Assistive Technology: Providing Learning Opportunities and Access For All Students

Assistive Technology:
Providing Learning
Opportunities and
Access For All Students
MITTEN Seminar
October 22, 2002
1
Assistive Technology
and the Law
(1) Assistive Technology Devices

(2) Assistive Technology Services
2
The term “assistive
technology device” means:
 Any item, piece of equipment, or product
system, whether acquired commercially off
the shelf, modified, or customized, that is
used to increase, maintain, or improve
functional capabilities of children with
disabilities.
 These devices can range from an adapted
pencil to sophisticated microprocessors.
3
The term “assistive
technology service” means:
 Any service that directly assists a child with a

disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an
assistive technology device.
4
Assistive Technology Services
include the following:
 The evaluation of the needs of a child with a
disability, including a functional evaluation of the
child in the child’s customary environment.
 Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the

acquisition of assistive technology devices by
children with disabilities
 Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting,

applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of
assistive technology.
5
AT Services (continued)
 Coordinating and using other therapies,

interventions, or services with assistive
technology devices, such as those
associated with existing education and
rehabilitation plans and programs.
 Training or technical assistance for a child

with a disability or, if appropriate, that
child’s family; and
6
AT Services (continued)
 Training or technical assistance for professionals who

provide services for, or are otherwise substantially
involved in the major life functions of children with
disabilities.
7
Handout Provided
How To Support Students With Learning

Differences
The Assistive Technology and Education Connection.
By Leonard V. Pisano, Ph.D.
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/technology/assis
tive_technology_howto.html
8
Wayne ATRC’s
Lending Library
 Try before you buy
 Short term trial
 Long term trial
http://www.resa.net/atrc
9
Low Tech Tools to
Support Literacy
10
Pencil Grips
 Support poor writing due to

a lack of fine motor control
and even pressure.
 Avenue to support hand

and finger fatigue.
 Try different styles with

students to support
improved grasp.
Region IV STELA Project 2002 11

Raised Lined Paper
 This unique paper actually

has raised green lines! The
raised line assists children
by providing a physical
bump to help “feel” where
to stop.
 This bright white paper

81/2 x 11” printed with
green lines, comes in 2
widths. Wide rule, with a
dashed line or narrow ruled
12
Region IV STELA Project 2002
Post-It Note Collection
 Use Post-Its to mark

where to start and stop
reading.
 Use Post-Its to mark the
Table of Contents,
Index, and other
reference points for
quick access.
 Use to locate a given
chapter and assignments
for easy location access.
Post-It Note Collection
 Use to locate and
return to information
needed to answer
questions.
 Great to move the

question through the
pages while locating
answers.
 Use to write notes and

summaries on pages.

Post-Its Continued
 Brainstorm ideas, one per
sheet.
 Easy to rearrange ideas

and prioritize.
 Use different colors for

categorizing ideas.
 Post vocabulary lists right

inside the text moving
through pages.
 Edit and revisions become

easy to note.

Erasable Highlighters
 Highlight key ideas and

erase with ease.
 Make note of unfamiliar

words.
 Supports “over
highlighting”
tendencies.

Highlighter Tape
 Removable & reusable
 Easy to write on
 Use a coding system
– Pink: important vocabulary.
– Blue: chapter questions.
– Yellow: dates
– Orange: facts/picture/maps
– Green: names to know.
– Words that they do not know,
to look up. 17
Highlighter Tape Storage
Tips
 Laminate a 5x7 card for each student.
 Each student may store their tape(s) on their card for

future use.
 Highlighting techniques need to be taught and

modeled.

