SE334 TECHNOLOGY IN SPECIAL EDUCATION: MEETING THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE LEARNING NEEDS Course Syllabus - Jane Bogan

Class is obviously cancelled if Wilmington College is closed. State Highway Patrol information and the status of local public schools will also be considered. Students will be notified via email at least two hours prior to class if it is cancelled. Cancellation will also be posted on Blackboard. In the event there is no class, students should read the announcement on Blackboard to see if there will be a synchronous meeting on Zoom (a Zoom link will be provided) or if there will be an alternative assignment. 

Late work will be accepted on a case-by-case basis. For example, if you are experiencing illness and if you have communicated that with me prior to the due date for the assignment, we will be able to work out an acceptable extension. If you have not communicated with me prior to the due date, late assignments will be accepted up to a week late with no penalty.

WC Mission Statement

The purpose of Wilmington College is to educate, inspire, and prepare each student for a life of success and services.

To fulfill that purpose, Wilmington College provides a high quality undergraduate and graduate education shaped by the traditions of the liberal arts, career preparation, and the distinctive values of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). By offering academic programs, practical experience, and co-curricular activities in a variety of settings to students from diverse backgrounds, the College leads students to gain an awareness of the world, to acquire knowledge of career and vocation, and to seek truth and social justice.

In keeping with the rich heritage of the liberal arts, the College seeks to educate the whole person-intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual-in ways that foster critical thinking, reflection, the free exchange of ideas, open inquiry, tolerance, and a desire for lifelong learning. The liberal arts are integrated with career preparation to help students develop the knowledge and skills to succeed in a career or further education.

As an academic community, Wilmington College is rooted in historic Quaker values that include integrity, service, simplicity, equality, peace and social justice, and respect for all persons. These values motivate those who learn and work at Wilmington College to make positive contributions to their professions and their communities.

The Education Area mission is to prepare educators in the liberal arts tradition. Faculty members collaborate to develop professional educators who demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the subjects they will teach and of the teaching and learning process. Teacher education candidates in particular will gain the ability to teach diverse student populations and develop an understanding of the cultures and communities in which they practice. As educators they will be equipped to create positive learning environments that encourage active student engagement and self-motivation. Education Area graduates will become reflective practitioners who are able to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders in establishing learning communities. 

In this course, you will be required to use WC Blackboard and WC Email (the instructor recommends checking WC Email at least once a day on weekdays.) You will be required to upload some of your work to Blackboard. You will be using Word to set up APA formatted documents.

If you do not have access to computers or smart devices in your personal life, you are expected to use Watson Library, Pyle Center, or WC Computer Lab computers to keep up with class and complete your work. Even though there will be face-to-face meetings, you need to be sure to treat your time on the computer as though you were physically meeting in the classroom. This means that you need to do what is necessary to ensure that interruptions from your personal lives do not impact your ability to complete your assignments in a timely, focused manner. For students with demanding personal lives and schedules, this may mean that you want to come to campus and use computers there to complete your assignments.

Bringing smart phones, tablets, and laptops with WC Student or other wireless connection to the Internet is highly encouraged. We will be using the internet to search for information that will inform class discussions as well as doing a variety of in-class activities that will involve the use of Blackboard. Use of all electronic devices to make relevant contributions to the class discussion, vote on class questions, or check with colleagues on issues surrounding the topic at hand is not only encouraged, but also expected. Use of cell phones, tablets, and laptops to DISENGAGE from class is not okay; the instructor reserves the right to ask you to put up the device(s) or leave the classroom if the disruption is significant & on-going.

In this course, you will be learning about the use of technology to meet the needs of all students. There will be an emphasis on the diverse learning needs of students and how technology can improve the inclusion of these students into traditional classroom settings as well as into appropriate post-secondary settings. Additionally, I would strongly encourage you to write and speak using “person-first language” where the person precedes the disability, both figuratively and literally. This standard will result in terms such as “people with disabilities” rather than “the disabled” (Retrieved on August 15, 2004 from http://www.cec.sped.org/bk/Author_Guidel.ines_TEC.pdf). Using person-first language in writing or speaking, we would write or say “the child with autism” rather than “the autistic child.” The only exception to this standard is when referring to a deaf or blind child. Many deaf people have long felt that deafness is part of who they are and prefer to not have person-first language applied to them.