CITEd's Learn Center showcases select resources and targeted tools to help you meet everyday educational challenges through technology. Search the resources by role and responsibility or topic to find a broad range of important information and related research.
CITEd is proud to be a collaborating partner with LD OnLine, the largest information dissemination site on topics related to learning and attention disabilities. Consult one of our Information Briefs written for the Technology category of LD In Depth or the answers to readers' questions in the Ask the Tech Expert column.
This Info Brief looks at the four big ideas in recent adolescent literacy instructional research - background knowledge and vocabulary, comprehension strategies, the synergies of reading and writing, and interest and motivation - and how accessible technology tools can help students who are struggling or who have LD achieve to their potential.
For students who are struggling readers, one motivating, engaging, and inexpensive way to help build reading skills is through the use of closed captioned and subtitled television shows and movies.
In addition to the increase of accessibility through mobile technology, the incorporation of AT-like applications in everyday consumer electronics leads to greater access and options for users. This research in brief shares CITEd's best ideas.
This article summarizes the benefits of providing students access to optional features in consumer electronics, as well as practical suggestions on how to integrate features into instruction and studying. Updated 2006 Info Brief.
Looking for resources that can help students with disabilities succeed in STEM disciplines in higher education? This Info Brief provides an overview of technology-based academic supports to help students with LD succeed in STEM-related K-12 courses to help prepare them for STEM studies in higher education and beyond.
Multimedia tools can help students make the transition from novice to expert thinking by mimicking the way that scientists think and behave. Moreover, for students with LD, active and visual modes of learning are often a better fit. Many students with LD find visualizing and creating models a more effective way to learn concepts as well as to express their understanding.
As a supplement to the Online Safety Info Brief below, this list of tips suggests helpful ways for mentors to communicate the importance of online safety to children.
This Info Brief examines internet safety issues for students with LD and ADHD and provides practical guidance for parents, teachers, and students seeking to navigate the brave new online world safely.
This Info Brief addresses assistive technology on the job by outlining employers' and employees' responsibilities related to AT, identifying appropriate devices, exploring various types of solutions in the workplace, and providing a list of further resources.
What happens after assistive technology is considered in an IEP? The National Assistive Technology Research Institute (NATRI) surveyed educators around the nation to find out. Learn from their “top ten” list of findings on the use and support of AT.
Do you ever want to tell the people who make assistive technology products exactly want you think? Options for communication range from calling tech support to being a beta tester. Find out how to be an influential voice in product development. Help make products serve students with special needs better.
When should a teacher allow students to use a calculator? Here is a look at what research shows about the when a calculator should be used- and when it should not be used. A flow chart is provided to help teachers make a choice about classroom calculator use.
Young people are using popular tools like blogs, wikis, and text messaging with increasing frequency. What are these Web 2.0 tools and how do they affect learning and interaction for studens with disabilities? How might they be useful for students in the classroom?
IDEA 2004 mandates that supplemental services and assistive technology (AT) be provided when necessary to students who receive special education services. This article provides suggestions for how supplemental services can contribute beyond the realm of academics by helping to make activities outside the regular school day more inclusive for students with special needs.
For students with LD and related conditions, the social environment of a school can be as much or more of a concern as academic achievement. Experiences with feeling physically and emotionally unsafe can scar students' ability to achieve and their engagement with learning. This Info Brief provides some technology tools for families and educators to implement to address some common issues.
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA), students with learning disabilities have the right to be provided with appropriate assistive devices to help them succeed in school. This Info Brief provides information to help parents find and obtain alternative sources of funding for classroom- or home-based assistive technology when funds are not available through a child’s school.
Technologies, from low to high-tech, can play a role in promoting the social and cognitive participation and growth of young children. This Info Brief presents an introduction to the role of assistive technology (AT) for young learners with disabilities. It highlights a six-step approach to AT decision making for young children and provides links to resources, including the TAM Technology Fan, for researchers and service teams.
The synergy between the arts and academic learning can be harnessed by students with disabilities, their teachers, and their schools to enhance student motivation. emgagement, and learning. Learn how art helps students with disabilities and find the resources you need to include art in the content areas that you teach.
Many parents and teachers are in need of solutions to help their children with reading difficulties. Using technology-aided instruction is one way to address this serious issue. This Info Brief is devoted to Frequently Asked Questions about text formats, with an emphasis on the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standards (NIMAS).
Everyday technologies such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and hand-held MP3 players have the capacity to act as assistive technologies. This article provides an introduction to some common consumer electronics that have built-in assistive technologies and to some of the AT applications on the market that are compatible with these products.
This article provides brief research summaries on the benefits of providing students access to optional features in consumer electronics followed by practical suggestions on how to integrate these features into instruction and studying.
Learn ways to teach social skills so that your students can remember them when they need to use them — both in and out of your classroom. This article includes the latest multimedia resources.
It is important that students with disabilities consider accommodations that colleges provide, including assistive technology (AT) devices and services. This Info Brief highlights differences between the availability of AT in the K-12 environment and college setting, poses questions related to AT that students should consider when selecting a college, and offers links to resources about AT and support networks of interest to prospective college students with disabilities.
With the range and variety of commercial software products on the shelves today, how can an educator or parent choose a reading program that will most benefit any particular student with special needs in reading? This article provides a synopsis of resources containing detailed information on reading software programs to help streamline the selection process.
What is the best way to engage students with learning disabilities in learning history when the curriculum requires them to think like a historian- analyzing multiple sources and evaluating media such as diary entries, images, songs, and political cartoons. This article tells you how to include them in "Doing History" without watering it down. An extensive resource list is included.
Evaluations are a key step in the process of linking individuals to assistive technology, yet often can be varied. This information brief provides a basic introduction to how AT tool kits aim to standardize the process of AT evaluation and to the four models of assistive technology evaluations.