The New Assistive Tech, Second Edition: Make Learning Awesome for All!

By Christopher Bugaj

The updated edition of this playful yet professional book guides educators in selecting, acquiring and implementing technology to help all students, but particularly those with disabilities.

School districts often struggle to develop consistent practices for meeting the needs of special education students. In the updated edition of this bestselling book, you’ll learn how embracing student-centered approaches like project-based learning and growth mindset help support students with disabilities. You’ll get guidance on how to plan and execute education experiences using technology centered around students’ individual needs. And you’ll discover how to effectively and consistently evaluate and select technology supports based on the specific needs of an individual student, while actively including the learner in the technology consideration process.

Building on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, this edition also explores ways to support students, especially learners with disabilities, through distance learning, and how adopting personalized learning principles can help facilitate a smooth transition to distance learning.

This revised edition:

• Includes new content on the necessity and long-term benefits of making educational materials accessible.
• Offers guidance on expanding practices that are already inclusive, such as increasing the flexibility of learning spaces and establishing gaming and maker clubs.
• Explains how to conduct and document assessments to help an educational team make informed decisions about technology needs.
• Assists individuals or teams in creating an action plan for developing a culture of inclusion.
• Interweaves stories, songs and other features to make learning fun!

With his accessible approach and conversational style, Christopher R. Bugaj takes what can sometimes be an intimidating topic and makes it relevant and easy to understand, with examples that illustrate how to reach all learners in every classroom.

Audience: Elementary and secondary educators; education coaches and administrators

• Language: English
• Publisher: International Society for Technology in Education
• Release date: Oct 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781564849816

Christopher Bugaj

Christopher R. Bugaj is a founding member of the Assistive Technology Team for Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. Bugaj hosts “The A.T.TIPSCAST,” a multiple award-winning podcast featuring strategies to design educational experiences; and he co-hosts “Talking With Tech,” featuring interviews and conversations about augmentative and alternative communication. He co‐produces and co‐authors the popular “Night Light Stories” podcast, which features original stories for children of all ages. Bugaj has presented over 300 live or digital sessions at local, regional, national and international events. He has designed and taught online courses for ISTE on the topics of assistive technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In addition to The New Assistive Tech, Bugaj is co‐author of Inclusive Learning 365.

Book preview

Introduction

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

—MARK TWAIN

Well, you’re in it now—you’ve started to read this book. Before you go any further you should know that this book might challenge some of your conventional thoughts about education, learning, and people in general.

Here’s another challenge: be open to it. Don’t reject whatever concept is being introduced because it doesn’t jibe with your past experiences or current point of view. Instead, consider the point of the message, and ask yourself why someone else might have this perspective. Ponder it. Flip it around like it’s a Rubik’s Cube. Contemplate the significance. Challenge yourself to question what you believe to be true. Most importantly, open yourself up to the possibility of change. Do not let cognitive dissonance control you. Without change, there is no growth. Be bold and embrace change, transforming your thoughts, opinions, and actions for the better. You’ll be glad you did.

Remember: learners out there need you to be open to new possibilities, especially if the old methods aren’t working for them.

What’s It All About?

Our journey starts with a question: what is the process for the selection and implementation of technology for individuals with disabilities in your neck of the woods?

This book primarily focuses on how to develop a consistent approach for choosing technology to design accessible, inclusive, and awesome educational experiences for the benefit of every single learner in public schools. Any educator interested in improving their practice will learn how planning for those with disabilities from the start can assist every other learner as well.

The bulk of the content is aimed at support personnel whose primary responsibility is to help facilitate inclusive practices using technology. Traditionally, this has been someone working exclusively in special education who might have the term assistive technology (or AT) somewhere in their title.

Do you consider yourself an AT person? If so, this book is for you!

Do you work to educate individuals with disabilities using technology? This book is for you too!

Do you want to coach others to design accessible experiences that learners and educators alike think are great? You’re holding the book you need right now!

The first part of The New Assistive Tech focuses on the adoption of contemporary educational practices and how they support individuals with disabilities. The book then shifts gears to discuss how support personnel can build capacity by assisting educators in making educational experiences accessible and inclusive through a process of technology consideration. The book goes on to explore a proactive approach to shifting the educational institution from organizational rigidity to a path toward agility and flexibility by increasing professional development and developing a plan of action for systemic change.

By the end of this book, you’ll have learned the following:

•   How to embrace learner-centered, contemporary education philosophies such as Project-Based Learning and Growth Mindset to support people with disabilities.

