Discover how a former coach turned his playbook towards revolutionizing special education with technology. Joe Brazier from Microsoft's K-12 education team joins us to share his inspirational journey from the sidelines to the forefront of educational innovation. His story is one of unexpected turns, leading to a profound impact on how educators utilize tech tools to empower students with disabilities. Listen to Joe's insights on data-driven decision-making, and how it's changing the educational landscape for the better, ensuring clear communication and consistent outcomes across the board.
In an education system where one size rarely fits all, Joe walks us through his experience in the trenches of special education, evolving from analog tapes to the magic of iPads and HoloLens devices. His collaboration with Microsoft Education has not only dismantled barriers but has also played a crucial role in destigmatizing assistive technology. This chat is packed with compelling examples of how Microsoft initiatives are crafting personalized learning experiences and fostering an inclusive environment where every student can excel.
Wrapping up, Joe leaves us with powerful insights on the future of educational technology. From leveraging universal design principles to advocating for gradual adoption of new tech, Joe's perspective highlights the transformative potential of accessibility tools. His voice is a rallying cry for a future where every learner, regardless of ability, can navigate their educational journey with independence and success. Don't miss our next episode where Joe Frazier will take us through selecting the right technological aids to enrich the lives of students with disabilities.
Barbara Beck is the host of the FAST 15 Podcast. She is a highly dedicated Disability Advocate and Special Education Consultant specializing in IEP Transition Services. Barbara has an extensive background as a special education teacher spanning nearly 30 years. She has dedicated her career to empowering transition-age youth and fostering positive post-school outcomes.
Barbara's expertise lies in providing comprehensive support and guidance to students with disabilities, ensuring their successful transition from school to adult life. She possesses a deep understanding of secondary services and possesses the skills to develop tailored strategies that maximize individual potential.
For more information and resources on special education school-to-adulthood transition planning and independent living, visit www.mykeyplans.com. Join us on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and discussions about special education, inclusion, and disability advocacy. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and use #IEPLaunchpadPodcast to join the conversation. Thank you for tuning in to the IEP Launchpad Podcast! 🎧🎙️#IDD #teaching #specialed #specialneeds #InclusionMatters #DisabilityAdvocacy #EmpowerVoices #edtech, #education #edtech, #teachers
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's a Fast 15 plus a bonus five.
Today we're excited to welcomeJoe Brazier.
Joe leads Microsoft's K-12strategy on the worldwide
education team.
He works closely with educationindustry colleagues and device
teams to help refine, developand deliver Microsoft's vision
for the ever-evolving landscapeof K-12 education.
(00:23):
Prior to taking this role, hespent over a decade working in
special education at all levelsof the K-12 system.
He spent that time providingtechnology access and skills for
students with social, cognitiveand physical obstacles to the
typical learning experience.
This passion for equity andinclusion continues in his work
(00:44):
building a more inclusiveeducation experience for all.
Join me in welcoming JoeBrazier to the Fast 15.
Joe Brazier, so happy thatyou're here with us to discuss
technology and ed tech and howwe can meet the needs of
students with disabilities.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Thank you for having me.
I'm very excited and happy tohave this conversation.
The areas of technology andspecial education, and
especially how we can really becreative to support all students
, is something that I've heldvery close to my heart and kept
with me along my career.
So happy to have thisdiscussion today.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Thank you.
I really did want to just findout what your journey was to
begin getting into the field ofspecial education.
What is that experience?
Where did it start?
What's the inspiration behindyour journey?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Special education was not on my radar.
I had the opportunity to coachat my old high school and I was
doing different jobs and Iwasn't going to college at the
time.
This is what I want to do.
I want to work with students.
I want to work with kids.
How do I get into this?
They said, well, you got to getyour degree, you got to get
your teaching credentials, andI'm like done.
So I went back to school.
The quickest route to myundergrad was a history degree,
(01:57):
which I found out that I love,and so in doing that, I was
thinking I wanted to work inschools eventually.
So I should start working inschools now.
And as I was looking atdifferent assistant roles, there
was this one called ParaEducator, which was like a few
more since more an hour.
So I was like, cool, I'll go dothat.
The first classroom that Iwalked into was an elementary
(02:17):
school classroom as a para sub,and the teacher looked at me and
she said are you the sub?
You want a job?
I said I don't even know whatI'm doing yet.
Right, the first time I walkedin.
But you can't see me.
I'm a six foot former collegeathlete former, as in like
decades ago now.
But I would walk into theseclassrooms and they have these
(02:40):
very great ladies would look atme and they would look at one of
their most challenging studentsand they'd be like I think you
can help me with that student.
But that ended up being a lot oftimes was a lot of data
tracking on paper, a lot ofthese things, and I was trying
to find ways to make that easier.
