Little screens may teach skills to teens with autism

By MATTHEW HALL
Capital News Service
LANSING – Video-based teaching methods could change the way Michigan schools educate teens with autism. Videos shown on computers and iPads successfully demonstrated to teenagers with autism how to behave in new social situations, according to the latest research from Michigan State University. Autism is a developmental disorder that hampers a person’s ability to communicate and understand others. Basic milestones in development, such as pointing out an object to someone else, or later milestones such as reading body language or facial cues, can be challenging to teens with autism depending on where they are on the autism spectrum, experts say. Video technologies have proven successful in one-on-one teaching with younger children, experts said.

Tablet computers springing up in more classrooms

By MICHAEL GERSTEIN
Capital News Service
LANSING – How do you keep students interested? Novelty. As the burgeoning tablet market reaches into the under-tapped field of education, iPads and other tablets are finding a happy home in tech-starved schools across the state. And some teachers say they may have the sought-after solution to the problem of student engagement as their districts appropriate millions of dollars for new technology. Dozens of schools in Michigan have already purchased iPads for students, and many more are considering the same, according to the Department of Education.