Necessary for some, good for all

‘Necessary for some, good for all,’ how true this quote can be regarding assistive technology. How fitting that the last comment I read from one of my colleagues in my course included a statement of how useful the automatic saving tool in Google Docs is for everyone. Saving should come second nature to everyone that routinely uses electronics. However I myself when I am in a groove and accomplishing work may forget to take a moment to save my updated work during my working period. How many times have we seen students lose work as they are sitting at the computer working and the computer freezes up on them?

I can think of any software designed to change speech to text and understand how useful this feature can be for everyone. Especially thinking about young students partaking in creative writing or story writing where their ideas are coming far faster than they could possible type or write. As teachers we forget that some of the best writers in the world do not always use pen and paper to document all their ideas. Some famous writers have audio recorders to help them contain all their ideas before collaborating everything in writing. Ideas that are lost because of taking the time to write out everything are not recognized for our assessment. We need to remember that using assistive technology does not mean students without special needs have no purpose for these educational tools. These tools can assist and enrich any students’ education without taking away responsibility from the student completing their own work. I am confident that assistive technology has a place for all learners if applied correctly with the curriculum.