Okay, as a person going arounddoing that, how can I make the
(03:01):
most out of that and actuallysee, make that data makes sense
a little bit easier?
And so once upon a time I wasjust doing something as simple
as taking that paper data andtally marks, putting it into
Excel and using conditionalformatting Okay, see, frequency
data, right, and then prettystraightforward and then being
able to watch the decisions madeoff of that was very
interesting, and even thequestions that are brought up
(03:22):
was very interesting.
So I kind of walked into aspecial ed classroom and never
walked out.
It wasn't on my radar.
I went to.
I went to get my teaching degreeto be a football coach and I
have coached it zero minutes.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Really.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Of course football, because special education kind
of grasps the whole to me andnever let go.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That's amazing and I'm really curious about that
interpretation of the data thatyou were collecting.
One was everybody expected todo it or was that something that
came innately through, kind ofjust how you work, how, how you
want to see progress and monitorthat and know what was
(03:59):
happening with the students?
Was that a classroom thing orwas that a Joe thing?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Was a Joe thing and I was just a parent, so it wasn't
like I was old to do anything.
I was.
I had all this paper and I hadsome time, and so I started to
do that.
So when I got into my ownclassroom within a couple of
weeks of doing the same thing, Iwas like there's got to be not
only a better way to interpretthe data, but a better way to
collect the data and do that,because paper gets lost very
(04:25):
easily.
So it was one of those thingswhere it took so much off of my
plate.
It allowed for more accuracyand it allowed me to take the
strategies that I knew wereeffective and leverage
technology to make it reallycome to life.
So I had the opportunity becauseI worked with such challenging
students to work with some verygood specialists, and one that
(04:47):
has always held.
What they said was you can doanything for a week.
That's right, so they have meimplement new things.
I can do anything for a week.
And the other was getting onthe same page with any and
everybody collecting data on thestudent.
So I worked very closely with acouple and it might be me and
another person.
So understanding what we werecollecting was important so that
we were on the same page and weknow what we were doing, and I
(05:08):
took that to my classroom tohave my pairs, so we would
always have conversations onwhat does each thing mean and
we'd be very clear.
That way, I could perform theinterventions for the student
and somebody else could collectthe data, or vice versa, and we
all knew what we were doing andit was very quick and easy to
collect it.
And so then making it fromcollection to visualization and
(05:29):
interpretation and discussionwas this very clean and clear
path all the way across andthrough, and so it wasn't a
directive given to me.
I just saw the value and theimpact of it and it made so many
things easier, and the ABAtherapists and the other
specialists that I worked withwere like we haven't seen
anybody do this and I have founda quote, unquote autism app
(05:49):
that ever set anything up likethat.
But it was just something that,for particular students and the
things that I needed, it wasleveraging the technology along
with the strategy that I knewworked, just made it highly
valuable.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
It's so impactful hearing you have that vision for
what the visualization shouldlook like and then passing it
along to the other paraeducators and having a team
approach to have your data makesense and be taken with fidelity
Right and to then inform whereyou were heading with the, with
the students, in their progressthrough.
(06:21):
Whatever curricula you wereworking through what, what kind
of programming were you engagedin at the start?
Was it a set program?
Where did you find out aboutfunctional academics?
What was that journey like foryou as you worked through
meaningful curriculum?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Well, my my first interaction with functional
academics was a training that mydistrict had purchased the
curriculum and I remembermeeting Candy Steyer and she
loved put technology in it tokind of make it come to life.
And I kind of always rememberedthat, and so it was both of them
working in conjunction thatreally built this curriculum,
(06:57):
and it was the ABA piece of itthat I kind of connected with.
How can I very quickly trackwhat's going on and then be able
to ask and have a discussionabout that afterwards, as
opposed to collecting everything?
and have a be anecdotal andsubjective.
How can I very quickly get agauge of what's going on and
have that be the basis of thediscussion that we can have
(07:18):
later?
And so worked with that.
And then two years later, ourdistrict kind of came back
together to see how we wereimplementing it and myself and
the two other teachers weredoing it all different, Lee
Right.
So it's like, oh, we needed tokind of be a bit more on track
with this.
But I think I took more of anABA approach because I had
several of those working in myclassroom or coming into my
(07:39):
classroom.
So, that data collection pieceof it was always a key component
and a key piece for me of howcan I do that within this
curriculum much quicker, mucheasier, at all times, anywhere,
everywhere, all at the same time.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
What a powerful story that you're telling in your own
journey, for how a paraeducatorwith the vision for data
collection to inform theinstructors what a value add
that you had to the whole teamin the classroom.
So take us from the classroomand can you tell about that
(08:14):
bridge to really what you'redoing now?
You were in the classroom forwas it how many years?
Nine.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I was a total.
