R

Runnin g h ad: K RZW I

Y

RT

H R

RVEY OF TE
HER ' U E OF K RZWEIL
AN EXPLORATORY
OFTW AR WITH T D NT
A I TIV

b

Tina M. Harm

B. - d.,

n1

r it

f

i t ria at

kanagan

niv r it

PROJE T UBMITT D I P RTlAL F L
THE R QUIR M
T FORTH D
ATlON
M
T ROF D
IN
SP - CIAL DUCATIO

ptember 20 13

©Tina Harm s, 20 I

II ge, 1999

R

H R

b tr t
lumbi a ch

Thi
t determin (a) wheth er upp rt

ere needed t Jn lud Kurzwe il a i li

teac hing tud nt

ith I arn ing di abiliti , and (b)

Kurzw il 000 a

ti e

adulth ood

ho

p n n

oftwa r when

ific upp 1i we re required.

ftwar (Kurzw il ) i aim d at indi idua l fr m

rad 3 t

pl annin g, r adin g and/ r v.ritin g hall enge . Pa l re ea rch ha

D und a i ti e oftwa re, like Kurzw il , t b a c
learnin g opp rtuniti

hi h p

I d i tri ct

( hian g

t -ef~

ti e way to in crea e indep nd ent

Liu , 20 II ), engage ment, and im pr

achi evement fo r tud ent with I arn in g d i abi Iiti e ( - pp , 2007).

e academi c

naly i of th e 50 urvey

re pon e indi cated upport we re n ded a part of~ ur br ad th m

im , uppor1 fo r

Teachers, upport for L arner and amili e , and Kurzwe il Program ugge ti ons. Findin gs
fro m thi s expl oratory tud y could be u ed in the future to better upport tud ents w ith lea rnin g
di abiliti es who use Kurzwe il , and th e B teachers who edu cate th em.

RV Y

K

H R

RT

c kn ow ledge m e nt

Thank

t r' pr gram

u t th man in tru

and di g d ep r int j urnal arti le t e pi r m m n qu
illin gn

t h lp

I uti r, and

a gr atl appr

p

iated.

h he lp d m di c ver
ur patien

ti n .

ial thank

ug e t m

and

upcr

r,

r.

r. Hartm an ,~ r guidin g me thr ugh thi

mmitte m mb r

e ji and

u t Kealin and th librar

taff ~ r h !ping 111 ga 111 acce

pr J t.
Thank

hard t find informati n, but al

for th e he lpful

id e

t

om tim e

and learn in g m dule whi h

upported 111 I arning t I .
Without the

re ton

rew non

f thi w uld ha

been po

ibl e.

hank y u

ar lyn

and Kathl en ~ race mpan in g me in thi Ma t r' of pec ial ducation program, and ~ r
tickin g together to upp rt one anoth r during the hard e t tim
A hu ge heartfelt thank yo u to my be t fri nd, tephani e. my faithful proofreader, taxi
dri ve r for my daughter , fitne

partner, and th e calm v ice of rea

n during hallenging

time .
The bi gge t thank yo u goes to my family. To my parent , iblin g , and in-law for
encouragin g me and kn owin g I could complete th Ma ter' pr gram , eve n when I had
d ubts. An enorm ou thank yo u goe to my b autiful daughter , Mat i

and Peyt n for their

help, pati ence and under tandin g when I wa glued t my laptop and not much fun. A final
all enc mpa sin g thank y u g e t my hu band for holdin g it all together for u . With ut hi
under tanding and upport I would n t ha e b en abl e to complete my Ma t r' and keep our
family n track. I thank yo u ~ r not I ttin g me lo

ight of the truly important thing in li~ .

R

K

y

H ~R

R

T BL

OF

0

T NT

i t f abl

111

hap t r

n

lntr du ti n
Bac kgr und f the Pr j

2

t

5

Rati nal

7

perati nal Defin iti n
hap ter

9

Literature Re ie
lntrodu ti n

9

A i ti e e hn ology

9

Kurzwe il for Indi vidual w ith Di ab iliti e

12

Kurzwe il

rth Ameri ca n ch

15

Feedbac k fro m Teacher on th e Integrati on f Kurzwe il

18

Kurzwe il se with Indiv iduals Affected by eve re
Rea ding and Emoti onal Di abiliti e

