The use of technology in Special Education classrooms helps break the barriers for people with disabilities and provide them with access to the most relevant educational programs. Properly designed software and hardware allow students with special needs to get modern education and achieve any required information online.
There are many tools that are used, these include speech recognition, screen-reading tools, online name picker, braille displays and text-to-speech solutions for the visually impaired and sound amplifiers, closed-captioning applications and video conferencing technologies that facilitate sign language and lip-reading for the hearing-impaired. Below you will find some tips & ideas that you may find useful to use in your Special Education (or even general education!) classroom.
Text-to-speech & Dictation on Chromebooks
If you are part of a Google School, your students may have regular access to Chromebooks. Students with special needs can successfully use Chromebooks to help them read along in class. The Text-to-speech and Dictation accessibility options allow words to be processed with ease.
Text-to-speech enables students to highlight a passage on their screen and the device will read the words out loud. This helps students who may not be able to read at the same level as other students in their class to read along as the words are read to them by their device.
To enable Text-to-speech:
- Click on the lower right corner of your screen where the time is displayed
- Select the toggle icon (settings)
- In the Search bar, type accessibility
- Select Text-to-speech
- Move the button for that option to the On position
Dictation is a feature that allows students to record themselves talking, and then their words will be automatically transcribed into text on their screen. This would be great for students who struggle with typing, but are very creative storytellers.
To enable Dictation:
- Follow the same steps as earlier to get into the accessibility settings
- Select Dictation
- Move the button for that option to the On position
Wheel of Names – Virtual name picker
Need help making choices? Try this virtual name picker! https://wheelofnames.com/
This site is great if you need to choose which student has a task next, or even have students “spin the wheel” to receive class tasks to complete. This tool can be utilized in many different ways, but it will be a hit in your Special Education classroom for sure!
Online timer/stopwatch
Google has so many great features, but one that can prove useful in your classroom is an online timer. When on Google’s homepage, just type “online timer” into the search bar, press Enter, and an online timer will appear on the results page. Along with the timer, there will also be a list of additional sites you can explore that have online timers with different options. Look around and see which one best suits your class’s needs.
Social Situation Online Graphic Novels
Many students that receive Special Education services need help with basic social skills. Many teachers are always looking for new ways to help students learn these skills. This website:
(www.socialthinking.com) is a fantastic site! There are graphic novels and fun stories that students in most grade levels will enjoy. You will have to register to use this site, and not everything is free, but depending on how many things you want to use from this site, it could be a great tool for you!
There is a need for engagement in every classroom, and many classrooms have a hard time obtaining that even when they’re entirely offline. With these tools at the disposal of everyone, there can be an increased sense of outreach on the part of the educators to make sure that everyone’s needs are met. Special needs in classroom environments are a normal part of life, and to compensate for these aspects of learning, educators can go above and beyond to explain these things to their students directly and increase their own knowledge on the tools that students might not even know about. Educators and students alike can greatly find themselves at an advantage once they know these tools are available.