inclusive classroom

Fostering Inclusiveness in the Classroom with Interactive Technology

Technology Brings All Students to School “Automagically”

Last year, Chris Böttger’s son spent fifth grade learning at home because of his disability, intractable chronic migraine. That was until COVID forced the school, Oak Meadow (MA), to shut down and go remote. Virtual learning ended up being the boy’s path “into the classroom.”

Accessibility and Inclusive Classrooms. Boy using tablet.

Free Tools for Accessibility and Inclusive Classrooms

Accessible technologies help students with disabilities unlock their full potential by addressing a diversity of needs that include learning, visual, hearing, mobility, neurodiversity, and mental health. In a recent edWebinar, Lauren Pittman, Graduate Assistant at Vanderbilt University and former special education teacher; Beth Dudycha, Senior Manager of Content Development at Insight2Execution and former educator; and Mike Tholfsen, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft Education, brought to our attention that students with disabilities are not the only ones who benefit from accessibility learning tools.

Teacher sitting with students at table

Why Presuming Competence is Essential for True Inclusion

Too often, an “inclusive education” for students with complex support needs means helping them take part in a single class activity before they go off to a different classroom, or focusing on a single learner while other similar students remain on the outside. Cheryl M. Jorgensen, Ph.D., an inclusive education consultant and co-founder of the National Center on Inclusive Education, offered participants in the recent edWebinar, “Inclusion is More Than “Just Being In,” a new way to define the term. She explained that inclusion should not be a practice but should be a transformational educational philosophy based on social justice principles, where the first tenet is that all students are presumed competent.