One way to achieve the active involvement of learners is through Assistive Technology (AT). This includes a wide range of tools, devices, digital apps, and services that can be used by people with disabilities or other conditions to perform functions and tasks that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to do. It includes devices like walkers or digital technologies, such as hardware and software, to improve their quality of life, standard of living, and working conditions (University of Washington, 2022).
| The emergence of Assistive Technologies in societies has contributed significantly to issues of inclusion and participation, since it enables more people to be involved in education, the labour market, and civic life (WHO, 2022). According to the European Accessibility Act, AT should be able to help persons with disabilities have easier access to education and the open labour market, as well as accessible products and services that will enable them gain a high-quality way of living (European Commission, 2022) |
Assistive Technology benefits a range of groups, including (WHO, 2022):
- People with disabilities
- The elderly
- People with non-communicable diseases (e.g. diabetes)
- People with mental health conditions (e.g. autism)
- People with gradual functional decline
From simply opening the door, buying reading glasses or hearing aids, to using cutting-edge technology, AT is designed to improve the functional capabilities of learners with disabilities. While several ATs include specialist devices, which only serve people with specific disabilities for complex operations, others include features common to mainstream technologies.
For this reason, assistive technology can be divided into (NCSE, not dated):
- High-tech devices, which includes typically computer control systems with sophisticated features, such as software and tablets, and might require specific support to be used
- Medium-tech devices, which are mostly digital, like alternative mice or keyboards.
- Low-tech devices, which are readily available, simple and largely non-electronic devices, such as a laptop stand.
Below are just some of the wide range of assistive products that can help perform daily tasks:
| ACCESS | COMMUNICATION | ENTERTAINMENT | |
| Examples | wheelchairs
prostheses pill organisers passenger transport services |
sign-language interpreter
hearing aids spectacles telephony services |
TV equipment
e-books |
Choosing the right Assistive Technology
- In the world of education, assistive technology can be used to help learners become more engaged and involved in the learning process. When teachers only use traditional materials and classroom instructions, they soon discover that people with disabilities have a hard time keeping up with the curriculum. Alternatively, when using AT, learners are equipped with hands-on learning aids, thus making learning fun and much less stressful.
- Assistive Technology shows both possibilities as well as certain limitations (NCSE, undated)
| POSSIBILITIES | LIMITATIONS |
| allows learners to perform tasks which they would otherwise not do (e.g. help learners who cannot use a pen to write) | it is only one of a range of options needed to help pupils expand their potential |
| enables communication for learners who are unable to speak | communication devices do not always allow learners engage in the normal flow of communication |
| assist learners with visual impairments to read using braille or text-to-speech devices | some ATs go beyond learners’ cognitive and physical endurance abilities |
| help students with learning difficulties to read and write using specialised software | there are often more simple, inexpensive low-tech devices that can be used to achieve certain goals |
| reduces dependence or aid independent living | some ATs requires extensive training to be used properly |
| controls computers with simple head pointers or mouth-wands, and make them respond to voice commands | Learners’ needs and circumstances are always changing, thus constantly increasing the need to develop new AT products |
Overall, Assistive Technology, when applied in the classroom, offers many benefits (Maza, 2021):
- Teachers and professionals play a critical role in the daily design and implementation of such technologies, and may significantly affect learners’ education, employment and overall prosperity (Papazafiri & Argyropoulos 2018). Moreover, they should be careful as to use the right amount of assistive technology support, based on each learner’s needs and capabilities.
- Assistive technology for educational purposes may include, but not be limited to (NSW, 2022):
- Literacy software or built-in settings to allow text to be read aloud.
- Software to adjust the screen display according to learners’ needs.
- Tools to allow magnification of content on the screen.
- Speech-to-text tools to enable leaners dictate their writing.