It was about a decade and ahalf, but I spent years as a
para and then I had I wascertified for in my own
classroom for seven, before it'sstarting to try to move on to
admin and in differentopportunities.
So, but that early connectionto technology, to use things,
had me always looking for whatwas available.
What could I do to build skillswith my students?
(08:42):
How could I do the things thatwe're doing much more
efficiently?
Instead of grabbing tape,cassette and putting them in a
thing and having kids sit withwith headphones, maybe we could
use iTunes and we would haveiPads at the time and we could
always have access to all thethings that the students needed
at all times.
And so it was always lookingfor things that we could use.
So that connection kind ofbrought me to somebody who I
(09:05):
knew that worked at MicrosoftEducation and we had several
discussions and then I went on.
A weird rant went.
I don't know if it's a rant.
I sent him a discombobulatedvoicemail when I first saw the
HoloLens and I had a couplestudents who were going to be
coming to my classroom thefollowing year on the spectrum,
needed visual schedules, and youknow if I could do anything to
(09:28):
not have to print out, laminateVelcro things to my wall.
I wouldn't have done anythingfor that.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I remember sending him a voicemail saying I don't
know how much this HoloLensthing costs.
I said you got to get me to.
I've got the perfect studentfor it.
And I essentially laid out aneducation pitch for a tool and a
product that wasn't designedfor education, especially for
special education, becausethere's a whole idea that we
have to get our students toadapt to the world.
(09:54):
And what if we could adapt theworld to our students?
What if I could get them tomove about the world the way
that they're used to?
And I could just augment.
And I think we're all kind of,at this point, familiar with
augmented reality, with thingslike that, and even the.
Vision Pro quest or the VisionPro that Apple has out now, were
accustomed to that idea ofplacing things in the world,
that you will always be therefor me and really personalizing
(10:16):
it for me.
But it wasn't something thatwas really talked about back
then.
So he later told me after I'vebeen working with him for a year
he's like that was one of thosethings that I needed, somebody
who he thought about, not justcutting edge technology, but
technology in general, and howdo we bring it into this
education space with a verystudent-centric approach.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Right and now.
That's innovative.
That is where we need to go andthat's how we make it really
person-centered.
I know that Microsoft is atrailblazer in their
accessibility tools, so can youhighlight for me and for our
listeners some of the keyinitiatives or projects that
Microsoft is working on or thatyou're doing?
(10:57):
What is that looking like rightnow for individuals with
disabilities, and what is thatintersection of technology and
accessibility?
How is that transforming thelearning experience for our
community that we're wanting toserve?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I think that there's a lot of very cool things that
are going on, and I want to tryto focus them into two areas.
One in removing stigma and theother in removing barriers.
And that idea of removingstigma is that when everybody
has access to it, when it'sbuilt in and not an additional
add-on, when it's the samedevice, the same look, and you
(11:31):
have access to a wealth ofaccessibility tools and
modification abilities builtinto there, then nobody feels
like they're set of courage,nobody feels like they are
marginalized and nobody feelslike, oh well, I need this
separate, different thing inorder to do what you're doing,
so I'm not as good or I'mdifferent than anyone else.
(11:52):
I always think about syndromefrom the Incredibles who said
when everybody is special, thenno one is.
So if everybody has access tothe tools and everybody can do
it, then you don't feel likeyou're less than because you
need other tools.
It's just I'm using the samedevice and these tools are built
in just like anybody.
I'm not a lot of y'all.
They may need it, I may not,it's all the same.
(12:14):
So that's one thing, and we'vegot a lot of tools like our
immersive reader and ouraccessibility features that are
in the settings that many peopledon't know about.
But it allows you to augmentyour interaction with the tools
in a way that doesn't mean youneed something different, right?
Even being able to control itwith your eyes without needing a
different device is a greattool that you can do.
(12:36):
The other one is removingbarriers right.
Being anybody be able tointeract with the technology,
whether it is I need to use myeyes, I need to use my voice, I
need to use a set of switches.
I need something else isthinking holistically about how
we remove those barriers forpeople, and in thinking of that,
(12:57):
one of the barriers to helpingstudents and helping get those
interventions be productive andhelping students grow and
accelerate their learning isthat access to data right.
How do we remove those barriersto being able to see and track
and monitor how our students aredoing?
And that's where something likeour learning accelerators comes
in.
Student reads on their own infront of their computer.
(13:19):
All that data, all thatinformation comes to the teacher
.
I can update it, change it,review it.
I can now track it, but Ididn't have to pull the students
out of the class into thehallway In order to assess it
Exactly, and so what we'reseeing is that when I did this
in the last school that I workedat, we assessed all the
students and they're reading toget them grouped into the right
(13:41):
students and it was anelementary school took two and a
half.
Okay.
