ICE UDL Playground

The TechMatrix is a powerful tool for finding educational and assistive technology products for students. Why UDL? Use the TechMatrix search engine as a resource to find the assistive technologies that provide options in the mode of physical action.

Better Living Through Technology offers online animation examples of the different switch scanning systems available. Why UDL? Switches offer an alternative method to provide students' input into a computer or other media.

Click-N-Type is an on-screen virtual keyboard designed for individuals who have difficulty typing on a physical computer keyboard. Why UDL? A virtual computer provides an alternative to a traditional keyboard to which some students with physical disabilities may not have access.

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Why UDL? Scratch provides students with an array of ways to demonstrate learning - through creating interactive stories, animations, games, art.

Online calculators that can handle a range of mathematic and financial equations. Very easy to use and navigate. Why UDL? Calculators are one way of providing options in the tools available to students for problem solving.

A free online spell checker that will spell check your text or website. Fast and accurate results are then emailed to you. This site can spell check in 27 languages. No software required. Why UDL? Spell checkers are a great example of a tool to support composition.

Bubbl.us is a simple and free web application that lets you brainstorm online. Why UDL? Brainstorming is an effective way to plan and strategize, and Bubbl.us allows students to do this in a collaborative way.

Assignment Calculator allows users to create a time management guide for writing assignments. Why UDL? A personalized time management guide is an effective way to support planning and strategy development.

While conducting research online, Zoho notebook allows you to highlight useful text or images and then save the information directly into the notebook. Why UDL? The amount of information available online is overwhleming. Zoho Notebook's ability to aggregate useful information into one document is an effective way to manage information and resources.

This site allows teachers to create, save, and print rubrics for their classes. Models and prompts are available as well as online tutorials. Check out the option to make interactive rubrics! Why UDL? Rubrics are a good source for external organization.

Lovely Charts is an online diagramming application that allows you to create professional looking diagrams such as flowcharts, sitemaps, organization charts, etc. Why UDL? Organizing information into flowcharts, charts, and graphs is an effective way to manage resources.

Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Why UDL? Wikipedia offers its content in 41 different languages to reach a broad audience. Use the site for a multilingual audience or compare entries in different languages to develop vocabulary and syntax in a foreign language.

Strategy Tutor is a web-based tool designed to support students and teachers doing reading and research on the internet. Why UDL? There are an array of scaffolds built into Strategy Tutor that support strategy development: support for evaluating information on the internet, support for evaluating search results, and more!

Visuwords is an online graphic dictionary and thesaurus that helps develop word knowledge. Word relationships are illustrated by the color and pattern of the link between words. Why UDL? Flexibility of color and contrast is a great example of customizing the display of information so that it is accessible to a broader range of users.

This interactive, educational website about our universe and planetary systems was created by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and is supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) among others. Why UDL? The glossary in "Windows to the Universe" is an excellent example of providing options that define vocabulary. Embedded links to the glossary give students immediate access to definitions of unfamiliar terms.

Shahi is a visual dictionary that combines Wiktionary content that includes a definition and examples of word use in a sentence as well as images from flickr, google, and yahoo that correlate with the specified word. Why UDL? Shahi offers image cues as well as a text based definition to increase depth of vocabulary knowledge.

The AutoSummarize feature in MS Word allows you to summarize a document and add visual structure. Why UDL? The AutoSummarize tool highlights the structural features of a document and is a great way to clarify structure to students.

Students can choose from a variety of "text types" such as persuasive, narrative, information report, response, or poetry. They are then provided with prompts and a text organizer to support them in their writing. Why UDL? Writing Fun is an excellent example of providing options that clarify syntax and structure. The prompts and text organizers highlight the different structures of different forms of writing.

Starfall is a free learn-to-read website. It contains various interactive activities and games related to the essential components of early reading. Primarily designed for first grade, Starfall is also useful for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and second grade. Why UDL? Designed for early readers, Starfall features activities and games that build decoding skills such as the pairing of sounds with letters and letter combinations.