Assistive Technology- Assisting All

Technology is a tool that can engage students at all grade levels and abilities. It can be useful to get students who don’t usually participate involved as well as including any students who have learning and/or physical disabilities. Technology can be exciting and interactive, therefore making lessons more engaging to all students. Teacher’s who use the technology resources they have available to them can really open doors for their students.
Technology can be used in a variety of ways, making it a great resource for spicing up a traditional lesson plan. Instead of drawing out fraction diagrams on the board, why not use fraction sticks that show how different fractions can still be equivalent such as 5/10 equaling 1/2. Students will love seeing the new tool and be excited to try it out for themselves—making a mundane math lesson fun and exciting. It’s a great tool to reach students who may not get a lot out of pencil and paper lesson plans.
Or say you have a student with blindness; you could create a lesson plan using Braille and introduce other students in the class to the different system of language. Technology can be used to include all students, even students who may spend a lot of time out of the classroom for specialized help. It really helps both the student who has the physical and/or the learning disability feel welcome as well as teaches their classmates to be appreciative of differences and find new ways to include classmates who may at times get excluded (not purposefully) from activities in the classroom.
Assistive technology does not always have to be high-tech. Sometimes it’s as simple as word cards to help students who have difficulty communicating. Using the technology, however simple or high tech, can really have a huge impact on the learning environment of your classroom. It lets students know that their teacher really cares about how much they learn and what they take away from the classroom. It really makes the classroom a much more enjoyable place to be as well as helping each student to develop their skills and knowledge more thoroughly.
As an educator, I hope to utilize all the resources I possibly can to help my students more fully understand concepts and ideas. I think it is important for all educators to use all the tools they have available for them; it can make a huge difference in the life of a child. Even if the technology used only gets one student who does not understand fractions or letter formation to fully understand the concept—that’s one more student who can get excited about learning and feel the satisfaction of finally understanding something they may have struggled with.