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A wonderful resource for special educators using technology to enhance the learning of their special needs students. The Journal of Special Education Technology

"3 Tips on Integrating Technology in the Classroom Former Gov. Bob Wise discusses Digital Learning Day and how high school teachers can embrace technology. By Laura McMullen Jan. 25, 2012 SHARE Integrating technology into a high school classroom isn't a one-step process. "You can't just slap a netbook [computer] on top of a textbook and say, 'Great, now we have technology," says Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia and president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy organization. Wise says that digital learning starts with teachers, whose performance is enhanced by technology-not the other way around. That's also the idea of Digital Learning Day, which the Alliance is spearheading. The first annual Digital Learning Day falls on February 1 and will celebrate innovative K-12 instructors who successfully bring technology into the classroom by assigning online course content, using adaptive software for students with special needs, and utilizing online student assessments and other digital tools. Educators, as well as parents, students, librarians, and community leaders, can learn about classroom innovations and get new ideas by chiming in during the virtual National Town Hall meeting held on Digital Learning Day. [Learn how a new iPad app is revolutionizing textbooks.] "The whole intention of Digital Learning Day is to really celebrate teachers and good instructional learning practices," says Sarah Hall, director of the Alliance's Center for Secondary School Digital Learning and Policy. And good teaching, especially the kind that involves working with evolving technologies, sometimes requires good advice. Hall and Wise shared the following ideas for effectively using technology in the classroom-not just on Digital Learning Day, but anytime. 1. Plan ahead: There has to be a comprehensive strategy in place to implement technology into the school system, Wise says, and the teachers have to be involved in the planning stages. "When a schoo

This website is the National Association of Special Education Teachers. I think it's a great resource for special education teachers and general education teachers. There is information about conferences, professional development, IEP development, resources, special education law, and so much more.

apps for education with special education focus

This is a youtube video that someone created for a special education course. It provides an overview of some of the key terms of assistive technology and examples of some of the technology available.

Excellent resource for educators using technology

This website encourages membership at a fee but does have some free resources. There are good overviews of different diagnoses and how to assist students in the classroom.

library with links to various technologies and how to use with special education.

One of my coworkers works for this family and I cried when she shared this video with our classroom teachers. The family made this video because their son/brother has Autism and they wanted to educate the public about the impact of Autism. The boy's sister wrote a song for her brother and performs the song along to slideshow of family pictures. 

Blog that integrates information about using technology in the educational setting with ways to better teach special needs students. Written by an CCC-SLP, this blog both gets down to the basics of using technologies such as ipads to using specific applications with a targeted population in schools.

This is a great site to download activities that others have already made on Boardmaker. It works for assistive technology and on computers. You need to have the Boardmaker software at your school though.

Do you know of any sites or blogs that focus on technology specifically to assist special Ed teachers?

Teaching Strategies

Another great site to support special education students that need more practice and sometimes modified work. It's also a great resource for all students.

This is a great site for printouts and theme based activities. I use the project ideas on the site a lot. It is free, but you need to create an account. 

This site seems to have it all! Online resources and activities for students of all ages and for all academic areas.

This is an excellent learning website for Early Childhood students.

Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service and has been teaching children to read with phonics ever since. Our systematic approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL).

This is a great website for information on the latest assistive technology. The website was founded over 25 years ago by parents of a child with a disability. The website is easy to use and very informative. An annual conference, webinars, and magazine are also available.