ERIC EJ1162937: Improving Observation and Practicum Experiences for a Preservice Teacher with Visual Impairment through the Use of Assistive Technology

2017·0.05 MB·English

by  ERIC

ists.” The authors suggest that faculty in pre- education.InternationalJournalofTechnol-
service programs need to recognize these ogy and Educational Marketing, 5(1), 1–14.
changingrolestiedtocurrenttechnologyused
ineducationandrehabilitationandtothebuilt
Rona L. Pogrund, Ph.D., associate editor for
environment and adjust their curriculum ac-
practice, JVIB, and professor, Special Education
cordingly.
Program, College of Education, Texas Tech Uni-
The third practice piece in this issue, by versity,1100West45thStreet,Austin,TX78756;
Duane Geruschat, Mark Rankin, and Jessy e-mail: [email protected].
Dorn,“AnIntroductiontoProvidingRehabil-
itation to Individuals with Visual Impair-
Practice Reports
ments Who Are Using the Argus II Retinal
Prosthesis System,” highlights the training
that orientation and mobility specialists need
ImprovingObservation
prior to working with adults who have re-
andPracticumExperiences
ceived a retinal chip implant, the Argus II.
foraPreserviceTeacher
This technology has the potential to enhance
withVisualImpairmentThrough
the orientation skills of the implant recipient
theUseofAssistiveTechnology
when community rehabilitation occurs in a
structured manner. The article offers sugges- JonathanM.LimaandSarahE.Ivy
tions for what this training might encompass O
bservationsandpracticumexperiencesare
in order to be functional for the user.
an integral part of teacher preparation pro-
I hope these diverse contributions to the lit-
grams, which are necessary to provide pre-
erature create some level of cognitive disso-
service teachers with opportunities to apply
nance as you think about these and other
knowledge and skills gained from lectures
changesoccurringinthefieldofvisualimpair-
and readings to positively affect school-aged
mentinthe21stcenturythatmayaffectpreser-
students.Althoughpracticumexperiencesen-
viceandin-servicetrainingforprofessionalsin
compass broad observation and preteaching
the field, always with the goal of meeting the
opportunities of varied length and focus, the
needs of children and adults who are visually
context for this paper was a semester-long
impaired.Anychangesinourfieldmustnotsac-
weekly 2-hour commitment to participate in a
rificequality,buttherealsoneedstobearecog-
classroom serving at least one student with vi-
nition that things may not be able to be accom-
sual impairment and additional severe disabili-
plishedthewaytheyhavealwaysbeendone.As
tiesforatotalof20hours.Thistimewasspent
John F. Kennedy once said in 1963, “Change is
supporting the student with visual impairment
thelawoflife.Andthosewholookonlytothepast
toparticipateintypicalclassroomactivities,and
orthepresentarecertaintomissthefuture.”
conductingessentialassessments—functional
visionandlearningmediaassessmentandas-
REFERENCES
sessment in the areas of the expanded core
Dylan, B. (1963). The times they are
curriculum (ECC) for a classroom assignment.
a-changin’. New York, NY: Warner Bros.
Such assessments, especially when completed
Kennedy, J. F. (1963, June 25). Address in the
withchildrenwhohavevisualimpairmentsand
AssemblyHallatthePaulskircheinFrankfurt.
additionalseveredisabilities,requirethatteach-
Retrieved from http://www.presidency.ucsb.
ersofstudentswhoarevisuallyimpairedmake
edu
Lemoine, P. A., & Richardson, M. D. (2015). detailed multisensory observations. Preservice
Micro-credentials, nano degrees, and digital teachers who are visually impaired (that is,
badges: New credentials for global higher those who are blind or have low vision) may
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©2017AFB,AllRightsReserved JournalofVisualImpairment&Blindness,November-December2017
needanassistanttocompletesuchobservations. of students with visual impairments who are
Apeer,instructor,orprofessionalatthepracti- themselves visually impaired. Lewis, Corn,
cumsiteisoftenneededtodescribestudentand Erin,andHolbrook(2003)surveyed14U.S.-
environment characteristics that cannot be ac- basedresidential,resource,oritinerantteach-
cessed through touch or hearing. Typically, ers of students with visual impairments who
the preservice teacher would ask an assis- are themselves visually impaired regarding
tant standing in close proximity to describe their perceived difficulties in the workplace
visual aspects of a situation to him or her andtheirstrategiesforresolvingtheseissues.
