When it comes to integrating technology into the day-to-day workings of special education, even during rolling lockdowns and remote instruction, there is no longer a question of either/or when it comes to using tech, says Tarrence (Tarry) McGovern, Director of Special Education for Kershaw County School District in South Carolina.
In this podcast with eSchool News, McGovern talks about some of the innovations in special education and how they can be applied to education in general.
eSN: As difficult as the current situation has been for education in general, there must be some extra burdens in your space.
TMC: From a special education perspective, it’s been a learning process as well. One of the things that we’ve had to focus on is parent participation. Previously there was a mindset that we always had to meet in-person. Everybody had to be together—the IEP team, appropriate team members, service providers—everybody. And we were going to meet in this single room.
Now, as we move through and progress through the pandemic, one of the things we’ve found is that we can be in multiple places. So for example, if we have a related service provider that provides services in four different schools, and they can’t be across town at one of their schools, they can jump on a Google meet and they can participate in the IEP meeting virtually.
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