•   How to plan and execute educational experiences using technology centered around the needs of individuals with disabilities.

•   How to effectively and consistently consider and select technological supports based on the specific needs of an individual learner with a disability.

•   How to assist an Individualized Education Program team when they need help determining which supports to put in place for an individual with a disability.

•   How to approach providing professional development and training about accessible and inclusive practices to other educators in your educational institution (and beyond).

•   How to develop a customized plan of action for developing a culture of inclusivity and accessibility specific to the needs of your educational institution.

Thank you for your willingness to dive deeper as we explore methodologies that can bring about the systemic changes necessary to transform education into something awesome for everybody, including people with disabilities.

Connecting to the ISTE Standards

The ISTE Standards provide the competencies for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age, providing a comprehensive roadmap for the effective use of technology in schools worldwide. Grounded in learning science research and based on practitioner experience, the ISTE Standards ensure that using technology for learning can create high-impact, sustainable, scalable and equitable learning experiences for all learners.

iste.org/standards

Content within each chapter of this book relates to various ISTE Standards. Although there are certainly connections between the content and the Student and Education Leader sections, as well as the ISTE Computational Thinking Competencies, a concerted effort was made to specifically outline correlations and connections to the ISTE Standards, Educator and Coaches sections. The following tables list the relevant standards and indicators for each chapter. Scan the QR code to learn more and find full descriptions of each.

ISTE Standards: Educators

The educator section of the ISTE Standards provides a road map to helping individuals become empowered learners. These standards will deepen your practice, promote collaboration with peers, challenge you to rethink traditional approaches and prepare those you support to drive their own learning.

Table I.1 Content Related to ISTE Standards for Educators

ISTE Standards: Coaches

The coaches section of the ISTE Standards is your road map to the characteristics, activities, philosophies and dispositions of today’s instructional technology coaches, as well as those needed for future practice in this evolving role. Because coaches have a unique role as capacity builders and implementation experts, these standards guide coaches in ensuring that learning with technology is high impact, sustainable, scalable and equitable for all.

Table I.2 Content Related to ISTE Standards for Coaches

Things to Know before You Begin

This book is meant to be enjoyable. It isn’t meant to be a slog. To help you along the way, I’ve included real-life stories based on my experiences in education, parables meant to provide meaningful analogies, and other fun bits like songs and rhymes to help reinforce what you learn. Engagement is a necessary consideration in any educational experience, and these stylistic elements are intended to provide that for you! More importantly, though, the book is meant to empower you to act!

As the reader, you might find yourself skipping around from chapter to chapter or part to part as you find what resonates with you. Flag intriguing portions of the book for your own reference, and then use the portions you flagged to change minds and influence others toward positive change. I hope you find yourself saying something like, See? It’s right here in this book! Let’s do this!

Awesome Insights

Throughout the book, you’ll find handy messages called Awesome Insights meant to provide bite-sized chunks of information. Look for them throughout the book for helpful hints, tips, and other ideas to ponder!

Companion Site

Additional resources are available on the book’s companion site (scan the QR code). The content on the site is organized by book chapter to make it easier to access.

bit.ly/newatbooksite

Join the Community and Stay Connected

Reading this book will make you part of a larger community, if you desire. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #AwesomeAT4All on all social media outlets and liking the Facebook page at facebook.com/awesomeatforall.

Quick Glossary

I’d like to end this introduction with my definitions of some key terms:

Accessible. Accessibility is a characteristic or quality of a product, service, or location that allows this product, service, or location to be used. Most anything created is accessible to some people. Accessible can be a synonym for the word usable, but usability is relative, as physical, verbal, visual, auditory, and cognitive abilities vary from person to person. If a creator wants her creation to be used by the largest number of people, then the creation needs to be created with human variability in mind. The more usable a creation is, the more accessible it becomes. To my way of thinking, when discussing making, providing, or choosing materials for people of varying abilities, the term accessible really means accessible to the widest range of abilities or accessible to the largest number of people.

Disability. For the purposes of this book, I define disability using the definition outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (Public Law 108-446), which states, [those] with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this title as ‘emotional disturbance’), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and (ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

Educational agency. Educational agency? School district? Academic institution? School system? What do you call an organization where educators work? I use these terms interchangeably to refer to any place—no matter how big or how small—where learning is meant to happen.

Individualized Education Program. In the United States, an Individualized Education Program is a federally-mandated document drafted by stakeholders who are invested in a learner with a disability. At a minimum, it is reviewed annually.

Professional development. Any time an educator learns new technologies, strategies, interventions, philosophies, and any other helpful techniques to further their own knowledge and skills.

