Reviews: Special Needs
Submitted by Lois Stanciak
RE: Special Needs
Good information and well written, Margaret. For years, special education students were not challenged and courses were modified. They were not given the civility and respect you spoke about. When those students graduated, their skill sets were oftentimes below standards and they spent a lot of time taking remedial courses before they could take college level entry courses; or, sometimes they were so discouraged that they just gave up, which had a disastrous impact on their future. I have a MA in Special Education and when I was in a High School setting, I taught special education classes and later coordinated both special education and gifted students. At one point I taught Honors classes one period and special education English the next. Both English classes used the same material but delivery was very different. One of the things to remember when designing a class, whether online or a traditional face to face class is you as instructor need to accommodate the needs of students, not modify instruction. There is a big difference. Keep your accommodations in mind as you design. It is much easier to do it as you design compared to going back and doing it later. If you have audio, create a script and read from it. I have had deaf students in both f2f and online classes so they needed a transcript of what I said in the audio.
RE: Special Needs
Good information and well written, Margaret. For years, special education students were not challenged and courses were modified. They were not given the civility and respect you spoke about. When those students graduated, their skill sets were oftentimes below standards and they spent a lot of time taking remedial courses before they could take college level entry courses; or, sometimes they were so discouraged that they just gave up, which had a disastrous impact on their future. I have a MA in Special Education and when I was in a High School setting, I taught special education classes and later coordinated both special education and gifted students. At one point I taught Honors classes one period and special education English the next. Both English classes used the same material but delivery was very different. One of the things to remember when designing a class, whether online or a traditional face to face class is you as instructor need to accommodate the needs of students, not modify instruction. There is a big difference. Keep your accommodations in mind as you design. It is much easier to do it as you design compared to going back and doing it later. If you have audio, create a script and read from it. I have had deaf students in both f2f and online classes so they needed a transcript of what I said in the audio.