EdTech 541 Week 14: Assistive/Adaptive Technology

1. Rationale for Assistive/Adaptive Technology: In this forum please respond to the following: Schools, universities, and libraries are struggling with tight budgets. How can we justify spending a lot of money to buy assistive technologies that might only be used by a small number of people? Cite relevant literature.

I completely agree that educational organizations are struggling with budgets.  Here in Arizona we have huge issues with public schools and funding.  Our small school district had to cut an additional $1.5 this year.  Teacher pay has been frozen for years and many employees are completing the work of what was previously 2 or 3 positions.  Strangely enough, in my district, our voters passed our bond measure specific to purchasing technology.  The technology that we are purchasing already comes with many UDL technologies built in.

Although assistive technologies may sound expensive, I would argue that most new technologies come with these tools already.  According to Amy Katzel and Curtis Richards in their article Universal Design for Learning: Strategies Principals Can Employ in Their Schools, "UDL is not about doing more, but rather about doing things differently so that every type of learner can reach his or her potential academically and, ultimately, professionally."  Before using the excuse that UDL is too expensive, educators should look more closely at what they already have and see how they can use it differently to help all students succeed.