Enhancing Written Expression Through Technology Mari Beth Coleman, Ph.D. Don McMahon, M.S. University of Tennessee Tennessee Association for Assistive Technology Conference December 8, 2011 Murfreesboro, TN

Session Description Enhancing Written Expression Through Technology Many students face barriers that impede the development of written expression. During this session, participants will learn about strategies for overcoming barriers and increasing written expression abilities of students with a variety of learning needs (e.g., students with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, complex communication needs, and those without diagnosed disabilities). Participants will learn about no to low tech solutions which are easy to implement without much cost to teachers. Additionally, this session will focus on software solutions that increase access and enhance written expression abilities for students of many age and ability levels (e.g., Boardmaker Plus, SOLO Literacy Suite). Several software programs will be demonstrated with discussion about their implementation in general and special education settings for students who struggle with written expression including students with learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, physical impairments, and students who use augmentative and alternative communication devices. Finally, participants will engage in discussion about the use of assistive technology during district-wide and statewide assessments. PowerPoint will be available Monday at:

BARRIERS TO WRITING Issues that impede progress in written expression for students with disabilities and learning difficulties Reduced access to writing materials Reduced access to writing instruction Reduced reading skills Not being taught basic writing skills to mastery Difficulty with spelling and grammar Lack of motivation to write

Possible Solutions for Increasing Written Expression The main way to increase written expression: WRITE, WRITE, WRITE! – Plan activities using the 5-stage writing process Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Publishing Incorporate technology into writing activities – Access & support for struggling writers – Motivation

Types of Technology for Writing Tools for access – Low tech handwriting devices (e.g., pencil grips, adapted writing implements, slant boards, etc.) – Word processing (e.g., Word, portable word processors) – Access to PDF documents (e.g, PDF Annotator, PaperPort) Tools for written expression …

Technology for Written Expression Prompts & supports for beginning writers or students who need alternate access – Sentence building activities – Word walls & picture dictionaries – Mid tech devices Adaptive word processing Graphic organizers Fun technology solutions to motivate reluctant writers

Prompts & Supports for Beginning Writers or Students Who Need Alternate Access

Prompts & Supports: Sentence Building Sentence building activities are helpful for: – Students who can put a few words together, but need help with sentence structure – Students who have limited fine motor skills and need an interactive format – Students who can benefit from auditory support

Software for Creating Sentence Building Activities All of these have the capability of scanning for switch use Boardmaker Plus / SDPro Classroom Suite Symwriter Clicker 5

Clicker 5 (switch accessible) Examples: Language Arts: School Sentences

Arranging Words

Simple Sentence Building

Subject/Verb/Object Sentence Building

Sentence Building with Parts of Speech

Symwriter Environments

Prompts & Supports: Word Walls & Picture Dictionaries Word walls – Quick access to known words – Allow students to use analogy strategy to write words similar to those they already know Picture & talking dictionaries – Extra support for students who are not good phonemic spellers or have lower levels of literacy development

Electronic options – Dictionary built into word processor (when paired with text-to-speech software, it can read text) – Created with software Boardmaker Examples – Online Create Wiki: Word Walls & Alternative Dictionaries

Electronic Word Wall

Electronic Picture Dictionary

Prompts & Supports: Mid Tech Devices for Spelling Assistance Handheld Dictionaries/Spellers – Franklin Speller Recognizes approximations Definitions Auditory output

Prompts & Supports: Mid-tech Devices for Students with Memory Deficits Dictating /playback – Digital recorder – Livescribe Pen

Word Processing Options

Speech-to-Text (aka speech recognition) Access Written expression support for students with lower writing skills than speaking ability – Most known: Dragon Naturally Speaking – Others Speech Recognition built into Windows 7 iPad: Dragon Dictation ISSUES – Environmental, inaccuracy, error correction, level of literacy needs, dictating requires different skills than writing

Word Processing Supports Immediate visual feedback (Word, Writing With Symbols) Immediate spoken feedback (Write Out Loud) With Word Prediction (e.g. CoWriter)

Standard Word Processors Spelling & Grammar Checkers Dictionaries Access – abbreviation expansion

Talking and Symbol Word Processors Spoken and Visual Feedback is useful for – reluctant, frustrated writers – students who have difficulty going back to revise

Word Prediction Predicts words based on first few letters typed. Words are then selected from a list of choices and inserted into document. Word Prediction is useful for – Decreasing keystrokes (originally designed to increase fluency of writing for students with physical disabilities) – Students who have limited grammar, spelling, vocabulary skills – Students who use phonetic approaches to spelling Issues with Word Prediction

Free options for talking word processing Eduapps – My Study Bar (similar to Read & Write Gold) – portable on flash drive (Check out Access Apps on the same site) EdWord (looks promising) dWord.shtml dWord.shtml Online word processors (e.g., GoogleDocs, Zoho) with a screen reader WebAnywhere (online screen reader) or others (e.g., VoiceOver)WebAnywhere

Symbol Word Processing: SYMWRITER

Graphic Organizers / Mind Mapping

Graphic Organizers Writing composition programs provide structure to increase ability to produce written material. – Useful if students: Write at lower level than potential Can write single sentences but cannot tie together Need help organizing thoughts and ideas Need to use an alternative to writing

Low Tech Solution Paragraph Writing: Hamburger

Graphic Organizer / Mind Mapping Software Inspiration - Common in schools Kidspiration – similar to Inspiration but more kid friendly: simpler interface, speaks Spark Space - invented in UK. Similar to Inspiration but ability to rotate and see in 3D (no longer free) Spark Space Draft:Builder – best product for creating draft of document

Free Options for Graphic Organizers / Mind Mapping Free to Print – – – hic-organizers.html hic-organizers.html Free to download or online: – FreeMind (download) – MindMeister MindMeister – Bubbl.us Bubbl.us

SOLO Product combining 4 tools: – Text Reader: Read:OutLoud – Talking Word Processor: Write:OutLoud – Word Prediction: Co:Writer – Visual Support: Draft:Builder

IntelliTools Classroom Suite Universally designed Combo of 3 products: Intellitalk (talking word processor), Intellipics, Intellimathics – Built in access (customize for each student’s needs – e.g., access methods) – Can be customized for individual students by creating palettes IntelliTools Activity Exchange – tons of activities created by teachers and SLPs

Sources for free AT software… OATS Open Source Assistive Technology Software OATS Open Source Assistive Technology Software Web Accessibility Center (Search “OSU web accessibility center free assistive”) Web Accessibility Center

Fun technology solutions to motivate reluctant writers

Writing Prompts Reasons to write! Low tech – Graphic organizers – Add an Adjective game – Wheel of Writing High tech …

Story Starters

Motivating even the most reluctant writers: blogs, wikis, multimedia story creation, and more…

CAST: UDL BOOKBUILDER

Make Belief Comix

PBWORKS.com

Weebly

Smart Exchange

Promethean Planet

Flocabulary

Flocabulary Lessons and Resources

Testing Accommodations for Writing Can she use it on the test??? Issues with implementation of AT for state & district assessments

If you want more information: – –