Hannah Aliyetti Assistive Technologies Chat Topic 1: The Virginia Department of Education defines educational technology as any form

of technology that allows students to benefit in multiple areas of instruction. The student should be able to reap benefits from the educational technology. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 indicates an assistive technology allows a student with a disability the opportunity to improve their functional capability. If there was a student that had an impairment that required the use of Microsoft Word on a laptop to assist in writing, this would be considered a piece of assistive technology. It does not matter if others in the class are using the same device. All that matters is that the child in question has an improved functional capability in the area of the disability (Virginia Department of Education, 2008). Topic 2: As stated in the IDEA of 2004, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team is in charge of the decision of assistive technology devices for children with disabilities. The members of the team generally include a general educator, special educator, parents, student, and anyone who is interested in the wellbeing of the child. Everyone who is on the IEP team has a say in the assistive technology devices that are used by a student with a disability. Ultimately, the team should work together to determine the best assistive technology that will benefit the child. The parent and the student are important in this decision as well as any administration (Virginia Department of Education, 2008). Topic 3:

The Student, Environment, Task, and Tools (SETT) framework was put in place for students who require assistive technologies to benefit from their free appropriate public education. The framework goes in detail about how the device may affect the student in many aspects (as described within the name itself); however, there is little mention of the current environment the child is in and whether that environment could be altered to assist the child before an assistive technology is implemented. Looking more specifically at the tools, there is no determination of whether a no tech, low tech, or high tech option would be best for the child in question. There is just mention that these options should be considered but a question needs to be posed about what would be best for the student. It needs to be known as well if the tools can serve multiple purposes in assistance. Lastly, there should be some mention of how tools can be modified to grow with the student (Zabala, 1998).

Works Cited Virginia Department of Education. (2008). Assistive Technology: A Framework for Consideration and Assessment. Richmond, VA: Virginia Department of Education. Zabala, J. S. (2002). The SETT framework: critical areas to consider when making informed assistive technology decisions. National Center to Improve Practice (NCIP). Retrieved from http://www2.edc.org/ncip/workshops/sett/SETT_Framework_article.html