Barb Lark is a retired speech and language pathologist and assistive technology specialist who is currently volunteering with the Special Education Technology Center (SETC) of Washington. Barb has been using Clicker for many years and recently shared her Clicker success story with us.
It all began when Barb was looking for an EdTech solution for students who had trouble with writing and language processing.
She needed to find assistive technology that was:
- easily customizable,
- allowed switch access, and
- built home and school connections.
“I was looking at our children with the greatest challenges. I wanted a way for them to be able to express themselves in writing. These are students with significant challenges in language, with cognitive challenges, and with physical challenges.”
After hearing about Clicker at a conference, Barb returned to the tech department to find that they had Clicker available to the district as part of a school technology ”bundle” they had already purchased! Barb and other district educators were excited about the broad access to Clicker and began its implementation.
“It’s a literacy tool that allows for immediate expression of ideas. It allows children to go from stock answers to broader self-expression. For students with learning challenges, it allowed access that they otherwise wouldn’t have had. It allowed them to access independent reading materials. It allowed them to express themselves in writing, in a way they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do. We had it way before we had a lot of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) systems available to kids, so it was a powerful tool for those kids to have a voice.”
Clicker had a wonderful impact on the students. Barb realized that if they provided the appropriate level of scaffolding within Clicker, students were eager to complete the work. Also, they were excited to bring their work home to share with their families. The students felt like they were a more integral part of their school community with this technology.
Clicker helped to create a fully inclusive environment and its impacts transcended the classroom. Everett School District still chooses to use Clicker today and makes sure it is available to all grades for their Life Skills classes.
If you’d like to discover how Clicker can empower your students, you can:
- Schedule a free consultation with us.
- Watch our free on-demand webinars to see Clicker in action.