while the preservice teacher may interact Lewisandcolleagues(2003)classifiedthepar-
directly with a school-aged student. ticipants based on their primary literacy me-
This approach to supporting preservice dium,ofwhichtherewasanequalproportionof
teachers who are visually impaired, though braille and print readers. All but two of the
effective, has drawbacks that may be most teachers of students with visual impairments
apparent when the teacher needs to assess theystudiedhadatonetimeworkeditinerantly.
students with visual impairments and addi- Althoughnotidentifiedasthemostcommonor
tional severe disabilities. First, preservice persistent difficulty, participants pointed to
teachers are often rightly advised to avoid problems with conducting essential assess-
discussing a child’s ability in front of the ments, which they overcame with assistance
student.Second,studentswithseveredisabil- from others (often paraeducators) and, for
ities often have difficulty processing compet- teacherswithlowvision,workingincloseprox-
ing stimuli, and they may be overstimulated imity to their students or using optical devices
anddistractedbydiscussionamongobservers suchastelescopeswhenapplicable.Theauthors
(Smith & Levack, 1996), which may nega- did not report whether the participants worked
tively affect the results of the assessment. withchildrenwhohadseveredisabilitiesinad-
Finally, classrooms serving students with dition to visual impairment or if certain mea-
multiple disabilities often have a large (speak- sures were taken to offset issues related to dis-
ing)adultto(non-speaking)studentratio,which traction. However, one participant reported
poses a unique challenge for classroom man- using “a series of verbal and touch signals to
agement.Basedonanecdotalobservationfrom communicate” with her trained assistant when
the authors’ experience in classrooms, it is not discussing information in front of students
idealtohaveanadditionalpairofadultstalking (Lewis et al., 2003, p. 163).
intheclassroom,whichcanbeapowerfuldis- In addition to this one study, the literature
traction to other children and the teacher. on the experiences of educators with visual
Currently, there is a gap in research that impairmentsislargelycomprisedofnarrative
delves specifically into the topic of assess- pieces related to general education teachers
mentsconductedbyteachersofstudentswith whoarevisuallyimpaired.Forexample,Ran-
visualimpairmentswhoarevisuallyimpaired dall (2005) described how a young woman
themselves. Variations of terminology rang- who was blind from an early age, Angela
ing from “teachers,” “professionals,” and Wolf, used compensatory skills in teaching
“educators,” coupled with “vis*impair*,” sighted children, including using a ruler and
“blind*,”or“lowvis*”acrossmultipleonline tape to help write on the chalkboard, feeling
databases including JSTAR, ERIC, and Aca- children’s journals to tell how much students
demic Search Complete yielded limited re- have written, having students read aloud their
sults that specifically addressed educators work, and calling on students to answer ques-
with visual impairments, and only one study tions by drawing names at random. Other ex-
wasfoundthatspecificallyexaminedteachers amplesincludetheuseofdogguidesasameans
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JournalofVisualImpairment&Blindness,November-December2017 ©2017AFB,AllRightsReserved
of effective traveling within the classroom or net creates the potential for unauthorized
school,listeningintentlytostudentstomanage users to break into the Internet protocol
potentialmisbehaviors,hiringreaderservicesor (IP) address, which may cause concern for
usingscreenenlargementorbrailletranscription parents, teachers, or administrators; in addi-
assistivetechnologyforaccesstoprint,encour- tion, devices that rely on the Internet can be
agingstudentstotakeimportantroleswithinthe susceptible to connectivity issues. If such
classroom (for example, writing on the board), bug-in-ear and video-streaming technology
hiringanassistantoraparaeducator,orcreating occurred through a secure connection using
assigned seating of students to assist in class- Bluetooth (a wireless technology that allows
room management (American Association of directcommunicationovershortdistancesbe-
Blind Teachers, n.d.; House, 2015; Mendez, tween two compatible electronic devices),
2014). To our knowledge, literature that ad- thus limiting the range of access from unau-
dresses the issue of a student’s distraction dur- thorizedusers,thenapracticalsolutionexists
ing assessments conducted by a teacher with in providing a distraction-reduced environ-
visualimpairmentwiththeassistanceofanother ment for teachers of students with visual im-
adult is nonexistent. pairments who are visually impaired them-
selves to interdependently and confidentially
TECHNOLOGYSOLUTION
assess their students.
