Remote Learning Supports

Supports to Accommodate for Special Education Needs with Remote Learning

These resources have been compiled to assist educators in providing curriculum accessibility for students with special education needs. This list is not inclusive and will be updated on our website as new resources are identified. NOTE: Many of the companies and online services  listed below are now offering discounted or free support to schools and families during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Computer or iPad Accessibility Features

Students with vision, hearing or motor impairments may first need their home computer adapted to provide physical access. Parents who need assistance with adapting changes on their home computer for a student may contact us directly for 1:1 support.                                                                                                        

Apple Accessibility -  Accessibility Support 
Windows Accessibility  -  https://bit.ly/3d5odzC 
Chromebook Accessibility  - Turn on Chromebook accessibility features - Chromebook Help 

Distance Learning Platforms and Tools

Help is available for educators and therapists making the quick-switch to remote instruction!  

Flipped Learning Global Initiative http://aalasinternational.org/rtol/ created the "Rapid Transition to Online Learning," a guide for making the rapid shift to online learning during school closures. The resources include a checklist for administrators,  a transition plan and video tutorial for teachers, and access to an international team of volunteers who have stepped forward to answer questions

Streamer (live captioning tool) - https://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/    Streamer is an internet-based service that works with any livestream platform to provide real-time captioning and translation in a secure mode that fully complies with student privacy laws.  Streamer service is free for the first 30 days. 

Remote Learning Comparison Chart Remote Learning: a comparison among top collaboration tools  created by Acer for Education, helpful for quick assessment of functions across 5 platforms

While many schools already use Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams through district licenses, remote instruction can also be offered using these formats, many of which are offering free access during the school closure period.

Zoom https://zoom.us/signin
Cisco / WebEx -https://www.webex.com/covid19.html 
Schoology https://www.schoology.com/
VoiceThread https://voicethread.com/
GoToMeeting https://www.gotomeeting.com/  
FlipGrid https://info.flipgrid.com/
Canvas https://canvas.instructure.com/login/canvas 
8x8 Video Conferencing  https://8x8.vc/ 
Avaya app - https://www.avaya.com/blogs/archives/2020/03/avaya_spaces_cv/ 
Blackboard https://www.blackboard.com/

BombBomb -   https://bombbomb.com/education/  This program lets users record and send video messages, such as feedback on homework, through email, text and other communication formats, including Schoology and Google Classroom (currently free to teachers)

Screen mirroring tools (for sharing visual supports and AAC systems)
iPevo document cameras https://www.ipevo.com/
Reflector https://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector

Online Engagement Tools

Kahoot https://kahoot.com/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/
Padlet https://padlet.com/
Quizlet https://quizlet.com/
Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/
Poll Everywhere https://www.polleverywhere.com/
Online Stopwatch https://www.online-stopwatch.com/classroom-timers/ 
GoNoodle https://www.gonoodle.com/

Annotate - https://annotate.net/  a digital whiteboard and annotation tool that transforms a Computer, Chromebook, iPad, or any mobile device into a powerful engagement, assessment, and participation tool. We have recently added support for Screen Sharing and audio streaming that enables educators to teach remotely. Teachers can record their sessions or create videos with annotations and voice overs using the video creation tool and publish it to student accounts or share with Google Classroom.

Loom-Loom Pro Free for Students and Teachers – Loom  Use this to capture your screen, voice, and face and instantly share your video in less time than it would take to type an email. Free for educators until July 31, 2020

Activity-based Instruction & Learning

Bamboo Learning -  https://bamboolearning.com/resources  uses Alexa-driven commands to engage students with activities that focus on fun, home-based, family-friendly learning. Content gets more challenging as students master different levels and includes a web-based dashboard for parents to follow their children’s progress.  

  • Bamboo Books: helps practice active listening and improve listening comprehension, offers stories for three age groups 

  • Highlights Storybooks from Bamboo: co-developed with literacy experts at Highlights magazine, offers engaging stories and exercises to practice active listening and improve listening comprehension for learners in K-3 grades. 

  • Bamboo Math: helps practice mental math, offers number problems and over 500,000 fun and engaging word problems in four areas of arithmetic (+ - x ÷) across 5 difficulty levels.  

  • Bamboo Music: introduces basic music theory, offers fun and engaging music games such as “Recognize the Instrument” and music exercises across 3 levels, incorporates children's nursery rhymes and selections from folk and classical music.  

ActivEd, Inc. -   http://info.activedinc.com/covid  offers Walkabouts free for remainder of the academic year (web-based lessons for pre-K to second-grade students that integrate movement with language arts, math, and reading content and correlate to your state’s standards)

Ginger Tiger - https://www.gingertiger.net/en  the largest online activity resource for special needs learners with activities suitable for users ranging from infancy to second grade. A flexible difficulty level setting system within the games allows teachers and parents to adapt the activities to the user’s progress and abilities. Enjoy all of our activities anywhere on any platform and access device. Limited time subscription offer - $8 for a month

Activity Village -  https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/school-closures  free access to thousands of colouring pages, crafts, puzzles, worksheets and more for parents and teachers.

