Hey! I’m here with 4 tech tips to help engage your students and keep technology accessible for all of your learners.
1.) Guided Access
Here’s the scenario… you finally get iPads in your classroom. You put your students on selected apps and start doing direct instruction with a student at the back table. 10 minutes later, you have 3000 selfies and two kids trying to buy animal crackers on Amazon. UGH! So much for the iPads? Not exactly. If you don’t know about the Guided Access feature, consider your teacher life changed.
Guided Access essentially locks your students into an app. They would need to be able to triple click the home button AND enter a 4 digit passcode to exit the app. Even our sneakiest kiddos would struggle with that! Here’s the steps:
- Launch the “settings” app on your iPad.
- Tap “general”
- Tap “accessibility”
- Tap “guided access” under the “learning” header
- Tap on “passcode settings”
- Set passcode
- Move “accessibility shortcut” to ON, which allows you to triple-click the home button and enter Guided Access at any time
ENJOY!
2.) Gloves
Ever have a student who struggles with one finger isolation and consistently makes incorrect taps with her other fingers on the iPad? Try gloves! iPads won’t work with gloved fingers, so adding a modified glove is a great way to help your student access technology effectively.
3.) Google Keep
Have students with major executive functioning needs? I’m talking the student who’s incredibly unorganized and no planner in the world could ever keep up with them. Try Google Keep! If this student always has a phone or tablet, this is a wonderful tech resource. You can create color coded reminders and lists to keep life organized, plus it has really cool search features to find exactly what you’re looking for.
4.) Quizlet
Study skills are so hard to teach and maintain for our students. Quizlet won’t solve all of these problems, but technology makes everything more fun, right? Students can make decks of flashcards using this app, or search for premade ones in the app. If you have students constantly losing items, like study guides and flashcards, this is a great way to engage in technology AND maybe pass the quiz!
What favorite tech resources do you use with your students in special education?
Love,
Allie