1. To assist students in developing skills they lack
2. To supplement the skills they have or make up for skills they lack
3. To assist the teacher with tracking and programming
Skills Supplementation
Skills Supplementation
This facet is used when a student is asked to show their understanding of certain concepts, without interference from difficulties in language. For example, a student may excel in Science, but lack the language skills to communicate through written question-and-answer tests. Many word-processing programs are available to supplement their language difficulties by providing spelling and grammar assistance. Programs, such as Smart Ideas, allow students to demonstrate understanding through concept maps.
There is a small moral dilemma here: how often should we bypass necessary skills?
As students reach high school age, schools are more willing to teach them coping skills, including the use of special technology. Even spellcheckers, online dictionaries and organizers and schedulers can be considered adaptive technology for some students.
There are, of course, students whose special needs make skill development in some areas impossible. Visually-impaired students can benefit from screen displays using large text or particular colour combinations and from page scanners that convert text into spoken language. Programs that read text appearing on the screen, and type text spoken into a microphone can assist many students with various difficulties to become proficient writers. Hardware accessories such as trackballs, alternate keyboards and "human wind" switches can be attached to most computers.