HelpKidzLearn -  https://www.helpkidzlearn.com/updates/school-closure.html  has introduced a new 'Home Access' license that allows parents to subscribe for a low monthly fee and continue their child's learning at home. This new licence can be cancelled at any time and is available for Games and Activities, ChooseIt Maker 3, or ChooseIt Readymades

Arcademics -   How It Works   Boost student engagement & fact fluency with our free multiplayer educational games, math games, language arts games, and more

Age of Learning -  Age of Learning Helps Kids at Closed Schools  providing free home access for ABCmouse, Adventure Academy, and ReadingIQ. Programs serve students in preschool / pre-k, elementary school, and middle school

Life Skills Academy  https://www.conovercompany.com/lifeskillsacademy/   designed to be taught outside of the classroom, this is a great online tool for learning life skills at home. Lessons are video based and teach critical skills such as social, health, safety and more. Get 3 months of free access to our library of 100+ programs and over 5,500 videos by using code: FREE3MONTHS

Reading & Writing Supports 

Snap & Read https://learningtools.donjohnston.com/product/snap-read/ This is a powerful reading tool for Google Chrome, iPad and more that reads both accessible and inaccessible text aloud, levels vocabulary, translates, and delivers usage data to teachers who then can more easily assess students’ reading needs individually.

Readtopia https://learningtools.donjohnston.com/product/readtopia/ is a special education instructional program designed for teachers who work with  middle and high school students with autism and other complex needs. It serves as an integrated comprehensive reading curriculum across several domains of study including ELA, Math, Social Studies, Life Skills, and Science. Offers graphic novels and literature at seven levels for non-readers to paragraph readers. Age-respectful images reinforce text. The book covers are all the same, but inside, the text is carefully leveled.

Co:Writer - https://learningtools.donjohnston.com/product/cowriter/ available as an iPad app, Google Chrome extension, this long-standing program offers word prediction, translation, and speech recognition for struggling writers.

Beeline Reader - https://www.beelinereader.com/education  improves reading ability by displaying text using color gradients that wrap from the end of one line to the beginning of the next to facilitate visual tracking and enables the reader to focus on other aspects of reading.  Free access to the BeeLine Reader Browser Plugin for Chrome through September 2020. Contact Beeline at  education@BeeLineReader.com  to get a free account for you and your students.

Glean (note taking tool) -  Glean - online note taking tool by Sonocent FREE ACCESS   make students' transition to online classes a lot smoother by giving them access to an online note taking tool with dedicated features for online learning.  Get unlimited free access to Glean until August 31st 2020.

Fluency Tutor for Google -  Remote-Learning-Fluency-Tutor providing FREE access for students, teachers, and parents to Fluency Tutor for Google Chrome through the end of the school year. The program allows students to record themselves reading a Lexile-leveled passage and share that content with their teacher, making it great for remote learning.

CAPIT at HOME -  https://capitlearning.com/capit-at-home-enrollment offers a phonics curriculum on a digital platform for PK-2nd Grade students and older struggling readers. Parents get the help they need to support their child’s learning, and teachers receive Professional Development in phonics, as well as webinars to improve teacher performance in remote teaching.

File Transformer by Blackboard-  Generate an alternative format  a free resource enabling students to convert digital course content into alternative formats to meet their unique learning needs and preferences. An outgrowth of the company's accessibility checker, Blackboard Ally, the new resource lets students personalize their learning experience and choose from several format types (PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX and HTML) to work better with mobile devices, assistive technologies and study tools. 

Clicker@Home by Crick https://www.cricksoft.com/us/clicker/clicker-at-home a child-friendly word processing program offering speech feedback, word prediction, Voice Notes, picture support, and the ability to provide topic-specific Sentence Sets, Connect Sets and Word Banks (whether they are the ready-made ones we provide or resources you create yourself), mind mapping, Cloze activities, matching activities, and speaking and listening activities.

ClaroRead Coronavirus impact on Claro Software  a simple, flexible and easy to use text-to-speech software for Chromebooks, Windows and Mac devices, now offering a FREE copy of the software until end-July 2020.

News2You     n2y COVID Free Access and Resources   Teachers will find a complete Remote Learning Plan plus support for getting students set up, videos for getting started, and plenty of breaking news articles, communication boards and social narratives for helping students to work through this challenging time. FREE access to all of our online learning solutions until the end of the school year.

Lexia https://www.lexialearning.com/

Headsprout https://www.headsprout.com/

Read & Write - Read&Write supporting struggling students in education  This software toolbar helps students create and access content with the literacy support features like reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching assignments and proofing written work. A full, free license is ALWAYS available for educators. 

MobyMax - https://www.mobymax.com/

Visual Supports for Aided Learning or Communication

Widgit Online    https://widgitonline.com/    offering a free 21-day trial for creating visual schedules or picture-supported learning materials. You just type and the symbols appear! They also have templates you can use to make it even easier. 

