Assistive technology supports in academic instruction November 4th, 2015 EDUC 331 – Educational Technology & Assessment Hosted by the Assistive Technology Resource Center Marla Roll, Ms, OTR, Assistant Professor in OT/ director Emily Clemons, OT graduate student/ teaching assistant Jake Sunder, OT graduate student Andrew flint, OT graduate student

Agenda/ Learning Objectives: Brief overview of assistive technology Brief overview of universal design for learning/ universal design Who benefits from use of assistive technologies/ instructional technologies Low incidence disabilities High incidence disabilities Digital formats – why they are helpful AT tools – hear about them and then hands on time!

What is the Assistive Technology Resource Center (ATRC)? Mission of ATRC is to ensure equal access to technology and electronic information for CSU students and employees with disabilities. Disability groups served Physical (congenital & acquired) Sensory (vision & hearing) Non-Apparent impairments ( TBI, LD, ADD, ADHD, Mental health) We are housed in the dept of OT but we serve the entire campus – provide AT assessments, accommodations and training for students and employees with disabilities CSU has well over 2000 students with disabilities –

What is assistive technology (AT)? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the school system’s responsibility to provide assistive technology devices and services to students with disabilities. 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 the functional capabilities of children with disabilities. assistive technology service is: Any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, and use of an assistive technology device. Assistive technology includes technology solutions that are generally considered instructional technology tools, if they have been identified as educationally necessary and documented in the student’s IEP AT can also be mandated as part of a child’s 504 plan ( section 504 of the rehab act) You should have an find some sort of AT team in your respective school district – seek them out for kids you think might benefit A students need or use of AT can be mandated by their IEP ( individualized education program) Some students in your class may have a 504 plan – requires a tech accommodation – e.g. common for kids with visual impairments – mandates braille, etc.

Types of Assistive Technology Assistive Technology examples: Access to Computers and Electronic Information ( ATRC focus) Augmentative Communication Systems Environmental Controls Technology to enhance mobility

Who benefits from AT in K-12? Students with a disability/ with an IEP – Individualized Education Plan Students with a 504 plan Struggling students that benefit from Response to Intervention ( RTI) – meets needs of at risk students All students can benefit from access to a variety of supports/ features available in AT Using AT tools with universal design in mind. E.g. many students might like to use a feature of AT such as text to speech for proof reading – great for a student with a print disability such as dyslexia but also great for someone is an auditory learner

Disability Low Incidence: Students with low-incidence disabilities make up 20% of all students with disabilities. Friend and Bursuck (2012) Significant development delays Hearing impairments Orthopedic impairments Visual impairments Deaf/blindness Other health impairments Traumatic brain injury These students can benefit from AT, classroom accommodations and accessibility initiatives! These are the more apparent types of disabilities - Children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy, congenital orthopedic considerations, etc.

Disability: These students can benefit from UDL approaches! High Incidence: Students with high-incidence disabilities make up 80% of all students with disabilities. Friend and Bursuck (2012) Speech & Language impairment Learning Disabilities Emotional and/or Behavioral considerations Mild Intellectual Disabilities Autism Spectrum These students can benefit from UDL approaches! You may or may not know these kids have a disability – often referred to as non apparent or invisible disabilities These kids may not have IEPS so your help and use of technology tools becomes more imperative

What is UD and UDL? When it comes to learning, variability is the rule – NOT the exception. UDL – a framework that guides the design of learning goals, materials methods, and assessments as well as the policies surrounding these curricular elements with the diversity of learners in mind. CAST (http://www.cast.org) Show cast video if there is time…. If you design course content with UD and UDL in mind, the need for specialized AT or supports/ accommodations goes down….

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) We are going to talk about/ show how use of technology tools ( AT included) can elicit these multiple means of representation, expression and engagement

The intersection of Accessibility & UD/UDL Accessibility/Universal Design for Learning “Accessibility” is the term used to reference the degree to which a product or activity is usable by those with physical, sensory, cognitive, or learning disabilities; “universal design” is an approach to product or activity creation that addresses these needs from the outset, to avoid, to the greatest extent possible, the need for ad hoc retrofitting. If you design course content with UD and UDL in mind, the need for specialized AT or supports/ accommodations goes down…. Great example of this…if you give content in an accessible digital format from the get go, they do not have to go to effort of converting it to something useable.

