Assistive technology available for all students

Don’t judge a book by its cover. And don’t judge what a department has to offer by its name.

SUNYIT Disability Services Counselor Coordinator Sue Sprague wants students on campus to know that assistive technology available through her office is not just for students with disabilities, but for any student who may find the tools helpful in their academic pursuits.

“Everyone learns differently, and different tools are going to be helpful to each student, giving them avenues of study they haven’t had before,” Sprague says. “The goal is to make students’ lives easier through the use of this technology.”

That technology can be software like “Read & Write Gold,” which can be downloaded to a computer and used to read any form of text. It’s helpful for many students who find they learn best by reading and listening to information at the same time. The software will read aloud the words on the page as a user types and can assist with editing to reduce many common errors. A tool called the “Echo Smartpen” creates uploadable notes or an mp3 recording of them. Other assistive learning tools that Sprague’s department can make available to students include free apps that can be downloaded to and used directly on a mobile device to make note taking, test review, dictation or planning easier.

“We’re focusing only on the free services and apps, with a college student’s wallet in mind,” she says. Harish Pelluru, a computer science graduate student, has been helping Sprague with assistive technology and training students on how to use it. “We don’t want people to stay away from this just because it’s done through disability services,” Pelluru says.

Both Sprague and Pelluru hope that by having these tools at their disposal, students will not only be able to make their academic lives easier, but will apply what they’ve learned to the rest of their lives too.

“There is a need we’ve seen after doing these trainings,” Pelluru said. “We need some departments that connect students to technology in order to enhance the learning experience. This is going to make them see how technology can accelerate the learning experience and anything in their life. They hopefully will then begin to start looking for technology that will increase their efficiency outside of the classroom as well.”