Technology. I define this as a synonym for tools. Although technology might conjure images of something electronic, electricity or other power is not necessary. A wheel, for instance, is technology that helps to move things but doesn’t necessarily need to be attached to a motor for it to work. Technology, when applied in an educational context, is any tool that helps a person learn.

Shift Attitudes to Improve Learning Experiences

In any good story, there is conflict. The protagonist faces some sort of challenge to overcome. The story told in this book is no different, except here, you are the protagonist; you are the hero of the story. The challenge is to imagine the experience of school in a new way: imagine every learner, with or without disabilities, choosing to attend school over any other activity. This chapter explores steps you can take toward that end.

Advances in technology and increased proficiency in how to use technology tools provide educators with the opportunity to design every learning experience with individual needs in mind. These advances have led to revolutionary ideas that have made educators reconsider common practices and rethink what education really means.

Let’s begin by diving headlong into how contemporary philosophies, initiatives, and practices positively impact the instruction of students of all abilities. In this chapter, you’ll:

•   Learn how to shift learner and educator perspectives on school—from a place where one must go to a place one wants to go.

•   Examine how traditional practices in school impact attitudes toward learning—especially for those with disabilities.

•   Explore how to reshape and rethink what it means to be a teacher by rebranding the profession.

•   Learn a short process for designing inclusive, accessible, learner-centered educational experiences.

The Like–Dislike Continuum

Using whatever method or tool works best for you, create a list of five things that are generally liked—or even loved—by most people. Don’t choose stuff we need in order to survive as humans, like water. Instead pick foods you consider a treat (like chocolate) or objects that make you happy (like a helium balloon). Again, pick things that most people really, really like.

Have you chosen your five things that people, universally, seem to like? Great! Now, let’s choose five things that humans, in general, don’t like. Document those five items using any method that works for you.

Now, let’s combine the two lists and then sort the items, ranking the items that people, according to you, like the most (number 1) to what they like the least (number 10). Make sure this list feels accurate to you, as we’re going to use it later as a basis for measuring other items (See Figure 1.1.).

What you’ve just built is a scale by which you can rate any concept according to how much you think the general population enjoys it. Now ask yourself, Where do most learners rank school on this continuum? Take away the social component of the school experience and consider only the academic aspects. Does that change the ranking?

Figure 1.1. Making a list can help you assess how much people typically enjoy school compared to other activities.

Educators in the United States and Canada have completed this activity more than fifty times in live and virtual events. School usually ranks somewhere between root canals and mosquito bites, or between sunburns and traffic jams. Some educators are adamant that most learners would rank school near the bottom of the scale, in the same realms as disease, natural disasters, and death. Put simply, although there are learners who are exceptions, a generally agreed-upon principle is that school, to put it simply, sucks.

Most learners tend to view school as something one just needs to get through: a drudgery, a slog, a grind. Graduation parties tend to celebrate an escape to freedom, like getting out of prison, rather than celebrating the lived academic experience. This negativity toward school is felt by most students, regardless of ability.

bit.ly/newat1-1

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 13% of the school-aged population has a disability (scan the QR code to learn more). Imagine how much less enjoyable school might be if you had a physical, sensory, cognitive, or language-based disability in an educational environment that is not necessarily designed with you or your abilities in mind.

Now, let’s consider most educators. Where do they rank school on the continuum? Take away the fact that an educator is being paid to be there. Take away summer breaks, too. Consider only the day-to-day. How does school rank?

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, if you had asked any random sampling of ten educators how they were doing, you probably had heard phrases like, I’m hanging in there, It’s almost Friday, Is it break yet?, I’m getting by, and a slew of other phrases that expressed fatigue, frustration, aggravation, and annoyance. In most schools, positive educator feedback was a rarity. Since the pandemic, the stew of negative emotions and perspectives from educators has only grown hotter. The Great Resignation saw workers quitting their jobs in droves to pursue other interests. Educators left at higher rates as well, choosing to chase a different dream (Zamarro, Camp, Fuchsman, & McGee, 2021).

The feedback among those working in special education would likely have been even more grim. The turnover rate for special educators is very high: approximately 13% per year (McLeskey, Tyler, & Flippin, 2004) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outlook on school in the United States, whether from educators or the learners they support, regardless of ability, has been almost universally bleak. I believe we can change school into something almost universally viewed as a positive, joyful, meaningful, and desired experience. I wrote this book to inspire you and show you how.

Snow Day!

