Professional Documents
Culture Documents
http://isc.sagepub.com/
Published by:
Hammill Institute on Disabilities
and
http://www.sagepublications.com
Additional services and information for Intervention in School and Clinic can be found at:
Email Alerts: http://isc.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://isc.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
The proliferation of Web 2.0 technologies has made it possible for teachers to create a variety of engaging online
learning activities for students of all ages. However, for students with learning disabilities, the prospect of having
to search, read, and analyze information online can be overwhelming. This article reviews a variety of tools and
techniques that teachers can use to help make online learning more manageable for students with disabilities.
These free tools focus on removing the clutter and distractions often found online and helping direct student attention towards the relevant content.
Keywords: online learning; learning disabilities; adaptive tools; Web 2.0
Impact of Technology on
Teaching and Learning
In the classroom, computers and Web-based technologies are having a profound influence on the way
teachers instruct and students learn. Using technology to
Authors Note: Correspondence should be addressed to Stein
Brunvand, University of Michigan-Dearborn, 19000 Hubbard, D7
Fairlane Center South, Dearborn, MI 48126; e-mail: sbrunvan@
umd.umich.edu.
Intervention in School and Clinic, Volume 45 Number 5, May 2010 304-311
DOI: 10.1177/1053451209359075 2010 Hammill Institute on Disabilities
http://isc.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
Barriers to Technology
One of the primary barriers to student use of technology is the lack of access to computers in the classroom
(Becker, 2000; Norris, Sullivan, Poirot, & Soloway,
2003). Other common barriers include a lack of adequate time for training and planning (Duffield, 1997;
Lan, 2000), a resistance to change ones own instructional approach (Beacham, 1994; Cuban, 1986), teacher
perceptions of student ability (Becker, 2000), and a general lack of funding. The pedagogical strategies and
technology tools reviewed in this article will not miraculously put more computers into classrooms, but they will
help address the other barriers mentioned above by providing access to free resources that can easily be used to
differentiate instruction for all students. The tools presented in this article are intuitive and broadly applicable
to a wide range of content areas, making them easy to
use and implement across the curriculum without extensive training. In addition, all of the sites reviewed in this
article are free and work in multiple browsers (e.g.,
Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) and with all the major
computer operating systems (e.g., Windows, Mac,
Linux), which makes them desirable to teachers and
easier to integrate. Some of the tools require the teacher to
create an account, but it is not necessary for students to
have accounts to be able to learn and benefit from all
that these resources have to offer.
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
search engine that you add sites to periodically, and students could use this search engine to conduct research
on a variety of topics. Multiple teachers can collaborate
on the creation of a particular search engine. To do
this, one teacher would need to create the initial search
engine and then invite his or her colleagues to join and
edit that particular engine, thereby allowing several
people the option to add relevant sites to a single search
engine. You can view, and try out, a custom search engine
by visiting the following link (i.e., http://www.google
.com/coop/cse?cx=012094629152321566053:sjh84bwx
ao4&hl=en).
This particular custom search engine was designed
to search only four different sites, each of which has
information about the solar system, with a focus on
elementary students.
Although a Google custom search engine can help to
make the process of searching the Internet more manageable, this process may still be too overwhelming for
some students, because they will be expected to enter
relevant keywords and sort through the list of sites on
the results page, even though those results will be constrained to only the preselected sites. The next several
tools are designed to help teachers share a group of
preselected sites with students without the need to
conduct a keyword search.
ShareTabs
ShareTabs is well named because it allows you to easily share a series of Web sites as tabs on a single page (see
http://sharetabs.com/). This is similar to using the tab feature found in most browsers, but the difference is that the
teacher can create the tabs for an entire class and then just
share a single URL with the class that provides them
access to those tabs. The process for creating the tabs is
quite simple. The first step is identifying the Web sites you
would like to share with students. Next, copy and paste
the URL for each of the identified sites into a box on the
ShareTabs site. Then ShareTabs creates a new link that
takes your students to a series of tabs, each of which provides access to one of the identified sites. The link created
by ShareTabs can be customized, making it possible for
the teacher to choose a URL that is easier for students to
type and remember. However, it would probably be easiest to provide access to the URL by posting it as a link
on an existing class or school Web site so that students
could just click on it rather than having to type it themselves. For students with a learning disability, easy
access to a set of URLs enhances their ability to focus
on their work instead of having to spend time typing in
the sites on their own. Some students with learning
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
307
Figure 1. Screenshot from ShareTabs (http://sharetabs.com/?searchengines), highlighting tabs to Google, Yahoo Search, MSN Live Search,
AOL Search, and Ask.com.
sites identified by the teacher will always remain accessible, making it easier for the student to switch back and
forth between multiple Web pages and resources. Creating
a fixed set of tabs is also safer for students with a learning
disability to use because it minimizes the likelihood that
they will view a site with inappropriate content or information. ShareTabs does not require an account or registration and is free to use.
