In this modern era, people are making more and more use of the innovative and latest technology. With the evolution of technology, particularly with IPADS, people are using them heavily in their practice for educating children. They are now being widely used even to educate special children or children with disabilities such as autism (Achmadi, Kagohara, Van der Meer, O’Reilly, Lancioni, Sutherland, Lang, Sigafoos, Peter B, Vanessa A, & Marschik, 2012). Considering this fact, Leapfrog Genius has introduced iPAD for children having disabilities.
The strengths of this iPAD, which is designed for children with age 4-9 having disabilities is that it consists of several features that can be accessed easily such as built in modifications, which make it quite easy for the users that have auditory, visual or any other disabilities. Presence of thousands of special education applications is also strength of this iPAD. The noteworthy applications in this regard are SoundAmpR meant for auditory intensification or amplification, and Proloquo2Go that enables touch for speaking possible.
Furthermore, their portability and motivational ability is also the strength of such iPADs for children with the disabilities (Achmadi, Kagohara, Van der Meer, O’Reilly, Sutherland, & Lancioni, 2013). iPADS allow drawing, tapping, dragging and swiping possible that motivates children to do it further, and achieve their target. The weaknesses of such iPAD is that their overuse may decrease the attention of child towards learning the major task and he/she may be diverted to other tasks and options available such as games in the iPAD. Another issue or weakness is the cost of iPAD, the cost of lost and the damaged accessory or equipment. Children are not able to use it in a responsible manner, and can drop or ruin it.
However, the opportunities are the development of further applications that fit to the needs of disabled learners such as development of applications that focus on improving the writing and reading skills because they help in developing the mental capability and enable speech therapy of disabled child possible. Also required is the increased efficiency in the procedure if acquiring applications and technology for the educational purpose of disabled children (Van der Meer, Kagoraha, Achmadi, Green, Herrington, O’Reilly, Lancioni, Rispoli, Lang, 2011). In this regard, company’s engineers and IT developers can consult the teachers of educational institutions meant for special education and for children having disabilities. The threats associated with iPADs designed for disabled children are that the competitors may come up with innovative iPADs having advanced features and low price. The teachers and parents may find it ineffectual and expensive method of educating their disabled child that may reduce the sale of product.
References
Achmadi, Donna., Kagohara, Debora M.,Van der Meer, Larah., O’Reilly, Mark F., Lancioni, Giulio E., Sutherland, Dean., Lang, Russell., Marschik, Peter B., Green, Vanessa A., & Sigafoos, Jeff. (2012). Teaching advanced operation of an iPod-based speech-generating device to two students with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6(4),1258–1264.
Kagoraha, Donna.M., van der Meer, Larah., Ramdoss, S., O’Reilly, Mark F., Lancioni, Giulio E., Davis, T.N., Rispoli, M.,Lang, Russel., Marschik, Peter B., Sutherland, D., Green, Vanessa.A. & Sigafoos, J. (2013). Using iPods and iPads in teaching programs for individuals with developmental disabilities: A systematic review. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34 (1), 147–156.
Van der Meer, Larah., Kagoraha, Debora M., Achmadi, Donna., Green, Vaneesa A., Herrington, C., Sigafoos, J., O’Reilly, Mark F., Lancioni, Giulio E., Lang, Russel., & Rispoli, M. (2011). Teaching functional use of an iPod-based speech generating device to individuals with developmental disability. Journal of Special Education Technology, 26 (3), 1 – 12
