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There are new web 2.0 tools appearing every day. Although some of these tools were not originally meant for use in the classroom, they can be extremely effective learning tools for today's technology geared students and their venturesome teachers. Many of these teachers are searching for the latest products and technologies to help them find easier and efficient ways to create productive learning in their students. More and more teachers are using blogs, podcasts and wikis, as another approach to teaching. We have created a list of 100 tools we think will encourage interactivity and engagement, motivate and empower your students, and create differentiation in their learning process.

There are new web 2.0 tools appearing every day. Although some of these tools were not originally meant for use in the classroom, they can be extremely effective learning tools for today's technology geared students and their venturesome teachers. Many of these teachers are searching for the latest products and technologies to help them find easier and efficient ways to create productive learning in their students. More and more teachers are using blogs, podcasts and wikis, as another approach to teaching. We have created a list of 100 tools we think will encourage interactivity and engagement, motivate and empower your students, and create differentiation in their learning process.

The A.T.TIPScast: Assistive Technology Tools In Public Schools is a podcast about using technology to help students meet their educational goals. Each episode features at least one "A.T.TIP" that can be used to differentiate and individualize the learning process. Christopher Bugaj, the host of the podcast, is an assistive technology specialist, speech-language pathologist, ISTE author, and online mentor.

"teenagers, SPED, Special Education Software, ipod, videos, technology tools, Assistive Tech, interactive, Apple, Special Education, assistive technology, functional skills, high school, ipad"

eduTecher was created in late 2007. The website's main purpose is to help educators and schools around the world effectively integrate technology, including the wonderful tools on the vast World Wide Web, into the classroom. eduTecher provides links to thousands of Web Tools and provides concise information on how these tools may be useful in the classroom setting. The site's goal is simple: contribute to the academic world, without charging membership fees for the users or promoting specific software and hardware products through commercial advertising.

This informative, fast moving presentation will describe the revolution in computing that is occurring around us and how that change will affect the people who use assistive technology as well as those who support them. From Apple's iOS (the operating system used on the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad) back to the One Laptop per Child XO, this session will give participants the background knowledge to understand what the new technologies consist of, how they work, and how they can be used to help students. A review of how the iOS can be used in the following domains will be provided: assistive technology, communication, literacy, learning, organization, and play.

Try these smartpen assistive technology ideas to find out how this technology tool can level the playing field in the classroom.

"This week's Cool Tool, the new Pulse digital pen from LiveScribe, is still undergoing my evaluation since I've only had it about a month now, but it has already lived up to its predecessor, the now discontinued io2 digital pen from Logitech, which I nominated as a previous Cool Tool. I can see that this new Pulse pen has much more to offer, so I thought it worthy of bringing to your attention. "

NYTimes article recommending 5 free tools: Visualizing Text, Comic Text, Interactive Timelines, Digital Interactive Presentations, Idea Maps & Brainstorms

Differentiating instruction is a time-tested way of thinking about meeting students' needs as they make progress toward achievement or learning targets.  Differentiation is an elegant mindset that suggests to teachers a framework that permits them to engage students while focusing on learning results, and digital technologies offer many opportunities to differentiate instruction in meaningful ways.  However, differentiating instruction takes a concerted planning effort on our parts as teachers and teacher educators. This is especially so as we develop a mindset that differentiation can be effective. In this post, I propose a three-phase approach to planning differentiated instruction: Where do we start planning for differentiated instruction with technology, What are considerations for who we teach, what we teach, and how we plan? How do I put it all together?

"TechMatch is a free resource for clinicians, care providers, and educators. It matches clients and students who have cognitive impairments with computer technologies most likely to meet their needs. TechMatch includes a comprehensive assessment questionnaire that makes it easy to find the right computer technology. It produces a printable pdf report that summarizes the findings and offers clear and straight forward advice about the strengths and weaknesses of each potential technology"

Some interesting tools to use from THE

DOHA: In line with its efforts to increase the use of Assistive Technology in Qatar and the Arabic speaking world, Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Center) yesterday launched the Mada Reader Writer, an important and easy to use educational tool for learners with special needs.

As thought leaders and practical innovators in education, we live in the intersection of technology and strategy. We look deep into the reservoir of the research literature, balanced with the real-life of today's educational environments, to share content for your immediate use (or at least to encourage immediate thinking). This site is a modern day chalk board where we sketch out our ideas, discoveries of others, and "stumble-ons" that we had no idea existed. Jason Gibson (the strategist) and Jason Carroll (the technologist) are popular conference speakers that have engaged educators, counselors, and administrators from across the globe (often referred to as The Jasons). Heavily influenced by the tpack, universal design for learning, and systematic instruction frameworks, we focus on tools and strategies that make a difference.

The purpose of this project is to examine the experiences and needs of parents having young children with disabilities with a focus on technology tools that can support them. We hope to learn about fathers' experiences and needs to help us develop recommendations and guidelines for professionals who work with parents of young children with disabilities.

"Would you like to relax your students' tired eyes?  Is it sounds good to convert any written text such as Microsoft Word into spoken words? What about running a PowerPoint presentation and have a narration of the text on your slides? Would you be interested in a list of 19 Free Text to Speech tools?"