ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

For anyone who has published, the day you finally actually get to see your finished product in your hands in very exciting. I had such a moment last week when my publisher NPR Inc., released a new laminated reference guide called: Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know. The guide is a chock full of information about assistive technology and is a great reference for teachers, special educators, parents, and for students in teaching training programs. With the explosion of information it is great to have a concise guide that can provide you with all of the essential information that you will need to learn about the advances in assistive technology. Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know reviews Universal Design for Learning as well as some of the legal mandates for providing assistive technology in the schools. Learn first hand about various assistive technology applications that can empower students and provide them with access to the core curriculum. Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know laminated guide is a great desk reference and a wonderful addition to any type of training and in-service programs in special education and assistive technology. Now you have the opportunity with the President's Stimulus Package to purchase this informative reference guide using you ARA dollars. So take advantage of this opportunity and provide your faculty with a great reference tool on the topic of assistive technology. Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know- laminated guide is available from AssistiveTek, LLC and lists for $12.95. Volume pricing is available and Purchase Orders are accepted. Please email me if you are interested in purchasing the guide for your school.

I had a great day working with a group of teachers in assisting them to incorporate the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into their math lessons. Over the course of two days we went over the principles of UDL and had a chance to look at a variety of tools and strategies that could be employed into their lessons. We had a chance to use Google Forms, Delicious, Webspiration, and InspireData to give the teachers some new tools to actively engage students in their learning. It was exciting to feel the energy in the workshop as the teachers began to see how they could use the various tools to reach their students. During the workshop I was able to capture some of the ideas using Papershow which was a real hit with the teachers. At the end of the second day I captured some notes which I can share with you. Papershow is a wonderful tool for recording and capturing ideas. After today's session I saved the notes as a PDF file and placed them on our wiki which worked really well. Here is is a link to today's notes as captured with Papershow.

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During the workshop I was able to capture some of the ideas using Papershow which was a real hit with the teachers.

I just got back from attending day 1 of a three day training presented by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) on the theory and practice of Universal Design for Learning in today's classrooms. I have always been a big fan of CAST, and in fact I spent a week there about 15 years ago when they were running an assistive technology institute. While CAST initially was servicing the needs of individual students with disabilities through their Assistive Technology Clinic, it became more apparent to them that they could have more of an impact if they focused on making the curriculum more accessible instead of working with one student at a time.

Looking at the basic tenets of Universal Design for Learning it is clear to me that if they are applied- we would reach many more students and facilitate the learning that takes place in all classrooms. Taken as a whole the basic tenets are: Multiple Means of Representation. Multiple Means of Expression, and Multiple Means of Engagement. Utilizing these principles it is possible with supports and scaffolding to reach more students and to bridge the gap thereby making the curriculum more accessible to all students. Today we had a chance to learn the theory and tomorrow we will be discussing ways that technology can assist students in reaching their learning goals in the classroom. It is truly a wonderful learning experience and gives me a chance to reflect on what we know about brain and put into practice research based strategies that will make a difference for a wide range of students with all abilities in our classrooms.