Current technology may offer a solution
This technological approach was used in
to the issue related to teachers of students
the 2015 fall semester in the Visual Disabil-
with visual impairments who are visually
itiesProgramatFloridaStateUniversitywith
impaired themselves conducting essential
a preservice teacher of students with visual
assessments for this student population.
impairmentswhohasextremelylowvision—in
Bug-in-ear technology—any means of tele-
herpracticumexperiencesservingandassess-
communication coaching whereby one or two
ing students with visual impairments and ad-
peoplecancommunicatewitheachotherusing
ditional severe disabilities. During assess-
ear-piece devices—has provided successful
ments being conducted by the preservice
teachertrainingandcoachingineducation(Rig-
teacher of students with visual impairments
gie,2013;Rocketal.,2014;Scheeler,Congdon,
using bug-in-ear technology and video plus
& Stansbery, 2010). With this technology, a
audio streaming, an onsite observation was
supervisingteacherorcoachwouldbeatadis-
conducted by the first author along with
tancewithintheclassroomoruseawebcamto
follow-up interviews regarding the use of this
viewtheclassroomfromaremotelocationand
technology for completing essential assess-
provide one-way guidance to the listener.
ments. Institutional review board approval and
Similarly,bug-in-eartechnologycanbecom-
written informed consent from the participant
bined with wireless video and audio transmis-
was obtained from the authors’ institution.
sion to allow a preservice teacher of students
with visual impairments who is visually im- PARTICIPANTANDMATERIALS
paired herself to receive information from a The approach of pairing video that is streamed
remote assistant. This method would allow live with bug-in-ear technology to assist in
the teacher of students with visual impair- practicum experiences was brought about
ments to assess students while minimizing through the collaboration between the
distraction to the student or others in the authors, the College of Education Informa-
classroom. Typically, live audio and video tion Technology Services, Florida State
used for coaching purposes is transmitted or University,andthepreserviceteacherofstu-
“streamed” via the Internet. Use of the Inter- dents with visual impairments, Corey (pseud-
589
©2017AFB,AllRightsReserved JournalofVisualImpairment&Blindness,November-December2017
onym). The collaboration sought to find a so- probing information, and her assistant could
lutionthatwouldimproveCorey’scapacityto then elaborate as needed.
conduct essential assessments during her re- Coreywastaughthowtousethetechnology
quired practicum. She acquired low vision by the first author during two meetings. The
around 2005, at the age of 38, as a result of totalhoursoftrainingwerelessthanthree,and
diabetic retinopathy. A surgery in 2006 was this instruction also included a practice session
unable to prevent a retinal detachment in her inwhichCoreywasaskedtoreteachanddem-
lefteye,renderinghertotallyblindinthateye. onstratetheuseofthetechnologywiththefirst
Shecurrentlyhasanunstablevisualacuityof authortoensureshewascompetentinhandling
20/800inherrighteye.Intheyearpriortoour theequipment.Coreywastaskedwithdevelop-
investigation,shebecameunabletousevideo ing her own plan for training her assistant re-
magnifiers to access print, but she still main- garding the type of visual information she
tained some useable bright color vision and wished to receive when observing her student,
object detection, which she used to assist her and how she would communicate with her as-
orientation and mobility. In the fall of 2015, sistant during practicum sessions.
duringCorey’spracticum,herstudentwasan
adolescent with low vision and multiple dis- OBSERVATION
abilities who was nonverbal and used a Corey’spracticumexperienceslastedfortwo
wheelchair for mobility. or more hours each week for 10 weeks be-
For bug-in-ear communication, Corey and tween September and November of 2015.
