Using technology to support students

Transcript

NARRATOR: In this case study, we talk with Kathy Senior, an academic support mentor at Sunraysia TAFE, about how assistive technology can help support students and staff with their learning and teaching. First up, Kathy, can you tell us a little bit about your role and who you typically work with?

KATHY SENIOR: So the role is basically, in two words, free tutor, and I work with all enrolled students at SuniTAFE. Typically, though, those students would be diagnosed or undiagnosed neurodivergent students and the international cohort and migrant students, and basically those students that benefit from a check-in and to have someone to make them feel accountable and keep going with their studies.

NARRATOR: You developed an initiative around tech tools. Can you tell us about this and why this was developed?

KATHY: The tech tools initially came about from uh working with International Office here and creating a workshop students could attend, where I could showcase software apps and websites that may support their learning. My background is as an ESL teacher, so I could see how software that's provided to the student could support their learning. This initiative took on a life of its own, though, and staff became interested and wanted to learn more themselves. Often, as a teacher, you get so busy teaching that sometimes programs and helpful tools can pass you by. So then I was asked to offer some sessions showcasing the tech tools to staff. This was about three years ago, maybe more. Nowadays, teachers ask for me to go into their classes to showcase the tools. And we've also designed a course on our LMS that all staff and all students have access to. And within that LMS, there's lots of how-to videos of the digital tools, particularly Microsoft Browser and Microsoft 365, and just what's available to students and how those tools can benefit their study.

NARRATOR: What sort of tools do you show students and how do they make a difference?

KATHY: The best game changer for some students is just voice to text. Awareness of that and access to that has changed a number of the students' study experiences. It makes a real difference because they have finally found a way to get their ideas down onto uh paper or word. There's no more ruminating with ideas swirling around. And so that's also a useful tool for people with ADHD. And it can also assist students who have difficulty with spelling or with typing, things like that.

NARRATOR: Have you been surprised by the students or the tools and how they can be useful in supporting them?

KATHY: Recently I met an international student who's living on residence here and struggles with focusing on allocating study time for themselves. I asked him about his old study routine back in his home country, where he said he was brought up by strict grandparents and they kept him on task. So there are some videos online called things like four hours of Asian Mum to help you focus on studying and one hour of Asian Mum cooking to help you study, where she just potters around in the background in the kitchen with a study desk in the in the foreground. So yeah, these are body doubling videos. And I showed them to him and he laughed at the absurdity that some Australian Asian guys have made these videos for this purpose. But the next time I saw him, he couldn't stop smiling, and he told me that they actually do work for him and he's using them.

NARRATOR: Can students access the support independently? And how does this work in practice?

KATHY: There needs to be an open way that students can access support that's not specifically tied to retention, lack of course progress, diagnosed disability, undiagnosed learning challenges. The institute has the information of academic support on its website. Students are made aware of it in their orientation. There can be recommendations put to students from other student support staff, and there can be referrals made through a procedural pathway. But the biggest advocates of academic support are the teachers themselves who like to suggest this to students, as well as past students recommending it to other students. I do sometimes forget that some students first attend with some amount of fear of what they're coming to. So I take the time to ask them about their challenges, see some of their work, uh liaise with a teacher beforehand sometimes, and then we take it from there. With those students who might not know what they're coming to, I'll just say casually to them, just come for a session and see. And often they will book in for regular weekly or fortnightly sessions after that.

NARRATOR: Do you have an example of where a tech tool has made a real difference?

KATHY: There's often situations where I've gone into classes and I've shown them the tools available to them, especially when courses first start, and there'll be students that feel overwhelmed, and then once they see a part of a workshop session on tech tools, they might come to me after for some one-on-one training on things. And often they're at that point where they'll say, I can't do this, or I want to withdraw, and thinking that they couldn't do the course, and then being shown the tools. And going from that to within a few weeks settling into the class, uh, within a few months actually showing other students in the class what they can do, and also showing the new intake group too.

NARRATOR: Has this initiative influenced teachers about their teaching?

KATHY: The tech tools were initially for workshop for the students, and then the teachers took it up, and there was more sustained interest from the teachers, which was great because then they can have that experience with their students and show the students themselves. So there have been a number of workshops that I've given to the teachers, and that's always updating too, because things change. We've had uh in-house conferences where I've shown teachers in workshop style situations where they have a play themselves because um the teachers really want to know what's out there and what's useful to help their students.

NARRATOR: What advice would you give to another provider who wanted to do a similar initiative?

KATHY: I would say advocate for it because it was initially a a pilot for a year and it proved its worth. And it's also created another role on our Swan Hill campus now, too. So the e-trest is there, the need is there, and I think it's really important that it is open to all students. There's no set eligibility. So what often happens from that is that you will get students that are wondering why they have learning challenges, and they often start to realize that they might have autism or they might have some anxiety that they they they start to learn what they might be facing, and they often then follow through and and seek some diagnosis or some support, further support around that when that comes to the fore.

NARRATOR: Why is the role of an academic support mentor so important?

KATHY: It's important because it's there for everyone. It's not for a select few. I would have liked this when I was teaching the international students, because there are a number of international students who were they were not eligible for any support under what we had in place previously. And also there have been instances of international students with undocumented disabilities and learning challenges that this service can support without them thinking there's anything negative around that if they have cultural assumptions about certain disabilities.

NARRATOR: Thank you, Kathy.

This case study, developed by the Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training in partnership with the Australian Government, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Further information on building inclusive practices and supporting students with disability, visit our website at www.adset.edu.au

.