Jake McMahan sped and tech

http://site.aace.org/pubs/foresite/SpecialEducation.PDF

The article I chose focused on the need to provide access to technology to special education students following as closely to form as providing technology to general education students. This is important to me because I believe that all children should have equal access to as many tools as possible to ensure a higher quality of life. The law agrees with my premise. In 2004 Congress passed the Assistive Technology Act, that basically states that all students must have access to the same technology tools. Most espcecially, the law states that state governments must provide for reutilization, loans, and device demonstrations for special needs students.
I was intruiged by the article's pronouncement of universal design for learning, or UDL. This theory posits that technology can help all students tailor their needs in a flexible manner by employing technology to better understand ideas and better express themselves. The article discussed how some software programs can better help special educaton students enhance their problem solving skills in subjects such as science and reading. I found that to be very interesting because I have never seen that employed in the classroom before.
The author talked about the importance of being cognizant of how lesson planning with the use of technology in mind will affect the students' chance of being successfull with said technology. Although that seems like an obvious statement, I would wager that not nearly enough educators take the time to think about how the use of technology could help or hinder their student's educational outcomes.

Overall, I felt the article provided some excellent information about how software could b specfically employed to help sped students in an array of subjects. I was intrigued by the UDL and plan to look into this theory in greater detail.