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Using technology to assist students with learning disabilities and difficulties

Bill Smith
Literacy Support Technology Adviser
Spectronics

Abstract

Using technology to assist students with learning disabilities and difficulties is very similar to using technology in general education. Technology should not be seen as an add-on of something which is apart from the general curriculum. Inclusive technology should be integrated into the general curriculum using a school wide cross curricular approach. Such technology can assist all students, not just those with a learning disabilities or difficulties. In this respect, Inclusive Technology becomes inclusive practice. As we live in the 21st century we should be using technology that suits the children we teach. These children are Digital Natives (Jukes, 2006; Prensky, 2001) and we should be using digital tools. Unfortunately, we are still caught in a 19th century mindset, where Digital Natives are still struggling with pen and paper, when they have the skills and the ability is to use technology far more capably in most cases than their teachers and parents. Technology is not a barrier to literacy and numeracy, but in fact can be an assistive tool to develop these important skills and support students to compensate for their learning disabilities and difficulties. Inclusive Technology is particularly important for those students where remediation is no longer an alternative or has not produced sufficient success.

Who are they?

Students with learning disabilities and difficulties create a blurred image. When we think of the students as a group, we think of a variety of traits and characteristics that do not fit into a simple category or basket. The place where learning difficulties stop and learning disabilities start is a very blurred line. Students with learning difficulties will be defined as students who experience particular difficulties in achieving at school that are not due to a disability or impairment. In many circles this has been referred to as students with “non-specific learning difficulties”. For most part these students receive little or no funding and struggle to attain satisfactory literacy and numeracy standards (Westwood, 2003). The learning disabilities group, include those students with chronic academic problems. These students have been diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, disgraphia or other neurologically based conditions. However, a diagnosis does not always bring funding, extra assistance or greater understanding of their problems. These students with learning disabilities and difficulties display a wide range of characteristics that can be identified into four major categories; academic, emotional, motivational and cognitive and meta-cognitive (Twomey, 2006).

What do they look like?

The most important area of concern for students with learning disabilities and difficulties is poor academic performance because they lack the basic academic skills in literacy and numeracy to achieve satisfactorily. Students with learning disabilities and difficulties encounter learning problems across all curriculum areas. They have specific difficulty with mastering content and textbooks in the secondary school are particularly difficult for them to read, analyse and understand. The assumption by secondary teachers, particularly subject specialists, that students have already learnt basic reading skills in primary school is a highly flawed misconception. These students have difficulty articulating ideas, particularly in writing but also verbally. They tend to use simple sentence construction and employ poor syntax. The vocabulary development is lacking and they struggle with subject specific terminology. Their work shows significant errors in spelling, grammar, tense and punctuation. These students have usually experienced a history of remediation and in many cases, that of failure. Unfortunately, when they reach secondary, remediation is no longer the strategy that is widely used and students are faced with complex literacy and numeracy demands and a system that assumes too much. This reality has an extremely negative effect on their social and emotional well-being.

Students with learning disabilities and difficulties can experience social and emotional problems (Westwood, 2003). Academic poor performance and failure can lead to the development of defense mechanisms within student behaviour. This can be displayed in students withdrawing from the learning process, becoming more passive in class. Students can become more reluctant to answer questions and to participate in classroom discussions and activities. The less interaction they have in class between the teacher and other students provides them with the less opportunities of humiliating themselves or exposing a lack of understanding of what is being taught or discussed. They may have the tendency to become involved in fewer extra curricular activities and to withdraw all from social interaction both at school and within the community. Such behaviour is manifested as a defense mechanism, where their passive behaviour protects them from exposing their learning difficulty or disability. On the other extreme, there are students who act out with extreme behaviours to either disguise their problem or to have themselves removed from the learning environment of the classroom. In both examples low self-esteem is a common characteristic (Briet, Gough & Robinson, 2001). If schools take the time to test their student population, they will discover that low literacy and numeracy standards correlate with students who exhibit problem behaviours.

