New apps will allow new educational strategies for Habilitation of the Deaf and Speech-Language Pathology clinicians at the Miller Speech & Hearing Clinic.


New apps will allow new educational strategies for Habilitation of the Deaf and Speech-Language Pathology clinicians at the Miller Speech & Hearing Clinic (MSHC). In October, presenters from the Habilitation of the Deaf program introduced the use of technological strategies for teaching in the area of English Language Arts. This technology would be especially useful in providing services to the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) clients seen at MSHC, as well as deaf students enrolled in Regional Day School Programs for the Deaf in the area.

Three of the presenters for the “iTech iTeach” workshop were Habilitation of the Deaf majors, who presented alongside Teresa D. Gonzales, assistant professor of professional practice. Alexa Calva, Christine Gaston and Jasmine Hernandez were the first undergraduate students to be selected by an executive planning committee to present at a statewide conference to professionals in the field of Deaf Education. The students had previously attended the Statewide Conference on Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing in Houston in July.

The idea behind this workshop for students and staff in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders was to provide information about new technology alternatives used to educate DHH students and clients. The overall purpose of the workshop was for educators and speech-language clinicians to consistently use the appropriate technological materials that reflect the unique needs of all assigned students. Gonzalez commented that the strategies would have a strong impact on children’s overall academic performance and real-life experience knowledge.

The workshop focused on qualitative and quantitative uses of the appropriate technological strategies that will expedite the formation of the student’s cognitive levels in the most efficient and effective manner. The importance in presenting tools and workshops such as “iTechiTeach” is to provide future professionals with the ability to explore every possible learning avenue in order to assure DHH students have access to the same educational opportunities as hearing individuals.

The workshop covered the three students’ research and example materials specifically created when teaching their own clients.

Hernandez’s presentation concerned teaching vocabulary in isolation using pictures, phonetic spellings, definitions and online video clips.

Calva presented on creating a PowerPoint lesson on the iPad for a second and seventh grader. She concluded with a presentation on the new app, Skitch, for the iPad, Mac and iPhone, which would allow instructors to use video clips when teaching vocabulary in context during the reading lessons.

Gaston followed with an instructional step-by-step process on creating iBooks Author stories on the iPad with the use of a Mac computer inclusive of its own templates, picture gallery and media files to enhance comprehension.

Each of these presentations offered examples and instructions to set up each form of technology efficiently. Both Habilitation of the Deaf and Speech-Language Pathology majors alike should be familiar with options like these with the ever-growing emphasis on technology infiltrating classrooms.

By using this new technology, DHH students will have the opportunity to access and learn information by experiencing the language, thus increasing their levels of comprehension and academic performance.