Learning+Disabilities+and+Webspiration

Learning Disabilities and Webspiration
by Lori Degenhart

As many as 1 in 5 people have some form of a learning disability. Although there is no cure to these disabilities, children can and do learn successfully by being taught ways to get around their disability. Some of these children struggle with organizational tasks in written and spoken expression. Others have difficulties storing and retrieving information that they have learned. If these students had access to a tool to help them with organizational tasks, they may have better success in the classroom and in life. Webspiration is a Web 2.0 tool that children with learning disabilities, as well as all children, could benefit from. Webspiration is the newest version of the Inspiration software. According to the Webspiration website, this tool can help students think visually with graphic organizers and diagrams, get organized with outlines, and work collaboratively with others. Webspiration has a “Diagram View” and an “Outline View” that you can toggle between. These capabilities make organizing and expanding on ideas very easy which then could aide all children especially ones with the learning disabilities mentioned above.

The biggest barrier that learning disabled children in my school encounter is access to computers and the internet. We are trying to remedy this, but it takes time and money. We now have tried to knock part of that barrier down by having better accessibility in regards to technology at school. Educators now have a means to teach students how to use Web 2.0 techniques. Webspiration’s Quick Start Guide is a great resource for getting started on how to use this particular tool mentioned above. Children with learning disabilities may need a peer mentor to work with them until the child is more familiar with [|Webspiration]. Other learning disabled children may need to work on these concept maps, webs, process flows, idea maps, etc. collaboratively with another student or adult in order to better help them with organization techniques and ideas.

Webspiration is free to sign up for while it is in beta form and is accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Applications for this tool are endless. If you visit their website, you will find many ideas on how to incorporate this technology.

Webspiration Website: @http://www.mywebspiration.com/ Webspiration’s Quick Start Guide: http://www.mywebspiration.com/ gettingstarted Other links: http://www.medicinenet.com/ learning_disability/article. htm http://www.greatschools.org/ articles/?topics=226&language= EN http://www.ncld.org/images/ stories/Publications/Forms- Checklists-Flyers-Handouts/ ldchecklist.pdf http://idea.ed.gov/explore/ home