In certain parts of the United States, the months between November and March are filled with a magical sense of hope and wonder. School-aged children and educators alike become sorcerers, casting spells and concocting potions to influence the weather. Some flush ice cubes (only three!) down the toilet. Others dance around kitchens wearing blue-and-white pajamas inside out. Still others freeze a spoon (or a white crayon) and place it under their pillows. These rituals are performed with care and precision in the hopes of summoning Jack Frost. If these rites are successful, Mr. Frost will create a snowstorm so treacherous that school will be canceled for at least a day, maybe two. The announcement of a snow day causes celebration throughout the land!

Why is it that students and educators are so overjoyed to have this temporary reprieve?

What if the experience of school was so wonderful that people felt sadness when notified of a closure? What if everyone everywhere loved the experience of school so much that they practiced rituals to keep inclement weather at bay rather than embracing their inner Elsa? What if a school closure brought about feelings of disappointment at what wouldn’t be accomplished rather than pure bliss at what would be avoided?

Name This Disability

Figure 1.2 is a worksheet that contains printed questions about content related to science, such as the properties of matter. Below each question is a space to handwrite a response. The learner has attempted to answer each question, but the legibility is questionable. Erratic letter formation, size, spacing, and alignment make the words and sentences difficult to decode.

Figure 1.2. A worksheet completed by a learner.

Using the description and any other powers of observation and resources at your disposal, answer this question: What disability does this learner have? (Dyslexia? Dysgraphia? A visual impairment? A physical impairment that impacts motor function of the upper extremities? Multiple disabilities? What do you think?)

The answer is that this work was produced by a typically-developing learner in sixth grade with no known disability.

What are some suggestions you might make to support this learner? Using the tool of your choice, make a list of your ideas. You can brainstorm with another educator if desired. What ideas did you decide upon? Were any of the following on your list?

•   Add more white space.

•   Add lines.

•   Provide the learner with an angled surface to write on.

•   Provide the learner with a thicker pencil.

•   Consider occupational therapy services.

•   Provide a digital version so the learner may type responses.

•   Invite the learner to use speech-to-text or voice dictation to generate the response.

•   Give the learner more time to complete the assignment.

All of these ideas might help the learner complete the worksheet. However, consider this more fundamental question: Is completing the worksheet is an effective way to learn the content in the first place?

A Dream Unrealized

When the learner who completed this worksheet was seven years old, he discovered the Marvel Comics character Tony Stark, who used his intelligence and experience in engineering to design and build a sophisticated suit, and adopted the persona Iron Man.

The learner became enthralled with the idea of building a suit of his own someday. The dream of one day becoming an engineer crystallized at a young age. Dedicated and determined, the boy passionately dove into learning the science of engineering. The boy’s family and friends supported his dream by gifting items related to engineering for every birthday and holiday. They spent countless hours building and modeling with the boy to fuel his ongoing passion. By age ten, the boy had built numerous models, listened to hours of podcast content, watched videos for days, read copious amounts of books, and engaged in a plethora of conversations with peers and adults, all in an effort to pursue his future as an engineer who would, undoubtedly, build a real Iron Man suit someday.

Then he started sixth grade.

Bright-eyed, motivated, and eager to learn, he entered middle school ready to attend a class dedicated solely to learning about science for the first time in his life. On the first day he was presented with a packet of worksheets like the one in Figure 1.2. Over time, the boy did what he was told, participating in repetitive experiences that he did not find engaging. With each passing day, his dream grew dimmer. By the end of the year and despite earning high marks, his dream went dark. After experiencing science content in this manner, the boy made a decision. If his dream meant sitting through years of experiences designed like those he had in sixth grade, then he no longer wished to pursue it. His dream died, altering the entire trajectory of his life, all because of the design of his educational experiences in middle school science.

Now, having heard this story, reflect on your list of ideas to help the learner. Would we still suggest adding lines to the worksheet? Would the invitation to use text-to-speech be the best way to fuel his dream? Would giving him more time to complete the worksheet help him fall more deeply in love with learning about science? What different suggestions might we offer to improve the experience, not only for this individual, but for every other learner as well?

Perhaps the following might be on your list:

•   Invite the learner to participate in hands-on experiences to practice designing and building things.

•   Invite the learner to solve an authentic problem that could be addressed through the science standards.

•   Present the learner with multiple options for how content is represented, such as audio, video, text, tactile, and multi-modal experiences, including video conferences, simulations, robotics, coding, and games.

•   Present the learner with multiple options for how to express what they know and what they’ve discovered.

•   Develop a system of progression where the learner is invited to construct a structure, such as a tower, building