STEM for All: Personalize STEM Instruction with Accessible Technology

Students in STEM need to master specific vocabulary and be able to use it in their science writing activities (journals, lab reports, etc.). These skills can be especially challenging for students from different cultures and linguistic backgrounds, or to those with cognitive and/or language-based challenges.

Consider the use of:

• Embedded language supports – references, glossaries, text-to-speech, etc.
• Dynamic text leveling tools to adjust reading level
• Scaffolds and embedded agents to prompt science discourse “I hypothesized that…”
• Multimedia supports to target background knowledge

Here are some tools to help get your student comfortable with scientific vocabulary:

1. ARKive Magnetic Fridge Poetry Game - Encourage your students to play with science vocabulary to create fun poems about wildlife using the Magnetic Fridge Poetry Game.
2. ARKive - Build background knowledge and help students engage with curriculum through the use of the videos, photography and other resources from ARKive, a collection of multimedia materials on endangered species. Games, classroom resources, and lesson plans are available.

For students who might need more language supports consider integrating these tools that will help personalize their learning and support true understanding of the scientific concepts you’re trying to tackle:

1. Snap&Read Universal - Snap&Read Universal reads both accessible and inaccessible text aloud from websites, images, photographs, PDFs, web-based tests, and more. Snap&Read also adjusts complex text to be more readable, and allows you to capture information and cite your sources. You can even take a picture and have the text within that picture read aloud. This tool works across Google Drive, email, websites, Kindle Cloud Reader, and PDFs, works offline, supports Dynamic Text Leveling, includes study tools and annotations, translates text into 100+ languages, and includes a bibliography tool to help organize information.
2. TalkBoard - With TalkBoard students can visually express and build on ideas using iPads and allows students to illustrate collaborative ideas instantly. This app can be particularly helpful for language learners, autistic students, and visual learners.

By combining the learning medium with other language supports, you can truly support a learning environment that meets the needs of all students in becoming STEM literate.