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| Could your students benefit from a screen reader (a program that reads highlighted text from most programs as well as Internet webpages)? How about a computer game that offers extra practice in multiplication? Find these and many other programs for FREE (or pretty darn cheap) at either: CAST's website or The Training and Technical Assistance Center |
| Have you fallen in love with technology and want to make your own web-based lesson? Find out how to make the Internet accessible for those with a variety of disabilities from: The Alliance for Technology Access |
| Do you need a quick 101 course on Assistive Technology? Check out: Assistive Technology Training On-Line |
| In order to make your classroom programs or operating system (i.e., Windows, MAC, or Microsoft Office programs) more accessible, check out the following links. They address adaptations for users with issues in: * Vision * Mobility * Hearing * Cognition |
| Microsoft: microsoft.com/enable/default.htm Apple: www.apple.com/disability/ |
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| So What Is Assistive Technology? |
| When teaching through technology, there are a few basic modifications that can be made to a computer to make sure that the content is accessible to everyone. Do you have a student who: * Has difficulty decoding print or writing legibly? * Has vision or hearing issues? * Loves the Internet, but can't always use it sucessfully? Hardware, software, and Internet companies have created websites to address just these issues. Whether that means enlarging the icon and font size in Windows, or downloading a free program that can read written text aloud to a student, the solutions are out there- just read on! |
| A more official definition can be found at at-training.com: "Assistive Technologies are the tools and strategies that act to liberate the use of technology for all students as well as to provide new ways to 'assist' interactions and learning. They act to 'augment abilities and bypass or compensate for a disability' (Lewis, 1994). AT is anything that makes it easier for a student to: turn things on, get dressed, eat or bathe, read, write, see, get around, or move, communicate, (or) play." |
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| Do you have the information you need? Where would you like to go now? |
| Are you ready to move on to Step SEVEN? Put it All Together |
| Do you want to go back to the PROCESS page to choose a step? Click here. |
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| Would you like to review the information on the main technology page? |
| When you vist the links on this page, I suggest opening a new window in your browser to view these sites (so you don't get lost). Simply go to FILE in your web browser, click NEW, then WINDOW. You will get a copy of this page. Go ahead and explore from there. When you are done, just close the copy window, and return to this one. |
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| Assistive Technology (AT) is any device that helps us to do things. Glasses and can openers are used by the general population, but they are good examples of what is meant by "assistive technology." Many people could not see without glasses, and I don't know anyone who could open a can without some form of assistance! |
| For Students |
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| For Teachers |