Universal Design and Assistive Technology
February 9, 2008 by jzcolby
Being someone who is always pushing myself (which is probably why I am lying in bed today with the flu and my computer) I am enrolled in a second masters course entitled “Universal Design and Assistive Technology.” This is in conjunction with a Massachusetts DOE grant received by 3 school districts. I find the course really interesting — learning about universal design and so many assistive technology tools available. I have learned so much already and we are only on Topic 3 out of 10 topics. As part of the grant, I am working with other teachers from our middle school and this week I will be introducing the class to the SMARTBoard and doing a fraction lesson. The students will be receiving laptops in the next couple of weeks and I will be working with the teachers and students getting them acquainted with the laptops and how to integrate the use of the laptops into the math curriculum. This will be lots of fun and I am really looking forward to working with these teachers and their students.
I have also created a wiki as one of my projects which we are using as a resource for the students.
Some of the great sites I have learned about on these topics are (I am sure this list will grow):
- CAST Center for Applied Special Technology
- Learn about what Universal Design is.
- Family Center on Technology and Disability
http://www.fctd.info
Excellent Assistive Technology site. Contains facts sheets, powerpoints, family guides, monthly newsletters, online discussions, organizations, resources, and much more. The AT Fact Sheets (Glossary, Technology 101, AT and the IEP, and AT Laws) are also available in PDF format. See the Fact Sheet page at http://www.fctd.info/resources/index.php.
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A few things you’ll surely want to look at as you investigate… Becta and Better Living Through Technology support from the UK (you can find links on my blog), along with the UK’s National Whiteboard Network (a fabulous source of Whiteboard tools) – http://www.nwnet.org.uk/ as well as TechDis and Mobile Learning sites such as – http://mlearning.edublogs.org/
You will generally find that – as in most educational technologies – the US is so far behind other nations in Universal Design you need to reach way beyond national borders to find working solutions. A can’t miss beginning is the Becta Test Bed Action Research collection – http://www.evaluation.icttestbed.org.uk/learning – scroll down until you reach “Action Research” and start reading real teachers’ experiences.
Ira Socol
http://speedchange.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the feedback Ira. I like the whiteboard site — it will be helpful to me in a training I am doing in a couple weeks. Thanks for sharing your blog — will add you to my Bloglines.
Julia