Relationship Between AT & UDL Low incidence Again a representation that shows the relationship between AT and UDL and the entire continuum for means of instruction High Incidence

What can teachers do to support all types of learners? Consider your use of technology and use of digital formats Provide AT and instructional technologies Addresses disabilities as well as learning styles….

Digital formats for instruction – creating and providing accessible digital formats for your students Flexible and malleable digital formats/ texts Accessible digital formats allow students to access content with their chosen AT Accessible digital formats allow students to access a variety of assistive technology features National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard ( NIMAS) – requires electronic content allow for specialized formats such as Braille, audio, large print, etc. National Instructional Materials Access Center – a repository that districts can use to access nimas files needed for specialized formats. IDEA Website Word of Caution – digital formats can be inaccessible! Learn how to create accessible course materials!  Accessibility By Design (http://accessibility.colostate.edu/) School districts can access the NIMAC – again your related service folks or AT team should be able to assist with this…. Specialized formats such as braille, large print, etc.. However, if you provide a well designed digital format, the student can use their AT tool to access without waiting to get it from NIMAC

AT for teaching & Learning Consider AT tools alongside other instructional technologies! They meet the needs of a variety of learners! Many AT companies now sell site licensing at the district IT level Get your IT folks involved in buying and support AT AT does not have to be for related services only

AT Tools for low incidence: Access to computers and technology Alternative keyboards Alternative pointing devices Eye gaze Voice recognition Switches and scanning These students likely cannot access computers or information in standard or traditional ways. They need the more specialized types of tools to access content….relates to computers, information and now mobile devices such as ipads, etc. Emily will show you and guide you….

AT Tools for High Incidence: Tools for Reading: Low tech: Masking High tech: Reading Comprehension: Kurzweil Read and Write Wynn Snap & Read Students with high incidence disabilities can benefit but so too can all students – Form a UD and UDL perspective, provide these tools to all learners and they can utilize the features that are most useful/ helpful to them. These software options provide multiple ways to display the information and interact with it…. Andrew will show and guide you 

AT Tools for High Incidence (con’t) Tools for writing: Low tech: Slant boards/ raised line paper/ pencil grips High tech: Semantic Mapping Inspiration – Spelling: Ginger/ Spelling Blaster Word Prediction Co:Writer/ Word Q Writing production Dragon NS Read & Write Note-taking Live-scribe pen Again – all students might like these options…assists with increasing writing production, addresses spelling and grammar. Many students get stuck in the writing process so these tools can augment or motivate Jake will show and guide you….

AT Tools for Math ( refer to assigned reading) Computation: Calculator Tutor software; Access to Math; Big: Calc; MindTwister Math; Math Pad & Math Pad Plus Geometry; Algebra, Time and Money Management: Edmark, Inc. Attainment Company, Inc. Intellitools/ Ablenet, Inc. Cosmic Geometry

Time to Play! 3 Stations: ( 30 minutes each station) 1. Tools for Computer Access - Emily 2. Tools for Writing - Jake 3. Tools for Reading - Andrew

Resources: Professional Development Vendors CAST (http://www.cast.org/) CAST educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning Center on Technology & Disability (http://www.ctdinstitute.org/) Center on Technology and Disability (Assistive and Instructional Technology Supporting Learners with Disabilities Closing the Gap (http://www.closingthegap.com/) Great conference for AT in K-12 education Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (http://www.ataporg.org/) AT Act Programs (ATAP) provides technical support and assistance SWAAAC (http://www.swaaac.com/) Statewide Assistive Technology, Augmentative & Alternative Communication Vendors HelpKidzLearn (http://www.helpkidzlearn.com/) Inclusive Technology (http://www.inclusive.co.uk/catalogue-downloads) Don Johnston (http://donjohnston.com/) Ablenet (https://www.ablenetinc.com/) Lots of professional development opporutnitiies out there! Cast is great of learning about UDL, the next three listed are related more to AT supports and finally the last is a link to Colorado’s AT team – each school district as a SWAAAC team to assist you. Vendorss: These are all companies that provide AT and UDL types of technology. I have some flyers from one of my favorite companies for K-12 tools.