Personalized Learning

     It was always important for educators to be familiar with accessibility features on the technology available to them, but the reality of pandemic teaching is that it has exposed the disparities in communities and learners with accessibility.  Just a short 10 years ago, much of the assistive technology that was and has been available to learners is free (e.g. voice-to-text features, audio/read aloud features/closed captioning) .  From personal observation, it seems as though when many educators think of technology our minds immediately question, "How much does it cost?"  As pointed out in one of our course videos, there is a lot of existing, free technology available (Logan, 6.1).  The free label should be an important incentive for educators to explore what is available.

    As an ELD Specialist (whose district does not have a budget for us), who also teaches students with IEPs, I have by necessity always explored the free options first.  Before elaborating more on that point, however, in addressing the intersectionality of language learners and special education, these are the kinds of students for whom education must be made accessible.  If we truly want all students to learn, shouldn't we also explore every avenue to ensure that we are making the content accessible to them?  That alone should be what drives educators to be familiar with the technology.  As 21st Century learners are more diverse, it is important for educators to know what assistive technology is available so that when a student is placed in their classrooms, they will not feel panicked, but prepared.  

    I give my general education colleagues the benefit of the doubt because I know that the demands this year have been increased (on all of us, but especially the gen. ed folks).  It is convenient to have the mindset that this is yet another to-do list item.  On the other hand, there is also the very real side of things which is simply not knowing where to start with exploring assistive technology:  to whom do I ask questions? What questions do I even ask?  These are real questions.  Once I know about them, how do I even know if using it will work?

    Good people to turn to are the special education teachers as well as the technology integration specialists.  If there is a student in one's current class, the case manager and getting familiar with the student's IEP/504 plan.  As far as actual implementation, any one of the above mentioned colleagues, including and not limited to, a supervisor/administrator, could answer some questions as well.  Having a rapport with the student's family to know their thoughts around this technology use.  Some other key factors to consider would be how the student might feel about using it--depending on the age of the student and what the feature/technology is, the student may not want to feel singled out for using it.  In the home piece, finding out whether or not this is something that has family support (not just in terms of use in the school setting, but will they allow for use at home so that the student could feel more comfortable with it?) is another factor to consider.  If free technology/features are not available, budgetary concerns.  In terms of how it'll work in the classroom--that may only be answered once the student and teacher are comfortable with the technology, and (perhaps the key to this) would be trying it out.  If there is a means to have a colleague in the room observe and gain their feedback (specifically on how the technology use was implemented in the classroom) could be invaluable.  The need and importance for educators to be familiar with accessibility features and technology are paramount, and will only increase in importance as our classrooms and schools become more diverse.