AT and Academics

An Overview of Using the WATI AT Assessment Process

Estimated Time to Complete: 2 hours

Hundreds of schools across the nation use a process that was developed by the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) to support AT consideration and assessment. This module provides an overview of the WATI assistive technology consideration, assessment and planning process. It also provides step-by-step directions for using the WATI process and forms to determine student AT needs and plan for successful implementation of selected AT devices and services. 

Math - WATI - Part I

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

Mathematics requires students to apply knowledge and strategies, solve problems, organize and communicate their thinking, understand how ideas connect, and develop and use representations. Given its complexity, mathematics is a subject that many students find challenging! Assistive technology (AT) includes tools that can help all students accomplish tasks in the area of mathematics.

This introductory module examines obstacles that can interfere with the learning of mathematics and focuses on the first three sections of the WATI AT Decision-Making Guide: Student Abilities/Difficulties, Environmental Considerations, and Tasks. A second module, Math - WATI - Part II, will the remaining sections of the decision-making guide: Solution Generation, Solution Selection, and AT Implementation Plans.

Math - WATI - Part II

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

Mathematics requires students to apply knowledge and strategies, solve problems, organize and communicate their thinking, understand how ideas connect, and develop and use representations. Given its complexity, mathematics is a subject that many students find challenging! Assistive technology (AT) offers tools that can help all students accomplish tasks in the area of mathematics.

This module is designed to show teams how to complete the Solution Generation, Solution Selection, Implementation Plan, and Follow-Up Plan sections of the WATI Assistive Technology Decision-Making Guide for Math so that effective AT solutions can be identified, trialed, and provided for students who struggle with mathematics. As part of this process, we will use the WATI Continuum of Considerations for Assistive Technology.

Reading - WATI - Part I

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

This module will assist teams in using the WATI assessment process to assess a student's need for assistive technology (AT) for reading. Teams can consider guiding questions to provide information about the Student, Environment(s) and Tasks, all around the task of reading and comprehending text.  The module provides information about students with print disabilities and the provision of accessible educational materials (AEM).    

Reading - WATI - Part II

Estimated Time to Complete: 2 1/2 hours

This module serves as "the next step" in assisting teams when using the WATI AT assessment process to determine a student's need for assistive technology (AT) for reading. This module should follow "Reading - WATI - Part I." In that module, information about the student, environment and tasks regarding the student's ability to read and comprehend text is collected and documented on the WATI AT Decision-Making Guide.  This module continues with the next step, which is to identify potential AT reading tools.

Writing: Composition - WATI - Part I

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

The process of written composition consists of many components that create barriers for students with disabilities. This module highlights and provides guidance for assessing the numerous challenges inherent in the writing process. The information presented in this module should be used as a guide only. When dealing with children, especially children with disabilities, many variables must be taken into consideration. This guide is meant to assist you in developing an area of focus and work out where the writing process has broken down for a given student. Written composition involves cognitive, sensory, and motoric components. Tools to assist the student with written composition will follow in the second module in this series, Writing: Composition - WATI - Part II. The motoric and sensory components will be addressed in the ATIM modules Writing: Motor Access - WATI - Part I and Part II. This module includes additional supporting articles, forms, case examples, and strategies for instruction and assessment of assistive technology (AT) for written composition.

Writing: Composition - WATI - Part II

Estimated Time to Complete: 2 hours

Words on a page can tell stories, paint pictures in our minds, and allow others to know our thoughts. However, for students with disabilities, the process of allowing those thoughts to flow onto the page may be difficult or even impossible. In Writing Composition - WATI - Part I, the discussion centered on the assistive technology (AT) assessment process. In this module, the process continues in terms of product selection, data collection, and implementation. Throughout the module the term assessment will be used instead of evaluation. Assessment is defined as: "A group of activities conducted to determine a student's specific needs" (Reed, 2009, p. 1).

This process is intended to elicit thoughtful consideration and selection of tools as well as set up a plan for implementation and follow-up. The selection of a tool is important, but the services provided to learn to use the tools are equally as important. The entire process is an interconnectedness of student, product, production, data collection, maintenance, follow-up dates, and continual reassessment.

Writing: Motor Aspects - WATI - Part I

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

Writing is a complex process that involves both the motor aspects of handwriting and the cognitive component of creating or composing written material. This module will focus on assistive technology assessment for the motor aspects of writing.

Specifically, the module will follow the WATI assessment process as it systematically progresses through information gathering, decision-making, and implementation planning. The WATI Assistive Technology Decision-Making Guide supports the team with guiding questions designed to yield information about the student, environment(s), and tasks.

This module is Part I of two parts. Part II, "Writing: Motor Aspects - WATI - Part II," will further explore tools for writing.

Writing: Motor Aspects - WATI - Part II

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

This module is Part II of assistive technology (AT) for the motor aspects of writing. Writing - WATI - Part I focused on the first four sections of the WATI assessment process, including information gathering, as well as special considerations the student, environment, and tasks. This module will cover the remaining sections of the WATI AT Decision-Making Guide as it systematically progresses through solution generation, solution selection, and implementation planning. The module includes assessment tools and forms, case examples, examples of assistive technology (AT) tools for writing following a continuum from low- to high-tech tools, learning activities, and additional supporting articles for further independent study.

Using Speech Recognition as AT for Writing

Estimated Time to Complete: 2 hours

In the past, speech recognition (SR) was hard to get and not very good. Now anyone with access to a smartphone, tablet, or Google Docs has speech recognition and it works very well. Speech recognition is built-in to most computer and mobile device operating systems and common word processor programs. Students can use it whenever they want.

But speech recognition is still an assistive writing feature for students with disabilities.

It should be considered using a data-driven assistive technology assessment process.

Navigating Accessible Educational Materials (AEM): Accessible Formats - Updated

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 1/2 hours

Educational materials can and should be usable for all students from the beginning, including students with disabilities who use assistive technology (AT). However, many materials are developed without consideration for the wide variation of students’ functional abilities: physical, sensory, or learning. To ensure students with disabilities have access to the materials of the curriculum, educators need to understand accessible educational materials (AEM) and the process of providing accessible formats. 

This module provides foundational information about AEM and procedural guidance for providing accessible formats as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).   

This module is an update of a previous module, Navigating Accessible Instructional Materials, authored by Diana Foster Carl in collaboration with the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM Center) and the Texas Assistive Technology Network (TATN). Both that module and this updated version include a four-step process for ensuring students with disabilities who need accessible formats receive them in a timely manner. This process was originally created by the AIM Center and continued to be developed by its predecessor, the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM Center).

AT and Academics Course Post-Assessment - Updated

Post-assessment for AT and Academics course.