It would be inaccurate and unfair to represent those students with learning disabilities and difficulties are behaviour problems, but there is sufficient evidence that the continued lack of success by these learners results in a decrease in motivation to learn and participate in classroom activities (Westwood, 2003). Students with learning disabilities and difficulties are often unmotivated learners because the learning process is such a struggle and success is very rare for them. It takes an enormous effort from these students to decode, encode, comprehend analyse, synthesise, deconstruct and evaluate their work. When such efforts are rewarded with failure or ambivalence, there is ample opportunity for the development of avoidance strategies.

Cognitive and metacognitive problems are extremely evident when dealing with students with learning disabilities and difficulties (Westwood, 2003). These students have memory deficit problems and deploy poor memory strategies. Their language difficulties compound their cognitive problems. This means they are less likely to seek meaning out of text and they do not monitor their understanding of text. This is also reflected in their poor use of meta-cognitive strategies, where they tend to depend on others to think for them or employ poor organisational and thinking strategies.

What is Inclusive Technology?

Inclusive Technology assists individuals with learning disabilities and difficulties in their communication and education. Inclusive technology may be hardware or software devices or products that enable students to access and interact with computers at home, school and work. The purpose of this article will concentrate specifically on software products that assist students to read, write, organise, study, research and be numerate. It also helps them to achieve greater independence and move towards becoming life long learners. (Youness, 2004)

An excellent resource to assist greater understanding of Inclusive Technology, including product knowledge and best practice is Inclusive Technologies, Useful study, research and access tools (2007). This kit is a landmark for Inclusive technologies in Australia. It is extremely easy to read and requires no previous knowledge of the area. Although, it is directed at the Tertiary Education, parents and teachers of school age children will benefit greatly from this resource. The demonstration and freeware CDs are informative and practical. This kit offers an ideal introduction to Inclusive Technology from a content and practical perspective.

Why use Inclusive technology?

The reasons are both compelling and numerous. Firstly the students we work with are Digital Natives and they live in a digital world (Jukes, 2006). It is important for us to take advantages of the skills and learning they have already acquired. Students with learning difficulties and disabilities may struggle in the classroom, with pen and paper and reading the printed page, but they can use a variety of digital tools and competently navigate a webpage far more efficiently than their parents. Another factor is that digital literacy is a reality and it is growing in importance in education and work settings. It is necessary for students to be digitally literate and that we realise that in the 21st century, literacy goes beyond print texts.

Another major argument for the use of Inclusive technology is the need to have an alternative to remediation and instructional strategies. If remedial and instructional strategies either fail or do not assist the student to reach satisfactory standards, then what alternatives are to be used to support the student to overcome their learning difficulty or disability? Teachers are very comfortable with remediation and instructional technologies and strategies, however when the student does not respond adequately to these approaches, what are the alternatives. In the “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001 in the United States, it was stated that there was a need to strike a balance between the percentage of instructional strategies and compensatory strategies much earlier. Inclusive technology assists students with learning disabilities and difficulties to compensate for their deficiencies in literacy and numeracy and general learning. The reason why remediation versus compensation argument has appeared on the education landscape is because too many students enter the workforce without the compensatory skills to overcome their inability to read or write. This lifelong handicap is incredibly debilitating not only for the individual but also for society. Inclusive technology provides us with the opportunity to give students the tools to assist them with reading, writing, research, organisation and numeracy. Dave Edyburn (2002) provides sound arguments for using Inclusive technology as a compensatory tool.

“If the instructional and remediation efforts of my teachers have failed to teach me to read, will I be provided with compensatory tools that allow me to access the meaning of texts that I cannot read myself”

“If I was an employer, would I value your ability to find information in a timely manner, all would I prefer to penalise you from the fact that you didn’t know”

These statements support the compensatory argument, that if a student or an individual has a learning difficulty or disability that impacts on their learning and their ability to read, write and count, then if there are strategies or technologies that can compensate for this, they should be used to empower the student and assist them in to reach their potential. There is also evidence that Inclusive Technologies not only compensate the students’ disabilities and difficulties but they can also assist students to develop skills to improve their literacy. (Lange et al, 2004)

How Inclusive Technologies support students with learning disabilities and difficulties

Inclusive Technologies support students with learning disabilities and difficulties by providing them with the tools to communicate and learn. This includes reading, writing, organisational, study and research and numeracy tools. These features are not in every piece of software, however, program referred to in this article, include many of these tools and in many respects provide students with a literacy tool, a Digital tool and a digital literacy tool. Texthelp Read&Write GOLD is probably the best example of Inclusive Technology which includes most of the features that are to be discussed in this article. Some other programs will only assist students with specific problems or in specific areas of the learning process.

