Thing 14 - Universal Design for Learning

Speech-to-Text

Screencast - Demonstrating the Value of Speech-to-Text

Text to Speech: Speak Selection

 

1. Students would be able to read along with an article without struggling over difficult words.  They would hear the correct pronunciation of unknown words. 
2. Students could listen to their own writing while editing their work. 
3-4. Students could listen to a book at a higher reading level to improve their fluency and comprehension.

Guided Access

Limiting students’ access to only one app and keeping control of the volume (1) will keep distractions in the classroom to a minimum, however, there are times when you want students to have access to more than one app.  You may want them to post to a blog after designing a presentation and they would need you to come disable Guided Access so they could switch back and forth.  This could be somewhat chaotic in a class of 28.

Guided access would also be useful to allow a student or small group of students to be able to use an iPad app with little supervision(2).  This would allow the teacher time for working with another group of students.
Students with physical disabilities or students with autism may have trouble with certain apps by touching things on the screen that will close the app or change it’s appearance.  By blocking certain areas of the screen or disabling the home button, you will eliminate issues and decrease frustration for these students(3).