What we're seeing withsomething like reading coach and
learning accelerators is peopleare doing it a couple of times
a week, and so kids are.
You're tracking much moreregularly and that removing
barriers to accessing data thatyou can make decisions on is not
gone, but it's removing those.
So you can see it more often,you can adjust it more often,
(14:02):
you can see how the students aregrowing.
They're like they had a dip,but they grew, they accelerated,
they moved to this group, theymoved to that group.
That way, you don't feel that,oh, I'm in a remedial reading
group is a life sentence.
You are now able to move thecabin.
You're now able to move aboutthe country freely and do the
things that you want to do anddrive your own learning.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
All of the students are being assessed the same way,
right?
I mean, that's, that's exactlywhat you're saying.
Without the pullout, we're notsingling out where we're
including in and and make it,making it a whole group activity
, whole group experience andAccess equally across across the
student population we'reworking with and the other thing
that where they're, the stigmareally gets removed, is really
(14:45):
interesting Because you remindedme and sir saying not getting
through getting assessed on thesame thing.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yes is you can have the same story leveled for
students, right?
Because as a middle schoolspecial education teacher, with
always difficult, how do I findsomething that is similar to
what the other students arereading, but at the level that
students needed that?
How do?
I do that, and that's one of thereally exciting things that I
think we have the opportunity tolook at moving forward is
(15:10):
Giving that content, giving thatreading story and putting it at
the level, the reading levelthe students at, so that they
feel included, so that they arekeeping track of the same story,
so that they can have thoseconversations with their peers
right?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Yes, I love that and and hopefully we'll be able to
get some links that for peopleto find out more information
about those things, we'll linkthose into the show notes and
Make sure that is widelyUnderstood and known, or just
people have access to thosetools and really learning more
about what's available to them,right?
(15:43):
Well, I wanted to ask you thistoo.
So, in the realm of functionalacademics and skill development,
how do you see Technologycontributing to the greater
independence of Individuals withdisabilities?
I want to know kind of whatyour specific ideas with, with
tools or features that that areout there Designed to enhance
(16:04):
functional academics and dailyliving skills.
What, how do you see?
How do you see technology andindependent living?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
The executive functioning piece.
Yes and I'm thinking ofexecutive function is one of the
things in my head becausethere's all these things around.
What is it that I need toaccomplish today and how do I go
about doing?
Is it just that process rightthere or something that it
worked very closely withstudents and some where I was
able to pick it up pretty easily.
Others needed more support andI even work with my own high
(16:37):
schoolers on that.
They were very academicallyGifted, very good.
Sometimes there's a struggle tomake sure that you know how do I
set up this thing for success.
I have a project, how do I goabout it?
And so we'd see that a lot withsome of our students of they
don't initiate right, they don'tget started.
Transitions are difficult andeven just being able to know
what do I have going on and howdo I get going Is difficult.
(17:00):
So I I often remind people ofMicrosync as a productivity
company, that to help with thatand it's not just the computer,
but you know, I think somethinglike co-pilot that's built into
Windows specifically is one ofthose things that can really
help.
And you you think about hey,play some music for me or I need
to focus.
Let me get it in a focus modeand then you, it does the things
(17:22):
for you that you normally wouldsnaps your windows, puts it in
dark mode, it plays yourplaylist to get you going, so
that those are three things youdon't have to do and get
distracted while doing.
You can just have that going.
I think about the functionalaspect of speech.
To text it texts a speech,conversational.
(17:43):
People are like oh well, thisapp doesn't have it.
It's like well, it's built intothe operating system, so if you
can type anywhere, your voicecan do that.
Your voice can type there foryou.
And so I think about the manydifferent ways that we interact
with and communicate with others, which should be able to
interact with and control andleverage our devices to do the
(18:04):
things that we need them to do.
Technology has advanced to aplace to where it becomes really
easy.
It advanced to a place to wheretouchscreen became the primary
motive of interacting withthings.
That works for many people, butnot everyone.
Maybe you need a switch and amacro and a set of shortcuts.
Maybe you need to use your eyes, maybe you need to use your
voice or some combination ofthat, but it should be very much
(18:27):
personalized for you.
It should not be unexpected.
I have this device here and Itype with my fingers.
It should be.
The device is your window intoengaging with the world and the
things that you need to do andso thinking functionally about
and even, like occupationaltherapists, think about helping
students interact with the world.
I think helping them figure outhow to interact with their
(18:47):
technology and the jobs thatthat opens up is important.
Being able to get past that canyou do this thing to?
What are the skills youactually hold?
It is an important part.
Looking for it functionally.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
That's so well said, joe.
We want to make sure that we'realways keeping all of these
things in mind.
What do we need to do to makesure that we're teaching
functional skills meaningfully,leading toward the greatest
level of independence?
