CTG Highlights, Part III

Another highlight for me was listening to the presentation "The Power of Voice for Writing" by Bridgette Nicholson of Custom Solutions. This woman is brilliant! Besides creating an outstanding web resource, with cutomized typing solutions, she has created two amazing products AND is an Assistive Technology Consultant with incredible ideas.

Her points during her presentation included:

• "Voice is one of the most underutilized methods for completing school work."
• "We can not underestimate how complex the writing process is."
• "Some students can only become proficient writers through the use of voice."
• "A combination of screen reading software and voice recording software can make even non-readers and non-writers independent at their cognitive level." (now that's a revolutionary thought!)
• "Look at independence and achievement vs. dependence and assisted work."

Hopefully, you get the point.

This is a radical new way to view instruction and learning. We are a printed text based/handwritten output based educational system. Is this the best way for students to access the curriculum and demonstrate what they know? I don't think so. It's time to think outside the box and offer a variety of methods. And using the power of voice through voice recording and voice recognition is a viable alternative.

This is differentiated instruction. This can also be Universal Design for Learning. This is 21st Century Classroom Instruction. This is optimizing instruction for success and putting the "I" back in "Individualized Education Program."

Are you up to the challenge?