Table of Contents
Section 1) Assistive technology opens new worlds
What is assistive technology?........................................................ 1
Why is assistive technology in the classroom?............................. 2
Helpful websites………………………………………………… 2
Section 2) Beware of copyright violations…………………………………
Copyright laws educators need to know………………………… 3
Section 3) Resources to understand copyright laws…………….…………
Helpful websites………………………………………………... 4
Section 4) References……………………………………………………… 5

Section 1
Assistive technology opens new worlds
Years ago, students with special needs received little support in the classroom. No one expected them to match the achievements of regular education students. Equipped with only paper, pencil and a textbook, a teacher had few resources to help these students compensate for their disabilities. Then came legislation followed by a plethora of technology and today these same children are able to compete academically and prepare for a post-secondary education as never before.
* Assistive technology, as defined by the federal Individual with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) is “any item, piece of equipment for product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability.”
Such devices are divided into low-tech, medium-tech, and high-tech categories, according to their degree of technological sophistication.
Low-tech tools , are non-electric and generally inexpensive. They include: sticky notes, writing instruments with extra wide shafts, pencil grips, rubber stamps, reading guide, paper holder, slant board, raised line paper, keyguard and bar magnifier.
Medium-tech tools are generally electronic, but cost less and are not as sophisticated as high-tech tools. These include a calculator, switch-operated toys, small appliances, digital recorder, talking book, audio book, portable noisemaker, electronic dictionary, an MP3 player and a mini-book light.
High-tech tools are based on computer technology, and tend to be more costly and require training. They include: both desktop and laptop computers, IPad, IPod, Internet,
Apps and software.
While these tools aid in the independence of a student, the thought process that drives AT decision making is the SETT Framework and Universal Design for Learning.

SETT Framework – These are guidelines created by noted educator Joy
Zabala to help select the correct AT for a student. SETT stands for Student,
Environments, Tasks and Tools.

Universal Design for Learning – These are principles that aid in curriculum development that provides equal opportunity for all to learn.. The legal definition of universal design was established by the Higher Education
Opportunity Act of 2008 - “provides flexibility in the ways information is presented, in the ways students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways students are engaged; and
(B) reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and maintains high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities and students who are limited English proficient.”
Assistive technology is implemented into schools thanks to federal legislation that mandates its inclusion.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – This federal law states that no disabled American can be excluded from participating in, or denied benefits or

-1- be discriminated against in any program that receives federal financial assistance. Because schools receive federal funding, they must comply with this law that applies to all disabled students – even those with medical conditions or disabilities that do not qualify them for special education. Such children are entitled to accommodations, including AT, under Section 504 as long as the condition impacts their education.

Tech Act of 1988 – The federal law defined assistive technology (as noted above) and mandated that AT be provided to disabled people of all ages, in the workplace, educational facilities and the community. The law provides each state with grants to help fund its provisions. It has been reauthorized several times, most recently in 2010.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 – This federal law requires all students with disabilities to have equal access to education and protects them from discrimination because of their disability. The civil rights extend to schools which is important since postsecondary students with disabilities are not covered by IDEA. However, AT fits under the “auxiliary aids and services” of ADA.

IDEA 1997 – This federal law mandated that services will be provided to children with disabilities that it cites in 13 specific categories. It adopted the
Tech Act definition of AT and mandated AT to be considered for all special education service children.

IDEA 2004 – In its revision, the law excluded surgically implanted medical devices or their replacement from its list of AT. It gives priority funding to projects that encourage the use of technologies with universal design, assistive technology and AT services to ensure that students with disabilities can take part in general education programs.
For more information on AT in education, check out these helpful websites:
* http://www.nls.org/specedat.htm
- Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. –
Provides information on different types of AT provided by schools, sources of funding and laws.
* www.cast.org/udl/ - CAST, a non-profit research and development organization seeks to expand learning opportunities for people with disabilities.
* http://nichcy.org/laws/ata National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities provides information on the Tech Act.
* www.
ada .gov/pubs/ ada .htm
-The Americans with Disabilities Act, including changes made by various amendments
* http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/ idea / idea 2004.html
- Information about the regulations set forth in IDEA 2004
* http://www.udeducation.org/ - Supports educators and teachers in their study of universal design

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Section 2
Beware of Copyright Violations
With increasing use of the Internet and multi-media presentation usage in the classroom, educators must know how to avoid violating copyright laws. In regard to students with disabilities, teachers need to recognize what is legal access to instructional materials and what constitutes a copyright infringement. The federal government has passed laws allowing works to be copied in formats that would assist persons with disabilities. Without such a law, students with disabilities would not be equally served as regular education students. Most literature is in the public domain. Teachers can download any Shakespeare work for free and read aloud using a text scanner by going to www.gutenberg.net
and www.Bookshare.org is another online resource geared to students with disabilities.
Copyright laws are created to protect the rights of the author, but Congress can change these rights. Here are some laws that educators need to know.

Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act - allows teachers and students to “use copyrighted material legally without the author’s permission if it falls under fair use in education.”

Fair Use
– In Section 107 of Amendment to Title 17 since 1976 defines fair use as “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching…scholarship or research.” The most important criteria guiding teachers must be the amount of work they wish to produce. The U.S.
Copyright Office suggests that “no more than 10 percent of published collective work may be employed under fair use guidelines.” For example, a teacher may use only a chapter of a book, not the entire work.

Chafee Amendment
– Public Law 104-197, passed by Congress in 1996 places a limitation on the exclusive rights in copyrighted works. This amendment allows an “authorized entity” (a non-profit organization or government agency that has a mission to assist people with disabilities) to reproduce or distribute copies of non-dramatic works in formats for the blind or persons with other disabilities. Before the law, there was little available accessible material for the disabled because there wasn’t a huge market demand. The amendment allows previously published non-dramatic works to be translated to Braille, audio, or digital text and distributed to persons with print disabilities without prior approval from the copyright holder. The law restricts the recipients of the material to the blind or physically disabled.

Creative Commons
– a non-profit corporation that provides a free set of flexible copyright licenses and tools that allow creators to keep their copyright while allowing certain uses of their work. Creative Commons wants to expand the creative works available on the Internet legally. Students and teachers can use works licensed under Creative Commons and also share their work on the
Internet. Usually Creative Commons licensees just ask users to give credit when using their material. The site includes a large collection of media files, moving image archive, and clip art.

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Section 3
Helpful resources on copyright laws for educators
More information on copyright laws can be found on these websites:
 http://creativecommons.org/
The official website of Creative Commons where teachers can find thousands of free resources to use in the classroom.
 http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/copyright.html
-
Provides information on the Chafee Amendment and its impact on students with disabilities.
 http://www.aph.org/louis/reposchaf.html
-American Printing House for the
Blind gives information about the Chafee Amendment as it relates to books for visually impaired students
 http://fairuse.stanford.edu/ - Information and study aids concerning copyright laws
 http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf
- Offers a full explanation of
Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act
 www.pbs.org/teachers/copyright/ - PBS provides general information to teachers about copyright laws
 http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm
- A teacher’s guide to fair use and copyright laws
 www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/copyrightlaw.html
-A K-12 Copyright
Laws: Primer for Teachers
 http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/referenc.html#copyright -
A help in copyright and citation resources
 http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/promise_of_accessi ble_textbooks - Resource of availability of books for blind and disabled students
 http://www.globalgridforlearning.com/ - Global Grid for Learning is an online supply of copyright-cleared education resources for teachers
 http://www.menc.org/resources/view/copyright-center - A copyright guide for music educators
 http://www.ncpublicschools.org/copyright1.html
- Provides detailed information about copyright in an electronic environment
 http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280c.shtml
- Information on copyright law and new technologies
 http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter0/0e.html
- Helps for teachers regarding videotaping for the classroom
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Section 4
References
C o p y r i g h t a n d f a i r u s e i n t h e c l a s s r o o m . ( 2 0 1 1 ) .
R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / w w w . u m u c . e d u / l i b r a r y / l i b h o w / c o p y r i g h t . c f m # t e a c h a c t
D e l l , A . G. , N e w t o n , D . A . , & P e t r o f f , J . G. ( 2 0 1 1 ) .
A s s i s t i v e t e c h n o l o g y i n t h e c l a s s r o o m . ( S e c o n d e d . , p p . 4 -
5 2 ) . U p p e r S a d d l e R i v e r , N J : P e a r s o n
W h a t i s C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s . ( 2 0 1 1 , S e p t e m b e r 1 8 ) .
R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / c r e a t i v e c o m m o n s . o r g / e d u c a t i o n
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