Yes, well, listeners, that's itfor today's episode of the Fast
15.
But real quick, let's rememberjust a few key points from Joe's
(19:22):
discussion with us today.
Number one if everybody hasaccess to the tools and
everybody can do it, then youdon't feel like you're less than
because you need other tools.
And then, number two, he alsosaid if you design something for
one, you can be designing forall.
And then, number three don't beafraid to just try some tools
(19:47):
slowly if you're new totechnology, and just get a
vision for what a functionalfuture looks like.
Well, you guys, I hope you havea great day and we will check
in next week with our secondpart with Joe Frazier on
educational technology used withspecial education and finding
the right accessibility tools tomake life functional and
(20:11):
meaningful for an independentfuture.
A heartfelt thank you to ourgenerous sponsors, specially
designed education services,publishers of the Functional
Academics Program, please take amoment to learn more about the
only true comprehensivefunctional academics program
that enables students withmoderate to severe disabilities
to improve their ability to liveindependently and show
(20:35):
meaningful growth, bothacademically and personally,
while creating accountabilitywith data-driven, evidence-based
results.
Visit sdesworkscom to learnmore.
Hey everyone, it's a Fast 15 plus a bonus five.
Today we're excited to welcomeJoe Brazier.
Joe leads Microsoft's K-12strategy on the worldwide
education team.
He works closely with educationindustry colleagues and device
teams to help refine, developand deliver Microsoft's vision
for the ever-evolving landscapeof K-12 education.
(00:23):
Prior to taking this role, hespent over a decade working in
special education at all levelsof the K-12 system.
He spent that time providingtechnology access and skills for
students with social, cognitiveand physical obstacles to the
typical learning experience.
This passion for equity andinclusion continues in his work
(00:44):
building a more inclusiveeducation experience for all.
Join me in welcoming JoeBrazier to the Fast 15.
Joe Brazier, so happy thatyou're here with us to discuss
technology and ed tech and howwe can meet the needs of
students with disabilities.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Thank you for having me.
I'm very excited and happy tohave this conversation.
The areas of technology andspecial education, and
especially how we can really becreative to support all students
, is something that I've heldvery close to my heart and kept
with me along my career.
So happy to have thisdiscussion today.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Thank you.
I really did want to just findout what your journey was to
begin getting into the field ofspecial education.
What is that experience?
Where did it start?
What's the inspiration behindyour journey?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Special education was not on my radar.
I had the opportunity to coachat my old high school and I was
doing different jobs and Iwasn't going to college at the
time.
This is what I want to do.
I want to work with students.
I want to work with kids.
How do I get into this?
They said, well, you got to getyour degree, you got to get
your teaching credentials, andI'm like done.
So I went back to school.
The quickest route to myundergrad was a history degree,
(01:57):
which I found out that I love,and so in doing that, I was
thinking I wanted to work inschools eventually.
So I should start working inschools now.
And as I was looking atdifferent assistant roles, there
was this one called ParaEducator, which was like a few
more since more an hour.
So I was like, cool, I'll go dothat.
The first classroom that Iwalked into was an elementary
(02:17):
school classroom as a para sub,and the teacher looked at me and
she said are you the sub?
You want a job?
I said I don't even know whatI'm doing yet.
Right, the first time I walkedin.
But you can't see me.
I'm a six foot former collegeathlete former, as in like
decades ago now.
But I would walk into theseclassrooms and they have these
(02:40):
very great ladies would look atme and they would look at one of
their most challenging studentsand they'd be like I think you
can help me with that student.
But that ended up being a lot oftimes was a lot of data
tracking on paper, a lot ofthese things, and I was trying
to find ways to make that easier.
Okay, as a person going arounddoing that, how can I make the
(03:01):
most out of that and actuallysee, make that data makes sense
a little bit easier?
And so once upon a time I wasjust doing something as simple
as taking that paper data andtally marks, putting it into
Excel and using conditionalformatting Okay, see, frequency
data, right, and then prettystraightforward and then being
able to watch the decisions madeoff of that was very
interesting, and even thequestions that are brought up
(03:22):
was very interesting.
So I kind of walked into aspecial ed classroom and never
walked out.
It wasn't on my radar.
I went to.
I went to get my teaching degreeto be a football coach and I
have coached it zero minutes.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Really.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Of course football, because special education kind
of grasps the whole to me andnever let go.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That's amazing and I'm really curious about that
interpretation of the data thatyou were collecting.
One was everybody expected todo it or was that something that
came innately through, kind ofjust how you work, how, how you
want to see progress and monitorthat and know what was
(03:59):
happening with the students?
Was that a classroom thing orwas that a Joe thing?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Was a Joe thing and I was just a parent, so it wasn't
like I was old to do anything.
I was.
I had all this paper and I hadsome time, and so I started to
do that.
