Blog 2: Build An Assistive Technology Toolkit

Build an Assistive Technology Toolkit 

          In Ahrens article, Build an Assistive Technology Toolkit, she explores the many technological advances we now have that enable special assistant students to be mainstreamed into a class with the greater student body. Special assistant students are the students with a myriad of challenges that can be either physical or mental and can include: hearing impairment, vision impairment, difficulty in writing due to physical constraints, the Autism Spectrum, ESL (English as a Second Language) students, and many other learning disabilities. Ahren states, “Assistive technology by its very nature consists of a variety of personal and customized tools for multiple learning styles and physical challenges”. Ahren walks us through the steps where a parent can locate many free or low cost tools for their child’s specialized needs and how to go about working with the school or school district to encompass these tools into the classroom. Ahren also provides a starter list for online tools that include free online books where students can change to a larger font for easier reading or with text-to-voice tools so that students can learn the words in an auditory format, language translator tools, online websites where students can create “mind maps” to create a visual layout of their ideas, and several other assistive tool websites.

          Though this was a short article, I found it an engaging starting point to the topic of technology tools. As we learn about the various technologies that are available for classroom use, it is a nice lesson to recall that many of these technologies enable us as teachers to greater include students that in the past may not have been included in the regular classroom. Indeed, I feel that one of the greatest achievements of technology is that it enables so many more people to actively pursue education. I found this article to be a great starting point to want to learn more about the technologies that are available and I’m sure that many of these can be useful not just for assistant students, but for the student body as a whole. Immediately after reading the article, I did an online search for assistive tools and was amazed at the myriad of websites that came up—I plan to further explore some of these websites in the future. Ahren talked about streamlining what assistive tools were used in a school or school district and how that will enable teachers to better serve their students—I fully agree with that idea. If we as teachers use the same or similar tools, for creating mind maps for example, then we can provide a more fluent structure for our students as they pass from one grade or class to another. I know from personal experience, as I’m sure most of us do, that the more you work at or with something then the more proficient you become.

          I believe this article is a clear example of NETS-S standard two for teachers: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. By learning more about current or emerging technologies that can be used both for assistant students as well as the general student body, I can exhibit “incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” as well as “customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styled, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources”. I can even pair assistant students with non-assistant students to enable them to teach one another the tools that they use—so that they can learn teamwork skills, how to work with diversity, a sense of community, and further enhance their education and abilities. 

Ahrens, K. (2011). Build an Assistive Technology Toolkit. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(3), 22-24. Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201111#pg24