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Most educators would agree that a purpose of education is to assist learners in developing life skills which will translate to their lives outside of the school setting. These include goal setting... 
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"Learning to read starts with being exposed to great books. Reading should be fun and intimate. The Internet has become such a rich resource that software is rarely needed any longer and I guess this could be the only exposure a child has to books, but I sure hope not! Part of learning to read is the intimacy that comes from sharing a good book. Not just reading it but discussing it, talking about the pictures, relating it to your life."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Are you looking for great online resources that support reading? This post shares 14 websites as well as reading resources for the iPad. * Bitesize, a site in the UK, "offers reading games and lessons on a variety of topics. The KeyStage 1 site has lessons on phonics, spelling, alphabetical order, and rhyming words. The KeyStage 2 site has lessons on deductions, poetry, dictionary and finding information." * Read To Me offers books read aloud as well as lesson plans for teachers to use. This site has a great introductory video with students explaining how to use the site. An additional 12 sites are listed. If you work with struggling readers or ESL learners you may find some great new resources.
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"Mobile devices have made a huge impact on countless areas of our lives in a remarkably short span of time. This is certainly true for people who require “assistive technology”. I think of assistive technology as “…any technology that improves the functional ability of anyone who needs it.” By this definition, we all benefit from assistive technology of one sort or another!"
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Jim Luther's Assitive Technology -- Freeware, Information, Tools, Techniques...an amazing review of free assistive technology aid for Windows computers.
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Symbly is a new tool to create and share visual supports, communication boards, social narratives, and more. It features a powerful editor, an amazing community, expert examples, and an iPad app for supports on the go.
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![TECHMATRIX - [Home] | Eclectic Technology | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/uqNWcZt0c2v0oCXJ-RSIkTl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
The TextMatrix is a powerful tool to find educational and assistive technology products for students with disabilities. Use it to find and compare educational and assistive technology products side by side to make informed decisions.
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The Mission statement of Assistive Media is "to contribute to the educational, cultural, and quality-of-living standards for people with disabilities by producing and providing free-of-charge previously published journalistic and short subject literary works in easily accessible spoken-word audio through the highest standards of nonprofit service." (Image from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2352)
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"Do you read aloud to your students? Is there ever a time when students are too old to be read to? Many teachers are firm believers in reading aloud -- even at the upper grade levels."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post describes why it is valuable to read to older students as well as a wide variety of resources. There are many reasons to continue to read to older students (and not just those students whom have access to assistive technology). A few of those reasons are below. * "Reading aloud to children helps them develop and improve literacy skills -- reading, writing, speaking, and listening..." * "...children listen on a higher level than they read, listening to other readers stimulates growth and understanding of vocabulary and language patterns." Resources are available in two categories: * Beyond Instruction that includes a link to a post of Audio books and publications, Information on optical character recognition,Text-to-speech and Variable speed tape recorders Sites to explore includes links to about 10 websites. Some are free and some will cost.
Adrianna Castelo's curator insight,
February 19, 2014 11:13 PM
I thought that this was quite interesting because you never early think to read to students as they get older. It has always been pretty routine that when you learn how to read you do it yourself.For myself, having something read out loud to me is not the best. I never pay attention when it's being read aloud only when I read it for myself. However, it could be beneficial to other students who really do have learning disabilities without them knowing.
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A great list of blogs focused on special education. There are six categories: * Special Education Topic Strategies * Technology and Assistive Technology * Special Topics * Special Education News and Policy * Special Education Law * Various Topics on Special Education Great resouces to be found.
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Technology can help make your education environment more accessible to those with special needs. This guide includes: * an overview of accessibility and its effect in the classroom; * definitions of impairment types and tech solutions for each; * an assistive tech overview and decision tree; * links and references for more information. It is available to download in English and Spanish.
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Chrome Vis is an add-on for Google’s Chrome browser that magnifies selected text and changes the contrast between the colours of text and background to a pre-set combination. Magnified text can be displayed in a floating lens immediately above the selected text, or in a lens at the top of the screen.
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A colleague of mine recently asked me to share my top ten favorite apps for “Special Education in the Inclusive Classroom”, which is actually something that I am asked to do quite often. Unfortunately, that list does not exist.
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The Google Chrome Browser is one of a large number of programs available in a “portable” version that can be downloaded, loaded on a USB flash drive and then run directly from the flash drive. This means that Chrome can be run on computers in libraries and schools, or on computers at work sites, where Google’s browser would not otherwise be available...
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Early in this post Gerstein states:
"Often, though, in schools the following tends to occur surrounding executive functions:
1. There is an assumption that students possess these skills and
abilities.
2. Students are punished if they fail to practice and use the skills.
As teachers when we think of executive thinking we may think of learners on IEPs or 504s, yet the tools that work well with students on IEPs and 504s also provide great support to our "regular ed students."
So the question of how we can help our learners who struggle with expectations that they may not have learned, such as "be organized" or "stay in your seat" or "raise your hand to speak" may not be understood.
In most schools the teaching of executive functioning skills is not the priority. Yet we do support technology and today technology provides a wide variety of support that is not expensive. This post goes on to share a presentation made by Karen Janowski, a teacher whom works with students with disabilities and knows her "stuff." (You may also be interested in exploring her website UDL Tech Toolkit at http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/).
As always Gerstein has included additional resources which include a link to the Newton Public Schools Assistive Tech website (and at this site they have a presentation designed for parents on the same subject) as well as a detailed list of tools to assist learners with to do lists/task management, time management, productivity and note taking, organizing, and more. Read through the post and find some tools to suggest to parents and learners that may help the learner be more successful in school this year.