Communication | Feature

Hacking the Classroom to Encourage Student Independence



A student in Shannon Putman's class works at the "student-run hub" outfitted with a touch-screen computer and camera.

To say that special education teacher Shannon Putman "does things kind of differently" in her classroom is an understatement.

On a given morning, one can find students zipping back and forth on scooters answering questions about core curriculum, or turning in homework using a QR code scanner. But those are the words the Kentucky-based, Cochran Elementary School multi-modal communication teacher uses to describe her unique teaching methods, which blend sensory integration and technology to help students with communication disorders find alternative means of interaction.

Others do Putman greater justice.

"Shannon is very much a zealous, very enthusiastic ideas person," said Timothy Dowling, whose twelve-year-old daughter Rebecca has a dual diagnosis of autism and Down syndrome, and is in her seventh and final year of the multi-modal program.

Dowling said that after seven years in the program, Rebecca's main modality--or method of communication--has shifted from American Sign Language to a mobile assistive technology app, known as ProLoQuo2Go, on her iPad.

"I'm inspired by Shannon's work. She's 'hacking' the classroom and engaging with her students in non-traditional and highly innovative ways," said Chad Ruble, the founder of Tapgram, an assistive messaging program Putman recently implemented in her curriculum (see sidebar, E-mail on Tap). "I'm excited to see how Shannon's classroom benefits from her creative use of technology to inspire and engage her students."

That technology runs the gamut of both form and function, making use of a suite of technologies, including gaming consoles and BYOD iPads.

There is the "student-run hub" she has built, which features a touchscreen desktop computer "jury-rigged" with a Playstation 3 camera to read personalized QR codes, which Putman prints out as labels and sticks on the top of homework assignments and attendance slips. Students are responsible for turning in assignments and checking into class on their own, and Putman is working to add another element that will allow them to track their own progress on the district's computer-based learning programs.

There is the class web site, where Putman posts pictures and videos from each day, details class events, uploads homework assignments and field trips, and features student blogs, which students write not by typing, but by dictating sentences into an iPad using ProLoQuo2Go.

There is Tapgram, the browser-based app that allows students use to send simple, personalized messages and photos to each other, their parents, and their principal from computers or iPads without the use of a keyboard. "If they did something good, they can Tapgram [their parents] and say, 'I added two digits and got it right and I'm excited.' We celebrate anything we can in here," Putman said.

And there is "Brain Drain," a game Putman invented for the Microsoft Kinect to incorporate movement into her students' learning. The game features an enticing narrative in which students play to save the world by answering academic questions--though instead of using words, they use sensory movements to respond. Since Putman doesn't know how to code herself, she simulates those movements with her computer as the students play through Microsoft Photo Story. She is currently working with web developers in hopes that Microsoft will pick up the game.