The Halton District school board offers a variety of tools and resources to assist students who may have special needs. These tools and resources vary according to the needs of the individual student. While some students benefit from the use of laptops and iPads, others may benefit with the help of a variety of applications and software to assist with reading, writing, mathematics, and many other subject areas. Halton is dedicated in its A.T. efforts, to ensure that all students have the access to resources they need in order to be successful.
Available to All
Halton has a variety of applications that all students can access, whether it be using technology in the school or accessing apps at home. Here are several websites that Halton has posted, to assist students at school, as well as at home.
Elementary Internet Tools - Halton's main access page for research, resource access, and processing
French Resources - A Google supported app, with an informational video supporting French language learners
Math Resources for AT - A useful page providing links to different math resources and content
G.A.P.S. Research Model - Providing Halton's research model for completing research for any given topic
Websites / Web 2.0 - A useful resource outlining a variety of links for students, across numerous subjects
Halton Cloud - A great Google supported Web 2.0 tool for creating documents and sharing with others
Available to Some
Many students in Halton have been identified as requiring assistive technology software to support their learning needs. Halton provides students with numerous software licensing apps available on all school technology devices, as well as being available for downloading purposes on personal home devices (that can be used at home, or as a part of the bring I.T. initiative). Here is a list of several applications that Halton currently has purchased licensing rights for use.
SMART notebook -used for creating interactive presentations that are compatible with SMART board technology
WordQ - A word prediction device that works with several word processing applications
Boardmaker Studio - An app for creating presentations for student and teacher use
Clicker 5 - A multi-media software that supports reading and writing across all grade levels; sentence creator
Dragon Naturally Speaking - Voice to text software to support students who may struggle with writing
Kurzweil - A multi-functional software app, for reading, writing, scanning, studying, and researching
Premier Literacy - A toolbar that helps to support reading and writing, using a variety of features and functions
Classroom Suite - An ideal tool to support reading, writing, and math, among ELL's and other students
Smart Ideas - A graphic organizer tool that allows students to create interactive mind maps and diagrams
Audio Tools - This link provides access to slideshow, outlining some useful audio tools that students can use
Available for a Few
In order for students to get additional support for the use Assistive Technology applications and devices, they need to have a formal identification accessed, for a prescription to be submitted for A.T. The Halton Board states the following:
A diagnosis of need for AT by one or more medical professionals is required for a student to receive personal technology through the Special Equipment Amount - Per Pupil Amount grant. AT may be prescribed for a student without a formal identification as an exceptional student, or without a diagnosis, if, in the opinion of the medical professional(s), the technology is required for the student to access the curriculum or to express their understanding of the curriculum.
While there are currently about 3000 personally prescribed computers in the Halton District School Board, it is not fiscally feasible to provide every student in the Halton District School Board who might benefit from AT with a personally-assigned computer. For that reason, laptop AT programs (Premier, Smart Ideas, WordQ) are part of the standard student image and are available on all student computers with an operating system that can run the programs. In addition, Premier and WordQ are available for home installation. Many iPAD apps with an assistive technology function are free (Dragon Naturally Speaking, Paperport Notes) and Chrome apps and extensions are available through student sign-in to their Halton Cloud account.
Once a student has a prescription placed on their behalf, then the student may receive a board owned laptop, Live Scribe pen, or iPad, for the students to use, both in the school and at home. Training will also provided for the student, by the board, on how to use the device, as well as how to use several of the applications already listed above.
Fantastic Post and list of resources. The tools you discuss are similar at the HWDSB as well, but what I notice is that many of the tools are being replaced with a more Universal Model...and always available to all. For instance, Read/Write for Google can replace Premier, Dragon and Kerzweil.... I wonder if money can be saved if/when we all decide to make all tools accessible for all students, at all times. Thoughts?
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