New technology opens up new opportunities for students with disabilities to explore their senses and learn in new ways. The Watson Institute uses educational technology to help students with disabilities learn and achieve their educational goals.
Technologies like immersive reality and interactive floor programs offer our special education staff endless ways to help students engage in their education. These technologies can improve motor skills, provide sensory input, and make lessons more engaging and interactive.
How Technology Enhances Learning
Our Bridgeville school’s Immersive Reality Classroom gives students a full sensory experience. It includes images projected onto the walls and floor, background noises from speakers, and even effects like wind and fog. Together, these elements help students to experience environments they might not otherwise visit.
Educators and therapists at Watson use the Immersive Reality classroom for several purposes. The main objectives are:
- sensory support,
- vocational and life skills development, and
- academic curriculum.
The environments projected within the Immersive Reality classroom are fully interactive. As an example, there is a grocery store setting through which a student can experience what it’s like to navigate a grocery store. They can create a shopping list and check off items as they add them to their cart. Finally, they can go through the checkout, scan items, and tally the total amount due.
The Immersive Reality classroom opens new worlds for students to explore. They can practice navigating settings like a doctor’s office or library before going out into those real-world places. This builds confidence that they can manage the experience and know what is expected of them.
The Watson Institute has also added Active Floor technologies into our special education schools.
The Active Floor projects a variety of programs onto the floor where students can engage with them. They include:
- Educational content, like color and shape identification,
- Sensory environments, like a butterfly garden or fall leaves, and
- Interactive games, like air hockey or drums, to promote gross motor skill development
The Active Floor is accessible to students of all ages and abilities, making it a great addition to all of Watson’s programs, which support a diverse population of students.
The Active Floors and Immersive Reality classroom join an existing array of innovative technologies utilized to support students with disabilities at the Watson Institute, which includes eye gaze and adaptive communication devices as well as 3D printers and MakerSpace technologies.
Learn how we’re incorporating cutting-edge technology into our educational programming to support our students with disabilities!