At Beacon we regularly provide assistive technology training to our team so they can incorporate this into their support sessions with students.
Our Assistive Technology (AT) Manager, Amy Ward, conducted research into specialist tutors’ use of AT to support their students’ needs and writes:
Having a poor memory and poor time management skills are two common areas of difficulty for students with SpLDs (Davis, Easton and Hargreaves, 2016; Price, 2012). And so, software is becoming more widely available to help improve memory recall as well as time management and other crucial HE skills such as planning and organising information. Having poor memory and time management problems can directly impact the organisational skills of an individual, which then affects their planning and confidence in successfully completing tasks (Davis, Easton and Hargreaves, 2016; Price, 2012). Educational AT can help create sub-goals to manage the overall project by supporting the student to break the task down into manageable chunks by the creation of smaller, more achievable deadlines. A range of educational AT now also exists that can help students recall information, especially when it is time dependent. For example, for the majority of students that use smartphone technology, there are a number of apps and programmes that allow the user to create lists and to set time dependent goals (such as coursework deadlines).
For HE learners, the initial transition and acclimation into the new environment can be daunting and overwhelming (Crabb, Davis and Hargreaves, 2016). For students with disabilities the transition can be an even more difficult time, especially if their diagnosis is recent and they are coping with a new course and living away from home for the first time (Crabb, Davis and Hargreaves, 2016; Taylor, 2005; Taylor et al, 2008). Many students can become overwhelmed by having to simultaneously take notes and listen to lecturers and for students with an SpLD this experience can be very frustrating, especially if the student is having difficulties understanding academic terminology or the concept being introduced at the time (Crabb, Davis and Hargreaves, 2016; Hargreaves and Crabb, 2016). This is where a study skills tutor is beneficial as their role is to help the student address all of these issues, to support the student to use appropriate educational AT, to minimise the impact of their struggles and improve the student’s overall learning experience (Crabb, Davis and Hargreaves, 2016).
The average HE student AT uptake and usage is only around 30% (BiH, 2018). Students who are not confident in using their educational AT, coupled with very little/not appropriate training, can often result in the student not utilising the software provided at all (Brain in Hand, 2018). It is therefore crucial that there are support mechanisms in place that provide suitable educational AT training that meets the needs of the student (Brain in Hand, 2018; Malpas, 2012; Sumner, 2012). The human support element is an important part of the specialist tutor’s role to encourage the student to use their educational AT. The idea about students growing as learners, becoming critical independent thinkers and developing their self-awareness about how they learn, is called metacognition. Metacognition lies at the heart of all learning and it is this self-awareness of how we think, and how we learn that should be encouraged throughout the academic journey (Davis, Easton and Hargreaves, 2016; Price, 2012). Therefore, helping students to become metacognitive learners has been a key goal for study skills tutors (Malpas, 2012) and technology should now play a large part in that role too (Davis, Easton and Hargreaves, 2016; Price, 2012).
AT should not be separated from study skills support (DnA, 2018; Malpas, 2012), and this is not because every strategy must use specialist educational AT, but because technology is pervading every aspect of modern day life which includes studying in HE. Study Skills Tutors need to work alongside educational AT in order to provide a seamless support function (Sumner, 2012) as, as much as technology can help with planning and organising, and even with aspects of emotional support, the pastoral care provided by an experienced specialist tutor cannot be replaced (Malpas, 2012; Sumner, 2012).
One way to encourage students to engage fully with disability support is to integrate the services wherever possible. A UK based multiple award-winning social enterprise called Diversity and Ability (DnA, 2018) champion neuro-diversity and emphasise the importance of integrating educational AT within NMH specialist study skills support for students with difficulties (also sometimes referred to as specific learning differences) (SpLDs) in Higher Education. The founders of DnA argue that it is illogical to believe that study skills support is about developing skills using only low-tech tools, instead specialist one-to-one study skills tutors should be encouraged and supported to develop the knowledge and skills to integrate educational AT into a study skills session. This is supported by the culture at Beacon Support in which the use of AT is actively promoted not only among specialist study skills tutors, but also among our specialist mentors for the benefit of our students.
References
Brain in Hand (BiH) (2018) ‘How does Brain in Hand work?’ Available at: http://braininhand.co.uk/what-is-brain-in-hand/. (Accessed: 17/07/18)
Crabb, J., Davis, J. and Hargreaves, S. (2016) ‘Managing your study. In study skills for students with dyslexia: support for specific learning difficulties (SpLDs)’. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications
Davis, J., Easton, J. and Hargreaves, S. (2016). ‘Understanding how you think and learn.’ in Crabb, J., and Hargreaves, S. (eds). Managing your study. In study skills for students with dyslexia: support for specific learning difficulties (SpLDs). Thousand Oaks CA: SAGE Publications
Diversity and Ability (DnA) (2018) ‘Resources’. Available at: https://diversityandability.com/resources/ (Accessed: 24 Aug 2018)
Malpas, M. (2012) ‘The knowledge and skills required by a specialist tutor within the field of adult support.’ in Brunswick, N. (ed) Supporting Dyslexic Adults In Higher Education And The Workplace. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, pp. 167-176
Price, G. (2012) ‘Why can’t I learn? Metacognitive strategy instruction’ in Brunswick, N. (ed) Supporting Dyslexic Adults In Higher Education And The Workplace. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, pp. 51-58
Sumner, P. (2012) ‘Dyslexia Support at University and on Work Placement’, in Brunswick, N (ed) Supporting Dyslexic Adults In Higher Education And The Workplace. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, pp. 101-111.
