Special Ed in the 21st Century

"technology, education, technological progress, Arne Duncan, RttT, Edward Cornish"

Amazing story of a school that uses technology to include a homebound student in everything going on in the classroom.

This is an incredible video that tells about how one school has found a way to include a long-term homebound student in everything going on in the classroom-instruction, interaction, friendships and much more. Very inspiring and a simple solution using an Activboard, iChat, iSight camera and Mac computer.

Excellent blog with links and resources from an experience special education teacher.

Fantastic blog maintained by a special education teacher. Lots of great links to resources for integrating technology in special education.

Another great suggestion for instructional modifications using technology to work with special needs students.

Excellent suggestion for using video iPods with special education students. They can listen to content or tests being read and follow along with both the visual on the iPod and the hard copy.

Lisa Parisi is an amazing educator with a Master's in Special Education who has been an inclusion teacher for many years. She has done some fantastic things with Voicethread in the MathCast project. Spend some time exploring her blog and you'll get some great ideas for integrating web 2.0 into working with special needs children.

Lisa Parisi's blog post on "The Successful Inclusion Program". Lisa is an outstanding 5th grade teacher who regularly blogs, twitters and hosts ustream.tv sessions to share her tools, tips and strategies. She includes some excellent advice about inclusion programs in this post.

A fantastic podcasts that focues on Assistive Technology but the tools are great for all teachers and students. It's well worth checking out since it won an award for "Best Professional Development Podcast." :-)

A.T.Tipscast is a regular podcast that focuses on assistive technology and provides some awesome resources. This podcast won the award for "Best Professional Development Podcast" in the 3rd Annual Teachers' Podcast Awards.

The AT Tipscast

For those unfamiliar with the term, a learning style is a way in which an individual approaches learning. Many people understand material much better when it is presented in one format, for example a lab experiment, than when it is presented in another, like an audio presentation. Determining how you best learn and using materials that cater to this style can be a great way to make school and the entire process of acquiring new information easier and much more intuitive. Here are some great tools that you can use to cater to your individual learning style, no matter what that is.

Look at this awesome compilation of helpful web tools for every kind of learner! Learned about it on Karen Janowski's blog.

"special needs, students, vocabulary, lessons, interactive, flashcards, resources, parts of a car"

Learning How to Learn Assistive Technology (one of my presentations) "Toolbelt Theory" suggests that we must teach our students how to analyze tasks, the task-completion environment, their own skills and capabilities, an appropriate range of available tools… and let them begin to make their own decisions.

This is definitely a "must read" blog by Ira Socol. This post discusses the "Toolbelt Theory" but there are tons of other valuable resources and important ideas throughout the blog. It's something you should plan to subscribe to via RSS feed so you will get the latest updates. Includes many technology tips and information about Universal Design.

This blog and live show is always excellent. On this particular session (July 16, 2008) Lisa Parisi is interviewed about her successful inclusive classroom. Lisa is an awesome web 2.0 educator and her blog is definitely worth following!

LD LIVE! Living with Learning Disabilities Connecting Innovators, Ideas and Individuals in the Field of Education and Learning Disabilities! Melinda Pongrey, MSED, hosts a weekly conversation exploring learning, learning difficulties, and learning disabilities with featured leaders in the field of medicine, science, education, ADHD, and various learning disabilities, including dyslexia.

What is RTI? Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners. Students' progress is closely monitored at each stage of intervention to determine the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education, or both.

Response to Intervention could easily be implemented through the use of web 2.0 tools. Maybe we should start a discussion forum on RTI and have people contribute specific ways/tools that could be used.

There are some great article available on this site as well as materials that can be purchased. I own many of their books and found them really valuable as a principal and university instructor.

This site contains fantastic resources for understanding the laws and advocating for special needs students. I have purchased many of their materials and found them really valuable.

Universal Design for Learning calls for ... * Multiple means of representation, to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge, * Multiple means of action and expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know, * Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation.

Another great resource for Universal Design for Learning

Excellent resources for technology and increasing achievement and success for ALL students through the unlimited and effective se of accessible technologies.

Another incredible resource I learned about from Karen Janowski. Be sure to look at the "Best Practices." Peggy

SEN Teacher has free worksheets, teaching resources, educational software and links for special needs teachers.

This is a fantastic compilation of materials and resources for teaching children with special needs. The links page has tons of great resources and information about many disabilities. Well worth exploring.

SEN Teacher provides cost-free teaching & learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities. All the resources available or listed here are free for use in schools, colleges and at home.

Ideas of how to use google

Really informative, helpful blog for assistive technology planning and resources shared by Amy Chayefsky.

Blog created by Lon Thornburg, Oregon, who is an assistive technology specialist and trainer. This blog is for posts and comments on children, disabilities, assistive technology and education.