herassistanteachworeaMotorolaCLPSeries During that time, she and her assistant used
two-way business radio with Bluetooth capac- bug-in-ear technology and video streaming
ity. Communication exchanges were relayed consistently to conduct a functional vision
through a microphone in the wireless earpiece and learning media assessment; ECC assess-
while the sender held down a button on the ment; and to complete the Communication
radio.AfreeapplicationcalledLivestreamwas SkillsMatrix(Rowland,2017),anassessment
downloadedontoanAppleiPadAir2handheld tool that identifies the status, form, and prog-
electronicdeviceprotectedbyanOtterboxDe- ress of early communication to describe a
fendercase,whichenabledCorey’sassistantto student’spresentlevelsoffunctioning.Corey
view both video and audio in real time as used bug-in-ear technology in the classroom
streamed over Bluetooth from a small GoPro during student routines but did not use the
Hero 4(cid:2) Black HD (high-definition) camera technology when observing outside play.
operated by Corey. Corey and the assistant set Thefirstauthorcompletedoneliveobservation
upthecamerapriortoeachassessmentsession ofCoreyusingthetechnology.Duringtheobser-
to provide full video coverage of the student. vation,thefirstauthorshadowedCorey’sassistant.
Setup options included mounting on a Sony Theobservationoccurredonthefirstdayinwhich
VCT-R100 tripod or furniture via various Go- Coreyandherassistanthadaccesstothefullrange
Proaccessories(forexample,gooseneckclamps of technology, so setup took longer than antici-
or desk clamps) or mounted directly to Corey pated,anditincludedretrainingtheassistanttouse
viaaGoProheadorchestmount.Theassistant the Shure headphones, new camera mounts, and
would access video and audio from an office newerbug-in-earheadsets.Forapproximately20
separatefromtheclassroom,awayfromCo- minutes, Corey and her assistant collaborated
rey and the student. The assistant was pro- whileconductingaUseofSensoryChannelform
vided with Shure SE215 headphones for (Koenig&Holbrook,1995),whichisanassess-
clearer audio. The bug-in-ear technology al- menttoolusedtodeducetheprimaryandsecond-
lowed Corey to ask her assistant for further ary auditory, visual, and tactual behaviors of a
590
JournalofVisualImpairment&Blindness,November-December2017 ©2017AFB,AllRightsReserved
student. The assistant was positioned in an adja- enue to use video streaming and bug-in-ear
centofficeandstorageroomconnectingtwoclass- technology during outdoor conditions.
rooms,whileCoreywassittingwithherstudentin
the student’s classroom. During this activity, the INTERVIEW
GoProwasmountedonatripodtoprovideawider Two informal, open-ended interviews were
angle of coverage because the observation was conducted. In-person interviews were com-
occurringduringastationarymealtimeroutine. pleted separately with Corey and with her
There was an approximately one-second assistant. The purpose was to discuss the
delay between video and audio coverage of practicality of and users’ preferences for this
what was occurring within the classroom. technology and to discuss its potential value
Video image quality allowed the assistant to for other educators with visual impairments.
capture minute details of Corey’s and her Coreypraisedthistechnologyasavaluable
student’s interactions. Using bug-in-ear tech- tool, which she felt increased her indepen-
nology, the assistant described to Corey, in dence with assessment because she was able
real time, all student behaviors and environ- togetmorereal-timevisualinformationwhile
mental events that could only be perceived not distracting the student or having to divert
visually.Coreyverballydirectedtheassistant herattentionfromthestudentshewasassess-
infrequently to classify and catalogue obser- ing. She said, “I know I have my limitations,
vations by whispering into the microphone buthavingthistechnologyhelpsmetodomy
that was close to her mouth. Later Corey job.It’slessdistracting[forme,]andkidsare
transferredhernotes,whichwererecordedon less likely to get distracted [when I use this
a computer word processor by her assistant, technology].” Her assistant noted that com-
onto the Use of Sensory Channel form. munication was clear and suggested that in
During this brief observational period, the some situations the GoPro could be strapped
student was calm and alert during and after totheteacher,whichwouldhelptheassistant
the mealtime activity as he interacted with to share the teacher’s frame of reference and
Corey. During the observation, only one stu- possibly improve her ability to provide de-
dent who peered through the office window tailed information about student behavior.