What about “OVER”
Highlighting?
 Provide students with 2 or 3 long strips of tape on a
wipe board or laminated sheet of paper.
 Ask them to highlight 2 or 3 most important facts on

the page.
 Allow them to use these tape strips only.
 Encourage them to keep moving the tapes as they find

“more important information”.
Index Tabs
– Use as page markers to
mark the important,
often used parts of
textbooks:
 Index
 Table of Contents
 Reference portions of a
book
– Maps
– Glossary
– Dictionary
– Gazetteer
Redi-Tag Page Flags
 Use to point out answer
details once found.
(use color codes)
 Use to point out

vocabulary to return to.
 Use to point out key

facts.
 Use to locate in general.

EZC Reader: Reading Strips
 Reading strips are an aid for
beginning readers and for
experienced readers who
need help focusing attention.
 Simply place the reading strip
on top of the line to be read.
 The colored plastic highlights
the line enabling the reader to
easily focus and concentrate
on the words to be read.
 Available in yellow and blue.
Webster's New
Misspeller's Dictionary
 "How can I look it up
in the dictionary if I
can't spell it?"
 Handy dictionary
alphabetically lists the
most common
misspellings of more
than 15,000 frequently
used words, and gives
the correct spellings in
easy-to-read boldface
type.
Webster's New
Misspeller's Dictionary
• Brief definitions help
distinguish among the
different meanings of
many words.
• Readers are aided by

syllable divisions that
make it easier to
remember the correct
spelling, tips on
becoming a better
speller, and useful advice
on avoiding common
causes of misspellings.
24
Resource List for Low Tech Literacy
Accommodations
http://www.resa.net/atrc/Resources%20for
%20Low%20Tech%20Accomodations.DOC
25
Products Demonstrated at Seminar
 Portable Word
Processors give
students access to
word processing
The AlphaSmart 3000 www.alphasmart.com

26
Software Demonstrated at Seminar
Idea Organizing Software
Draft:Builder
Inspiration and Kidspiration
www.donjohnston.com
www.inspiration.com
27
(con’t)
Talking Word Processors
Write:OutLoud IntelliTalkII
www.donjohnston.com www.intellitools.com
28
(con’t)
Word Prediction
WordQ Co:Writer
www.wordq.com www.donjohnston.com
29
(con’t)
Reading Support
ReadPlease.com Kurzweil 3000

Free text reader for www.kurzweiledu.com
Windows
30
(con’t)
Reading Support
Start-To-Finish Books
High-interest, controlled- vocabulary series
that gets struggling students reading.
www.donjohnston.com
31
Electronic Text Available
http://intersect.uoregon.edu/digitallibrary/
libraries.html
32
Region IV STELA Project
 Developed by The Region IV Assistive Technology

Consortium www.resa.net/regionIV
 The Region IV Assistive Technology Consortium is
comprised of AT consultants who serve eight
southeast Michigan intermediate school districts:
 Jackson, Lenawee, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St.
Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne County RESA.

How the STELA Project
Evolved
 Much of the past work of the Region IV AT
Consortium has focused on the special education
‘low incidence’ population.
 The STELA Project, with a focus on ‘high incidence’
disabilities was developed in large part to the
growing concerns about supporting struggling
students (high incidence disabilities & at-risk
students) in the general education classroom.

How the STELA Project
Evolved
 Much of what has gone into the STELA Project ‘Kits”

was shaped by the feedback we received from
teachers across all eight counties.
 Teachers were most concerned about ways to meet
the literacy needs of struggling readers and writers
within the general education curriculum.

 This year is our first year of implementation of the

STELA Project in 56 pilot sites (general education
classrooms) across the eight southeast Michigan
counties.
 Each pilot site consists of one general education
teacher and one special education teacher.

 Teachers across all 56 STELA sites will be receiving

the same training and “kits”;
 And, all teachers will be assisting us in collecting the

same data on students (approximately 1,500
students total).

Region IV STELA Project:
What We Hope To Learn
 What strategies, tools, and technologies support the

learning and academic performance of struggling
readers and writers across the curriculum?
 What kinds of supports do teachers need to enable
them to integrate various strategies, tools, and
technologies across the Language Arts Curriculum
with confidence and efficiency?

