Spotlight: College of Staten Island
Using Technology to Enhance Special Education

Using the microcomputer as a tool to enhance a student's skill
in writing is becoming commonplace in the classroom, with
similar uses being developed for students with special
education needs.  The College of Staten Island of the City
University of New York offers a course titled "Microcomputers
in Special Education." The class, given each semester in the
IBM Laboratory, studies writing and word processing in special
education classes. 

The course focuses on the problems facing teachers who are
trying to develop writing programs for pupils with special
education needs.  The graduate students in the program have
credentials in general education with little or no background
in the use of the microcomputer, so instruction focuses not on
basic writing, but rather on the instructional hardware and
software that technology can provide for students with special
needs.

Instruction is divided into three sessions.  The first session
begins with a discussion of the electronic term paper.
Students are required to review current research related to
writing and word processing in special education and learn a
school-oriented word processing program such as IBM's Primary
Text Editor or Bank Street Writer Plus.  

In the second and third sessions, students explore programs
such as IBMUs Combining Sentences Series, Story Tree, and
Missing Links.  Students observe technology used to motivate
and teach children to write more effectively, with an emphasis
on adapting this software for use by students with special
needs.  The third session includes using LAN SCHOOL to
facilitate group instruction on Microsoft Works and the IBM
Classroom LAN Administration System (ICLAS).  The students are
shown how to use the ICLAS for instructional and administrative
purposes.

Students will hopefully expand their awareness of how
technology can facilitate instruction in their own classrooms.
This impact can be made by providing the students with research
data from theory and application, an exposure to some of the
uses of technology, hands-on experience in the IBM Lab, and a
project related to their own needs.

For more information, contact:  
Jed P. Luchow, Dept. of Education, 
The College of Staten Island, CUNY, 
130 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, NY  10301
Using Technology to
Enhance Special Education
.