19

umm ary

22

e 1n

hapter Three
Meth odology

23

Purpo e f th e tud y
Re ea rch

23

ue ti n

Parti ipants
Re ea r h Pr cedure

... 3

ln trum ntati n and
Data

nal

H R

R

RV Y

ata

II

II

ti n

2
26

i
hapter F ur

27

inding
Introdu ti n

27

Re ult

27

hap ter Fi
41

Di cu 1on
Ove rv iew ofth
Key

tud y

lement of th

tud

42

44

Recomm endati on
Limitati on ofthi

41

xpl ratory tudy

45

Contributi ons to Kn ow ledge

47

Impli cati ons for Prac ti ce

48

Areas fo r Furth er Re earch

48

References

50

Appendix 1

Survey for Teachers

53

Append ix 2

Additi onal Parti cipant Feedback regardin g Kurzw il

60

Appendix 3

Resource Parti cipants Felt Were Helpful for
Workin g with LD Students

61

Appendi x 4

Research thi c B ard Appr va l etter

62

RV Y

R

A H R

Ill

i t fTa bl e
Tabl I: Fr qu n

i tributi n b

ab le 2: Fr qu

i tributi n b Year

a h ing tud ent with
abl e : Ty pe f

h

abl 4: Fr qu enc

ge-

2

pen n

24

arnmg

Wh ere Kurzw il i

c e ibl

25

tri buti n by u pe t d tu d nt

wi th LD on Parti ipant '

25

Tabl e 5: Frequ enc Di tributi on by
Participant Ha e Had

umb r of Year
to Kurzwe il

c e

in Their choo l

26

Table 6: Frequ ency Di tributi n b

ubj e t

reas

uppotied by Kurzwe il in Parti cipant ' ch ol( )

27

Tabl e 7: Frequ ency Di stributi on by Grade Leve l
Parti cipants Would U e or Have U ed Kurzwe iI
in Their Teac hing

27

Tabl e 8: Frequ ency Di stributi on of tudent Wh o Have
Used or Would U e Kurzwe il

28

Tabl e 9: Frequency Di stributi on by How Often
Partic ipants Have/ Are/Would Incorporate
Kurzwe il into Their Les ons

28

Tabl e I 0: Frequency Di stributi on by Parti cipants'
omment about
hoo l

ve l

hall nge at the

0

H R

RV Y

abl

I I: Fr qu nc
mment

i tributi n b Parti ipant '
ut

hall ng

at th

tud nt
abl 12: r quenc Di tributi n b P rti ipant '
omm nt ab ut

hall enge

ith the

Kurzwe iI Pr gram
Table 13: requ nc

i tri buti n b

ow Parti ipant

earn ed or Would Learn Kurz
Table 14: Frequenc

i tribuli n b

ugge tion [! r upp rl

2

il

articipant
in g Kurz e iI

with tudents Wh o Hav Learnin g

ab iIiti es

33

Table 15: Frequency Di tributi n by In[! rmati on
Participants Felt Would be Helpful in a
Kurzweil Teacher Handboo k

34

R

K

hapter 1
lntr du ti n
K u rz

iI 0

( u rz

ran gin g fr m

rad

t adulth

upp rt u h a

[! r man

and

du ati na l

ften ·~ und in man

ch

I di tri t

lumbia ' (

u

er, ac

riti h

rd ing t tw

T B ) co n ultant , a

fr m ad ult

a her . Kurz cil i n t a n w pr gram, it
lum bia (

. In th e

h

l di tric t

f Kurz e il ha e bee n a ail ab le

p cial • ducati n ec hn I gy Briti h

i tr i t Te hn I gy lntegrati n upp rt

an Integrati on upp rt Teac her, Kurzwe il i ofte n und eru edt
in thi

I ~ r ind i idu al

nd ind ep nd n

ndu t d, an u

urrent r
ar . H

t hn I g t

d. Kurzv il an h lp u er with readin g, pl annin g, and
gr ater a ademi

ritin g, all

here th i

n a i ti

ft

iI

rdina t r and

upp rt exc pti nal learn er

choo l di tri ct.
teacher attempt to di ffe renti ate in tru cti on and meet th e n d

ft h wide range f

learn er in today' di ve r e cia roo m , a t ol uch a Kurzwe il can not onl y upport learner ,
but it al o ha th e potenti al to a i t teacher with di ffe renti atin g in tructi on to meet the need
of all learn ers.
The purpo e f thi ex pl oratory urvey was t (a) rev iew th e re ea rch on Kurzwei l 000
and ass i ti ve techn o logy in general, and (b) in ve ti ga te if teachers req uired an support in
order to in clude Kurzwe il wh n pl anning for and teaching tud ent wi th learning di abilitie
(L D).

