Teaching Students with Individual Needs
The potential of the Internet to help teachers address the learning needs of all students is enormous. This is especially true when it comes to reading and writing. You can find useful information about how best to teach children in ways that are informed by current research on the brain. You can become well acquainted with the laws that govern special education (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, Legislation) and become a student advocate. Similarly, you can place new technologies directly in the hands of your students, offering them adaptive software, specially designed keyboards, and digital texts that can be enlarged for visually impaired students. You can also find material to challenge your gifted students and connect them with peers who share their interests. Check out these resources for starters.

Special Education

• The Council for Exceptional Children is the largest organization dedicated to improving educational opportunities for all types of learners, internationally. This advocacy group offers an incredible number of resources; it also sponsors the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ericec.org).
  www.cec.sped.org
• Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) This is the best place I know of to learn about "universal design for learning," a new theory of learning, informed by current brain research. CAST provides many examples and ideas for helping students with individual differences succeed. CAST is also known for its free program, "Bobby," which sets the industry standard for what it means for a website to be accessible.
  www.cast.org
• The International Dyslexia Association website offers educators an opportunity to join an online community. The site also provides a wealth of information about public policy and assistive technologies. See in particular Dyslexia FAQ (for example, How common are language-based learning disabilities?) and IDA Conferences.
  www.interdys.org
• Do you need teaching tips for students with special needs? Or, ideas for home school collaboration specifically designed for ADHD children? How about product reviews and purchasing information for adaptive keyboards and other customized tools? LDOnline has it all.
  Ldonline.org
• For a comprehensive list of sites, from American Sign Language to teaching gifted and talented students, click on Special Ed Resources on Kathy Schrock's Website.
  school.discovery.com/schrockguide/edspec.html
• Bookshare.org is a nonprofit group whose mission is to get an online collection of books into the hands of those with various types of visual disabilities.
  www.bookshare.org

• BabelFish is a free tool that offers a rudimentary translation of text to and from these languages: Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.
  www.babelfish.com
• Dave's ESL Café has received international acclaim; a visit to this extraordinary site will show you why. In addition to (virtual) forum centers for teachers and students, there are links to a host of language resources, including courses at language institutes. See also "The Idea Cookbook" for teaching strategies. www.pacificnet.net/%7Esperling/
• Kenneth Beare has collected several sites specifically for bilingual educators; each of these sites, such as the Clearinghouse for Multilingual/Bilingual Education, points you to many, many more.
  esl.miningco.com/msub10.htm?TMog=15709905125624m&Mint=43159346740729