Constructivism and Assistive Technology

If we believe that students with special education needs have the ability to overcome and compensate for their learning deficits, then it is safe to say that they also have the opportunity to succeed in school using technology. The premise of Assistive Technology is to help students with learning difficulties to overcome, compensate, or build bridges to assist them in showing what they know. Most often, students with these learning difficulties have very high oral capabilities. So they can tell you what they know, and probably talk your ear off till the cows come home. However, in the traditional school setting, they are often limited in their performance, or unable to produce at all. Why is this? There are many factors. Individual teaching style of the teachers is one component; mode of assessment implementation is another.

In the application of Constructivist ideals, students are empowered. They generate their own learning. They become independent and critical thinkers. This is a critical facet of combining the two approaches. Why you ask? Most students with learning problems suffer from self esteem issues and lack confidence due to years of feeling ‘low self worth’, or having seen themselves as ‘not as smart as’ their peers. Facilitating learning through constructivism and assistive technology allows students to soar in their areas of strength. As we know that constructivism supports different learning styles, this is most often the case with students with learning difficulties. Most of these students have strengths that lie in non-traditional areas, such as non-verbal intelligence. This type of strength is generally not fostered in the traditional school setting, and therefore the student doesn’t see the fact that they have abilities, they just lie in non-traditional areas. Constructivism takes this out of the equation though, and allows these students using Assistive Technology to show what they know. Consequently, the results can be very promising. Students can raise test scores. They can improve the presentation of their work. Their abilities in the area of organization can also show improvement. All of these things put together help to facilitate the building of self esteem and industry in our students.