6.

3 Field Experiences
Candidates engage in appropriate field experiences to synthesize and apply the content and professional
knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in these standards.

Reflection

The Assistive Technology Implementation Plan was a field experience in which I synthesized and applied
the content and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in the standards set forth for
this program. I worked with a first grade student and his mother to determine which goals from the
students Individual Education Plan (IEP) that we wanted assistive technology to address. We identified
three goals: Make gains in sight words acquisition, improve understanding of phonics word family to
increase ability to decode words, and increase time on task reading. After we selected these main three
goals, I researched several iPad based assistive technologies and had the student test them. I determined
which technologies were the best fit to meet these needs, which were: AbiTalk Sight Words Free 1 & 2,
Rhyming Bee, AbiTalk Phonics Word Families, and Auryn Interactive Books. I then developed the
Assistive Technology Implementation Plan with the students mother.

Standard 6.3, Field Experiences, establishes the requirement for candidates to engage in appropriate field
experiences to synthesize and apply the content and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions
identified in these standards. This artifact demonstrates my ability to synthesize and apply the content
and professional knowledge and skills through the steps I set forth for Equipment Tasks, Training, Home
Implementation, and Monitoring/Evaluation. For each student goal in the Assistive Technology
Implementation Plan, I identified the person responsible, assistive technology required to accomplish
each goal, instructional strategy, and recording system and frequency. I provided the necessary training
to the mother and student to ensure appropriate use of each assistive technology. This artifact
demonstrates my ability to synthesize and apply the disposition of believing all students can learn through
the research and selection of various assistive technology to help the student meet his goals.

Completing this Assistive Technology Implementation Plan was a new experience for me. It
strengthened my ability to synthesize and apply my knowledge of adaptive and assistive technologies to
support individual student learning needs. It improved my communication skills as I actively listed to the
mothers greatest academic concerns for her child and the childs feelings about each assistive
technology. I had to be flexible, open-mined, and knowledgeable about a variety of assistive technologies
that could help the student meet their IEP goals. The students positive response to the assistive
technology strengthened my disposition that all students can learn.

In the future, to further improve upon this experience, I would like to observe the child in his usual
learning environment to gain a clearer picture of his challenges in the classroom. I think this knowledge
could help me to best meet the most pressing needs of the child and also assist the teacher to more
effectively instruct the child in the classroom.

The work that went into creating this artifact impacted student learning. The Assistive Technology
Implementation Plan was carried out at home during the summer as planned. When I followed up with
the mother as planned, she expressed excitement over her sons progress and continued interest in the
assistive technologies he was using. This student impact could be assessed through the students sight
word assessments and Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) to determine if the technologies had
helped to improve his sight word acquisition and overall reading level through his improved
understanding of phonics and word decoding skills.