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This is a thorough and thoughtful reflective post. You’ve captured the true essence of Special Educational Needs Teaching (SET)—balancing high-tech support with solid, explicit pedagogy.
What stands out most is your focus on independence. Highlighting Immersive Reader and Microsoft Dictate as tools to bypass decoding and transcription barriers rather than as “crutches”shows a deep understanding of how assistive technology unveils a child’s true cognitive ability. Your inclusion of both low-tech digital manipulatives (like Didax) for numeracy and multi-sensory literacy platforms (like Nessy and Clicker 8) grounds your practice in evidence-based, structured learning.
Moving into Part 2, your take on whole-school development is very good. Assistive technology only truly empowers a child when it isn’t isolated to the SET room. Driving consistency across mainstream classrooms through Microsoft 365, framing tech integration around School Self-Evaluation (SSE), and offering to lead informal peer demonstrations are brilliant ways to build sustainable capacity.
This is a great application of the SETT framework. You’ve done a great job of breaking down how a structured model translates directly into everyday classroom practice, especially for a learner with distinct sensory and academic needs.
<p data-path-to-node=”1″>Integrating her love for music and movement right at the start is a good idea. Using phonics songs while sitting on the floor addresses her sensory regulation while tapping into what actually motivates her. The transition from tactile manipulation (magnetic letters) to digital tools (Immersive Reader and Starfall) creates a great multi-sensory bridge for blending CVC words.</p>In this response, I am focusing on a group of students in my class who have been diagnosed with dyslexia and struggle with working memory and processing speed.
When looking at our overall School Development Planning through the lens of the Inclusive Education Framework, it is clear that creating an inclusive learning environment means embedding supportive digital technology directly into our daily classroom routines rather than relying on quick fixes.
Here are the key technology resources I use to support their curriculum access, specifically in literacy and numeracy:
Literacy Support
• Immersive Reader & Text-to-Speech: Tools like Microsoft’s Immersive Reader (or built-in screen readers on tablets) break down reading barriers. Students can adjust text size, spacing, and background colour, or have passages read aloud to improve comprehension without burning out on decoding.
• Speech-to-Text (Dictation): Using dictation features in Google Docs or Word allows these students to get their rich ideas onto the page without getting stuck on spelling mechanics.
• Word Prediction Tools: Programs like Read and Write or Clicker help speed up the writing process and build spelling confidence by predicting what the student wants to type.
Numeracy Support
• Interactive Math Apps and Virtual Manipulatives: Platforms like Didax or Toy Theatre offer visual, hands-on digital tools (like base-ten blocks and fraction bars) that make abstract math concepts far more concrete.
• Math Whiteboard & Screen Recorders: Using digital whiteboards paired with short video explanations (like Edpuzzle or teacher-made clips) gives students the chance to pause, rewind, and re-watch step-by-step math problem-solving at their own pace.
Integrating these tools aligns directly with our school self-evaluation goals by ensuring every learner can access the curriculum at their level, build independence, and experience success across both literacy and numeracy.Part 1
When incorporating the SETT Framework (Student, Environment, Tasks, Tools) into a student’s School Support File we should think of SETT as the bridge between identified needs and practical classroom interventions. The School Support File outlines a learner’s targets and progress, while SETT focuses specifically on identifying the right Assistive Technology (AT) to unlock access to the curriculum. By evaluating the Student (their unique strengths, learning style, and specific difficulties), the Environment (physical classroom layout, noise levels, and available tech infrastructure), and the Tasks (the specific reading, writing, or reasoning activities required), as teachers we can try to match appropriate tools. This prevents the common pitfall of assigning technology that ends up unused because it does not suit the student’s daily routine. To complete both frameworks accurately, we need to combine classroom-based formative observations, diagnostic assessments and AT feature-matching trials. Crucially, gathering input from the student and their parents ensures that selected tools are effective, accessible, and aligned with the targets in their support plan.Hi Dolores. Your OneNote and Immersive Reader design is a brilliant example of Universal Design for Learning in practice. Removing reading barriers to boost independence and confidence makes a massive difference for pupils who struggle with traditional text. Your reflection on Cosán is equally spot on. Teaching really is a moving target, and continuous professional learning, especially with evolving digital and assistive tools is vital for keeping our practice inclusive. You’ve highlighted perfectly how staying curious as educators directly enriches our pupils’ learning journeys.
Part 2 –
As teachers, we quickly realise that qualifying is only the starting line, not the finish. Dylan Wiliam was so right when he said that teaching is so complex a craft that one lifetime isn’t enough to master it. Every year, we step into classrooms with new cohorts of students, evolving technology, updated curricula, and diverse learning needs. If our teaching strategies stay static, our pupils miss out.
Cosán captures this reality perfectly. Learning to teach is an ongoing journey of steady progress. We learn every single day through trial and error, by chatting with colleagues in the staffroom, trying out new digital tools, or reflecting after a lesson that didn’t go quite to plan.
