| Lync in the classroom
Teachers specializing in special education are scarce and dispersed. Learning and teaching math and science to blind and visually impaired students is one of the most difficult of all foundation subjects and requires the development of innovative learning environments tailored to their unique needs, a challenge that many mainstream schools have not been able to effectively embrace.
When you picture a typical classroom, one sees a teacher in front and row of students facing each other and perhaps a whiteboard, projector or blackboard behind the teacher. Now add to this the possibility of some students joining the classroom from different cities or from their homes. Let’s also throw in the flexibility of the teacher imparting lessons from a remote location. This would be impossible to envision without the use of technology.
The video conferencing feature of Lync allows remote participants to view the entire classroom just as if they were there. With desktop sharing, teacher can virtually do a walk around as they view each student’s work, every moment of the class. Assignments and homework are passed back and forth as an attachment within Lync. Instant messaging allows the students the opportunity to ask questions in private without interrupting the rest of the class.
The interactive connection with Lync has helped the Washington State School for Blind teachers deliver an education to students on par with that of their sighted peers. Students can connect, talk and work through problems as if the teacher is in the classroom. As one student stated, “I feel I get more individual attention with the Lync classroom than before I was involved in this model of distance learning.” This process is a great marriage between the best use of technology/assistive technology and math to achieve great results for students. Students are not only learning math, but a wide variety of assistive technology that is well integrated into the daily use. What a win/win situation. This classroom and technology is allowing us to reach students in a way they understand."
The technology, along with trained teachers, not only in their subject areas, but as TVI’s, holds enormous potential to improve learning for more and more BVI students. This model can be easily replicated across the nation and worldwide connecting skilled teachers with students dispersed around the globe.
Multiparty real-time voice and video support in Lync coupled with resiliency allows for users to effectively communicate across geographical boundaries. A case study with deaf users using Lync video to communicate via sign language was published few years ago.
In order to connect students and staff with disabilities to specialized or regular classrooms, one needs to tap into a digital environment and Lync has helped education get one step closer to that vision. |