My name is Sam Goving, and I currently facilitate CONT820: Use and Knowledge of Assistive Technology. As a former classroom teacher, college professor, educational technologist, business owner, and currently a Communications Manager for a school board, I have had the pleasure of working with educational technology for nearly two decades.
With regards to Assistive Technology, the quickest, highest-impact strategy teachers can implement immediately is shifting from reactive accommodation to proactive, universal design. It will always be more difficult to attempt to accommodate your students on the fly instead of making small decisions at the beginning of the year to set up your class for success. Normalising Speech-to-Text is a perfect example. You can introduce voice typing to the entire class during a brainstorming session. When everyone sees it as just another tool rather than for specific students, the stigma disappears, and reluctant writers get to work.
Assistive technology isn't just about specialized hardware anymore. Instead, it is woven into the everyday devices already sitting on students' desks. This AQ equips educators to bridge the gap between having the tech and actually using it to drive student success. You will learn how to match specific student learning needs with the exact digital tool that unlocks their potential. You will learn to design lessons with built-in flexibility from the start saves hours of differentiation work down the road. Ultimately, this course gives teachers the pedagogy to teach self-advocacy, empowering students to navigate their own learning tools independently.