Journal of Special Education Technology

This meta-analysis investigated the effects on achievement of type of graphing paper employed in displaying student performance data collected over time. The data source was 15 controlled studies with 16 effect sizes. The average weighted unbiased effect sizes for 6-cycle and equal interval paper, respectively, were .53 and .46. Hedges's analogue to analysis of variance indicated this difference was not statistically reliable. Implications for special education practice are discussed.

Experienced teachers (n = 12) and inexperienced education students (n = 20) from regular and special education participated in microcomputer-simulated spelling lessons involving four pupils who were programmed to misbehave by making off-task comments. During baseline sessions, significant differences were found between the behavior management skills of experienced teachers and those of education students. Over the course of two training sessions (each approximately 20 min. in duration), the education students made significant gains in behavior management skills as indicated by two dependent measures (number of intervention attempts per talkout and mean time per intervention attempt). After training, the education students' management of off-task behavior approximated that of experienced teachers. Gains were maintained over a period of approximately one month. Results suggest that the simulation may be an effective and efficient means of training both regular and special education students in fundamental behavior management skills. Development of more complex computer routines, more difficult and realistic simulations of misbehavior, and tests of generalization of skills to actual classrooms are under way.

This article describes four of the most widely accepted and utilized Electronic Travel Aids—the Lindsay Russell Pathsounder, the Mowat Sensor, the Sonicguide™, and the C-5 Laser Cane. Current uses and applications of the four aids for specific populations of visually impaired persons are discussed. In addition, a research review provides insight into the issues affecting future use of the devices.

Although computerized devices have been used to aid handicapped individuals with their speech, little attention has been given to devices to aid them in producting written communication. The purpose of this article is to describe a study in which newly developed computerized systems were tested with nonspeaking individuals. Students in the study were pretested and posttested on their accuracy and speed in using the symbol boards. The results of the studies showed that students with severe communication impairments can be trained in a relatively short period of time to express themselves independently in writing. Regarding the relative merits of the two systems tested in the studies, it was concluded that both can be effectively used by severely and multiply handicapped students, although one system was viewed as having some unique advantages over the other. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

This study compared the amount of time 42 special education teachers in the state of Hawaii took to write handwritten and computer-generated Individual Education Programs (IEPS) after 12 hours of training on “IEP Writer,” a word processing method. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 wrote IEPs using their newly learned computer skills and Group 2 wrote IEPs by writing them out by hand. It was hypothesized that the computer method would take significantly less time and the quality of the computer-generated IEP would be significantly higher. Both hypotheses were compared by t-tests. Results showed: 1) The computer group took significantly less time to write their IEPs. 2) The quality of the computer generated IEP was significantly higher than the handwritten IEP.