This week our guest speaker and volunteer from BCEDAccess, Chantelle, spoke about the diversity of needs in the classroom and the assistive technologies worth considering as teachers. Having access to different apps and technologies can create a more inclusive classroom for all learners. However, we are not there yet, hence why BCED Access exists. One point Chantelle made was the difference in parental involvement, access to testing and support. BCED Access has created a community for parents to reach out, connect and find resources to support and advocate for their children. Why each school does not have someone advocating for these students confuses me…

In order for education to become equitable, pre-service teachers must fully understand how that looks, understand some of the Assistive Technologies available and what tools we can use in our classroom to accommodate and adapt our teaching to meet all students in our classroom, as each student will have different needs.

As this weeks blog post says, iPads are accessible and are in most schools. The apps listed were: Mathtalk, Clickler Connect, Co:Writer, PhET Interactive Simulations, GoTalk Now, GHOtit, LAMP Words for Life, Boardmaker, Pictello, Predictable, ProLoquo2GO, TouchChat with Wordpower. I am curious to know how these work and look forward to playing around with them.

Using technologies that are more accessible, programs and built-in features that are more inclusive and available to everyone can support diverse learners in every classroom. Speciality programs such as Boardmaker, Inspiration and XMind (concept mapping and diagrams) are a few listed in this week’s blog I am looking forward to exploring too.

Screen readers such as, ChromeVox in Google, Kurzweil, Dictate in Office, JAWS and ZOOMTEXT, can be used in early years for everyone to learn these tools.

From this weeks blog I have a list of great resources in my toolbox to use for my classroom. What’s your favourite one to use?

Over the past year, our world shifted online and this was a big difference for schools to adapt to. Now we see more students, professionals and people using technology to learn, work and socialize. I am curious to know how this has shifted education in the long term.