AIM for Digital Equality

“Technology – savvy teachers can integrate digital text and other accessible formats into classrooms routines and activities in ways that generally don’t require major shifts in their instructional practices.” – Joy Smiley Zabala & Gayle Bowser

Joy Smiley Zabala and Gayle Bowser wrote an article in AIM for Digital Equality based upon 2011 prediction Doug Levin, the CEO of the State Educational Technology Director’s Association made. Doug came on CNN and gave his perspective about what America may look like after transitioning from No Child Left Behind to Common Core State Standards.

According to Doug’s prediction, within 10 years (starting from 2011), all schools and districts will become paperless and students will have to hand in their assignments electronically. Students that are disabled and have difficulty reading text on paper will benefit tremendously “from the use of malleable and flexible digital materials”. They will also be able to manipulate text size to a size readable for them or they can color code text if they like or if they need further help they can always get immediate attention from digital resources to help them comprehend content.

The article gave me the impression (in a good way) that all teachers need to start looking down the path for insuring “that your instructional materials are universally designed to be flexible, accessible, and usable for students with and without disabilities” because you never know if you have a student sitting in your classroom with a disability if she/he choose not to disclose their personal information for whatever reasons. Student that are struggling will also benefit the same as those with a disability. After reading this article and reflecting on content. I have to say I am impressed. It’s about time the playing field gets leveled out where all students could have the opportunity to succeed academically.

There were other additional resources suggested in this reading that educators could use as an alternative to acquire materials for students who are disabled or struggling trying to keep-up with other classmates: 1) an educator could purchase material and some publishers include CD based digital editions or you can obtain them online; 2) an educator has the option to create their own material by any means available that is in accordance with school standards, such as scanning paper materials and converting them into digital files or the educator could record their lectures and convert them to audio files; and 3) look for material that is free such as digital sources online for example.