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!