Welcome to a special edition of EASI's "Information Technologies and Disabilities" Journal. This quarter's edition will focus on science, math and technology issues for K-12 students with disabilities . EASI's general focus for the past several years has been on both post-secondary education and the workforce. Within the scope of creating materials to help prepare individuals with disabilities to compete in higher education and the workplace, EASI's work has touched on K-12 issues in the past. However, this is the first edition of the journal that will exclusively focus on K-12 challenge s and strategies.
This edition of the journal is partially supported by EASI's National Science Foundation grant to compile and disseminate information about K-12 science, math, engineering and technology access.
The material in this edition of the journal has been contributed by individuals who have been working in the K-12 science and math arena. We think their insights will prove valuable to you.
We hope you enjoy this issue of the ITD Journal, and we encourage your comments and reactions.
Sincerely,
Carmela Cunningham
ITD Journal Special K-12 Issue Editor
This article is an overview of the complicated issues that face K-12 students with disabilities as they study in the fields of science, math and technology. In particular, it focuses on the importance of building solid foundations in the math and science basics.
This article examines the value of peer relationships for students with disabilities. In particular, it looks at computer-mediated communication between students with disabilities and how such communication can ease social isolation that often is a by-product of having a disability.
This article describes one of several National Science Foundation projects that focus on helping young students with disabilities prepare for study and work in the technical fields. Project Gold is an innovative program at the University of Minnesota that focuses on preparing and encouraging girls with disabilities so that they can study and work in the science, math, engineering and technology fields.
This article is an excellent overview of the problems facing teachers who are tasked with teaching science to all students in their charge. It focuses on ICOR, a project that teamed science and special education educators to examine the benefit of designing science curriculum that addressed the needs of students with disabilities, rather than trying to add on to existing science programs.
This article is an overview of some science, engineering and math resources available on the World Wide Web. The author includes comments on what Web sites are readily accessible and which ones need a little more work. The article ends with an important plea for advocacy.
This article focuses on a tactile system for making graphics accessible to blind and visually impaired individuals.