This assignment had us explore the local Dollar Store for items that could be used in as assistive technology for a range of users. On my visit I cam across many items that could be used as AT in the class. Many of the items were in fact to assist a person with a particular task. I collected pictures of many of these item. Other items that I took pictures of needed a little imagination as to how you could use it as AT. I found this to be a very useful activity. As educator we are continuously looking for ways to help our students achieve a task. Often assistive technology is required and we look through educational catalogs. It only takes few flips of the pages in the catalogs to see the astronomical price tags that accompany these items. This activity proves that there is often alternatives that are much more affordable and still effective. These alternatives allows greater accessibility for various supports that people may need.
Can't wait to see your posts of what you found Nick! Glad you enjoyed the activity
ReplyDeleteHello Nick,
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of the low budget AT. I always complain about how much money I spent on things for school, this activity really opened my eyes to inexpensive ways to make things easier and more accessible for my students.
I also agree that some $store items needed some imagination and others are more straight forward to figure out.
I loved seeing the different take you had on many of the items we found! I commented in one of my posts that collaboration is so key for this; seeing your different ideas showed me again how much we need to consult with each other when we're working on AT for our students. I didn't at all think of pool noodles as a tool for games of tag, for example!
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