Thing 6.2 -- Diverse Learning

Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners

Supporting students' literacy level seems to be a challenge throughout our district. Some simple tools to enhance digital text

• Appearance:  a serif type font, adjusted    spacing, and contrast. 
• Interactivity:  highlight, bold, underline, color-coding passages based on content, dictionary tools 
• Organization: re-order text, augment with guiding questions, give access to summaries as pre-reading activities 
• Text on iPod!:  Who knew? Split large text items into manageable notes to read on iPod. Kind of like chapters on a CD, the info stays linked.  
• Text to Speech: Free tools abound for converting text to sound files.

I like how these tools are listed in order from simplest to more complex. Any teacher can quickly and easily enhance digital text (and teach students to do the same) with the appearance tips. For those ready to move ahead, with technology, options for text-to-iPod and text-to-speech take it up just a tiny little notch.