SERGEANTSVILLE, New Jersey—Although it's only about 50 miles from Newark, Hunterdon County remains a rural place, home of the only covered bridge still standing in the Garden State. In her work with special needs students, teacher Barbara Hencheck builds bridges of another sort, using technology to help students span the distance between challenge and success.

Hencheck works with middle school students in the resource room at Delaware Township School, a traditional K-8 school serving 600 students. "Many of my resource center students have difficulty with writing both because of motor issues and language issues," she says. "Adaptive technology minimizes those difficulties."

In a recent project, for example, sixth-graders put handheld computers to work in a project about problem solving. Hencheck explains the multifaceted assignment: "Students were taught a five-step problem-solving process that they used to generate a creative story in which the main character employed the process to solve his problem. Further, students critically evaluated the process in terms of their own personal problems and how this five-step process was useful to them."

Students used handhelds to write their stories and keep an accurate account of how they were using the problem-solving process in their own lives. Hencheck found the accessible computers helpful in "getting students to use technology to quickly and efficiently record their thoughts and ideas in printed form. "In addition," she says, "students liked the instant-communications feature of handhelds. "They beamed their problems to one another to solicit and offer advice."

Students also provided one another with peer support throughout the writing process. "They listened to one another's stories and helped revise through feedback." 

They also discovered that they could put their new problem-solving skills to work to overcome technical glitches. "They used portable keyboards when a handheld broke," for instance. "Everything focused on how we were going to publish our work."

The result was "a multipage book of student stories with illustrations, cartoons, and autobiographic sketches of the authors." Students shared the book with parents and added it to the school library for younger students to use as a colorful learning guide about how to solve problems.

Hencheck noticed that students' reading skills were also enhanced by the project. "Students quickly generalized the five-step process to the reading area. They recognized characters' struggles and could surmise how they might best solve their problems."

Although the handhelds and accompanying portable keyboards were available for her students to use for only a few months (through a grant from Rutgers University), Hencheck makes sure her students have regular access to computers in her resource room. "My computers are used from 8:15 AM on," she says. "All my students have deficits in the language-related areas, and all need computers in order to flourish."

Although many students also have computer access at home, Hencheck adds, "They need guidance to be successful. I find they prefer to write at home on paper or on the handhelds, and bring their work to school to download or hot synch. They frequently have trouble with printing and saving, and I think they find it reassuring that this allows them not to lose their work."

Hencheck grew up in this rural community and returned here to teach. Many of her colleagues share similar connections to the community. "There is a high sense of investment in the wellness of this school," she says. Hencheck has taught special education students for 30 years, all of them at the middle-school level. Her dedication and energy remain high. "I find the challenge of unraveling each of these wondrous puzzles to be exciting and stimulating."