2

R

RV Y

Backg ro und of the P r ject

' epti nal lea rn r d m n trate ar ing d gre
in t II

tu al,

ith I arnin g di ab iliti e ar d

200 ). lnd i idual
c gniti

abiliti

f th thr
en

ial, m ti nal, r

mmuni ati n,

but wh

(Winz r, 200 ).

unt red

p rt en

in ph

f diffi ren

mbin ati n f th e

b ha 1 ur (Win er,

ri b d a ha mg a erag

d fi it in att nti n, mem 1 , ach ie

tud nt

ith I arni ng d i ab ilit i
pub li and in d pend nt

cepti onal lea rn r 1n

ica l,

r hi gher
ment, r a m1 ture

(L ) ar th e m
h

I (

t

mm nl y

Mini try f

du ati n, 20 I ).
T da ' teacher ar fa
Ia roo m d nam1 c

d wi th m etin g th e n d

ar great! a

fa

ider rang

ac h lea rn r 1 un1 qu , and in c th 8

f tu dent ab iIiti e
libera l

go ernm ent' creati on of ill 22, th

du cati n Impro ement

excepti onal learner p rmitted in 8

c ia roo m i no longer capped at three (8 TF, 20 12).

B

ct, th e maxi mum num b r of

teacher can no longer ad ocate fo r improved cia r om c mp

iti n ·fi r th eir tu d nt ,

de pi te teachin g and learnin g co ncern .
Di ffe renti ated in stru cti on is a current and popular term u ed in edu cati on.
Di ffe renti ated in truction mean teachin g in di fferent way to meet th e need of all learner

111

t day' cia roo m , in cludin g exce pti onal learn er . A isti ve techno logy i r commended a
one way t di ffere nti ate in stru cti on in di ve r e and co mpl e c ia roo m . Kurzw il a i tive
oftware i an edu cati onal too l th at many choo l di tri ct in 8

ha e tak n advantage f to

upp rt exce ptional! arner . Traditi onall y, tudent w ith lea rnin g di abi litie ha

r quired

upp rt from a reader r cribe to c mpl ete ch ol w rk . In th e choo l di trict wh re thi
re earch to k pl ace, Kur we i! i an a i ti e techn ology o pt i n forb the · cptionallearner
and indi vidual with

. Kurzwe il ca n be u ed to uppo rl tud nt wh ha

r ading, vHiting

H R

R

RV Y

an I r plannin g diffi ult .

n

tud nt I arn t u

th Kurz

th e n I ng r require a r ad r,

ribe r a mu h a i tance t

ta k . Thr ugh th u e f Kurz

il , tud nt

mpl et a ignm nt and

ith I arnin g di abiliti

ind p ndence in r a d ngagement, a ademi

and imp r

u

ma c p rt n

ed e lf-e t

h r t

ftwa r , uch a Kurz eil , ca n b tter upp rt
fi ld and m et th n d

il pr gram ind pen entl ,

fa ll I arn r in t d

' di e r

cia

grea t r

m.

rea te an equ al pi a 111g

m (Kurz eil

du cati n

tern , 2004).
H we er, di f~ r nti atin g in tru ti n thr ugh th e u e fa
t ac her to learn how t u
a i ti

i ti

tec hn I gy requtre

and int grate th tec hn I g . T pi all y teac her learn to u e

techn o! g through in - r i e. In -

conducted i chall engin g fo r a number frea

1

ic in th di tri ct wh re thi re arch wa
n gt

n (a) th e di ffi cult topography o fthi

wide pread amalgam ated choo l di tri ct, tim ely direct upp rt i not alway po ibl e, and (b)
recent bud get deci ion ha ve cut the Oi tri ct Tec hn logy Integrati on upport

o rdin ator

po iti on fo r th e upco min g schoo l yea r. Teacher in th e di tri t where thi re earch wa
co nducted have reported fee lin g exhau ted by th e cha ll eng in g and di er e needs ofth ir
classroo m . They have al o co mm ented on th lac k of tim e and energy to lea rn how to
in corporate Kurzwe il into th eir teaching practi ce. Mo t rece ntl y, techn o! gy upport ia
remote acce s and kype has been helpful , but doe not appear to be uffic ien t enough to
upport clas roo m teacher ' integration of Kurzwe il into th ee i tin g cia room with d i er e
learnin g ne d .
A a Learnin g upport Teac her in th e large t e lementary choo l n th e ea t id or our
di tri ct, I have th e pportunity t w rk with num er u tea h r t

up port alii arner . M

po iti n all w me l

ftware \vith excepti nal

ee th e many benefit

f Kurz ei l a i ti

afG

I arn r , 1n luding th

Kur

i I fi

arner a th

4

H R

R

nm

t db

f

h mar diagn

a

and

d

r adin g r bein g limited t b

b

h

I, tudent

am a ti iti
k at th eir ag and int r t I

II bel

k

I 0 tud nt u 111g

ith ha in g ale rning di abilit . In ur

mplct th

tudent ar n w abl t a

urr nt a I ad I ha

cl rath er than av idin g

I. With Kurzwci l, th e tud ent

gr d

r 'v\ ritin g mat rial vv h n

ar abl t pr du e a gr ater qual it and qu ntit)'

ith LD

mpar d t

traditi nal p nil to pap r ta k .
!though th ne

t diti n f Kur

er 1 n f Kurz eil i th pr
( 12).

