For At-Risk students, Gifted & Talented student, as well as students with

Physical, Cognitive & Sensory Disabilities.

Adaptive/Assistive Adaptive/Assistive TechnologyTechnology

by Monica Findley

EDTECH 541November 25,2013

Students with Physical Difficulties

Physical disabilities or impairments limits a person’s range of mobility. “Difficulties with motor movements may involve gross or fine motor movement and infrequently exist concurrently with other disabilities (Roblyer & Doering,

2013. p 408)”

Technology to Assist Students with Physical Difficulties

intellikeys

This is a good resource for students who have difficulty operating a computer keyboard or maneuvering a mouse. This device consists of an alternative keyboard & various keyboard overlays.

SmartNav 4

This is a hands free device for students who have severe physical disabilities. This system provides an on-screen virtual keyboard. The student can maneuver the computer mouse, access the keyboard and navigate the internet with slight head movements.

intellikeys keyboard intellikeys keyboard overlays

http://www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/products/4-at/

Students with Cognitive Difficulties

“Students with a cognitive impairment may experience difficulties with various functions of the brain, particularly, short term memory, concentration, organization and planning. Each student has different needs and will require various support mechanisms” [Retrieved from online article Assistive

technology for kids with LD: An overview http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/assistive-technology/702-assistive-technology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities-an-overview.gs?page=all]

Technology to Assist Students with Cognitive Difficulties

Dragon

This tool is a speech recognition software. This tool enhances a student’s reading and writing skills. It also allows students to listen to text and speak to compose text.

BoardMaker

This software is a good modification tool for teachers. This software can be used to help English language learners, students who struggles in reading and students with cognitive disabilities. (See figures shown)

http://www.nuance.com/dragon/accessibility/dragon-dyslexia-learning-challenges/index.htm

Figures retrieved from [http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=53489]

Figure 1 - Without Modification Figure 2- With BoardMaker Modification

http://www.mayer-johnson.com/what-is-boardmaker

Students with Sensory Difficulties

“Sensory disabilities involve impairments associated with the loss of hearing or vision. (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p 409)”

Technology to Assist Students with Sensory Difficulties

MAGic

This tool is a screen magnification software with speech capabilities. This tool is a good resource for visually impaired students.

Frequency-Modulated Amplification System

This system involves a transmitter & microphone to be worn by the teacher & a receiver to be worn by the student. This device amplifies the teacher’s voice, allowing it to be heard over students’ voices & various sounds of movement, within the classroom.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/low-vision/MAGic-screen-magnification-software.asp

http://www.enablemart.com/motiva-personal-fm-system?gclid=CNPEwKKphLsCFepQOgodXUMALQ

At-Risk Students

Students at risk for school failure are not considered disabled in the sense of the federal definition of disability. However, their lack of success in school often parallels the low performance of students with disabilities (Roblyer &

Doering, 2013, p 408)”

Technology to Assist At-Risk StudentsAt-Risk Students

ClassMate Reader Audio Book Player

This assistive device is a speech synthesizer/ screen reader. helps improve Reading fluency, comprehension & vocabulary skills. This tool has read aloud capability, voice recording, highlighting function & a speaking dictionary.

Kidspiration 3

This software is a graphic organizer assistive resource that helps students make visual connections, in order to build on academic vocabulary and a conceptual understanding in academic content-areas. Reading & writing skills can also be strengthened.

Gifted & Talented Students

Gifted & talented students are, by definition, “students, children or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic or leadership capability or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to develop those capabilities (Roblyer & Doering, 2013 p 411)”

Technology to Assist Gifted & Talented Students

ABCya! Word Clouds for Kids!

This is a good resource to enrich students academic vocabulary knowledge. This resource can be utilized in any academic content area. With ABCya! Word Clouds for Kids, the students are challenged to create word clouds or word splashes. They are free to showcase their text visualizations in a variety of ways.

Storybird

This is a good resource to enrich students literature writing skills and creativity. This resource allows students to expand on their literary creativity by writing stories, of various genres, from a piece of art. The students will also be able to publish & share your stories.

http://storybird.com/about/

http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm

References

* Raskind, Marshall, Ph.D & Stanberry, Kristin (2010). Assistive technology for kids with LD: An overview. Online article http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/assistive-technology/702-assistive-technology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities-an-overview.gs?page=all]

* Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, Aaron H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education.