Since disabilities vary widely in their nature and the impact caused upon the individual, teachers should be careful to choose the right devices and technologies to overcome learning barriers. Below are some examples of AT apps, websites, and tools that can be used in the classroom:
| Category | Tool/App/Device | Description |
| For learners with speech disabilities | Kurzweil 3000 | A software that provides reading, writing, studying, and organizations support for students with reading or writing difficulties, through reading aloud digital or printed text.
Link: www.kurzweiledu.com |
| Deaft:Builder | A writing tool that integrates outlining, note taking, and draft writing functions to break down the writing process. | |
| For learners with cognitive/learning difficulties | Ginger | A tool that offers various features to help learners with dyslexia or other learning difficulties (e.g. grammar check, word prediction, sentence rephrasing).
Link: www.gingersoftware.com |
| Ghotit | Similar to Ginger, Ghotit was developed for dyslexics and dysgraphics to help them with writing and reading.
Link: www.ghotit.com |
|
| Assistive keyboards | These keyboards have altered appearances and easier functionalities than a mainstream keyboard, like larger font sizes, or group keys by colour and location. | |
| For learners with deafness/hearing loss | Assistive listening devices | Such devices magnify a video or the instructor’s voice and sound, and translate them to a learner’s hearing aid. |
| Infrared systems | These systems transmit audio signals to a magnetic field around the learner’s head, which a hearing aid can tap into. | |
| For learners with visual impairments | Speak Screen (for iOS) |
A tool that allows having all content on the screen read aloud. |
| Read Aloud (for Chrome) |
An app that uses text-to-speech to convert webpage text to audio. | |
| Tactile symbols communicators | These communicators are used to help visually impaired individuals communicate effectively, using auditory and tactile senses. | |
| ADDITIONAL TOOLS:
Audio/digital books |
Bookshare | · Free e-books for children and adults with reading disabilities, including free text-to-speech apps. The books can be downloaded as audio books.
· Link: www.bookshare.org |
| Internet Archive | · Historical collections in digital formats (texts, audio, images, software) for researchers, historians, and people with disabilities.
· Link: www.archive.org |
|
| Find more tools and applications in the following link: www.ldrfa.org/assistive-technology-tools | ||
To help develop students’ skills properly, teachers should:
- Think critically about the functioning and purpose of each assistive technology.
- Have a good knowledge of each device, tool and app used in the classroom.
- Seek specialised training on assistive technology to become confident using it.
Below are four crucial steps to consider to integrate assistive technology effectively (Maza, 2021)
- Determine your goals
This may seem an obvious step, but it is crucial to conduct an effective learning process. Teachers should determine what they hope to achieve through the use of ATs before selecting the most appropriate tools or devices for the classroom.
- Consider your audience
There are various determinants to be taken into consideration before applying any AT in the learning process. Specifically, learners’ cognitive skills, needs and expectations need to be considered to determine the right devices and tools to be used, to gauge the amount of work learners can accomplish as well as the level of AT complexity they can go handle.
Moreover, as analysed above, learners’ type of disability should be identified, in order to choose the ATs that correspond to their impairment and difficulty. For example, it may be assumed that a learner is able to take notes in class using a laptop; however, this might not be a sustainable option and lead to more issues.
Lastly, priority should be given to make all learners feel included and comfortable, whether in case of a blended group (learners with and without disabilities) or a group consisting of learners with more than one types of disabilities. Learners’ different goals and abilities should be valued equally and respected by everyone, leading to a more positive learning environment as well (read more about this in the next section).
- Learn how it works
As mentioned above, there are certain ATs that are more complicated to use and, therefore, might need prior training to learn their potential uses and requirements. Knowing how these technologies work will help determine which learners will receive assistive technology assistance, and help them to engage with them more effectively and determine whether they actually serve their purpose.
- Evaluate the Effectiveness
Once AT is implemented, observe whether the learners use it properly or they are able to complete the intended tasks, and gather their feedback about its effectiveness in the learning process, to determine whether such assistance is actually helpful.