II

IOU

k d for re ourc

~

ei l i

cr 1 n I ' urdi tri t' m t current

'v\ eb ba ed ed iti n req uirin g Intern t a e
r Kurzw il

12 to a

program , I wa able to find tw main ource of on lin

'

i t with I arnin g and integratin g th e
upp rt.

ne upp rt wa through

ambium Learnin g, th e pr vid rand technica l upp rt ~ r Kurzwe il.

(

T 8 ).

f

nd ourc

upp rt which appeared onl y in 20 12 were we b re ource de elop d by pecial
Technology 8

er 1 n 12

ducation

ambium Learnin g includ d online upp rt to I built right int

the Kurzweil oftware. Defa ult ettin gs in Kurzwe il aut maticall y di play a tip of the day each
time u er log on to the v 12 editi on ofth program . Kurzw il v 12 u r ca n al o acce
video demon trati on and an online manual throu gh the program it elf.

h w-to

nlin e help re ourc

in v 12 demon trate and e plain Kurzweil ' man y tool and feature . Unfortun ate I a the
ftware receive monthl y update the manual and video tutori al are not al'v\ a
accurate. At the time thi re car h pr je t report
undcrg ne 28 update .

a writt n,

urzwei l 12 had alt·ead

T B ' web ite ffer an nlin e elf-d ire t d

impl ementing th e program in a

h

I etting (

~

-B , n.d.).

up-to-date and

ur.e f r tho e

R

RV Y

K

n th

hall ng

ur

a re

t a h r

1n n

t b th m t th e n

gni zed. Thi r ea rch pr 0 tin
h

t a hin g and learnin g t

f learn r in t da ' di er

d

d u at t h m, th n d ~ r t h i

h

m tea

and upp rt th e

5

A H R

pi rat r re ear h

ti ga t d th e t pe and le el f upp rt

I di tri t r quir d t initi al and

m th at in lud

I in di er

m ,

nt inu e t u e Kurzwc il a a
tu de nt

ith L .

Re earch Que ti n to be Inve tigated

With th e

mpl

and di

additi onal targ ted Mini tr

fundin g ~

in crea in g ca eload demand on

r tud ent with diag n ed lea rnin g di abiliti e and th e

arnm g upp rt ea her , J had t

qu e ti n . Fir tl y, (a)

Do teacher r qUJre upport( ) fa n kind in rd er t in clud e Kurzwe il in th eir dail y teac hin g
of tud nt with learning di abiliti e

nd (b) If teac her reqUJre upp rt( ) t make Kurzwe il

part of their plannin g ~ r and teaching of tudent w ith lea rnin g di abiliti
pecific upport B

, what ar th e

teac hers require?

Rationale

In public and independ ent cia roo m in Briti h olumbia (B ), tudent V\ ith learn ing
di abiliti e (LD) make up 3.3% of th e populati on (B
Acco rdin g to th e B

Mini try of du cati on, 20 13).

Mini try of Educati on' data for 201 2-2 01 3, th ere we re 18,392 publi c

choo l students id entifi ed a hav ing a learnin g di sability (BC Mini try f duca ti on, 20 13).
The LD catego ry co mpri e more exce pti onal learn er th an any other p
recogni zed by th e B

ial need ca tegor

Mini try f ducati on. Th e B Teacher · ederati on r port , in ce

200 I , "th e pec ial Edu ati on program e peri need th e great t redu ti on in FT
pec iali t tea her , with an vera!! lo
19).

f 7 7.686 FT

lea rning

tea hin g po iti n "( 8 TF, 20 1 I. p.

he relatively large numb r of tudent with learnin g di abiliti

(LD) in B cia room

RV Y F R

and th r du ti n f p ciali t tea h r ha

r ult d in fe

t a h r and I arner

ith di abiliti

er upp rt

t a hin g and learnin g

nditi n

In rd r t impr

th

a i ti e

c n id r d a

through th e u e of a
a 1 tant , cia ro m t a h
Thi re earch qu ri

ar h ( hi ang

ith I arnin g di abiliti
ft are, th

made

r qUJr le

iu , 20 I I) ha d m n trat d

tud nt bee me m re ind epend ent
adult upp rt fr m edu ati nal

arn1n g upp rt r oth er pe iali t t a her ' upp rt.
hat Briti h

incorporate Kurzw il into th eir di er
At the el ementar

pti nal I arn r ha

upp rt ~ r edu at r and their tu dent v..ith di abiliti e ,

an b u d.