TrackStar
TrackStar is another tool you can use to share a series
of Web sites with students, but instead of creating tabs as
with ShareTabs, TrackStar lets you create a track or trail
through a collection of sites (see http://trackstar.4teachers
.org/trackstar/index.jsp). This allows the teacher to place
Web sites in a specific order, which makes it possible to
sequence the various sites in a logical fashion to support
students in their research or whatever task they are
assigned to complete. To create a track, (a) you identify
the sites you want students to view, (b) then copy and
paste the sites into TrackStar in the order you desire, and
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
Figure 2. Screenshot of branches of government track (Track 260517), Copyright 1995-2009 ALTEC at the University of Kansas,
annotations by Shanna Gerth.
screenshot from a track assembled for younger elementary students learning about the three branches of government. This track is publicly available and can be accessed
by searching for Track Number 260517 on the TrackStar
Web site. Notice along the left side of the screen the list
of sites available in this track. Teacher comments have
been added above each site as well, alerting the students
to what they may find on the specific page. TrackStar is
free to use but does require users to register with the site
to create tracks. However, students would be able to view
and access tracks without having to register or create an
account.
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
Awesome Highlighter
This is a Web-based tool that allows you to mark up a
Web page much like you would a hardcopy text using
a traditional highlighting marker (see http://www
.awesomehighlighter.com/). You can access and use it
by going to the link or by downloading a bookmarklet for
your browser that allows you to highlight pages from
anywhere on the Web. With Awesome Highlighter you
can highlight text using a variety of different colors and
add sticky notes, which can easily be resized and placed
on a Web site so that they do not block other relevant text
or content. Students are also able to hide and move notes
as needed, which gives them a level of control over the
information provided on the page. After a page has been
highlighted, Awesome Highlighter creates a new URL
address for that annotated page that can then be shared
with students. You can use this tool without an account,
and your students will be able to view your annotated
pages without having to log in or register. However, one
benefit of registering for a free account is that you are able
to go back and edit pages that you have annotated, which
is not an option if you do not have an account. To view
an annotated page, see http://awurl.com/7KSmlCtm2.
There are other annotation tools, such as WizLite
(http://wizlite.com/) and SharedCopy (http://sharedcopy
.com/), that provide a similar range of functionality. One
thing to consider when looking at these types of tools is
that some are designed for open collaboration and, therefore, allow others to add highlights and annotations to
your pages. This means that anyone with the appropriate
account can add their own comments, highlights, and
notes to your annotated pages, which may not be desirable since you would not be able to control these additional edits. In many cases, it is possible to turn off this
collaborative feature so that you can lock the page, but
it would be important to verify that before using any of
these tools in a K-12 setting. Awesome Highlighter
does not allow for this type of collaborative annotating,
making it more conducive for use by teachers.
Combining Tools to
Increase Accessibility
Many of the tools discussed in this article could be
used independently to promote student learning. How
ever, it is also possible to combine the use of different
tools to support students as they look for information
and read content online. For instance, a Google custom
search engine consisting of five different sites could be
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014
Conclusion
By using the tools outlined in this article, teachers are
able to provide support to students without drawing
attention to their specific needs or disabilities. In addition, these types of tools empower students by allowing
them to take control of their learning and make individual decisions about what kinds of supports they need
to utilize to be successful. Once taught how to use a tool
like TidyRead or Readability, students can make decisions about when they want to use this resource. If a
teacher creates a track of sites in Trackstar, complete
with additional explanatory comments to help students
better understand the content, each student can decide
how he or she will utilize those supplemental comments
to complete the required tasks. In many ways, these
tools can be used with existing technology-enhanced
lesson plans and do not require teachers to design brandnew Web-based activities for students. Instead, teachers
should look at utilizing the different features of these
resources to make the online learning experiences they
have already designed for students more accessible.
References
Beacham, B. (1994). Making connections: Transforming ivory towers
and little red school houses. In J. Willis, B. Robin, & D. A. Willis
(Eds.), Technology and teacher education annual 1994.
Downloaded from isc.sagepub.com at Univ. of South Carolina Aiken on November 10, 2014