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https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/products/read-write/

Read&write is a program, that helps support students with literacy needs, such as students with dyslexia. Its core or main feature is text-to-speech, but it also has additional features, such as word prediction, picture dictionary, grammar & spelling, and a summary highlighter. By being able to read aloud text that is already in an electronic format, such as e-mails, documents, or a web page via computerized voice,  read&write supports the UDL checkpoint 1.1: Offer ways of customizing the display of information. The text-to-speech feature helps students like myself that struggle either with comprehension, editing, decoding, and/or reading fluency.  It also helps those students who are blind or visually impaired, by giving access to text materials without having the need to see or decode text and words respectively. Its other features, such as word prediction comes under the UDL principle of-multiple means of action and expression, specifically under checkpoint 5.2: Use multiple tools for construction and composition. By reducing the number of key strokes, word prediction is especially helpful for students that have motor impairments.

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https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/

GarageBand is a digital audio work station developed by Apple for it's mobile and computer devices. GarageBand is a really useful program to assist students with visual impairments but also gives option to those students who prefer to share information or express themselves through an artistic way in music. Students who are blind and/or have visual impairments can use GarageBand to record and create audio recordings. These recordings can be used for such students to illustrate their understanding of a particular lesson or material. Moreover, artistic learners, who prefer to express themselves beyond just text can use GarageBand to create music and/or audio books.  The notion of being able to express themselves through audio comes under the UDL principle of, provide multiple means of action and expression, specifically under check point 5.1:  Use multiple media for communication.

Furthermore, as a teacher I would advocate for my students to create podcasts and reach a wider audience beyond just their classmates. Podcasts can be used to help collaborate with peers and exchange ideas around the world.  The use of podcast to collaborate and reach a wider audience comes under checkpoint 8.3: Foster collaboration and community, under the UDL principle of multiple means of engagement.

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http://popplet.com/

Popplet is a software that allows students to visually organize their thoughts and ideas. It allows students to collect and organize information so they can better understand concepts and relationships, because of this it comes under UDL checkpoint 3.2: Highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships under the principle of providing multiple means of representation. Because popplet allows students to place their ideas and brainstorm easily, it’s an instrumental tool in helping students become effective writers. Previously, I’ve used popplet with students with intellectual disabilities to help organize and break down complex topics or concepts into smaller ones to allow for better understanding and mastery. Since popplet allows users to insert visuals and symbols into its diagrams, it’s also an effective tool for visual learners to learn and increase their vocabulary as well.

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https://quizlet.com/

Quizlet is an online application that allows students to study and learn through various games and methods, such as creating and using flashcards and/or through interactive spelling and matching games. English is actually not  my native language, so growing up it was a challenge to learn vocabulary, and one way I did overcome that challenge is by using flashcards. An app like quizlet, which allows you to create virtual flashcards, comes under checkpoint 2.1: Clarify Vocabulary and Symbols, under the principle of multiple means of representation. Furthermore, the app is cognizant that students might struggle with decoding text, so quizlet has audio and visual tools to support those students, such as a text-to-speech option and the ability to add pictures or visuals into their flashcards and/or games. These added features to help students with reading comprehension, comes under checkpoint 2.3: Support decoding of text, mathematical notation and symbols. I've used quizlet plethora of times, especially for my applied behavioral classes that are quiz heavy and test your knowledge on so many different terminologies.

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https://drive.google.com

Google drive is a cloud based file storage and sharing program, that is very similar to dropbox and Microsoft’s OneDrive. It comes under checkpoint 8.3: Foster collaboration and community, under the UDL principle of multiple means of engagement. The great thing about this tool is that it allows students to easily store, organize, access, and share there documents anywhere around the world. Learners can collaborate on their documents or projects, either in real time or through chat. Unfortunately, it' maybe easy for special-need-students to feel that they're in a contrived setting, especially in school where they be limited and restricted by their teachers. What google drive does is that it lifts those restrictions, because it allows them to interact with peers, friends, and family members in ways that might not feasible in a traditional classroom setting. Furthermore, by making their projects public they can access a wider audience that go beyond his/her classroom. Another great feature of google drive is its ability to organize documents. A student that has a physical impairment and is bound to a wheel chair, would struggle and likely need the assistance of another person to help with organizing his/her papers. But with google drive which supports google’s office suite (Doc, Presentation, Draw, Form) it eliminates the need for paper and stores documents based on types of files and when it was accessed and/or edited.