tud nt

m

m .

hall ng111g 111 man

a 1 ti e te hn I g

pp rtuniti

~ r

r upp rt t b th

olumbi a teacher mi ght n ed in ord er t

cia ro m th at in clud e tud ent w ith

hoo l wher I am empl oyed a a Learnin g up port Teac her, th ere

are fi ve intermediate tudent identifi ed thr ugh p yc ho log ical te tin g who are re ogni zed by
the Mini try of ducati on a ha vin g LD . Th fi ve tud ent are in four diffe rent cia roo m and
three di fferent grade . We currentl y have a numb r of oth er tudents wh o are wa itli ted for
testing by the di trict ch oo l p ycholog i t to rul e out or to confirm po ibl e learnin g
di sabiliti es. Working with interm ediate teach ers and tudent , I ee a need for Kurzwei l to be
used in class roo m where student have LD . In our ch oo l, traditi onall y teac her have
depended on peer helper or Teacher A i tant to upport tud ent with LD.

!though p er

and adult upport get stud ents thr ugh curri culum , th e e upport may not build kill ,
independence, or elf-e tee m for individual with LD . H lpin g tudcnt through el mentar
pr gram u ing peer r adult upport doe n t create independ ent learn r prepared t race
pr vin cial e am s in hi gh cho I, wher reader and cribe are ge n rail n t permitt d (8

RV Y

7

H R

R

een Kurz eil

Mini tr of ducati n, 201 2). In m
bui ld ki ll , ind ep nd n e, auth nti in lu i en

nfid en , and impr

p rD rman

in indi idual

( 0 ).

co nfid nt

ith Kurzwe iI, tud nt

ith learnin g di abiliti
ith

ed a ad 1111

n e I arn er kn wand ar

an p t ntiall pl an, r ad, and writ m r

indep nd nll requirin g minim al t n additi nal upp rt b

nd th c ia ro m teac her.

Operati onal Definiti on
To en ur reader
intend d D r th purpo

f thi

pi

ur e interpret th e t rmin ol gy a it wa

f thi

ur

y, a I i t f d fin iti n ha b en prov ided to clari fy any

un certainty or ambi gui ty:
i ti ve T

hn

g - echn logy u ed b indi idu als w ith di ab iI itie to promote

greater independence (
lementary ch oo I -

e tec hn ology, 20 13).
choo l edu catin g children from Kind rgarten to

rade 7.

Excepti onal Learner- A student who i e cepti onal ha lea rnin g and behav iour need
significantly different fro m th e norm (Winzer, 20 08 ). Excepti onal learn er requ1re more
ass istance or in structi on than i prov id ed during regul ar whole class le on
Kurzweil 3000 (Kurzwe iI) - The multi- en ory software 's too ls are de igned to be
customi zed to meet th e need of each unique oftware user. A way to u e oftware fo r stude nt
who trugg le with printed text to access curriculum material so they can keep up with
ass igned readin g, learn criti cal study kil l , and succe full y co mpl ete writi ng projects and
te l independentl y (Kurzweil, n.d.) .

RV Y

K RZW IL

8

H -R

RT

earning Di abilit (L ) -

cc rding t Winz r (200

abilitie

achi

em nt, or a mi tur

f th

a~ rem

Middle

h

I in Briti h

Grade 6 and
Po teducational

I-

ith

Dare f

pen nc d fi it in attenti n, mem ry,

average r hi gh r c gniti

h

, indi idual

h

nti n d defi it .
lumbia ducating hildr n u uall y betw

n

rad
condar tting

fthi

r th purp

tud , the t rm p t- e

ndary r fer t an

here indi idu al art nd aft r graduat ion from hi gh ch

in tituti on ma include

cati nal etting ,

condary chool - F r the purp

II ge and/ r un1

e f th i

upport - Phy ical r

ur

t- ec nd ary

r itie

tudy, the term

British olumbia chool educating children between

I. P

cho I re·~ r to a

rade 8 and Grad 12.

uch a book , computers, and related equ ipm nt or

assistance from individual like ducati onal

i tant ,

dmini trator , Technicians, or

speciali ts who can assist with ensuring educational program delivery goe a smoothl y as
pos ible.
Teacher- A Briti h olumbia certified teacher. A clas room educator, learnin g upport
teacher or itinerant speciali t, who is re pon ible for planning le on , teaching, a es ing and
evaluating tudents' progress.

RV - Y

R

9

A H R

hapter 2

it r tur R
Introdu cti n

ft n u ed t

te hn I g
.

il i

Briti h

lum bia.

di abiliti
acr

n a

t

hn I g

tn g

t

id rang

n ra l and m

il

arnm g
h

I di trict

a teachin g and learnin g

f n d , it i imp rtant t kn

m re ab ut b th

pe ifica ll Kur we i I 000.

