Technology Tools to Address Visual-Spatial or Motor Control Difficulties

In previous blogs I have discussed and examined various devices and tools to help to remove barriers for students with disabilities in reading and writing. Because “students with disabilities may experience difficulty in writing numbers, aligning digits in computation problems, and creating visual representation (e.g., shapes or angles) for a number of reasons” (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012) it is important to remove these barriers so that students many demonstrate their understanding of mathematical concepts. In this post I have outlined various tools as found in, “Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities”: to assist students with visual-spatial or motor control difficulties in math.

MathPad- “is a talking math worksheet program that enables students to perform arithmetic computations with whole numbers on the computer in much the same way they would use a pencil and paper” (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012). This program provides immediate feedback to students and has customizable speech output that prompts regrouping for struggling readers or students who are visually impaired. 

MathPad Plus- utilizes the same features of MathPad, but extends the skills to fractions and decimals.

Virtual PencilArithmetic- is designed for students who are, in the words of the publisher, “pencil impaired”. “VP Arithmetic makes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals accessible to students with disabilities” (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012). Virtual Pencil also features speech feedback and a tutor that guides students along the way.

Virtual PencilAlgebra- contains the same features of VP Arithmetic, but allows students with disabilities to easily access and solve algebraic equations.   

Number Navigator- allows students to solve basic math problems on the computer, but does not have speech output.

 

Microsoft Word- commonly used for word processing, this program can also be used by students who have difficulty writing to show their work.

Scientific Notebook- designed for solving equations. “This program provides students who have disabilities the opportunity to participate in advanced math classes. Students can work with calculus, vector calculus, transformations, and matrices, among other topics” (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012).

REFERENCE

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2012). Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.