Region IV STELA Project:
What We Hope To Learn
 How might teachers reshape their instructional

practices across the Language Arts Curriculum when
provided with similar training opportunities and
ongoing support in the implementation of various
strategies, tools, and technologies within their own
classrooms?

Research Questions
Guiding the STELA Project
To study the impact of the STELA Project in its first
year of implementation, three sets of research
questions were developed. Although a primary goal
of the 3-year project is to consider the impact of
technology on students’ overall literacy performance,
we will only be measuring students’ writing
performance in the first year of implementation.

The first set of questions
relate to Student Outcomes:
1. How does the integration of technology impact
students’ performance in writing?
students’ attitudes toward writing and how
students view themselves as writers?
3. How often do students use specific tools and how
useful are those tools in terms of supporting
students’ performance in reading and writing?

The second set of questions
relate to Teacher Outcomes:
teachers’ literacy practices over time?
2. How often do teachers use specific technology
tools, how are the tools used, and how do teachers
rate the usefulness of the tools in terms of
supporting students’ literacy?

The third set of questions relate to the
impact of various levels of support on
both teacher and student outcomes.
1. How does the nature and level of support provided

to teachers by county project consultants and
trainers impact teachers’ literacy practices over
time?
2. How does the nature and level of support that
teachers offer to one another impact teachers’
literacy practices over time?
3. How does the nature and level of support provided
to teachers impact students’ performance in writing
over time?
Research Method & Design
The STELA Project is not an experimental study

because we are not using control classrooms and we
are not concerned about controlling for all variables. In
fact, we are enthusiastic about exploring the unique
differences that emerge across all the project sites. We
are simply looking at how the process of training,
support, and the integration of technology unfolds in
natural classroom settings and the kind of impact this
evolution has on student learning, as well as on
teachers’ instructional practices.

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Assistive Technology:

(1) Assistive Technology Devices

 Any service that directly assists a child with a

 Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the

 Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting,

 Coordinating and using other therapies,

 Training or technical assistance for a child

 Training or technical assistance for professionals who

How To Support Students With Learning

 Short term trial

 Long term trial

 Support poor writing due to

 Avenue to support hand

 Try different styles with

Region IV STELA Project 2002 11

 This unique paper actually

 This bright white paper

 Use Post-Its to mark

 Great to move the

 Use to write notes and

Region IV STELA Project 2002 14

 Easy to rearrange ideas

 Use different colors for

 Post vocabulary lists right

 Edit and revisions become

Region IV STELA Project 2002 15

 Highlight key ideas and

 Make note of unfamiliar

Region IV STELA Project 2002 16

 Each student may store their tape(s) on their card for

 Highlighting techniques need to be taught and

Region IV STELA Project 2002 18

 Ask them to highlight 2 or 3 most important facts on

 Allow them to use these tape strips only.

 Encourage them to keep moving the tapes as they find

 Use to point out

 Use to point out key

 Use to locate in general.

• Readers are aided by

The AlphaSmart 3000 www.alphasmart.com

ReadPlease.com Kurzweil 3000

 Developed by The Region IV Assistive Technology

Region IV STELA Project 2002 33

Region IV STELA Project 2002 34

 Much of what has gone into the STELA Project ‘Kits”

Region IV STELA Project 2002 35

 This year is our first year of implementation of the

Region IV STELA Project 2002 36

 Teachers across all 56 STELA sites will be receiving

 And, all teachers will be assisting us in collecting the

Region IV STELA Project 2002 37

 What strategies, tools, and technologies support the

Region IV STELA Project 2002 38

 How might teachers reshape their instructional

Region IV STELA Project 2002 39

Region IV STELA Project 2002 40

Region IV STELA Project 2002 41

Region IV STELA Project 2002 42

1. How does the nature and level of support provided

The STELA Project is not an experimental study

Region IV STELA Project 2002 44

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