The pre iou chapter intr du e d Kurzwe i I 000 a i ti
indi idua l

ith an u

hn I g pr gram G und in num r u

e G r tea h r beg in t uti li 7 Ku rz
ith a

a i ti

ti

up p rt indi idu a l

ith pl annin g, r adin g, and writin g ha ll nge .

ftwa re a

cc rdin g to th e

du cati on (20 1 I), teach r ar re p n ibl e ·~ r n urin g th at a ll tud ent ' n
are met acco rdin g to mini try guide lin e and po li 1e .

upp rt for
Mini try f

d and bj cti ve

tud ent w ith I arnin g di abil iti e are n

excepti on, and in fac t mak up th e hi gh t in c ident popul ati on of

c pti onal lea rn er in Briti h

o lumbi a (BC Mini try of du cati on, 20 13).
The foc u of thi chapter i to (a) introdu e readers to i ue re lated to a i tive
tec hn o logy, (b) c lari fy orn e of th e co mp nents of a i. ti e techn o logy fo und in Kurzwei l, (c)
look at w hat re earch has been aid about Kurzwe iI in ge nera L and (d) e plore Kurzwei I'
effective ne

w ith lea rn ers affected by lea rnin g di abiliti e .

A sistive Techn ology

In thi
3000

ecti on, literature on a i ti ve t chn ology ( T) and more pecifica ll y Kurzvvei l

ftware w ill bee pi red. A lthough thi re earcher wa un ab l to locate

re ear h tudi e related t Kurzwe il, N rth

meri can tu d i

ar in lu ded in thi

anadian
hapter.

Ace rdin g to the A lberta Mini try of _. du ca ti n (20 I ), a i tiv tec hn I g refer t de i e

u d in lea rnin g n 1r nm nt t

er

me barri r

arning and t a hi e
fi eld [i r indi idual

ith ph

i a l,

n r

ngag equ al! and a ti
g leve l th pi a mg

ti

I.

ith I arnin g di ab iliti e a ll

in g th m t a

ur e lik th eir

p111 g pe r .
20 4) d

ard

and a i ti e te hn I g ( T)

hi h

adaptati on and altern ate input d

rib d an u c mp n nt

uld be u edt help in di idual

pi r d thre ar a

di cu

tud nt

th ir indi idu al I arnm g g

Br d in , tar, and

output.

[! r

I p

gniti e, p

typi cal de

10

H R

R

RV Y

K

f

long with d cripti n and d fini ti n

tem

ith di fferent ty pe

f

techn I gy (

mput r a

, altern ati e input pr

fc mputer

T) :

in g aid , and a ltern ati ve

f many t pe of

T,

rodw in et al.

d th b nefit of num erou adaptation and de ice for upp rtin g indi idu al with

van ou di abiliti e . In cluded in th e auth r ' re ea rch
program.

ere feature found in th e Kurzwe il

pti ca l character recog niti on, wo rd predi cti on, w ritin g aid , and talkin g wo rd

proce sors were all di cu ed by th auth or and area l o feature fo und in th e Kurzw il
a si ti ve oftware program.

II of th e aforementi oned feature ca n be u ed to upport

indi vidual s with pl anning, writing, and readin g di abil iti e . Optical character re ognition
(

R) was expl ain ed by the author a

cann ed inform ati on whi ch i co nve rted to text through

a oftware appli ca ti on. The co nve rted te t i then edited by th e indi vidual or an a si ta nt to
en ure it matche th e ori gin al printed material.
aloud . In Kurzwe il it i p

h te t can th en be word proce ed or read

ibl e to can , imp rt, or type in t

t doc um ent for the

rec gni ze and read al ud , all ow in g indi vidu al with i ion r lea rnin g di abi li tie

CR to
t

a ce

t xt

de pite th eir di ability. W rd predi ti n, another feature de cribed b the auth r , 1 u d to
d crea e typin g and in rea e perG rman

tim e b predi cting

rd and phra e ba d n the

II

H R

I tter t p d. W rd pr di ti n

ft ar a

re al l,

pand d

d

pm g p d. F r indi idual

n

nti n

abul ar , and impr

di abilitie

r writt n utput di

ind p nden

. H

ugg t d

rd w ith ut ha in g t t p fu II \

di abiliti

r,""' rd pr di ti n all

ma al

find

grammati all

rr

pr

ere di

f-r adin g

lndi idual wh

rd r ,

ith ph

ical

ritin g m th d ma b a barri er t

u r t red u

k

tr k

b

tin g rr 111

rd . lnd i idual ""' ith languag -ba d lea rnin g

rd pr di ti n h lp ful ~ r pr p 111 g nd definin g v ca bul ary and

t pti n . Writin g aid
u

rrect p !ling, w rd

ith

fir t D

din

r d tn t al. · r ea r h a meth d t

pen nc di ffi cult

writin g aid , nam I th graphi

u h a bra in t rm111 g, equ encmg, utlinin g, and

rga ni z in g th eir 'v\ ritin g ma appr

upp rt

ritin g.

