Article: Ensuring No Child with a Disability is Left Behind

Article 2: “What is Accessible Technology?”

eSchool News Special Report. (2007). Accessible Technologies: Ensuring that No Child with a Disability is Left Behind. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/accessibletech/index.cfm

Ok, first of all, this article actually commends No Child Left Behind! Don’t see that very often in education (usually, with good reason!). However, in this case, it does say that NCLB has lead the charge in ensuring that all students (including those who are mentally and physically disabled) are held to high standards-meeting expectations. This is a good thing. it also says that the NCLB has had implications outside of k-12 education – promoting more accessibility in the college setting (online and live) and has also encouraged technology vendors to smarten up.

I like what is said about moving away from “separate but equal education” into a “scenario where technologies and approaches designed to benefit special-needs children are ingrained in the fabric of traditional learning environments”. I like the idea that the needs of all students will be the technology plan for districts.

I also agree with the authors that everyone in a district should be aware and educated about the available assistive technologies that students can access. I think educating staff (especially by allowing staff to demo the technology) would be very important in ensuring that all tech options are considered for kids who need them (or would benefit from the intervention).

Of course, all of this will take money – and a priority shift. But, I believe this shift is inevitable – it’s just a matter of working faster to make these changes so they can benefit more kids, rather than sitting back and letting a decade’s worth of kids miss the boat.

Cynthia – Just a quick question, should I be using APA guidelines on this blog? I’ve been sneakily copying your bibliography info, but should I be using APA when I use quotations, etc. I’m not sure of the blog-etiquette. Thanks!

Article: IT in Education Accessibility Checklist

Article 3: “What is Accessible Technology?”

AccessIT. (2004). Information Technology in Education Accessibility Checklist. Retrieved September 17, 2007, from http://www.washington.edu/accessit/it-checklist/

Cool checklist. I guess I sometimes forget to think about the physical environment of our school building (and my classroom). It’s funny, you get used to things a certain way, and they blend into the “woodwork” (speaking figuratively, we have no real woodwork in our classrooms – mostly plaster). What I like about this website is that it compels you to think about your space and your technology in a new (and better, more inclusive) way. It reminds the user of all the things that should be considered and allows one to conduct an evaluation and reflection on the accessibility of the educational environment.

Just something the website reminded me of…Web-content accessibility is a pet peeve of mine. I understand that we need to have a filter on our web access at a public school. However, it’s so hard to find really meaningful, useful sites. I do a good amount of my planning at home. When I get to school and find an awesome site has been blocked – I’m so disappointed. Our district has a means by which to petition for a site to be “unblocked”, but it’s a lengthy process, and usually by the time the site is available, the teachable moment is long gone. I’m not sure what the remedy is for this – except for teachers having the administrative password (I don’t see this happening anytime soon!). Any suggestions?

Anyways, great site… and a helping of food for thought!

Article: My Web, My Way

Article 1: “What is Accessible Technology”

My Web My Way http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/

Just a couple thoughts about this cool site…It’s really very neat how you can change your computer to serve your whims, needs, or desires. I thought it was very interesting that you could magnify the screen. This will come in handy when I am projecting my computer onto the tv in my classroom. It’s often difficult for the kids to see what I am doing especially with the distortion from going from computer to tv. I also love the idea of enlarging the mouse pointer so that you can really use it as an instructional tool (well, at least a larger pointer!). Although I will not try it myself, I can see the utility of changing your keyboard commands and how your keyboard responds to typing – neat & useful features. Overall, a great resource. I think I will show this to my students, too!