Student Jovan Brown using Merlit Interactive work Station
Special Education teacher Roman Pikula
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SMART Technology Helps Students With Disabilities
By LaToya Dennis
October 23, 2008 | WUWM | Milwaukee, WI
There are thousands of students in Milwaukee’s public schools who have physical and developmental disabilities. They can slow learning. A few years back, Vincent High School invested in technology designed to help those students. Now, there could be a newer version headed to some classrooms. To get an idea of how it all works, WUWM’s LaToya Dennis spent time in a special education class at Vincent.
For students with physical disabilities, participating in classroom activities like writing an answer on the board can be challenging. But that’s changing with advancements in technology. Just ask 19 year-old Jovan Brown.
“It is very easy for me to do my work,” Brown says.
Brown has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheel chair. He says things became easier three years ago when his class at Vincent High School was chosen to test the Merlit Interactive Learning station.
I can reach better,” Brown says.
The way it works is simple. Instead of a chalk board, the teacher uses a large computerized white board or SMART board. While most students watch what the teacher posts on that board, Brown pulls himself up to a similar computer screen mounted on a post. On it, he easily sees everything the teacher’s doing. And with the touch of a fingertip, he can answer questions, browse the web and navigate online books. Roman Pikula is a special education teacher at Vincent. He demonstrates one feature of the work station.
“Here’s the newspaper it comes from Britain, E Live online. So we can read news, films, games, some fun, some community features, recipes or past issues. Let’s look at the news. The Paralympics, there you go,” Pikula says.
Pikula says the work station has opened a whole new world to many of his students.
“It’s fantastic. All students, those that walk, those that are in wheelchairs plus those that have visual disabilities are able to access curriculum. Computer based curriculum which they couldn’t before. Or they could do it on a small 13 inch or 15 inch screen where group activities are impossible. So it’s day and night. That’s the difference,” Pikula says.
Pikula says not only does the interactive work station do wonders for students with physical difficulties, but it has also helped some with behavioral issues.
“Students that are growing up today are growing up on video games, internet, computers, IPod’s, IPhone’s. Obviously, chalk board is a little bit boring. Does not bring that interactive part to it, hello, we need technology to capture those minds,” Pikula says.
Pikula says the improvement he’s seen in some students’ behavior could be due to the fact they now have something right in front of them to focus on. Student Jovan Brown says proximity is everything to him.
“It’s right in front of me versus the other board that you gotta get up and walk to. I don’t really have to move. I can pay attention better cause it’s right in front of me,” Brown says.
A Milwaukee-based company, InfoCor, made the work station. Earlier this month, the firm released an updated version, called the Satalight. The Milwaukee Public School District is looking into whether the newer version would be beneficial to have. The Satalight costs about $7,900. As for the earlier version, the Helen Bader Foundation gave MPS a grant to help purchase those. After about a month of using the work station, Vincent High School bought one because it was so successful in helping students participate and learn.
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