There are many assistive technologies available for teachers and their students. In terms of digital technologies to support writing, there are tools include to help with Grammar check, word prediction as well as speech to text. Even spell check is an assisitive technology! In addition to the small selection of digital technologies noted below, consider providing students with the option to use multi-modal expressive/communication software – especially for those with challenges when it comes to written output.
Student may have writing challenges for a variety of reasons: some are ELL /EAL (English Language Learners/English as Additional Language), some may find it difficult to hand write or type, some may have visual differences that necessitate speech to text. Using these tools inside and outside of the classroom can help varied learners find success.
There are many assistive technologies available for teachers and their students. In terms of vision assistance, there are Digital Braille applications , Image to speech, text to speech, speech to text and note taking apps.
With these digital technologies, students with visual differences (with blind, low vision or other) can have equitable access to your class content and are able to engage with their classmates and course work with greater ease.
Digital Braille: tools that can help you convert text to Braille digital display
Image to speech: tools that can converts Photographs of objects or online images to speech
Taptap see ( users can use this to take picture of everyday objects and the app will tell you what is that)
iDentifi (object recognition) is a new app developed by an Ontario teen! It uses the camera function and identifies objects you point at! Check out this article from CBC July 2017!
text to speech – most smartphone & computer operating systems have built in accessibility functions. For example, on a Mac, you can go to Settings–> General –> Accessibility and set the phone to speak any text on your screen. There are also free apps such as iSpeech.
Note taking: Tools that use voice over and connect with Braille digital or qwerty keyboards
There are many assistive technologies available for teachers and their students. In terms of reading, technologies can include text-to-speech software, monochrome text and coloured text and reading faster apps.
These tools will help your students with varied reading abilities to engage in class and understand content. Providing students with choice and access to digital technologies such as these, either as part of an IEP (individual education plan, learning plan) or simply as a choice for students who wish to use them can help increase equity in the classroom and meet the needs of diverse learners.
Below are a few examples. Simply click on the name of the resource and you will be directed to the resource posts on Scarfe Sandbox or a concise introduction video! All of these applications are either free or relatively low cost (less than 5 CAD).
Live binders is a platform developed to support curation of resources. Using ‘binders’, teachers can virtually create and share their own resource repositories, texts and lessons/units. You can visit ‘Livebinders’ – scan them or create your own binder of resources that you can share with others.
LiveBinders allow teachers to create an online collection—paperless, aka go green!—of teaching materials, whether these are websites, presentations, multimedia, Google Docs, you name it! These can then be accessed from any browser and updated on the go. There are many other potential applications, such as classroom material for a substitute teacher, notes and resources for parents, student projects, portfolios, the list goes on.
Visit http://www.livebinders.com/ and browse through the online collection for some inspiration. Then create an account, a new binder, and start inputting your own resources. These can then be used privately or shared with the world.
Google Street View is a fun way to create your own 360 panoramic pictures and to engage in a 360 experience of places shared by others.
Below is a live example:
Google Street View can help students visualize and understand the world around them. By using Google Street view, students have the opportunity to explore, collaborate and share images around the world. Google Street View can be used by teachers to engage students during their geographic, historical or social science lectures. In addition, it can also be used as a unique way to tell a story.
Content is continually being added to Street View and may require some ‘sifting through’ for quality. Students can also be creators and work together to create their own 360° pictures and share them with the world. They can even add notes about their images. NOTE: as a google product, privacy and permissions are important considerations. See this blog post about FIPPA.
To view:
Download the Google Street View app on your mobile device (your mobile phone, your iPad, or your Android tablet).
Log in with your Google account.
Click on “Explore” and search for the place you’re interested in. (You can expand the “results” at the bottom of the screen to see a full list of places available.)
Select the place.
Click on the panoramic icon (compass) to go into 360° view.
Click on the Google Cardboard icon and use your VR headset to view the image.
To share and contribute:
Click on the camera at the bottom right to create your image.
Choose the type of device you are using. Click on the last option, “camera,” if you’re using your phone/iPad camera.
To line up, make sure that the orange dot is inside of the white circle.
Turn around to take a 360 image.
Click on the “check mark” to save your image.
To publish your image, here are the steps:
Under “Private,” tap Select.
Choose a photo to publish.
If you have applied blurring, choose if you want to apply the blur to your published photo. Tap MoreApply blurring or Remove blurring.
Tap Upload .
Tap Publish. You’ll see your photo under “Profile”.
Now you can view your image on your own device or with the Google Cardboard/ VR headset, and also share your 360 image with your students/friends!
Feel free to use our lesson brief to introduce Google Street View to your students (click Google Streetview Lesson to download).
Follow the steps in this video to upload your 360 images:
for teachers and their students. In terms of reading, technologies can include text-to-speech software, monochrome text and coloured text and reading faster apps.
Apply blurring 
or Remove blurring 
.
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