A local special needs school in Cloetesville recently hosted an event showcasing the work of its disability and inclusion programme through its iPad learning project.
SMF News attended the event hosted by Dorothea Special School, in collaboration with iSchoolAfrica Education Trust, on 13 August.
iSchoolAfrica is a non-profit organisation providing curriculum-aligned software and training to teachers in under-resourced communities in South Africa, according to Zulaika Goolam, programme manager for disability inclusion and accessibility at iSchoolAfrica.
Aqhamile Nkumbi (back) and Joshua Selemani (front) using two of the 204 iPads donated to the Dorothea Special School by the iSchoolAfrica Education Trust. Both are grade 1 learners at the school, according to Jasmine Meyer, a grade 3 teacher at the school. PHOTO: Jared Moorgas
According to Goolam, the device’s accessibility features ensure that learners’ educational needs are catered for, as students are “able to autonomously send messages using eye-tracking and even connect their hearing aids to technology”.
“The iPad can act as a tool for so many different things for children,” said Michelle Lissoos, director of iSchoolAfrica. “It can act as a communication tool, it can act as a curriculum tool, […] it’s the holy grail of differentiation.”
Baraka Kisele, a grade 2 learner at Dorothea Special School in Cloetesville, using one of the 204 iPads donated to the school. PHOTO: Jared Moorgas
Different ways of learning
According to Jasmine Meyer, a grade 3 teacher at Dorothea, the school consists of learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learners with profound intellectual disability (PID), and learners with severe intellectual disabilities (SID).
Learners with PID can engage much better through the use of the devices, according to Geraldine Jacobs, speech therapist at Dorothea.
“So we work on basic social skills, [like] turn-taking, looking at things, shared attention, [and] joint attention,” said Jacobs.
According to Jacobs, learners with SID require less support from teachers than other learners, with a few using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). AAC involves learners tapping on an icon and receiving audio feedback, she said.
Jasmine Meyer, a grade 3 teacher at Dorothea Special School, teaching her class. “We do make use of visual cards,” said Meyer. “It will be on their table, so it will be the basic needs that they want. Maybe a picture of the toilet, of food, of water, things like that. And usually they would point to it.” PHOTO: Jared Moorgas
‘Through a story’
One of the school’s goals for the next year is to create an e-book full of resources, said Meyer. The book will be published and made available for other schools to access, she said.
Learners at Dorothea will be able to design characters for the e-book, which will be a way for them to express themselves, according to Meyer.
“I think, with our learners, usually when there’s something wrong or something they want to communicate, it usually comes through a drawing,” said Meyer. “It comes through a story.”