appearedtonoticeCorey’sassistant.Thebug- Both Corey and her assistant believed this
in-ear and GoPro technology was unmoved technologywashelpfulandnonintrusive,and
andapparentlyunnoticedbyeitherthestudent that it offered a pragmatic approach to assist
being assessed or his classmates, and regular educators with visual impairments.
daily routines were implemented without ad-
ditional distraction. CONCLUSION
To provide a comprehensive functional vi- Forthisproject,weidentifiedatechnological
sion and learning media assessment, teachers approach to support a preservice teacher of
of students with visual impairments must ob- visually impaired students with extremely
serve students in a variety of settings indoors low vision to conduct essential assessments
and outdoors with different lighting condi- for a learner with multiple disabilities and
tions. The first author was unable to observe visual impairment with limited distraction to
the technology used during naturally lit out- the child and classroom. The selected tech-
door conditions on the day of observation; nologywaspurchasedwithfundsprovidedby
however, given the various body mounts that a departmental grant, but it would be rela-
can be used with a GoPro camera and the tivelyaffordabletoanindividuallivingonthe
short distance range available over a secure average salary of a teacher working in the
Bluetoothconnection,therestillexistsanav- United States. In addition, as the demand for
591
©2017AFB,AllRightsReserved JournalofVisualImpairment&Blindness,November-December2017
streaming sports cameras and tablets rises, (2003). Strategies used by visually im-
basiceconomicsindicatethatthecostofsuch paired teachers of students with visual im-
items should continue to be reduced. Experi- pairmentstomanagethevisualdemandsof
mental research is needed to address whether their professional role. Journal of Visual
Impairment & Blindness, 97(3), 157–168.
the technology described in this paper can be
Mendez, C. (2014). Life lessons from a tree.
usedtodecreasedistractionsandincreasethe
NFB:Braillemonitor.Retrievedfromhttps://
qualityofassessmentscompletedbyteachers
nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm14/
of students with visual impairments who are
bm1404/bm140409.htm
visuallyimpairedthemselves.Withthesefac-
Randall,K.(2005).Uncommonvision:Blind
tors in mind, bug-in-ear technology with live
student focuses on her goal to become an
audio and video transmission could be consid- elementary school teacher. University of
ered as a possible accommodation for teachers Texas at Austin Features. Retrieved from
of students with visual impairments who are http://www.utexas.edu/features/2005/wolf/
visually impaired themselves or other types of index.html
teachers who are visually impaired. Concur- Riggie,J.L.(2013).Supportingearlychildhood
educators’ use of embedded communication
rently, other uses of live-streaming video and
strategies by providing feedback via bug-in-
bug-in-ear communication could prove benefi-
ear technology (doctoral dissertation). Flor-
cialforotherpreserviceorprofessionalteachers
ida State University, Tallahassee.
with visual impairments who may need assis-
Rock, M. L., Schumacker, R. E., Gregg, M.,
tance in working with learners with or without
Howard, P. W., Gable, R. A., & Zigmond,
visual impairments and with or without addi-
N.(2014).Howaretheynow?Longer-term
tional disabilities for assessment, classroom
effects of eCoaching through online bug-
management, or academic instruction. For ex- in-ear technology. Teacher Education and
ample, live-streaming and bug-in-ear technol- Special Education, 37(2), 161–181. doi:
ogycouldbeusedtoassistteacherswithvisual 10.1177/0888406414525048
impairments to notice any type of student be- Rowland,C.(2017).Onlinecommunication
havior typically observed visually, such as ste- matrix (website). Portland, OR: Oregon
reotypiesorotherchallengingbehaviorsorcane Health & Science University, Design to
Learn Projects. Retrieved from http://
technique,allowingteacherswithvisualimpair-
communicationMatrix.org
ments to provide immediate feedback or rein-
Scheeler, M. C., Congdon, M., & Stansbery,
forcement to their students.
S.(2010).Providingimmediatefeedbackto
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