Assistive Technology in Your Elementary Classroom

Most elementary school teachers are familiar, at least to some extent, with assistive technology and how it can help provide equal learning opportunities for all of their students. If you are not familiar with assistive technology, it can be anything that makes a task easier for a student. This may include getting dressed, eating, writing, seeing, moving, communicating, and much more.

Students with disabilities given the chance to learn and communicate with their peers in a typical classroom setting often develop superior social and learning skills compared to those who are separated from their peers. Assistive technology, along with more aggressive legislation, has allowed an increasing number of students with special needs to interact within classrooms amongst their peers; almost 100% of 6-11 year olds with disabilities receive an education in typical classrooms.

The inclusion of computers in classroom learning activities has greatly increased the effectiveness of assistive technology. More than ¾ of U.S. students use computers as a learning tool at school. As the use of computers became more prevalent in elementary and secondary classrooms, so did the use of assistive technology. Software is continually developed to help equalize learning opportunities for all students by allowing users to enlarge text, speak to type text, hear the text read allowed, and countless other operations to manipulate learning materials for better understanding.

In general, assistive technology can be broken down into two main areas, access and adaptive applications. Access refers to the ability of a student to access learning and communication materials and these applications aim to make all classroom environments and activities available to all students. Adaptive applications are meant to help bridge the communication gap between students with disabilities and students without. Both kinds of tools are typical in a modern classroom and should be accessible to any children that need them.

When students with disabilities are members of your classroom, incorporating computer technology and interactive learning devices into your all students' learning will help facilitate an equal learning environment. You can do this by adding assistive software to computers already equipped with learning materials. Also, track balls, larger keyboards, and magnified or touch screens can be added to a computer to ensure all students have access to the general curriculum. Continue to think of new, exciting ways to incorporate your students' assistive technologies into the rest of the classroom's learning. If you have any suggestions or ideas to do this, please leave a comment below!