Page 50 - Technology Plan for School Years 2017 to 2021

Going forward, it will be important to foster existing partnerships between District schools
and community organizations, and establish additional partnerships to continue to bridge
this gap. Increasing the number of schools participating in the “Shrinking the Digital Divide”
program will also be a focus to help provide the hardware necessary to access the online
resources and tools needed by our students. Finally, we must continue to bring awareness
to students and parents/guardians about available assistance programs that provide
Internet access.

Exceptional Student Education
According to the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan, “Learning experiences
enabled by technology should be accessible for all learners, including those with special
needs. Supports to make learning accessible should be built into learning software and
hardware by default. The approach of including accessibility features from the beginning of
the development process, also known as universal design, is a concept well established in
the field of architecture. Modern public buildings include features such as ramps, automatic
doors, or braille on signs to make them accessible by everyone. In the same way, features
such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, enlarged font sizes, color contrast, dictionaries, and
glossaries should be built into educational hardware and software to make learning
accessible to everyone.”

Image Source: http://www.masters-in-special-education.com/technology/

Technology has proven particularly effective for meeting the needs of students with special
needs. The Exceptional Student Education (ESE) department uses technology to access
eForms, TERMS, deliver Professional Development, and for communication and
collaboration via email, Google Drive, and SharePoint. The ESE Individual Education Plans
(IEPs) and goals are created using eForms at every school by the ESE contacts and ESE
teachers. Technology is very important to the ESE department as IEP’s are a driver to
student placement. ESE also uses Assistive Technology (AT) for District students who need
access to curriculum and communication assistance. AT helps many students achieve their
IEP and curricular goals through the use of technology.

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