A Series of Happenstances: How the Pandemic Created Opportunities with Technology
Abstract
:1. A Series of Happenstances: How the Pandemic Created Opportunities with Technology
2. Literature Review
Happenstance Learning Theory (HLT)
3. Research Design
3.1. Instrumentation, Data Collection, and Analyses
3.2. Participants
4. Findings
4.1. Technology
4.2. Uncertainty
4.3. Professional Development/Preparation
“How I was trained was my own doing. I think the district tried to provide some things, but really, it was, I had to go out and find what I needed to because they [district trainers] would say, ‘oh, this is what elementary school teachers need’… or we’d watch something for the high school and they said, ‘well, you don’t need to see this’, and I’d sneak in because it was an open link. And they said ‘you can choose, but you probably don’t need it’ and I watched it, and said ‘wait a second, that fits exactly with what I need.”
“Students are digital tourists…Have you ever been on a tour, like during vacation, where you had a tour guide? Did you have to think during that? The tour guide tells you ‘go left’, ok, go left. They tell you a little thing, then you go right. Our students are digital tourists. They know the latest, greatest, and coolest apps out there…they can do the basics of the tools, but they don’t know how to use the tools.”
4.4. Compliance
4.5. HLT-Related Themes
4.6. Persistence
“I contacted every single one of my districts and I say, look, this company has now released all of us from our responsibilities (that was their exact words). I said, I am not leaving your teachers and your families high and dry. I’ll work. You don’t have to put me on your payroll; you don’t have to pay me, I said. But your teachers are going to need someone that they can talk to about assistive technology.”
4.7. Flexibility
4.8. Risk-Taking
4.9. Optimism
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
7. Future Research
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Acronym | Term | Definition |
---|---|---|
AAC | Augmentative and alternative communication | Tools that support a person who has difficulty communicating using speech (www.asha.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
ABA | Applied behavior and analysis | A therapy based on the science of learning and behavior (www.autismspeaks.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
AT | Assistive technology | Any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities (www.atia.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
GenEd | General educators | Educators who teach students in multiple subject or single subject classrooms (www.ed.gov, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
IEP | Individualized education program | Programs developed for students with cognitive, behavioral, physical, and communication disorders (www.understood.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
Mild/Mod | Mild to moderate disabilities | Students have high incident disabilities (e.g. eligibility categories of autism, learning disability, emotional/behavioral disorders, language delays). Students are typically on diploma track and will be served in general education (inclusive settings). Services may use the titles of resource specialist or teachers in a special day class. Students may have variable academic performance, attending (distractible) behaviors, and/or social behavioral needs (http://www.fresnostate.edu/catalog/subjects/lit-early-biling-specl-ed/prlm-mld-m.html, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
Mod/Severe | Moderate to severe disabilities | Students have lower incidence disabilities (e.g. eligibility categories of autism, learning disability, emotional/behavioral disorders, language delays). Students are served in a range of settings, such as center-based sites, special day classes, and some inclusive and/or integrated settings. Students may have academic, functional, communication, and vocational learning needs (http://www.fresnostate.edu/catalog/subjects/lit-early-biling-specl-ed/prlm-mld-m.html, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
OT | Occupational therapist | Occupational therapists treat patients who have injuries, illnesses, or disabilities through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapists.htm, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
PT | Physical therapist | Physical therapists help injured or ill people improve movement and manage pain (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physical-therapists.htm, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
RSP | Resource specialist program teacher | Also known as specialized academic instructor (SAI). They typically serve students with mild to moderate disabilities in a pull-out or push-in format. |
SLP | Speech language pathologist | Educators who work with persons with articulation, fluency, expressive language, reception language, and swallowing disorders (www.asha.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
SpEd | Special educators | Educators who teach students with a range of disabilities including, but not limited to, mild/moderate or moderate/severe disabilities (www.naset.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
TK | Transitional kindergarten | Transitional kindergarten (TK) is a school grade that serves as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten, to provide students with time to develop fundamental skills needed for success in school in a setting that is appropriate to the student's age and development (https://www.first5california.com/en-us/articles/what-is-tk-and-kindergarten-preschooler, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
UDL | Universal design for learning | A framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning based on scientific insights into how people learn. (www.cast.org, accessed on 23 March 2022). |
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Kiekel, J.; Courduff, J.; Hessling, P. A Series of Happenstances: How the Pandemic Created Opportunities with Technology. Educ. Sci. 2022, 12, 835. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12110835
Kiekel J, Courduff J, Hessling P. A Series of Happenstances: How the Pandemic Created Opportunities with Technology. Education Sciences. 2022; 12(11):835. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12110835
Chicago/Turabian StyleKiekel, Jean, Jennifer Courduff, and Peter Hessling. 2022. "A Series of Happenstances: How the Pandemic Created Opportunities with Technology" Education Sciences 12, no. 11: 835. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12110835