So when I got into my ownclassroom within a couple of
weeks of doing the same thing, Iwas like there's got to be not
only a better way to interpretthe data, but a better way to
collect the data and do that,because paper gets lost very
(04:25):
easily.
So it was one of those thingswhere it took so much off of my
plate.
It allowed for more accuracyand it allowed me to take the
strategies that I knew wereeffective and leverage
technology to make it reallycome to life.
So I had the opportunity becauseI worked with such challenging
students to work with some verygood specialists, and one that
(04:47):
has always held.
What they said was you can doanything for a week.
That's right, so they have meimplement new things.
I can do anything for a week.
And the other was getting onthe same page with any and
everybody collecting data on thestudent.
So I worked very closely with acouple and it might be me and
another person.
So understanding what we werecollecting was important so that
we were on the same page and weknow what we were doing, and I
(05:08):
took that to my classroom tohave my pairs, so we would
always have conversations onwhat does each thing mean and
we'd be very clear.
That way, I could perform theinterventions for the student
and somebody else could collectthe data, or vice versa, and we
all knew what we were doing andit was very quick and easy to
collect it.
And so then making it fromcollection to visualization and
(05:29):
interpretation and discussionwas this very clean and clear
path all the way across andthrough, and so it wasn't a
directive given to me.
I just saw the value and theimpact of it and it made so many
things easier, and the ABAtherapists and the other
specialists that I worked withwere like we haven't seen
anybody do this and I have founda quote, unquote autism app
(05:49):
that ever set anything up likethat.
But it was just something that,for particular students and the
things that I needed, it wasleveraging the technology along
with the strategy that I knewworked, just made it highly
valuable.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
It's so impactful hearing you have that vision for
what the visualization shouldlook like and then passing it
along to the other paraeducators and having a team
approach to have your data makesense and be taken with fidelity
Right and to then inform whereyou were heading with the, with
the students, in their progressthrough.
(06:21):
Whatever curricula you wereworking through what, what kind
of programming were you engagedin at the start?
Was it a set program?
Where did you find out aboutfunctional academics?
What was that journey like foryou as you worked through
meaningful curriculum?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Well, my my first interaction with functional
academics was a training that mydistrict had purchased the
curriculum and I remembermeeting Candy Steyer and she
loved put technology in it tokind of make it come to life.
And I kind of always rememberedthat, and so it was both of them
working in conjunction thatreally built this curriculum,
(06:57):
and it was the ABA piece of itthat I kind of connected with.
How can I very quickly trackwhat's going on and then be able
to ask and have a discussionabout that afterwards, as
opposed to collecting everything?
and have a be anecdotal andsubjective.
How can I very quickly get agauge of what's going on and
have that be the basis of thediscussion that we can have
(07:18):
later?
And so worked with that.
And then two years later, ourdistrict kind of came back
together to see how we wereimplementing it and myself and
the two other teachers weredoing it all different, Lee
Right.
So it's like, oh, we needed tokind of be a bit more on track
with this.
But I think I took more of anABA approach because I had
several of those working in myclassroom or coming into my
(07:39):
classroom.
So, that data collection pieceof it was always a key component
and a key piece for me of howcan I do that within this
curriculum much quicker, mucheasier, at all times, anywhere,
everywhere, all at the same time.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
What a powerful story that you're telling in your own
journey, for how a paraeducatorwith the vision for data
collection to inform theinstructors what a value add
that you had to the whole teamin the classroom.
So take us from the classroomand can you tell about that
(08:14):
bridge to really what you'redoing now?
You were in the classroom forwas it how many years?
Nine.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I was a total.
It was about a decade and ahalf, but I spent years as a
para and then I had I wascertified for in my own
classroom for seven, before it'sstarting to try to move on to
admin and in differentopportunities.
So, but that early connectionto technology, to use things,
had me always looking for whatwas available.
What could I do to build skillswith my students?
(08:42):
How could I do the things thatwe're doing much more
efficiently?
Instead of grabbing tape,cassette and putting them in a
thing and having kids sit withwith headphones, maybe we could
use iTunes and we would haveiPads at the time and we could
always have access to all thethings that the students needed
at all times.
And so it was always lookingfor things that we could use.
So that connection kind ofbrought me to somebody who I
(09:05):
knew that worked at MicrosoftEducation and we had several
discussions and then I went on.
A weird rant went.
I don't know if it's a rant.
I sent him a discombobulatedvoicemail when I first saw the
HoloLens and I had a couplestudents who were going to be
coming to my classroom thefollowing year on the spectrum,
needed visual schedules, and youknow if I could do anything to
(09:28):
not have to print out, laminateVelcro things to my wall.
I wouldn't have done anythingfor that.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I remember sending him a voicemail saying I don't
know how much this HoloLensthing costs.
