AACPS OIT Byte

by Tracey Brown, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Digital activities often involve multiple modes of information delivery, or mixed media, including text, images, and videos. In order to cover each in this post, we will provide one suggestion for making each more accessible for students; we’ll call it the MOST IMPORTANT consideration for each when we think about ensuring every student has equal access to our digital materials. Text The most important way to ensure that students have equal access to text is to ensure they know how to use speech-to-text tools. Many learners comprehend better by listening, or combining listening with reading. In AACPS, the web-based tool we have to read text aloud to students is the Read&Write extension . But because accessibility is such a big deal, many applications have their own dedicated speech-to-text tools, like Wixie, for example. Microsoft applications, like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Minecraft Education also include Immersive Re...

By: Koralina McKenna, Teacher Specialist - Office of Instructional Technology When I started teaching in 2016, I made it a point to ask students for their preferred name; I took notes on pronunciation and tried my best to get it right as soon as possible. But, it wasn't until 2020 that I added "preferred pronouns" to my first day survey. I created a way to keep track of my students preferred names and pronouns and made sure they were easily accessible for any sub or visitor in my classroom. These simple practices can affirm students' identity and help build a culturally responsive classroom. However, I quickly learned that I needed to do more to support my students and technology could make that seemingly daunting task a little easier.  In my early years, I often overlooked the Read&Write tool; mostly I found the purple puzzle piece to be an annoyance - until I came to appreciate how it could open up the digital world for all my students. During a reading heavy l...