Technology Makes the Curriculum Accessible to ALL Students

by Naomi Norman, Interim Director, Achievement Initiatives, Director, Regional Educational Media Center #16, Washtenaw Intermediate School District

Just as buildings can be “universally” designed with built-in ramps for wheelchairs, the school curriculum, instruction, and assessment can be “universally” designed to serve the needs of all learners. Technology is a powerful tool for supporting a universally accessible learning environment.

Technology plays a crucial role in providing access to the curriculum for students who wouldn’t, under typical conditions, be able to participate fully in the classroom. These “assistive technologies” support an individual student’s ability to learn. For example, a computer joystick can enable a student with limited mobility to control her/his computer; a software program can provide a graphic representation of a language-based text to help a student with learning disabilities understand a concept.

STELA Brings Assistive Technology Tools to the Classroom

The STELA project shows that a universally designed classroom, equipped with appropriate low- and high-tech supports, can help a diverse group of struggling students access the curriculum and support their ongoing success.

As a regular part of the classroom environment, assistive technologies have potential to improve learning for all students. To address the needs of struggling readers and writers, the southeastern Michigan Region IV Assistive Technology Consortium began a project in 2002-03 to bring specific assistive technologies to the general education classroom for use by all students. This unique project, Strategies and Tools to Enhance Learning for All (STELA), features both “high-tech” computer-based tools and “low-tech” non-electronic tools for students. At the same time, the project introduces effective teaching strategies for using the tools to develop writing skills.

STELA is used in over 80 classrooms throughout Jackson, Lenawee, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties. By the end of the 2003-04 school year, over 3,000 students and 142 teachers had participated in the STELA project.

The goals of the STELA project are twofold. The first is to provide classroom teachers with instructional strategies, technology tools, and training to support all learners—including those considered most at risk—in reading and writing across the curriculum. The second is to develop a systemwide approach to provide general education classroom teachers with assistive technology tools, training,
and support.

Resources in the STELA project toolkit include low-tech tools like post-it notes, pencil grips, raised line paper, and highlighting tape. EZ Readers, which are clear or colored plastic reading guides, are another low-tech item in the kit. High-tech tools include the Speaking Homework Wiz®, which helps students with spelling words, and the AlphaSmart® keyboard, a portable word processing tool that
students can use for writing and editing.

Computer-based software tools are also an important part of the STELA toolkit. Inspiration is a software application that allows students to draw concept maps. With a click of the mouse button, a student can also switch a concept map to a formal outline. Another software tool, Write: Out Loud®, allows students to transform written words into speech, something that is particularly valuable for struggling readers, providing immediate feedback during the writing process.

Students Exceed Expectations With Assistive Technology Tools

Whitmore Lake Middle School has participated in the STELA project for two years. Students in Pam Huey’s multi-age fifth- and sixth-grade classroom learned about writing paragraphs using several of the STELA tools and strategies. All of Huey’s students, including those with special needs, were included in the lesson. In small mixed ability groups, students used Inspiration software to generate ideas and structure their paragraphs. They used Speaking Homework Wiz to check spelling and AlphaSmart word processing keyboards to help with writing and editing the paragraphs. At the end of the lesson, students presented their work to the whole group.

Huey found that using the tools made a big difference. “We do differentiated instruction in our classrooms, so we set up choices for our students,” said Huey. “Some students will choose to use tools like the AlphaSmart for their spelling and writing assignments; others are motivated to use different tools.”

Benefits resulting from this project include:

• Increased participation for students with disabilities in the general education classroom.
• Increased teacher awareness and use of technology.

For more information, contact: Naomi Norman, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, 1819 S. Wagner Rd., P.O. Box 1406, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1406, (734) 994-8100 #1263, (734) 994-2203 fax, nnorman@wash.k12.mi.us, or visit www.resa.net/regioniv.