iate Kurzwe il '

rgant z r . Indi idu al with print-ba d learnin g di abiliti e

often benefit from th e u e f graphi c rga nt ze r and pl anning to I D und in ome a i ti ve
techn ology oftware pr gram

uch a Kurzwe il. Talkin g wo rd pro e or we re clarifi ed a

providing individual with vi ual and auditor

upport a materi al i read aloud helpin g

individual to read , organi ze, write , and edit. For th o e with readin g di abiliti

, th e opti on of

having th e material read aloud and hi ghli ghted imultaneo u ly all ow for ind ependent acce

to

print. Individual with print-ba ed learning di abiliti e are of at least ave rage intelli gence but
are unab le to access printed material at their le el of und er tandin g due to igni fica nt decodin g
weaknesse .

alkin g word proces or remove the print barri er for indi vidu al w ith readin g

di sabiliti es. Brodwin et al. clearl y defined man y c mp nent of

T and

T to help reader

under tand techn ology' c mmonp lace term and prog ram D ature
Br dwin et al. review d th e research on aband onm ent rate of a i ti ve techno log ,
meanin g h w oft n techno logy u er qu it u ing th eir te hn I gy wh n the beca me fru trated.
Th e re ear her rep rted Oo/o to 40o/o a be in g the average rate of a band nment b a i ti e

RV Y

er

techn I g u r . H

H R

R

rod in t al. ugg t that

b (a) invol in g the indi idual
T me t th ne d

12

fth u r, (c)

n id eri ng the a

r in g th indi idual

ith di abilitie .

uld b redu

d

, (b) en uring the

ith th di abi liti e in th

en urin g th or ugh and ng in g ed u ati nand upp rt
profe i nal

T aband nm ent

f p rati n of the AT, and (d)
r a ai labl t r habi litati on
dditional re arch finding reveal d

that rehabilitati on profe ional r que ted ongoing training in t chn I g and how to
incorp rate techn o logy int program

[! r indi

idual with a ari t

f di abi liti e ranging fr m

ph y ical to learnin g di abilitie .
limitati on of Br d in et al.'

tud relate t how quickly techn I gy changes and

new technology option beco m available

hich may re ult in ome form of AT and AT

bein g overl ooked . In addition, th author recognized the need fo r greater und er tanding fAT
and how it can support individual with di abilitie . T hey did n t provide sugge tion on how
to increase individual

under tandin g beyond th e descriptions th ey prov ided or how to upport

the growth of rehabilitati on profess ionals' knowledge and sk ill s to erve people w ith a range of
di ab ilities better.
Kurzweil for Individuals with Disabilities

Kurzweil Readin g Machin e (KRM ) we re ori ginall y created to upport individual with
vis ual impairments by sca nnin g text, editin g, and then usin g text-to-speech opt ions to allow the
u er to li sten to the printed material s. A stud y involvin g a survey of 50 academic librarie by
Jahoda and John so n (1987) inv e ti gated usage rate and i sues related to KRM. Part ofth
re earc h in vo lved rev iewin g three of th e mo t popul ar way indi vidua l with i ion
impairment acce
printed text.

print; throu gh the u e of braille, p ken word rec rding , and magnified

H R

RV Y

R

Jah da and J hn

n (I

K

7

ur e

nd ar librari an ab ut th eir pini n and

d p t-

fa t r lat d t KRM .

lth ugh th fir t pr du ti n m d I f th e KRM

nl 50 f th e initi al I

a aderni li brari e

h n urv

ed b Jah da and J hn

ed th KRM .

h a

in di at d nl 2

f th 50 a ademi librari e

ith i ual impairm ent in th eir

f th e 2 academi lib rari e ab le t e tim at th

numb r f i uall impaired patr n , 7 °/o r p rt d I atin g th e KRM in a eparate r
Mo t librari
H w

r p rt d KRM impr

r, the e ame librari

impro ed er ice fo r tud ent

~

d

did n t n edt

not warrant chedulin g of th e KRM .

