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=Assistive Technology Project=

Introduction
When you step into your classroom, will you be prepared to meet the educational needs of all your students? Special needs students and their parents will depend on your expertise to ensure their educational needs are being met in your classroom.

According to Sheryl Burgsthahler, Director of DO-IT:

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 * "Even though there's a lot of technology available for people with disabilities, it isn't implemented that much in our school systems today, and there are a lot of reasons for that. One is that people who work with students with disabilities--this could be teachers, lab managers, parents--often aren't aware of the technology that //is// available for them. And, then, technology is not always included in the planning process."**

There's a lot of technology out there to help special needs populations? But it's not being used in schools....and a lot of that has to do with people just not realizing that there are solutions.

This is a problem in the education system. Administrators aren't planning for assistive technology, and teachers aren't really aware of their options. What do you say we start to change this?

Navigating the Webquest
Here's how your journey through this webquest will progress.


 * **P1**--meeting people with disabilities
 * **P2**--defining key terms related to special education technology
 * **P3**--learning about issues of web accessibility
 * **P4**--experiencing sensory disabilities through web simulations
 * **P5**--learning about assistive features that come bundled in the operating system of your computer, and choosing tools for Joshua, CeCe, and Beth
 * **P6**--choosing other hardware and software tools for Joshua, CeCe, and Beth (outside of the operating system)
 * **P7**--learning about relevant legislation and resources in Georgia

Documenting Your Answers
As you work through P1 through P7, you will be gathering and processing information using the document that follows. Download the document and use it to input your answers as you complete the numbered tasks.

In all your writing, be sure that you use your own words. Do not copy/paste others' words into this document. When you have completed the assignment, please post to the appropriate page on your wiki. Post the link to your wiki page in the **Assignment: Assistive Technology Project** dropbox.



(It's okay that the file says "fall10." That just indicates its last update.)

The Plugins You Need to Be Successful
Over the course of this webquest, you will be using a variety of streaming videos and accessing webpages. You may need to have the //Real Player//, //Quicktime//, and the //Adobe Flash// plugins to function properly. Visit the **[|Downloads Page]** provided by our very own **[|DDEC]** to download and install the plugins.

The Next Step
Now that you have your answer sheet, you're ready to go hunting through the resources for answers.

Onward, to **P1** (**Process Task #1**)!