🌠 Wish it had more modern integrations and wasn't so tedious with inputting data manually

Wish 🌠: One wish is that the AAC device be improved by using AI to predict words and phrases more accurately, allowing nonverbal students to communicate faster.

Not only that, but you can daisy-chain multiple Junos together to have multiple speakers so that your voice is heard similarly in every part of the room. You can also add in student microphones to allow them to chime in more clearly. I found the microphones work almost like a talking stick and students take cues on when they can and can't speak out because of it.

-Jake DePo

⭐️ The content works natively on mobile and touch devices as well as on laptops, so students can interact with the content regardless of their preferred type of device. Also, they are an Ontario company so they are 100% AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) compliant. 

🌠They have LTI integration but there is still the issue that students using screen readers or requiring specific settings have to manually set those features up rather than being able to import them.

Wish - they usually only work during direct instruction. They do not automatically connect to other learning tools or carry student accommodations from one device or app to another. Students need to adjust settings or use different supports when they move to independent work on a computer or tablet.

- Jessy

⭐ Star: Wayground provides engaging formative assessment through quizzes, retrieval practice, and immediate feedback. It helps us educators quickly identify student misconceptions and allows students to learn at their own pace.

🌠 Wish: Although Wayground includes accessibility features, it does not automatically import and apply a student’s accommodations across other learning platforms. Students may still need to reconfigure supports when moving between Google Classroom, reading tools, AI tutors, or other educational applications.

🌠 Wish: While Read&Write is one of the most widely used accessibility tools in education, supports are still dependent on platform compatibility. OrbitNote can be inconsistent, and tools such as Vretta (Alberta Educations Government Assessment platform) do not fully integrate with these accessibility ecosystems. I would love to see a future where a student's accessibility profile, accommodations, and preferences are recognized automatically across all learning and assessment platforms rather than requiring separate configurations and workarounds.

-Sam Quarterman

🌠 Wish: Assistive technology was better orchestrated across a student’s entire learning ecosystem. In my experience, tools like Seesaw can become powerful supports, but they often live with only the classroom teacher and the learner rather than being understood and intentionally used by specialists and support staff. The greatest future opportunity may be creating systems where both the technology and the knowledge of how/why to use it travel with the learner, ensuring consistent support wherever learning takes place.

• Denise Mouton

~Jodee

• Rewrite text at different reading levels.

• Simplify or increase the complexity of vocabulary.

• Generate questions appropriate for different learners.

• Create multiple versions of the same lesson for different ability levels.

🌠 One Wish: I would like Diffit to take differentiation a step further and provide teachers with analytics that show how students interact with the materials and identify where they continue to struggle.

🌠 Wish: Kami connects assignments well, but it does not carry a student’s accessibility settings to every app. Students may need to turn on text-to-speech, high contrast, or reading supports again in each tool.

Manouchehr

⭐ Star: It saves teachers time and makes it easier to adapt content for different student needs, such as simplifying language, adding scaffolds, or creating extra practice.

🌠 Wish: The supports can feel generic unless the teacher gives very specific prompts. It helps with differentiation, but it does not truly know how each student learns or processes information.

I have used an Assistive Listening Device in multiple schools now for students with hearing aides and cochlear implants.

The biggest star was that it really centers the attention of the student and is designed specifically for their needs. Without this I do not think the student would be able to really be a part of the learning journey the rest of the class is taking.

I wish it was easier to use! Troubleshooting the technology itself was always a detriment to its use. Sometimes it would be so loud it would cause headaches for the students and it was always a hassle to adjust the settings of the technology constantly and be abundantly aware that a microphone was attached. Wearing it all day gave me a weird fatigue as I needed to mute and unmute constantly. If I could wish anything it would be a more streamlined delivery system that could recognize when content was needed to be shared. I wonder if AI has made any headway into this.

• Logan Schoepp

I first heard about this app from a colleague of mine and thought that it was interesting. Even though the app cost about 3 dollars, the online version is free.

⭐ Star: I think that some of these tools can help organize thoughts, find the next step in a task, or get some help when needed.

🌠Wish: Clarity, integration online, and organization of the tools to understand what they do. .

Duolingo is the only adaptive tech I can think of that I've used. It adjusts the difficulty of questions based on the questions you've previously gotten right or wrong, and completing various skills will result in those skills being integrated into future lessons.

⭐: The adaptive content maintains a steady level of difficulty. The lessons are never too easy or too hard for my level of understanding.

🌠: I wish I had the option to manually increase the difficulty level. There are days when I want to be more challenged, and it doesn't allow for this option. As an example, Duolingo does not use distractors, ie. answers that are almost, but not quite, correct. Incorrect answers are always obvious. The adaptivity would be more consequential to learning if it strayed slightly from the the current model.

-Jason LeHuquet

⭐ Star: We used Google Lens during science and nature exploration in Japan to identify plants and translate information into English. It was a great way to spark curiosity and help students independently investigate the world around them.

🌠 Wish: I wish the plant identification was more reliable. Some leaves and plants were misidentified, so students still needed to verify the information rather than accepting the results at face value.

Michael Cafuta

⭐ DeepL has been a wonderful tool to use with my international students, particularly being able to provide good quality feedback and instructions as they are continuing to develop their language skills

🌠A wish I have is that there were more education-specific features, such as built-in supports for vocabulary learning, translation explanations, or tools that help students understand why certain translations were chosen rather than simply providing the translated text.

- Megan Frederick

⭐ : It does an incredible job of removing barriers by offering text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and simplified vocabulary tools directly within a student's digital workspace. For many neurodivergent learners, having these multi-sensory options right at their fingertips is a game-changer for staying engaged and focused without feeling singled out.

🌠: I wish its accessibility profiles were universally recognized across all educational ecosystems. Right now, its tools can be inconsistent depending on the platform or specific government assessment software being used, which forces students to manually reconfigure their accommodations or rely on frustrating workarounds.