Technological Tools for Assisting Students with Special and/or Diverse Needs and Noting the Specific Learning Outcomes for each Technology

The article Basic Technology Tools for A Diverse Student Population expresses how important it is for each student to have access to the curriculum in ways that suit their learning. The author talks about different enhancements that can be put in the classroom to help certain portions of the student population that may actually end up profiting other students in the classroom as well. One example the author gives us is the use of sound amplification systems, like speakers, that can be put in the classroom to assist students with a hearing loss. By using these sound amplification systems students with attention deficit disorder and those for whom audio is a learning-style strength, can also benefit from this!

Digitized text also allows accessibility to a much wider audience than previously possible, particularly if assistive tools are provided. Text manipulations can be done by the student for easier reading by changing font sizes, contrast, colors, etc. Text speech readers can convert the text to speech, and tools can be used to highlight words and sentences as the reader progresses at the appropriate rate and offer vocabulary assistance when needed. Multimedia content such as audio files, ebooks, images, video and interactive programs offer teachers a broad range of options to enhance their content for learners of all styles. The key to these different examples is that the teacher is the one that needs to assist in using different technology to assist students of diverse populations.