from Tech&Learning
No group of students can better benefit from
the use of technology in a classroom than those identified with
special needs. Name the challenge, and you can find a tool that
is made to help. From sound systems that amplify a teacher's
voice, to reading intervention software that tracks student
progress, to hardware that provides computer access to students
with physical disabilities.
Three articles this month attempt to categorize and clarify the
burgeoning trends of assistive technology for schools. T&L managing
editor and product maven Christine Weiser consulted with
experts in the special ed field to compile our Special NeedsGuide. Match the challenges to the solutions. You may
find that you already have some of these technologies and are
just not using them to their best advantages.
Using software to target the specific needs of students is a relatively
new and exciting field. RTI (Response To Intervention) is
the most popular technique people are talking about—but does
anybody really understand it? To find out what exactly this
acronym means, we asked Christy Chambers, the immediate past
president of the Council of Administrators of Special Education
and CEO of Beyond the Box, how schools can best incorporate
RTI into everyday curriculum.
Last, meet Edward Foote, a special education teacher at the
Jefferson Avenue Elementary School in Fairmont, NY, who shares
his successes with using technology to inspire and advance kids
with a range of learning challenges (p. 50).
How have you used tech to help with special needs? Log onto
techlearning.com and share.
Kevin Hogan
Editorial Director