The ultimate guide to assistive technology for SENCOs!

The right assistive technology can change your classroom forever. Who’s ready to make learning more equitable for everyone?

Earlier this year, we partnered with nasen, the National Association for Special Educational Needs on an exciting new project that could change the way that educators think about and implement assistive technology in their classrooms: the Assistive Technology Miniguide.

We've created something truly special together.

It’s a complete assistive technology handbook that covers everything you'd need to implement it in the classroom: what’s available, the benefits they provide, and how to ensure that learners have the very best AT experience possible.

We’re very proud, and we can’t wait for you to read it and start using it to guide your own inclusion and assistive technology strategy in your classrooms!

Meet the edtech experts responsible...

Julia Clouter is Head of Education Services for Empowering Tech group’s assistive technology champions. Myles Pilling of AccessAbility Solutions is a SEND ICT and Assistive Technology consultant with a specialism in assistive technology and its application. They’ve a huge wealth of experience and have worked with the British Dyslexia Association, Succeed With Dyslexia, PATOSS and more.

Drawing on Julia and Myles’ in-depth understandings of what makes learning happen, our brand new assistive technology miniguide gives us an insider peek into exactly what assistive technology can really do for children, young people and adult learners everywhere.

“Great teaching paired with assistive technology, provided as early as possible, is the accessibility success formula.”

Our authors met for the first time at the nasen Live conference in Birmingham, UK in 2019. They discovered that they shared a mutual drive to make the importance of accessibility and the power of assistive technology better understood. A short conversation later about how doing so could impact millions of learner lives across the country, the first spark of the idea that would later become this handy little guide came to life… and the rest, as they say, is history.

Nasen members can download a copy FREE and start reading right here!

What is a nasen miniguide?

Nasen miniguides are a series of downloadable handbooks created by experts in conjunction with nasen on a range of topics within the field of special educational needs, inclusion, and supporting disabilities and differences within an educational environment. There are guides to assistive technology training, SEND in Early Years settings, eye and vision care in SEND learners, effective adult support and inclusive practice, Autism in girls and many, many more — so it’s easier than ever to find the information you need from a reputable, approved source.

They’re absolutely free to download and keep with a nasen membership, and you can check out the complete range of nasen Mini Guides at their Miniguide Resources Hub over on their website.

Assistive technology training and knowledge in your pocket

Our Nasen miniguide is a complete primer on the topic of assistive technology training and knowledge, and how tech can be used effectively to combat the difficulties that some learners face when it comes to their education.

It provides a definition of what assistive technology is and why that definition matters in terms of support plans and accommodations, explores solutions to the challenge of learner diversity using the practical application of assistive technology, and helps readers develop their own effective strategies to achieve successful assistive technology implementation in their classroom.

✅ If you’re an educator… this guide can help you take charge of learning equity in your classroom and better understand the options open to you and your learners. It provides solutions and practical examples of best practices for learner diversity, supports educators in helping learners demonstrate their knowledge and skills, and raises awareness of how assistive technology can become a normal way of teaching.

✅ If you’re a school leader… as well as practical guidance, this handbook provides an assistive technology implementation framework to support educators in working with it successfully and developing an understanding of how to make reasonable adjustments at the point of need. It also covers how to plan the roll-out of assistive technology, and how to anticipate the ongoing tech support needs of learners.

✅ If you’re a parent… this guide is geared towards educators and specialists, but it’s also a simple working introduction to assistive technology and how it can transform learning for those with special educational needs. If you’re the parent of a learner who’s just starting out on their support journey, it might be able to give you some insight into the process.

✅ If you’re a resource or content creator… this guide to assistive technology is an invaluable companion for those who work with content or resources for learners with special educational needs as it provides a deep dive into what the processes are, what’s best practice, and where to direct audiences to for more support and expert opinions.

So what’s in the guide?

Everything (or almost everything) you need to know about assistive technology, a primer on assistive technology training and knowledge building, and its uses in education. And in under 50 pages too, because we know that educators are busy and that you likely don’t have time to sit down with something the same size as your average novel.

Contents: The nasen miniguide to assistive technology

• Chapter 1: Challenges you might encounter when introducing AT
• Chapter 2: Why everyone should develop a working knowledge of AT
• Chapter 3: The graduated approach of Assess, Plan, Do, Review
• Chapter 4: The SETT Framework (Learner, Environment, Tasks and Tools)
• Chapter 5: 4 broad areas of need and the challenges we need to support
• Chapter 6: Why AT is essential for some, useful for most, and should be accepted by all
• Chapter 7: Important documents and helpful organisations.

We hope that this guide helps you feel supported and confident moving forward into assistive technology in 2023, and that the assistive technology training, knowledge and frameworks we’ve curated help your learners take on the new term with a renewed enthusiasm for learning.

↪️ Check out the nasen Miniguide to Assistive Technology right here!

But that’s not all…

As well as our assistive technology miniguide, businesses in the Empowering Tech family are collaborating with nasen in other ways in 2023!

We’re proud to announce that global EdTech giants Scanning Pens are sponsoring the Teacher of the Year category at the nasen Awards 2023, celebrating the educators who have made a difference to learners with special educational needs and changed their learning lives for the better.