I said you got to get me to.
I've got the perfect studentfor it.
And I essentially laid out aneducation pitch for a tool and a
product that wasn't designedfor education, especially for
special education, becausethere's a whole idea that we
have to get our students toadapt to the world.
(09:54):
And what if we could adapt theworld to our students?
What if I could get them tomove about the world the way
that they're used to?
And I could just augment.
And I think we're all kind of,at this point, familiar with
augmented reality, with thingslike that, and even the.
Vision Pro quest or the VisionPro that Apple has out now, were
accustomed to that idea ofplacing things in the world,
that you will always be therefor me and really personalizing
(10:16):
it for me.
But it wasn't something thatwas really talked about back
then.
So he later told me after I'vebeen working with him for a year
he's like that was one of thosethings that I needed, somebody
who he thought about, not justcutting edge technology, but
technology in general, and howdo we bring it into this
education space with a verystudent-centric approach.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Right and now.
That's innovative.
That is where we need to go andthat's how we make it really
person-centered.
I know that Microsoft is atrailblazer in their
accessibility tools, so can youhighlight for me and for our
listeners some of the keyinitiatives or projects that
Microsoft is working on or thatyou're doing?
(10:57):
What is that looking like rightnow for individuals with
disabilities, and what is thatintersection of technology and
accessibility?
How is that transforming thelearning experience for our
community that we're wanting toserve?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I think that there's a lot of very cool things that
are going on, and I want to tryto focus them into two areas.
One in removing stigma and theother in removing barriers.
And that idea of removingstigma is that when everybody
has access to it, when it'sbuilt in and not an additional
add-on, when it's the samedevice, the same look, and you
(11:31):
have access to a wealth ofaccessibility tools and
modification abilities builtinto there, then nobody feels
like they're set of courage,nobody feels like they are
marginalized and nobody feelslike, oh well, I need this
separate, different thing inorder to do what you're doing,
so I'm not as good or I'mdifferent than anyone else.
(11:52):
I always think about syndromefrom the Incredibles who said
when everybody is special, thenno one is.
So if everybody has access tothe tools and everybody can do
it, then you don't feel likeyou're less than because you
need other tools.
It's just I'm using the samedevice and these tools are built
in just like anybody.
I'm not a lot of y'all.
They may need it, I may not,it's all the same.
(12:14):
So that's one thing, and we'vegot a lot of tools like our
immersive reader and ouraccessibility features that are
in the settings that many peopledon't know about.
But it allows you to augmentyour interaction with the tools
in a way that doesn't mean youneed something different, right?
Even being able to control itwith your eyes without needing a
different device is a greattool that you can do.
(12:36):
The other one is removingbarriers right.
Being anybody be able tointeract with the technology,
whether it is I need to use myeyes, I need to use my voice, I
need to use a set of switches.
I need something else isthinking holistically about how
we remove those barriers forpeople, and in thinking of that,
(12:57):
one of the barriers to helpingstudents and helping get those
interventions be productive andhelping students grow and
accelerate their learning isthat access to data right.
How do we remove those barriersto being able to see and track
and monitor how our students aredoing?
And that's where something likeour learning accelerators comes
in.
Student reads on their own infront of their computer.
(13:19):
All that data, all thatinformation comes to the teacher
.
I can update it, change it,review it.
I can now track it, but Ididn't have to pull the students
out of the class into thehallway In order to assess it
Exactly, and so what we'reseeing is that when I did this
in the last school that I workedat, we assessed all the
students and they're reading toget them grouped into the right
(13:41):
students and it was anelementary school took two and a
half.
Okay.
What we're seeing withsomething like reading coach and
learning accelerators is peopleare doing it a couple of times
a week, and so kids are.
You're tracking much moreregularly and that removing
barriers to accessing data thatyou can make decisions on is not
gone, but it's removing those.
So you can see it more often,you can adjust it more often,
(14:02):
you can see how the students aregrowing.
They're like they had a dip,but they grew, they accelerated,
they moved to this group, theymoved to that group.
That way, you don't feel that,oh, I'm in a remedial reading
group is a life sentence.
You are now able to move thecabin.
You're now able to move aboutthe country freely and do the
things that you want to do anddrive your own learning.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
All of the students are being assessed the same way,
right?
I mean, that's, that's exactlywhat you're saying.
Without the pullout, we're notsingling out where we're
including in and and make it,making it a whole group activity
, whole group experience andAccess equally across across the
student population we'reworking with and the other thing
that where they're, the stigmareally gets removed, is really
(14:45):
interesting Because you remindedme and sir saying not getting
through getting assessed on thesame thing.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yes is you can have the same story leveled for
students, right?
Because as a middle schoolspecial education teacher, with
always difficult, how do I findsomething that is similar to
what the other students arereading, but at the level that
students needed that?
