have children with Autism. He breaks down each aspect of Ezra’s autism and really explains what makes him so wonderful and unique. Ezra grew up in a Jewish family with a Rabbi for a mother and two siblings. The authors describes challenges faced by his family that in the end made their relationship stronger with Ezra. The stories about Ezra include the road to his Bat Mitzvah, his tantrums, his explo...

By: Carrie Portrie, EC-SEAT Project Coordinator in collaboration with Sophia Fowler, early supports and services provider and Jessica Heald, elementary special educator as part of a workshop presented to Early Head Start childcare partnership teachers. Many adults working and caring for young children have access to tablets with built-in cameras that can easily record infant and toddler learning. Using digital tools for observation and documentation can provide creative means for practitioners and families to reflect on infant and toddler growth. Below are tools to create social stories and learning stories on a tablet. Social stories are focused on targeted behaviors for specific interventions. Learning stories originate from New Zealand and are constructed in the oral story tradition or like a picture book illustrating a child’s observed explorations or interactions with peers and the environment. Below are resources and basic steps to begin creating these types of stories. ...