This document discusses assistive technology and its use in education. It provides examples of assistive technologies that can help remove barriers to learning for students, such as text-to-speech, speech recognition software, screen readers, and magnification tools. The document also addresses principles of universal design for learning and how tools like audiobooks, closed captioning, and predictive text were originally designed for specific purposes but are now commonly used by many. It aims to show how assistive technologies are not just for students with disabilities and can benefit all learners by making content more accessible.

1. ACCESSIBLE
LEARNING
Removing Barriers for all Students

3. Who is a typical ADLC student?

4. Repeater Average IPPs IPPs Adults
self on file
s Previous identified
school mark
OL 39% 35% 26% 5% 0
Print 33% 33% 6% 6% 6%

5. Repeaters Average Average IPPs IPPs Adults
self on file
Previous Previous
identified
School Diploma Mark
awarded
Mark
40% 52% 48.7% 11% 3% 16%

6. Why Assistive Tech?
The fairness debate.
UDL Overview: http://youtu.be/bDvKnY0g6e4
Rick Lavoie on Fairness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G9--
hUQDwY
This 8 month old baby was born deaf, watch the
moment as his cochlear implant is activated and
he
hears sound for the first time, and his mother's
voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzTt1VnHR

7. What assistive tech do we use
everyday? Is it fair?
Technology Original Purpose Current Use
Predictive Text Quadra-pelagic Head Google Searches – Is it
activated communication Fair?
Wheel chair ramps Wheel chairs Baby strollers
Siri

8. Mel Levine: Educational Care

9. Potential Barriers to Learning
@ADLC?
Potential Barrier to Tool/Strategy Effective / Ineffective?
Learning:
Reading Ability Text to Speech
Written Expression
Processing Speed
Motor Control
Attention
Memory
Social Skills
Critical/Higher Order
Thininking

10. Student Engagement:
Multiple Intelligences

11. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
perspective for the Expert Learner is for a learner
to be:
© CAST 2011. Used with permission. All
rights reserved.

12. Expert Learning:
A shared responsibility

13. Blueprint to Build Capacity in
UDL
Develops and
Creates vision Establishes a
ADLC Senior Implements
with Community of
Admin Team Strategy plans to
stakeholders Practice (CoP)
support UDL
Establishes Supports teachers
Coordinators & Provides flexibility
respect of learner to develop
Department of curriculum
differences as courses with UDL
Heads redesign and PD
school culture principles
Encourages Participate in
Understands learner voice CoP and
learner and choice,
Teachers develops
difference and applies UDL personal goals to
UDL principles principles in support UDL
courses
Self selects and Becomes a self
Understand how uses appropriate directed and
Learners
they learn best tools to support independent
learning tasks learner

14. What does buy in depend
upon?
Does adding UDL
benefit the function
of my
classroom/course?
Does UDL benefit Does UDL
the learning of my streamline my
students? responsibilities?
Are the
benefits
worth the
time
investment?

16. Instructional Practice for UDL:
Sound familiar?
 Integrated Curriculum
 Student Choice
 Flexible Groups/Co-operative Learning
 Differentiated Instruction
 Differentiated Assessment
 Assessment for/of/as learning
 Inquiry
 UBD – Understanding by Design
 Social and Academic Inclusion of Students with
Exceptionalities

17. Ten Steps Toward Universal
Design of Online Courses
1) Content first, then design.
2) Provide simple, consistent navigation.
3) Include an accommodation statement.
4) Choose LMS tools carefully.
 Students who use assistive technology - Students receiving
the accommodation of "extended time"
5) Model and teach good discussion board etiquette.
6) Use color with care. Provide good color contrast.
7) Provide accessible document formats.
8) Choose fonts carefully.
9) Convert PowerPoint™ to accessible HTML.
10) If it's auditory make it visual; if it's visual make it
auditory.

18. Removing barriers to learning by
embedding
technology tools and resources is like...

19. Resources:
http://share.snacktools.com/597AE797C6F/fzc5
6jip

20. Discussions in D2L
 Speech to Text Option

21. Audio Feedback in Assignments
 Audacity
 Voicethread

22. Accessibility in Microsoft
Documents
 Accessibility Features in Office 2010
 Find and Fix Accessibility Issues in Word 2010
 DemoWordDoc
 Creating Accessible Documents - Word,
PowerPoint and Adobe

23. Accessibility in Windows 7
 Accessibility in
Windows 7
 Make your computer
easier to use - get
recommendations via
a questionnaire. (ie.
Magnifier, no
keyboard, Narrator,
color, sound, font
size, speech
recognition, touch
screen. Each has
an Accessibility Demo
video.)