CPD isn’t just about ticking boxes, attending mandatory webinars, or counting up hours to satisfy requirements. Meaningful CPD is about impact, how what we learn changes what happens in our classrooms and improves outcomes for our pupils.
I teach an 8 year old boy going into 3rd class diagnosed with severe dyslexia who has a deep passion for fishing, but experiences high anxiety and low confidence with written literacy tasks. I would use Microsoft OneNote (Class Notebook) with Immersive Reader, Dictate, and Lens Integration. Using a dedicated “Fisherman’s Log” notebook in Microsoft OneNote, he could create and maintains his own fishing journal. The template would include visual fishing fact cards, fish species guides, and tackle tips. Using Immersive Reader, he could listen to text read aloud at a comfortable speed, use the Picture Dictionary to click on unfamiliar words to see visual representations, and use Line Focus to reduce visual crowding. To log his own real or fictional fishing trips (describing the weather, gear used, and catches), he could use Dictate (Speech-to-Text). and freely express detailed, enthusiastic stories and descriptions verbally without getting stuck on spelling or handwriting mechanics. For a child with severe dyslexia, the physical demand of writing often blocks their ability to demonstrate knowledge. Dictation bypasses this barrier, allowing his rich vocabulary and interest in fishing to shine through.
If there’s one thing teaching special education has taught me, it’s that the best tech is the tech that just works without making a child feel singled out.
For my classroom, Microsoft Immersive Reader has been an absolute lifesaver. I have a student with severe dyslexia who used to completely shut down whenever reading was required. Now, he opens the text, turns on Line Focus to block out the rest of the page, and lets the app highlight words as it reads aloud. The change in his confidence is night and day—he goes from feeling overwhelmed by a wall of text to working through the material on his own. For my EAL students, having the built-in Picture Dictionary on Teams means they can click a tricky word, see a quick image, and keep reading without constantly raising their hand to ask me what it means.
When it comes to hardware, you don’t always need expensive gear to make a huge difference. Sometimes it’s as simple as digging into Windows settings to turn on Sticky Keys so a student who struggles with fine motor control doesn’t have to hold down three keys at once just to capitalise a letter, or simply bumping up the mouse cursor size so it doesn’t get lost on the screen.
That said, when standard setups really aren’t working, the hardware is necessary. For example, trackball mice are great for students who get frustrated trying to drag a standard mouse across a pad. Rolling the ball with their palm takes way less precise finger movement. Adaptive switches can be very useful. For one of my pupils with very limited movement, pairing a simple button switch with speech-to-text tools means they can finally participate in creative writing alongside their peers.
At the end of the day, there is no magic, one-size-fits-all device. It’s all about experimenting, listening to the student, and tweaking the tools until they can learn as independently as possibleI completely agree with your point about pupil autonomy—giving middle and senior students ownership over tools like Immersive Reader builds so much confidence.
The speech-to-text functionality in Dictate really is a game-changer, especially for pupils on the autism spectrum or those with dysgraphia who have brilliant ideas but get completely blocked by the mechanical demand of writing. Using it alongside typing removes that cognitive overload.
Also, using Immersive Reader for word problems in maths is such a brilliant, practical resource. It strips away the reading barrier and lets us assess their actual mathematical understanding.
When I think about using Assistive Technology (AT) in the classroom, it really comes down to giving every child a fair shot at learning. It doesn’t always have to be flashy or high-tech. Sometimes it’s a simple pencil grip or a printed graphic organiser to help a student map out an essay. Other times, it’s medium-tech stuff like an audiobook or speech-to-text software for a student with dyslexia who has brilliant ideas but struggles to get them down on paper. When we match the right tool to the child—using something like the SETT framework to figure out what they actually need—it completely changes their confidence. They stop feeling stuck and start working far more independently alongside their classmates.
Looking at AT through the lens of School Self-Evaluation (SSE) just means asking ourselves, “Is what we’re doing actually helping these kids?” It pushes us to look at real evidence in our own rooms—like whether a student is participating more in group work or finishing their tasks—rather than just guessing. This ties right into the Digital Learning Framework. Under Learner Outcomes, we see students using tools like screen readers to tackle reading tasks on their own. Under Learner Experiences, a student using a voice-typing app can finally contribute their thoughts to a group project without feeling held back by spelling. And for us as teachers, under Individual Practice, it’s about choosing these digital tools intentionally to differentiate our lessons so everyone can access the curriculum. Integrating AT isn’t just about ticking boxes; it’s about making sure our teaching actually reaches every student in front of us.
Hi Sharon, It’s great to hear how much you’re getting out of Module 1, especially working in SET as I do. Your point about AT benefiting all learners—not just those with an official SEN label is very true. It really ties into Universal Design for Learning. The SETT framework is a lifesaver for cutting through the noise and choosing the right tool instead of just guessing. It’s also interesting how you’re linking this to your maths inspection feedback.