Kaitlyn Caughran

2-26-17

Technology in Education

Professor Ayers

Assistant Technology Paper

The chapter I chose to learn more about is assistant help for reading. Learning to read

and being able to read well is a very important part of education. However, many students have

difficulty trying to learn because of many reasons. There are now many helpful resources to help

students learn to read and to better comprehend their lessons. Although teachers have been

using technology to support students reading for a relatively short time period, research is

reporting that it improves students reading fluency, comprehension, speed and vocabulary.(pg.

2).

There are many reasons why educators choose assistant technology to help students. One

reason is to help the student with a certain skill. Educators usually select technology for two

reasons. They select programs that remediate specific skills through individualized and/or

repetitive practice or they select programs that compensate for a students disability. (pg. 2).

Some of the benefits of using these resources are that while they help the students learn their

lessons they also can help with remedial reasons. Some of the research shows that using

technology for compensatory intervention actually also provides remedial benefits. (pg. 2 ). The

students improve their skills and benefit a lot from these helpful resources.
 Some of the reasons why students need this assistant technology may be because they

have trouble using the printed texts that most classrooms use. There are many reasons why

students need extra help with these materials. Some students cannot see the words or images on

a page, cannot hold a book or turn its pages, cannot decode the text or comprehend the sentence

structure. Students may experience different challenges, and may require different supports to

obtain meaning from books (pg. 4). One way educators are helping students with this is

through NIMAS which is the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard which uses

files and resources that can relate to the students needs. This ensures that students have the texts

and materials that they need like for text-to-speech and large print alternatives, HTML (Hyper-

Text Markup Language) for large print and text-to-speech that can include audio, text and video,

BRF (Digital Braille) for common Braille devices or Braille printers, DSY (Digital Audio-based

Information System) digital talking book standard.

There are also many other resources that are used for helping students read. Some of

these include Audio books and publications. Recorded books allow users to listen to text and

are available in a variety of formats, such as audiocassettes, CDs, and MP3 downloads.

Special playback units allow users to and search and bookmark pages and chapters.

Subscription services offer extensive electronic library collections. (pg. 1, Stanberry, 2016).

Another helpful activity that benefits readers is something called paper based computer pen.

This technology records and links audio to what a person writes using the pen and special

paper. It enables the user to take notes while simultaneously recording someone ( e.g., a

teacher) speaking. The user can later listen to any section of his notes by touching the pen to

his corresponding handwriting or diagrams. (pg. 1, Stanberry, 2016) All of these resources
could be very helpful in the classroom to help students. These tools help facilitate decoding,

reading fluency, and comprehension. (pg. 1, Stanberry, 2016). These helpful tools help

students with writing, listening, memory and reading. They can truly benefit students with

reading in the classrooms.

Resources
 Stanberry, K. (2016). Assistive Technology Tools: Reading. Great Schools.

http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/reading-tools/

Assessing Students' Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT) 5th Edition Chapter 7 Reading

http://www.wati.org/content/supports/free/pdf/Ch7-Reading.pdf