24. Speech Recognition -
 Set up Speech Recognition - allows you to
command your computer with your voice.

25. Apple Accessibility
 Apple includes assistive technology in its products as
standard features — at no additional cost.
 For example, iPhone, iPad, iPod, and OS X include screen
magnification and VoiceOver, a screen-access technology,
for the blind and visually impaired.
 To assist those with cognitive and learning disabilities,
every Mac includes an alternative, simplified user interface
that rewards exploration and learning. And, for those who
find it difficult to use a mouse, every Mac computer
includes Mouse Keys, Slow Keys, and Sticky Keys, which
adapt the computer to the user’s needs and capabilities.
 Apple Assistive Tech for Diverse Learners
http://images.apple.com/education/docs/L360989C-
US_L360989C_DiverseLearners_ff_acc.pdf

26. Siri
 1) Settings - General - Accessibility - Vision -
Speak Auto-text ON and set Speaking Rate.
 2) Settings - General - Siri - ON (available for
iPhone 5/4S, iPad2/3, iPad mini, iPod Touch
 - to activate Siri, hold down the iPad Home button
for 2 seconds
 - use to open apps, set up reminders “Remind me
to call my mom”, weather “What will the weather
be like tomorrow?” for local or ask for a specific
city (great for Social Studies and calendar work
with students), send a tweet, do a web search,
etc. Also, Siri with VoiceOver can speak any
response texts from Siri.

27. Readability
 takes away the clutter of the web and saves
info in a personalized format. CBC News.

28. MyStudyBar
"MyStudyBar is a tool which helps overcome
problems that students commonly experience
with studying, reading and writing. The tool
consists of a set of portable open source and
freeware applications....MyStudyBar puts a
whole range of individual and essential tools at
your fingertips. Together, these...
http://eduapps.org/?page_id=7

29. Audacity
 Audacity is a free, easy-to-use
and multilingual audio editor and recorder for
Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other
operating systems. Can use it to record live
audio, convert old recordings, edit .mp3/.wav
sound files, cut-copy-splice-mix sounds
together, change speed/pitch, etc.
 Easy to attach to an email or put into a
website.
 How - to use

30. Dragon Naturally Speaking -
software and app
 Dragon speech recognition software makes it
easier for anyone to use a computer. You talk,
and it types. Use your voice to create and edit
documents or emails, lunch applications, open
files, control your mouse, and more. Quickly
and easily capture your thoughts and ideas.

31. Paperport Notes App
 Take note taking to a whole new level by
leveraging your iPad to capture hand written
notes, dictation notes, typed text, images, web
content and audio.
 Video example

32. Evernote partners with Ispeech
 http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/11/27/everno
te-partners-with-ispeech-adds-text-to-speech-
reading-to-its-clearly-extension-for-chrome/

33. Mobile Devices
 iOS - iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone
 Vision
 - Built-in VoiceOver, Zoom, White on Black (see
YouTube video explaining first three), Speak
Selection, Tactile Buttons, Large Text, Headset
Compatibility, Audible Alerts, Digit-
Eyes App, Eyeglasses App, Apple TV for
magnifying text
 Hearing
 - MonoAudio, FaceTime, Skype, Closed
Captioning of iTunes content, soundAMP
R App, Sign 4 Me App, Music - podcasts,
audiobooks, voice recordings, speeches, Voice
Memos

34.  Internet Explorer
 Accessibility in IE9
 Google Chrome
 Chrome Vox - screen reader for visually impaired
users. Video example.
 Chrome Vis - magnifies any selected text on a
webpage for users with low vision. Video
example.
 SpeakIt! - converts text into speech.
 DEMO
 Readability - takes away the clutter of the web
and saves info in a personalized format. CBC
News.

35. 10 Apps that can enhance your
lessons through UDL
 http://dmourlam.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/10
-apps-that-can-enhance-your-lessons-through-
udl/