Lesson Study for the enhancement of the use of assistive technology in teaching and learning

Abstract

Assistive technology has been widely identified as an important facilitator for persons with disabilities to enhance greater participation in their daily lives. All students with disabilities should have instruction in the use of appropriate specific assistive technology by an educator. Instruction should be goal-oriented—focused on academic, vocational, and independent living skills—and should build on a hierarchy of skills. Logistical constraints must not impede access to assistive technology and appropriate instruction in the use of assistive technology for all students with disabilities. This chapter proposes Lesson Study as a means to enhance teacher instruction of assistive technology. The main goals of Lesson Study are to assist teachers to become lifelong learners and to create engaging and motivational lesson units for their learners. While assistive technology has the potential to radically change teaching and learning in classrooms, research has shown that one of the limiting factors in the take-up rate for assistive technology has been the confidence levels of teachers in using the diverse devices in their lessons as well as the lack of peer support in developing strong lessons that tap on the affordances of assistive technology. This chapter seeks to explore how Lesson Study will allow teachers to develop higher level models of teaching units that incorporate opportunities to discover, share and verify what works well within a student-centric learning environment.