Training Preservice Teachers to Match Assistive Technology to Student Needs
Beth A. Jones, Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad, M. Andrew Fields, Nichole Williams
Abstract
Understanding how to appropriately choose, implement, and utilize assistive technology (AT) for students on an individualized education program (IEP) is imperative to success within a school setting and has been shown to improve with preservice teachers’ (PST) training. This study investigated the impact that a training session in which PST were exposed to a variety of AT devices/software in one university’s AT lab and given direct instruction in the Student Environment Tasks Tools (SETT) framework for selecting appropriate AT by working through a training case study would have on PST knowledge of AT and its selection. Sixty-eight PST participated in this study, and the results demonstrate that the training increased their ability to name specific AT items on a presurvey ( M = 3.56, SD = 14.88) compared to the postsurvey ( M = 9.57, SD = 25.14). The increase of number of devices and software named pre- and postsurvey was significantly greater than chance, t(67) = −7.64, p < .01). Most notably, participants could name the components of SETT on the postsurvey (94.12%) and apply the SETT framework to a hypothetical student, improving the quality and quantity of recommendations for the student. This study provides further evidence for inclusion of AT in teacher preparation programs.