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Building Social Skills through Podcasts
by
Kate Viers, Sherry Lacko, Annette Kratcoski, and Kristina Weiss
Abstract This vignette describes how a team of teachers used podcasts as a tool for implementing social stories in a primary special education setting. The project documents the effectiveness of the tool as an intervention for establishing routines and reinforcing specific student skills. Building Social Skills through Podcasts
Kate Viers, Sherry Lacko, Kristina Weiss
Annette Kratcoski The Project The focus of our project was to improve the use of social stories with special needs students by incorporating technology. Social stories provide a context and repetition for a desired behavior. Social stories have proven to be an effective means of improving social and academic behavior as well as establishing routines when working with special needs students (Swaggart, et al, 1995; Wallin, 2004). However, reading level and abstractness interfered with the optimum capacity in which these stories could be implemented with our students. The classes we were working with were comprised of kindergarten through second graders. The students exhibited a range of learning needs that included learning disabilities, autism, as well as a scope of mental and physical handicaps and delays. Our project goal was to provide our students with a visual and audio of what will happen within specific social situations and routines. We were hoping that providing real life examples and procedures of the targeted experience would serve as stepping stones for students who struggle with certain routines that are common in school environments. Our project addressed the following objectives:
With our mentor grant, we purchased three Digital Blue digital video and picture cameras, 3 Digital Blue digital sound recorders, two video ipods, Quicktime Pro software, and a DVD burner. We used digital sound and video clips to create social stories that also incorporated the written words. The teachers used the cameras to capture video clips of the student performing the desired behavior or moving through the routine. It is our hope that once we are more comfortable with the process, we will be able to have another student take video clips. After we downloaded the video to the computer, we edited the clip and inserted written text and voiceovers of teacher directions and narratives. Once the video was complete, it was converted to MP4 and downloaded onto the ipods. Now, the students were able to see a concrete image to go along with the words. The video I-pods allowed the students to view the story as many times as necessary. The ipods are small and mobile and were able to be taken out of the room where routines were less familiar to the students, allowing teachers to use the social stories as needed within the classroom to address behaviors in context. The videos that were created helped to establish everyday routines common to our classroom, such as: · Calendar time The students were able to make practice videos for other students that showcased a mastered skill or their strength. The videos were used as a center for the students to practice skills in reading and math. Some of the videos were used to illustrate concepts that could be viewed by more than one student, while others were specific to one child’s needs. Results Because the students participated in the making of the stories, they felt ownership and had an investment in the story. They were excited to see themselves starring in the videos. Their motivation and accuracy increased as a result of using this method. The scripted and repetitive aspect of the social stories improved student behavior and recall. The video aspect increased the impact of the stories and increased their accessibility. We ran into several issues along the way and have learned some ways around them. First, we did not get started on the project soon enough in the year. We needed to begin creating the videos the first few days of school when routines were being established. Another issue that arose was that we were unable to podcast the stories onto the Internet due to some legal concerns by our district. In addition, most of the families of the students in the targeted classes did not have a computer or Internet access, and consequently, the stories were used only at school. We solved this problem by purchasing a DVD burner so that we could begin copying the stories to DVDs that could be sent home for extended practice. Conclusions As documented in the special education literature, social stories are an effective strategy for supporting students with special needs, particularly students with autism, to develop skills for appropriate interaction (Wallin, 2004). Social stories can be implemented in a number of ways depending on a student’s abilities. This project explored an innovative way of implementing social stories through the use of podcasts. As demonstrated in our classes, the visual and audio aspects of the casts can be very motivating and engaging for students and may prove to be a promising method for improving social skills with other children who have special needs. References Swaggart, B.L., Gagnon, E., Jones Bock, S., Earles, T.L., Queen, C., Myles, B., & Simpson, R.L. (1995). Using social stories to teach social and behavioral skills to children with autism. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 10 (1), 1-15. Wallin, J. (2004). Teaching Children with Autism: An Introduction to Social Stories. Retrieved online on August 23, 2007 at https://www.polyxo.com/socialstories/index.html |
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