The District 205 Foundation recently awarded Edison Elementary School in Elmhurst, Illinois, with a $10,290 grant to invest in technology designed to help students with special needs develop math and writing skills, the Elmhurst Press reports.
According to the report, the school will use the grant to purchase a Touch Accessible Platform for Interactive Technology, or TAP-it - a touchscreen device that looks like a 42-inch media tablet and is designed for students who have difficulty handling a mouse or keyboard.
Educators have found interactive technology can be an effective tool for students both with disabilities and without. For example, a teacher may use a media tablet, an interactive whiteboard or a
DLP projector in the classroom to create a learning environment that engages students and encourages participation.
Edison multi-needs teacher Kimberly James told the news provider her students responded well to the TAP-it device in a demonstration earlier this year.
"They loved it,” said Jones. “They all gather around, they all pay attention to everything and are interactive with it, which is so rare with this population of students."
According to the report, the District 205 Foundation has awarded a total of $50,946 to local teachers this year.
