A4: Technology Tools and Assistive Technology

Technology Tools:

1. Educational Technology Tool #1: Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org/

    Khan Academy is a great educational tool that students can use to foster self-directedness of student learning. This website has so many different explanations, activities, and videos categorized by subject, grade level, or topic. This website allows students to work at their own pace, check their own understanding, and learn the topic without the teacher's immediate assistance. They can track their own progress and learn independently. It has level tracking that allows the teacher to check in on student progress. 

2. Educational Technology Tool #2: Diary Zapp
DiaryZapp - The fun and Interactive Children's Diary App

Diary Zapp is a website that helps students practice their storytelling and writing skills. This is specifically geared for students between the ages of four and ten. They can create and share their own writing pieces and put them into a digital diary collection. They write their own sentences, create their own illustrations, and can save their work. This helps them create their own writing pieces in a guided way that still manages to foster their own independent learning.

Assistive Technology

1. Eye-Pal  Eye-Pal | TechMatrix

Eye-Pal is a small USB scanner/reader that is capable of converting any printed material into Braille, speech, or text file. This piece of assistive technology costs $500. This will help students who have visual impairments be able to access any type of written material that their peers have access to. This allows them to reach the goals and perform on an equal level as their peers.

2. Sign Smith Studio Sign Smith Studio | TechMatrix

Sign Smith Studio is a tool that allows the user to add avatars that sign to their content. This can be used in a school setting to foster student learning because it allows students who are deaf and use signs to be able to express themselves. They can show how they communicate and be more included. Teachers can also use this in presentations to help the student understand the material in a way that is easier for them to understand. This could be used with students who cannot read or for when closed captions are not available for the digital content. This product ranges in cost from $100-$499.