The most important feature of a reading tool is the ability of the program to read the text aloud. Text-to-speech engines now include Australian voices and a highlighting feature which particularly assist students with dyslexia and other print disabilities. They have the ability to read all digital formats, including Word documents, PDF, html, txt, and rtf. Reading tools also include integrated dictionary and thesaurus. This enables the student to instantly find the meaning of unknown words and to distinguish between homophones. These words and definitions can be instantly read aloud to assist in gaining meaning from the text. Another reading tool is a capacity to convert text to an audio file. This audio file can be saved on a CD, on computer or an MP3 player. This can be an excellent study tool and is the great way to support a student who has difficulty reading. The feature that allows text to be scanned to the computer is a very important one. In this way any text can be turned into a digital format and then can read aloud for the student. Reading tools also allow the student to customise the pitch, speed, volume or type of speech that a student may want to use. The text can either be read by word, by sentence or by paragraph. By customising these features, the student is able to make the program to suit his or her particular learning needs or style.

Writing tools offer a variety of features. One of the most important features is the ability of the program to speak as you type, either by letter, word or sentence. Phonetic spell checkers are extremely helpful to students with learning disabilities and difficulties, as they offer more features and greater flexibility than Microsoft Word. Word prediction is extremely helpful from students who are phonetic spellers or very poor spellers, it provides a list of predicted words that supports their writing and breaks the blank page syndrome. Words can be selected, by either a mouse click or the use of a function key. Some programs will also rate the words from most to least in relation to the predictability within the context of the sentence. Students can also identify the meaning of the word by linking to the integrated dictionary and thesaurus. These prediction, spelling and dictionary word lists can be specifically customised for the student, either by the teacher, parent or the student. This offers the student with content specific words which assists the writing process. Co:Writer SOLO by Don Johnson is the most effective and accurate prediction tool on the market, offering a wide range of topic dictionaries. Writing tools do not have to necessarily be high-tech like some Word prediction programs, they can be quite simple like a Wordbar from Crick. Programs like these offer easy-to-use word lists which can be customised and made student and subject specific. With a simple click of the mouse the word can be selected and placed into the Word document. Effective writing tools should also include features such as auto text, hot keys and shortcuts. These features offer accessibility to students with a variety of disabilities and difficulties.

Speech recognition in the last 10 years has really become a very effective writing tool. Programs such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking, allow users to create documents, reports, e-mails and much more; all by just speaking. The process is fast, easy and accurate; at least three times faster than typing. Users are able to dictate and edit with ease and have the flexibility of using a voice recorder or wireless headset. Script reading is no longer required and with effective training and support speech recognition can be up to 99% accurate.

Organisational tools are sometimes ignored by teachers and students as there is a tendency to emphasise the importance of getting words on paper rather than the process of writing. Programs like Spark Space and Draft:Builder offer the strategies to break the blank page syndrome. Spark Space uses mind mapping or idea mapping to encourage students to brainstorm and structure their ideas. It generates a link between ideas and writing by forming a writing structure from the idea map. Spark Space offers numerous features including text-to-speech, a sensitive spell checker, clipart and images that are easily added or imported, 3-D presentations, hyperlinks, paint and draw features and the facility to rotate and size mind maps. From the perspective of the teacher and student; it is easy to use and train, it is dynamic with interactive whiteboards, it suits group and independent work, it harnesses kinaesthetic and visual learning styles, it has a strong link between ideas of text and it assists students to break the blank page syndrome.

