Increasing Accessibility in (Teaching and) Learning

Throughout this first month of school (both as a student at Teachers College and a teacher in NYC District 75), I have been reflecting on how to make learning more accessible to my five very different learners with autism in my classroom. In this generation of increasingly frequent technological advancements, I believe that technology is the answer to many of our problems. I have been fortunate to learn that my school has access to a classroom set of iPads that can be used for teaching and choice time activities. I sifted through the pre-programmed applications and found many that are useful in aiding learning in the classroom.


First is this app, which is so essential for my students with autism:

Functional Skills System app--Social Skills Sampler

This app provides videos on social skills and other functional life skills for all types of learners. It provides a visual and audio model for appropriate behavior and life skills. This is incredibly important for our youngsters for whom this does not come naturally. Technology like this can complement a social story activity, a simulation activity, role playing, and other low-tech activities by having students manipulate the app and find appropriate videos.


Next is a communication app:

Verbally app

This app is a word-output program that has a combination of words and phrases that the student can tap and have the iPad speak. It is like a dynamic display communication board, but just with words--it doesn't have any pictures. This would not be appropriate for many learners who have limited reading ability. However, this could help with teaching grammar skills and writing--students can make phrases and sentences by tapping on the iPad and have the iPad speak back to them. They can listen to hear if the sentence makes sense when read aloud. It provides an extra step in understanding language--expressive and receptive communication skills are enveloped in one small package with this app.


There are a number of other educational applications on the iPad, including tools for teachers--data collection, IEP writers, assessments, and other tools are available for educators. The iPad might have been designed with teaching and learning in mind, because it is one powerful piece of assistive technology that will definitely be utilized to its fullest potential in my classroom.