Assistive Technology: A Report on Adaptive Technologies in Education

This report discusses assistive and adaptive technologies in educational settings. It highlights the importance of these technologies in supporting students with disabilities, enabling them to participate fully in the learning environment. The report emphasizes that these technologies not only help disabled students but also encourage lifelong learning. It argues for the justification of investing in assistive technologies, even if they are expensive, to provide equal opportunities for all students. It discusses how assistive technologies such as screen readers and speech recognition systems help students with disabilities. The report also references the benefits of these technologies, including their ability to integrate disabled students into mainstream classrooms and encourage continued learning for adults. The report underscores the value of assistive technologies in enhancing functional capabilities and promoting inclusivity in educational institutions. It concludes by advocating for the implementation of these technologies across various educational levels, including schools, colleges, universities, and libraries.

Running head: ASSISTIVE/ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Assistive/Adaptive Technology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ASSISTIVE/ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Assistive or adaptive technology, as the name suggests, is a technology meant to
assist a person or to be adapted by a person to perform some particular tasks that he or she is
unable to perform naturally. Generally, people with certain disabilities rely on the devices
that use these technologies to accomplish their daily routine and other day-to-day activities.
In educational institutions, devices adapting these technologies assist a person with disability
to adapt to the world same as the others (Singleton, 2016). For instance, a blind person can go
to school and learn the same as the other sighted classmates with the help of an Assistive
Technology Devices like screen readers and speech recognition systems. However, some of
these devices are pocket-friendly and some may go over the proposed budget held for an
educational institution.
Although these devices may sometimes be too expensive to order and be used by a
limited number of student in a mainstream school, college, university or library, they are
justified to be implemented by every educational institutions in the same way. This is
because, an assistive technology does not only assist a disabled individual for learning the
same as the others but also these devices increase, improve and maintain functional
capabilities of disabled individuals (Oyelude, 2017). The adaptive or assistive devices have
an impeccable advantage of enabling the people with disabilities to blend into the general
classroom environment. Most importantly, an assistive or adaptive device does not just offer
help to disabled children in learning, but can also inspire the disabled adults and elders to
continue the learning process as well. Therefore, it is justified to pay for the expensive
Assistive/Adaptive Devices for educational institutions that would help a small amount of
people to mainstream with the general environment through learning.

2ASSISTIVE/ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Reference
Singleton, K. J. G. (2016). Assistive technology: An analysis of secondary level educator's
perceptions (Doctoral dissertation, University of West Georgia).
Oyelude, A. A. (2017). Assistive technologies in libraries and the classroom. Library Hi Tech
News, 34(10), 22-23.