Draft:Builder users scaffolds and frameworks rather than mind maps. It presents a more linear approach to structuring writing and ideas. Teachers or students can either use the multiple outlined templates that are available or they can create their own. The strength of this program is that divides the writing process into three stages; the outline stage, the draft stage and the final draft stage. Draft:Builder connects these three stages by a step by step process. It also has the facility to build sentence starters and questions into the template or framework, which encourages the students to write. Draft:Builder has speech support for all features and can be used with Co:Writer SOLO and other Word prediction programs. It is easy to export draft to text and the program has a very good bibliographer tool. Although it is easy to use, it does require more teacher input to customise the writing frameworks and make them specific to student needs. Both Draft:Builder and Spark Space would be helpful to all students, however would particularly help students with learning disabilities and difficulties to brainstorm their ideas and to link their thoughts to the writing process.

Students are increasingly pressured to produce assignments projects and reports. Study and research tools are extremely helpful in assisting the student to take notes and to organise and structure information they need to use. The simple highlight tool which is found in Texthelp Read&Write GOLD, allows the student to highlight the key points in the text being read and to collect highlights to create a summary of the main points. This is an excellent starting point for writing. Texthelp Read&Write GOLD also contains three effective research tools; Fact Finder, Fact Folder and Fact Mapper. Fact Finder performs Internet searches on words and phrases. It is very flexible containing a range of search engines with the option to add your own. It is able to launch from any application and is an efficient way of searching on any given subject. Fact Folder is a very effective research and revision aid. It provides a student with the facility to collect information and images without using pen and paper. In this format the student is able to site author, source and category of information. They are also able to edit and revise the information they have collected. Research data can then be sent to Fact Mapper, Webpage or a Word document. In the Word document format, each piece of information is included with its title, date and author. At the end of the document it provides a bibliography of all the information that has been collected under this category in the Fact Folder. Many schools that have Texthelp Read&Write GOLD as a site license, are requiring their students to submit their Fact Folder notes as evidence of their research. It has been observed that this practice has resulted in a decrease in incidents of plagiarism. Fact Mapper is a graphic mapping tool similar to Spark Space, but far simpler and basic in its application. It can be used with the Fact Folder or independently. It allows students to brainstorm, revise and outline their ideas. Fact Mapper can also be easily imported into a Web page. These three features present all students with the ability to collect, synthesise and analyse information. Students with learning disabilities and difficulties are particularly benefited by the digital format because they are not forced to take notes with pen and paper, where they can make numerous mistakes decoding and encoding the text. Using Texthelp Read&Write GOLD study and research tools, the student can have the text read aloud, assisting comprehension, select the appropriate text or images and edit the information on the computer using Reading, Writing, Organisational and Study and Research tools to complete the tasks successfully.

Language support is important in numeracy. Many students have trouble with mathematics and numeracy because they do not understand that task or the process. Numeracy tools in Texthelp Read&Write GOLD include; onscreen calculators, blackboard displays(showing audit trails), flexibility of display(changing format and colour), text-to-speech(reading aloud process steps, operations, equations and solutions), conversion features and the facility to calculate with in the document. These features support students with learning disabilities and difficulties as it can all be completed on the computer in a variety of digital formats.

Examples of Inclusive technologies that have been discussed in this article assist students with learning disabilities and difficulties to bypass, workaround or remediate their difficulties. These technologies can help students develop strategies that suit their learning style and ability. Many of these technologies include Universal Design features which focus on providing learning resources that accommodated for learner differences. A comprehensive source of information on topics relating to universal design for learning and technology can be found by going to the website of the Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST) www.cast.org

Some Inclusive Technologies like Texthelp Read&Write GOLD are integrated packages that offer students literacy tools and features to assist reading, writing, organisation, study and research and numeracy. While others like Co:Writer SOLO, Spark Space and Dragon NaturallySpeaking may be specifically designed to compensate for certain difficulties or assist to alleviate barriers in certain academic areas (e.g. word recognition, idea mapping, word prediction). Software packages that fit into this category may be stand-alone programs or may integrate with other commonly used applications.

Making a difference

Inclusion and differentiation are no longer a trend, but a reality. Inclusive Technology provides us with the opportunity to “make a difference” for students with learning disabilities and difficulties. Inclusive Technology should be seen as “the great equalizer” rather than “just one more thing” that teachers need to contend with in the learning and teaching process. Technologies like Texthelp Read&Write GOLD and Spark Space should be available to all students, as they are effective digital tools that support literacy acquisition and development and the general learning process. If as teachers and parents, we truly desire our students and children to be lifelong learners, able to use and manipulate language and information to meet their needs in this society, we must provide them with the literacy tools, digital tools and digital literacy tools to be able to achieve their goals.

