Computer Tools Come to Special Education Curricula
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AbleNet and SoftTouch have formed a partnership to deliver computer and literacy tools to students with moderate to severe cognitive and physical disabilities. The partnership is designed to build on two of AbleNet's special ed curricula: Star Reporter and MEville to WEville.
MEville to WEville is an early literacy program designed for elementary school students with disabilities, and
Star Reporter is a curriculum for elementary and secondary students centered around the production of a school or classroom newsletter. The curricula have already been adopted by various districts in the United States, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and Philadelphia, according to the company.
SoftTouch is a developer of software tailored specifically for individuals with special needs focused on computer access, choice making, and literacy skills. Through the partnership, SoftTouch will contribute to the development of AbleNet's new literacy software, the result of which will be bundled with AbleNet's curricula.
In a statement released about the partnership, AbleNet said, "The bundled software package will initially include 25 classroom-ready electronic books based on SoftTouch's 'My Own Bookshelf.' This tool not only allows teachers to access pre-produced books or create customized books using photos, movies, text and sound files, including text to speech functionality, it also allow teachers to save the books to an individual student's electronic bookshelf."
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About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.