Overview
What to expect:
Welcome to our Open Educational Resource about Assistive Technology (AT) for English Language Learners (ELLs). As you navigate through the resource, you will find activities at the end of each page and three discussion prompts on the UBC blog. We encourage you to participate in the activities and to respond to at least one of the discussion prompts on the blog. Our goal is to provide you with information about AT that can be used for ELLs, give a glimpse of the AT market, whilst giving you an opportunity to explore some AT first hand.
How Assistive Technology can be an enabler to society
Dr Julie McElroy talks about access to innovative assistive technology from a user-centred perspective and how it can be life changing for people with disabilities. She challenges us to think about how everyone can take part in a more equal world with adaptive technologies.
Much of the technology that would be categorized as assistive technology aids with the demands of everyday life and serves the general public. For example, how many of us listen to audiobooks? Listening to books is one of the ways of help with reading problems (Lewis, 1998). Or when was the last time you used Google Translate when you were travelling? AT has entered mainstream purposes and has widespread use due in part to the availability of technology such as computers in the classroom setting.
Meet the Team
Jocelyn
Jocelyn is an elementary school teachers with the Toronto District School Board. She has taught a diverse range of learners and understands the value of assistive technology in the classroom to support the needs of her students. Her first language is English and can understand/ speak some Cantonese (she hopes to become more fluent and knows it's never too late to learn more!)
Outside of her work, Jocelyn is a mom to two young girls and enjoys going for a run outdoors.
Petros
Petros has been teaching ESL for the last three years in Montreal, Quebec. He has taught at both elementary and high school levels, and recognizes the importance of using technology and assistive technology in order to make the classroom an inclusive environment for all students, and to give each student an opportunity to succeed in the classroom. He is bilingual in English and French, and is also fluent in Greek.
Outside of his profession, Petros enjoys going to the gym, play/watch sports, play video games, read books, and cherishes spending time with family and friends.
Trevor
Having taught English across 3 continents for over a decade, Trevor is the quintessential English Second Language (ESL) instructor teaching at the post-secondary level. But unlike other educational settings, ESL instruction at that level has many external factors affecting its commercial viability: international relations between Canada and other countries ( particularly China), seasonal variations in enrolment, inflation and other Global factors… like a pandemic… impact on stable employment and student numbers.
Having witnessed the continual rise of blended-learning technologies, he decided to broaden his skill-set by joining the UBC MET program. He is now in the process of creating an online educational consultancy to help corporations benefit from the best online learning practices.