Third Entry

Assistive technology can be a very helpful tool to use in your classroom. This provides many students with more options for learning, expressing their selves, and to help them develop skills more. Assistive technology will also help a wide range of students and abilities among these students and by doing this it will help your classroom to be friendlier and a nice learning environment for all kinds of children. Assistive technology brings the world to every student and the student comes more alive in the world.

In today’s world, the government feels that all students should meet high standards of learning. However, some individuals are able to meet these standards easier than others and others need more help to do that. Universal design is a step in the direction to help all students to have the same type of learning experiences just provided to them in different ways. It gives all children a chance to learn, but provides the help to do that. Universal means that all students have access to what they are learning by providing the accommodations needed for the wide range of differences a teacher will experience in their classroom. The Universal Design is a way to help to make the needs of many people in one type of technology. As the Universal Design website says, an example is one where you have a television that has closed captioning on it. So now, you are including more people in one technology who are going to be able to use it. You can have those who can see or hear use the same thing. Universal Design opens up more options for people by reaching to so many more students in the classrooms full of so many types of students (Universal Design).

The government is trying to do many things to provide everyone with the same chances to learn and have experiences. One of the things the government has done is added Section 508. Section 508 requires that Federal agencies provide electronic and information technology to everyone so those with disabilities will be able to use them. This is for their employees and the public both having access to technology that they will be able to use. Section 503 is an amendment to the Workforce Rehabilitation act of 1973. The accessibility by people means that all people are able to use the technology as efficiently as possible no matter what there disability is. The enforcement of this new law has been around since June 2001 and is a way to help all people have greater access to technology in Federal places.

The classroom is a key place where assistive technology should be included so all students have the same chances for learning or are able to have ways to reinforce, develop, or gain more help in other ways through the use of assistive technology. Tango and Flash is one type of device that is helpful to students. This technology is very expensive, but can be very helpful. It allows students a way to expressive themselves whether because they are non verbal students or just another way to reinforce the use of language. They are able to use pictures, words, and record their voice as well to develop sentences and phrases. This technology would be great for many different types of students.

Another type of assistive technology that might be really helpful for students is a variety of different types of art materials. You can have materials that have different types of grips to help students who have trouble holding the pencil, pen, colored pencils anything like that so they can hold it and use it as well. You can get numbers and letters that are bigger for children to use to paint with which is easier for them to hold or have fun with. There are also paintbrushes that come with thicker handles so children can hold on to them easier. There are so many different types of art supplies you can get to use with students that will help them in various ways and allow them to do the same thing as children who do not need these types of supplies.

There are also manipulative that you can get to use with children. These include things such as sandpaper numbers and letters or fractions pieces in various forms, things to help with learning to add using money and so much more. These things children can touch, feel, or play with in fun ways that help them to learn and reinforce what they are doing. These can be done through the texture as with the sandpaper, with games they can have fun, but learn at the same time, and with the things like fractions pieces that you can move and look at you are able to move them to see what equals each others. These things help student lean in various ways or reinforce what concepts they need to work on and are great and fun ways for students.

Another type of technology that would good for those with special needs is My Tobii. My Tobii really helps those who have Cerebral Palsy, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), High level spinal injuries, and Multiple Sclerosis. My Tobii is a portable eye-controlled communication device that is able to work in most lighting conditions, with or without glasses, and no matter the color of your eyes. Even those who can have serious head movements are able to use this without too many problems. This type of device would really allow your students who have these types of needs to be able to communicate easier than they can with computers or possibly even verbal. For more information about this devise please see the following links: My Tobii and More about My Tobii.

Assistive technology helps to bring the love of learning and the world to so many more people. Assistive technology for learning is so much more than having a computer at your hands. As I have stated in previous paragraphs there is so many different types of things that a teacher can include in the classroom to help many different learners and meet the many needs that children have. By including different things in your classroom, you have opened a world to students that they may have never been able to have before just through simple things as the art supplies or more complicated things as different types of computer software’s. Assistive technology in the classroom in various forms is very important to help students achieve all they can and have more options for them to learn from and succeed in school and in life. Assistive technology really is a helpful tool in the classroom.