Technology Integration Strategies: Learner Productivity: Supporting Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Settings
By Edyburn, Dave L.; Closing the Gap, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 20-22Publication Date: April/May 2000
Article focusing on building a learner productivity toolkit to support students with special needs in inclusive settings. Assistive technology products that can facilitate reading, writing, and math are included in the toolkit. If a student has difficulty reading content-area textbooks, tools such as Seiko's Quicktionary or Franklin's Speaking and Spelling and Handwriting Ace enable the user to enter an unfamiliar word and hear a definition. A talking-text conversion station can also be employed using a scanner, optical character recognition software, and text-to-speech software to scan text into the computer so that the student can listen to the material out loud. For writing, Inspiration Software offers concept mapping. As ideas are generated during brainstorming, they are placed on the screen. Word prediction software like Co:Writer can be used to predict the word the student is attempting to type in order to speed up the text production process. Voice input products like ViaVoice, DragonDictate, and Voice Xpress enable the user to dictate their ideas and have the computer do the typing for them. Write:OutLoud can then enable the student to listen to what has been written. For math, computer based products such as Big:Calc and MathPad can be valuable, and products like Number Concepts 1 can support math curricula by offering math manipulatives, direct instruction, and computation support in an electronic environment.
Assistive Products Discussed: READINGPEN2
VIAVOICE STANDARD
CO:WRITER 4000
QUICKTIONARY READING PEN
MATHPAD
DRAGONDICTATE CLASSIC & DRAGONDICTATE POWER
BIG:CALC
WRITE:OUTLOUD
Published by: Closing the Gap, Inc. (Website:http://www.closingthegap.com)