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https://www.freedomscientific.com/products/software/jaws/

Whether it's text, images, and animation much of the information we attain as children, students, and even as adults is through visual information. However, not every student is able to access information visually, especially those individuals who are blind or those with vision impairments.  Job Access With Speech or commonly known as JAWS is a computer screen reader that allows for the blind and the visually impaired to read the screen, either via a text-to-speech output or by a refreshable braille display. JAWS comes under the UDL principle of multiple means of representation, specifically under 1.3: Offer alternative for visual information. For someone, who has vision impairment, JAWS reads everything that's on the computer screen. Ultimately it gives students with vision impairment, access to the same tools and resources that other students can use and enjoy, such as access to the world wide web, being able to use Microsoft word to write there papers, read documents, and much more. Furthermore, because it reads everything that's on the computer screen it also acts as a text-to-speech reader as well.

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https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

Camtasia, is a software that allows users to create videos by recording or capturing their computer screen. Screen cast tools come under the UDL principle of multiple means of action and expression in checkpoint 5.3: Use multiple media for communication. Camtasia is a great tool for students that struggle with text,  because it allows them to instead demonstrate and express their opinions as well as their work through visual and audio means. Furthermore, it gives teachers a great way to present information beyond just written text. They can add audio, annotations, highlight important features, and put various special effects to make information more comprehensible to their learners. It can greatly help students with learning disabilities, such as those with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder because in many ways it forces the learner to manipulate and engage with the program versus being passive and just reading a book or a piece of paper. Autistic children, who are higher on the spectrum or those with asperger's tend to learn better and faster when we can illustrate information through multiple means and not just text. I could use a program like camtasia to demonstrate and teach about different parts of the body, various facial expressions, and many other social skills and cues. Camstasia's ability to illustrate information or content in various ways comes under the UDL principle of multiple means of representation, specifically checkpoint 2.5: Illustrate through multiple media.

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https://www.stopbreathethink.com

Stop breath and think or SBT is a website designed to promote emotional wellness. It's has many resources including a downloadable application and various tool kits for students of all ages to help foster emotional strength and confidence to better handle stress. Some of the activities in the tool kit involve finding a quit place, breathing activities, positive thinking and meditating exercises. Furthermore, it has plethora of resources to help teachers and parents design wellness activities in the classroom and at home respectively. SBT comes under the UDL principle of multiple means of engagement, specifically under checkpoint 8.1: Develop self-assessment and reflection. I think with so much pressure for students to succeed academically I think it's great that there are holistic resources like this to help students to relax naturally, rather than relying on video games and social media. I think this is great for all students, especially those students that struggle with anxiety and depression. Before I would work tirelessly and just burn out when it came to school work, but since I’ve used SBT and similar programs it’s allowed me to better cope with the stresses of academic work, which as a result has helped to create a better learning environment for myself.

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https://www.nuance.com/dragon.html

Dragon naturally speaking is a speech-to-text or a speech recognition program that allows students to dictate using their own voice. The software is available for PC's and Mac as well as on mobile devices. If using your phone you can dictate by speaking to your speaker and if you’re using a computer you would need a microphone. Dragon naturally speaking comes under the UDL principle of multiple means of action and expression, specifically under checkpoint 4.2: Optimize access to tools and assistive technologies. Speech to text is not for everyone since it does require the students  to make coherent sentences, however it’s really helpful for students that have physical or motor limitations, where it's difficult for them to use their hands to dictate. Another benefit of dragon naturally speaking and similar programs, is that it allows you create macros and/or use preset commands to control your computer using your own voice. I use dragon naturally speaking because it allows me to slow my thoughts where I can by pass those thoughts from
moving from my head to my fingers and just say them out loud, which ultimately helps to reduce inaccuracies in my writing.

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https://www.voki.com/

Voki is an educational tool that allows students or teachers to turn themselves into talking cartoon characters or avatars, such as historical figures and animals. Once you pick an avatar you can customize it by changing its style, its background, and ultimately adding a voice to your character. It's a great alternative to writing, as it gives students the ability to express themselves in a creative animated fashion by using audio and visual formats. Students can use voki to make presentations, summarize a chapter, or do a book report. If I were a teacher, I could use voki to give instructions, highlight important concepts, and use it as a reminder for my students. One of the great features of using voki is that it's always on demand, so students or teachers can play their virtual characters over and over again. Voki comes under UDL checkpoint 5.1: Allowing students to use multiple media for communication under the principle of multiple means of representation. Furthermore, it can also help alleviate stress for students who suffer from anxiety when giving presentations, something that I struggled as a kid and even today. It also gives voice to those who cannot speak, such as someone with cerebral palsy who may have a speech impairment. Voki's ability to reduce stress or act as a coping mechanism comes under checkpoint 9.2: Facilitate personal coping skills and strategies, under the principles of multiple means of engagement.