Inclusive Technologies can make a significant difference and provide numerous benefits for students with learning disabilities and difficulties. These benefits include; accommodating individual needs to help students achieve individual outcomes, providing access to general curriculum, using it to prompt expressive verbal or non-verbal language, communicating understanding of curriculum concepts and enhancing their quality of life (Youness, 2004). There are numerous testimonials and anecdotal evidence that presents Inclusive Technologies as providing effective support for students with learning disabilities and difficulties. For empirical data and research supporting Inclusive Technology, a number resources are extremely helpful; Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice (Edyburn, Higgins & Boone, 2005), numerous articles by Dave Edyburn (2005 a&b, 2003, 2002) and Assistive software tools for secondary-level students with literacy difficulties (Lange et al, 2004). The Queen’s Report from the University of Belfast (Lange et al, 2004) on assistive software tools, clearly showed that students using speech synthesis, spellchecker, homophone detection tool and electronic dictionary in Texthelp Read&Write GOLD, displayed improvements in spelling, homophone detection and comprehension. Lange et al, 2004, concluded that;

“The assistive software tools appeared to provide compensatory assistance to those with reading difficulties. In practice, these tools could be used at home or in the classroom to increase accessibility to a range of texts and to assist with reading and writing.”

The report went further to state that Inclusive Technology could have positive remedial effects on student progress.

“Extended compensatory use of the four assistive tools discussed here could have remedial effects on literacy skills in addition to the compensatory benefits described.”

Therefore, Inclusive Technology can be seen not just as a compensatory tool but also as a remedial tool for teachers. In our schools and classrooms, Inclusive Technology must move beyond ‘the add-on’ or not “just one more thing” mentality. The only way that we are going to achieve this is that teachers must open their minds to the possibilities presented by Inclusive Technology and use these tools to support students with learning disabilities and difficulties. Many of these technologies will assist other students who do not present learning or literacy problems. These technologies are digital tools that support learning in the digital world we live in. We cannot ignore that that we live in the 21st century and that we have the technology to support students with learning disabilities and difficulties. We must access this technology and support the students to the best of our abilities.

References

Briet, M., Gough, F. & Robinson, S. (2001) Practical Studies of Teaching Adolescents with Learning Disabilities. Sydney: ACER

Edyburn, D. (2005)a. Resources on AT for students with disabilities. ConnSENSE Bulletin: Resources for Learning and technology. http://www.connsensebulletin.com

Edyburn, D. (2005)b. Assistive Technology and Students with Mild Disabilities. In Edyburn, D., Higgins, K. & Boone, R. (Ed.), Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice. (pp. 239 – 272) Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin: Knowledge by Design Inc.

Edyburn, D. (2003) Assistive Technology and Evidenced – Based Practice. ConnSENSE Bulletin: Resources for Learning and technology. http://www.connsensebulletin.com

Edyburn, D, (2002) Remediation vs compensation: A critical decision point in assistive technology consideration. ConnSENSE Bulletin: Resources for Learning and technology. http://www.connsensebulletin.com

Graham, S. Perin, D. (2007) WRITING NEXT: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in Middle and High Schools. Carnegie Corporation of New York

Jukes, I. (2006) Learning in the New Digital Landscape. Learning Matters. http://learningmatters.blogspot.com/2006_01_08_archive.html

Lange, A., McPhillips, M., Mulhern, G. & Wylie, J. (2004) Assistive software tools for secondary level students with literacy difficulties. Queen’s University, Belfast, UK

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5

State Government of Victoria (2007) Inclusive Technologies; Useful Study, research and access tools. Melbourne, Victoria; Office of Training and tertiary Education, Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development.

Twomey, E. (2006). Linking learning theories and learning difficulties. Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities. 11(2), 93 – 98

Westwood, P. (2003). Commonsense methods for children with special education needs: Strategies for the regular classroom. London: Routledge Falmer

Youness, M. (2004) Inclusive Technology: Not ‘just one more thing.’ Premier’s Special Education Scholarship