Accessibyte -   Free access to Accessibyte Online All Access offering free access to its entire cloud platform of apps for blind, low vision, deaf and reading impaired students. Highly visual and fully audible typing tutor, games, flashcards and study apps; can be accessed from school or home on Chromebook, iPad, Mac, Windows or Android Devices with visual and audible accessibility built right into the browser.

Boardmaker Activities-to-go   - https://goboardmaker.com/pages/activities-to-go  Offering a free 90-day access to download and print visually supported communication and learning activities

LessonPix - https://lessonpix.com/ 

Smarty Symbols -    Free 30 days Access for teachers, therapists and families     GET FREE 30 DAYS ACCESS TO FAMILIES AND PROFESSIONALS for creating visually supported resources.

Supports for those with Hearing Loss

CID-Central Institute for the Deaf   https://cid.edu/professionals-3/covid-19-e-learning-resources/      offers free resources for educators supporting deaf students from birth to age 12, including online course topics, free downloadable materials, blog topics and Quick Tip videos, all in service of supporting the work you do with your students with hearing loss.

Streamer (closed captioning tool) - https://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/    Streamer is an internet-based service that works with any livestream platform to provide real-time captioning and translation in a secure mode that fully complies with student privacy laws.  Streamer service is free for the first 30 days. 

Digital Book Resources

ABDO Digital Book Library https://abdodigital.com/browse/?bb=format&fmt=readtome offering FREE access to digital books until May 31, 2020
Storyline Online https://www.storylineonline.net/ is available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide. Books are read aloud by actors and each story includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners.

Autism  Resources

Supporting Individuals with Autism in Uncertain Times -  Supporting Individuals with Autism through Uncertain Times Created by the UNC School of Education, & UNC FPG Autism Team, this guide offers helpful ideas and information for those caring for a child with Autism through this pandemic. Resources such as printable materials to address the COVID crisis, relevant communication supports, visual calendars and schedules, resources for coping and calming, etc. are included.                                               

Texas Autism Circuit Toolkit - http://www.autismcircuit.net/  Tools are sorted into four categories: Behavior, Communication, Social, and Classroom Organization, fully  searchable by skill, setting, behavior, or tool name. 
FOR EVERY TOOL YOU WILL FIND

  • An explanation of how and when to use it

  • Printable templates and resources

  • Links to opportunities to further your knowledge on the evidence-base for that strategy

Centervention -  https://www.centervention.com/    game-based behavior interventions help students in elementary and middle school practice and improve social and emotional skills.  Online program for educators free until June 30, 2020.

InnerVoice -  » Prevention and Communication Tools to Support the Needs of the Autism Community during the Outbreak of COVID-19  In response to the current outbreak, iTherapy has developed a universal core board to express basic health, wellness and emotional concerns along with a short video about prevention.

Accessible Books/eBooks:

Reader Pen trial- https://www.scanningpens.com/ReaderPenUS/# parents may borrow the Reader Pen for a 30-day trial to see how their child responds to this technology support.

Audible - https://stories.audible.com/start-listen  For as long as schools are closed, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages.All stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.

Learning Ally https://learningally.org/

Bookshare Bookshare | An Accessible Online Library for people with print disabilities  a FREE, federally funded library of 800,000+ accessible ebooks for students with reading barriers such as dyslexia, blindness, low vision, and cerebral palsy. The collection includes textbooks, educational materials, bestsellers, young adult, and children’s titles. Students can read on virtually any device in formats including audio, audio + highlighted text, braille, and large font. Individual accounts for home access are available for any student enrolled through the district’s account. 

Tumblebooks https://www.tumblebooks.com/

Libby for public library https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby/

Tar Heel Reader https://tarheelreader.org/

 

Math Supports

Ascend Math - https://ascendmath.com/coronavirus-offer/  K - 12 math instructional resource that provides an individual study plan for each student; teachers have the ability to assign standards to an entire class or grade to meet pacing guidelines.  Schools may have full use for up to 300 students absolutely free until June 30th. We will provide school-wide licenses at our cost.

MathScore  Fun Adaptive Math Practice and Math Help from MathScore  Free home version for parents; teachers wanting free access for remainder of the year can inquire here: http://www.mathscore.com/products/online-math-practice/signup/quote/ 

Bedtime Math - http://bedtimemath.org/bedtime-math-for-educators/  This is a great parent-engagement activity that encourages parents to make math learning part of any home routine: dinnertime, bath time, breakfast time. The website is full of great activities and the app is free.

DreamBox https://www.dreambox.com/

MobyMax https://www.mobymax.com/

Desmos (contains activities and lessons) https://www.desmos.com/

Equatio https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/products/equatio/

Geogebra (contains activities and lessons) https://www.geogebra.org/                                                  

Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/

Other Supports

News-To-You (current events newsletter) https://www.n2y.com/news-2-you/