Assistive Technology

Educators strive to ensure that students have opportunities to grow and learn in the classroom. Children with disabilities can face barriers to their participation in classroom activities. To decrease these barriers, educators can access a set of tools and resources such as assistive technology to help students participate naturally in inclusive learning environments (Sullivan, 2019)

Assistive technology is any item or piece of equipment or product system that is used to increase and maintain the functional capabilities of individuals with differential abilities. Assistive technology includes a variety of no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech tools (Sullivan, 2019)

Ways to incorporate technology into the classroom can vary across teaching, however, once can use simple methods for technology inclusion.

1. Closed captioning in videos

This can be beneficial by adding or turning on closed captioning in all videos such as YouTube an Go Noodle, helps assist with making connections between text and audio representations of language in the classroom. This is an assistive technology tool that is free and accessible by pushing the CC button underneath a video.

2. Graphic organizers

Graphic organizers are a no-tech assistive technology tool that offers a simple and effective way to provide writing support to the elementary, middle, and high school students who have dysgraphia, executive function challenges, and other learning challenges (Sullivan, 2019).

This can benefit the students with executive function challenges who struggle with organizing can use the organizers for a visual organization to balance their thoughts and ideas while also clarifying implicit relationships. Students with dysgraphia are affected with their handwriting and fine motor skills, word spacing, and ability to put ideas onto paper, graphic organizers can be beneficial by displaying what the struggling writers know and organize their thoughts before they begin to write (Sullivan, 2019).

Others to consider would be:

3. Virtual Timers (decrease anxiety in students when the teacher counts down)

4. Speech to text software can help students with print disabilities such as dyslexia can use a free tool in Google Docs called voice typing.

Integration strategies for blended learning are beneficial. The educator must reduce barriers for implementation, personalized learning for academic achievement and suggest the use of a learning management system with gamification elements to support online learning (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019)

Roblyer, M. & Hughes, J. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching, (8th ed.) New York, NY: Pearson.

Sullivan, J. (2019, May 28). Easy Ways to Bring Assistive Technology Into Your Classroom. Retrieved from Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/article/easy-ways-bring-assistive-technology-your-classroom