How do?
I do that, and that's one of thereally exciting things that I
think we have the opportunity tolook at moving forward is
(15:10):
Giving that content, giving thatreading story and putting it at
the level, the reading levelthe students at, so that they
feel included, so that they arekeeping track of the same story,
so that they can have thoseconversations with their peers
right?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Yes, I love that and and hopefully we'll be able to
get some links that for peopleto find out more information
about those things, we'll linkthose into the show notes and
Make sure that is widelyUnderstood and known, or just
people have access to thosetools and really learning more
about what's available to them,right?
(15:43):
Well, I wanted to ask you thistoo.
So, in the realm of functionalacademics and skill development,
how do you see Technologycontributing to the greater
independence of Individuals withdisabilities?
I want to know kind of whatyour specific ideas with, with
tools or features that that areout there Designed to enhance
(16:04):
functional academics and dailyliving skills.
What, how do you see?
How do you see technology andindependent living?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
The executive functioning piece.
Yes and I'm thinking ofexecutive function is one of the
things in my head becausethere's all these things around.
What is it that I need toaccomplish today and how do I go
about doing?
Is it just that process rightthere or something that it
worked very closely withstudents and some where I was
able to pick it up pretty easily.
Others needed more support andI even work with my own high
(16:37):
schoolers on that.
They were very academicallyGifted, very good.
Sometimes there's a struggle tomake sure that you know how do I
set up this thing for success.
I have a project, how do I goabout it?
And so we'd see that a lot withsome of our students of they
don't initiate right, they don'tget started.
Transitions are difficult andeven just being able to know
what do I have going on and howdo I get going Is difficult.
(17:00):
So I I often remind people ofMicrosync as a productivity
company, that to help with thatand it's not just the computer,
but you know, I think somethinglike co-pilot that's built into
Windows specifically is one ofthose things that can really
help.
And you you think about hey,play some music for me or I need
to focus.
Let me get it in a focus modeand then you, it does the things
(17:22):
for you that you normally wouldsnaps your windows, puts it in
dark mode, it plays yourplaylist to get you going, so
that those are three things youdon't have to do and get
distracted while doing.
You can just have that going.
I think about the functionalaspect of speech.
To text it texts a speech,conversational.
(17:43):
People are like oh well, thisapp doesn't have it.
It's like well, it's built intothe operating system, so if you
can type anywhere, your voicecan do that.
Your voice can type there foryou.
And so I think about the manydifferent ways that we interact
with and communicate with others, which should be able to
interact with and control andleverage our devices to do the
(18:04):
things that we need them to do.
Technology has advanced to aplace to where it becomes really
easy.
It advanced to a place to wheretouchscreen became the primary
motive of interacting withthings.
That works for many people, butnot everyone.
Maybe you need a switch and amacro and a set of shortcuts.
Maybe you need to use your eyes, maybe you need to use your
voice or some combination ofthat, but it should be very much
(18:27):
personalized for you.
It should not be unexpected.
I have this device here and Itype with my fingers.
It should be.
The device is your window intoengaging with the world and the
things that you need to do andso thinking functionally about
and even, like occupationaltherapists, think about helping
students interact with the world.
I think helping them figure outhow to interact with their
(18:47):
technology and the jobs thatthat opens up is important.
Being able to get past that canyou do this thing to?
What are the skills youactually hold?
It is an important part.
Looking for it functionally.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
That's so well said, joe.
We want to make sure that we'realways keeping all of these
things in mind.
What do we need to do to makesure that we're teaching
functional skills meaningfully,leading toward the greatest
level of independence?
Yes, well, listeners, that's itfor today's episode of the Fast
15.
But real quick, let's rememberjust a few key points from Joe's
(19:22):
discussion with us today.
Number one if everybody hasaccess to the tools and
everybody can do it, then youdon't feel like you're less than
because you need other tools.
And then, number two, he alsosaid if you design something for
one, you can be designing forall.
And then, number three don't beafraid to just try some tools
(19:47):
slowly if you're new totechnology, and just get a
vision for what a functionalfuture looks like.
Well, you guys, I hope you havea great day and we will check
in next week with our secondpart with Joe Frazier on
educational technology used withspecial education and finding
the right accessibility tools tomake life functional and
(20:11):
meaningful for an independentfuture.
A heartfelt thank you to ourgenerous sponsors, specially
designed education services,publishers of the Functional
Academics Program, please take amoment to learn more about the
only true comprehensivefunctional academics program
that enables students withmoderate to severe disabilities
to improve their ability to liveindependently and show
(20:35):
meaningful growth, bothacademically and personally,
while creating accountabilitywith data-driven, evidence-based
results.
Visit sdesworkscom to learnmore.
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