Dysgraphia+and+VoiceThread

**Dysgraphia and VoiceThread**
Children who suffer from dysgraphia have an extremely hard time with writing assignments. Dysgraphia is a condition where a child has difficulty with written expression. It is both physical and mental – the child experiences frustration when attempting to formulate letters as well as processing and generating what to say. The symptoms of dysgraphia fall into six categories; visual-spatial difficulties, fine motor difficulties, language processing issues, spelling & handwriting issues, grammar and usage problems, and organization of written language (Patino, 2014). Students suffering from this disability can succeed in school if proper supports are in place to help him develop strategies to accommodate this impairment.

There are many web 2.0 tools that can aide the student who has dysgraphia. One useful tool is VoiceThread ([|www.voicethread.com]). The creator of the VoiceThread (VT) file can set up his presentation using key visual images/videos to convey his message. Each slide can contain text or a voice recording to explain the visual image more fully. As the user expresses his ideas on a given slide, he can also use the pen tool to point out particular features of the visual image. For instance, when looking at a map on a slide, the pen tool could be used to mark the place that he wants the audience to focus on. VoiceThread files can be shared with others and used as a collaboration tool. Other people can view a VT presentation and add a comment (written or recorded) to each slide. This useful feature would allow the teacher to verbally respond to the student’s work, reinforcing the medium that the student has used to produce his work.

Students with dysgraphia can greatly benefit from using VoiceThread in their learning. VoiceThread removes the physical challenge of writing. Instead of creating a Google document with a lot of text, he could start a VT file and use the voice-recording feature to respond to the teacher’s assignment. (The assignment would need to be one that is assessing comprehension or synthesis of ideas.) The VT app also allows the user to listen to each recording prior to saving it, so editing can occur along the way.

Some barriers to using VoiceThread are that the dysgraphic student would be required to learn how to utilize a new piece of software while his classmates may be using a different one. Also by using the voice-recording feature of VT, language is not in written format and can be communicated in a disorganized or incoherent way. In order to create a quality VT file, one should organize his ideas prior to creating the voice-recording. Another downside to using VT in a classroom setting is the noise level. When recording audio, the computer will pick up background noise, so a noisy classroom is not the optimal space for recording.

Resources:

Lutheran Special School and Education Services, Dec. 2011. []

Patino, Erica. Understanding Dysgraphia. Understood.org, 2014-15. []