1979,

n in I

th numb r f tud nt

a ad mi tn tituti n

111

h r p nd d had a KRM in th eir p

Re ar h r ult fr m th auth r ' ur
with KRM

a a ailabl

r tud ent

m.

ith i ua l impairm ent .

hedul KRM u ag a th e Ia k f demand did

hree a ademi c librari

ith I arnin g di abiliti

mm nt d th at KRM a l o

(Jahoda & Jon on, 1987). A lth ough

th e manufacturer of th e KRM ugge ted an appro im ate trainin g tim e of 12 hour., d pendin g
on the individual, mo t librarian re ponded and agreed th at the KRM co uld be learned with
littl e diffi cul ty . However, numero u librari

indicated patron cho e to u e per nal reader or

magnifi ed text more often th an th e KRM .

librari e reported KRM co uld read mo t print,

th ough more co mpl ex material found in lega l, math emati ca L and engin eeri ng Iiterature pro ed
to be less accurate and a chall enge for th e KRM .
Jahoda and John on ( 1987) attributed th e low u ag rate f the KRM in thi
three main ca u e ; th e relati ely few tudent w ith vi i n impairm ent

tud to

nr li ed in p t-

eco nd ary acad emi c in stituti n , m re n d .~ r in tru ti nal upport u in g th e KRM in
academi c librari e , and an

d ~ r identifi ati on and rga ni za ti n f potentiall y releva nt

d cument t be prepared and placed n th e KRM for u e b patron .

K R W l

Jah da and J hn

n' ( 19 7

numb r fa ad mi librarian

14

H R

RT

tud in lud d

h p rti ipat d in th

und r tanding fth KRM , and (b) th r

ar h

il a i ti

nducted . ll i p

t hn I g h

tud , u ed, and had an

Jah d and J hn

ibl that in th 2 1st entur th r might b

ten 1 e

dramaticall an I

n th r limi tation i

han g d 111

mal l

mall amp le f

a ba d n a r lati

i ua ll impair d tud nt in a d m1
rapid! Kurz

n u limitati n in ludin g (a) th

tud y

a

tudent with id entifi ed

arning challenge attending academi 1n tituti n u in g a i ti e t chn logy.
Techno! g ha rapid!

tnc the late I

ign ificantl by toda ,

tn e th e fir t KRM mad e it debut.

In anoth r tud ,

Taiwan

hian g & Liu (2 II) I

hi gh cho I tud nt all diagn ed

0 and Kurz ei I it elf ha chan g d

k d at th u

ftechnol gy to a it 15

ith a learnin g di ability. In

aiwan, regardl e s

of whether tudent ha e a di ability, they are required to learn - ng li h in juni r hi gh ( hian g
& Liu, 20 II) . The central learnin g objective for Taiwane e tudent with I arning di abilities

to increa e ngli h lan guage proficiency ( hian g & Liu, 20 II).
According to Chiang and Liu (20 11 ), the u e of a i tive techn ology by n n- ngli h
speaking tudent with reading di abilitie wa limited. The 15 re arch participants in the
authors' tudy were ma le hi gh chool tudents diagnosed with readin g di abi liti e . who were
al

taking

L cia es. The purpose of the re earch wa to e pl ore the studen t , perception

of the effectivene
performance.

f Kurzwe il '

oftware to improve their ngli h kill and academic

qua li tative resear h meth do logy wa employed to uncover tudent 'vi v

Taiwanc e student participant were in tructed on how to u e Kurzw il and
two week to fami liarize the m elv

with the program.

were u edt del rmine the participant , percepti n

fthe

re g1 en

mi - truclured indi idual inter teY\
ft are' b nefit .

RV Y

rd d and tran
8. R

u 111g

ugge ted Kurz

maj r findin g f th

iu , 20 II).
r

ult

~ r readin g,

ribed

rb tim .

il had a p

iti

ata

tud nt r p rt d

ritin g, pellin g, pr nun iati nand

includ d Kurzw il ' indi idua lizati n pti n

er

ded and anal z d

11npa t n al l I arner ( hian g

tud V\a n ted in th 1mpr

iu, 20 I I).

gniti n ( hian g

15

II R

R

ement

tt r p r~ rman

mpreh n

n ta k .

f

ng li h

rd

h n u in g Kurzwe il
dditi nal ben fit

ith r ading pe d and r peated reading

al ng with hi ghlight r and ti k n te t ha e upport d aca demi c I arnmg

opp rtuniti

( hian g & Liu, 20 I I
[! w limitati

n

fthi

tud 1n lud d a h rt tw -we k tim frame, whi ch did n t

allow re earcher to d termine if ther w r wide pread academic advantag
user . The

for Kurzwe il

ngli h languag -ba d t o l in Kurzwe il did not pro id e th e pti n t look up

word in tud nt ' native lan guage to tren gth en th eir under tandin g f word and phra e .
The limited ample ize of 15 tudent wa too mall to ge neralize t th e populati on.

elf-

reporting canal o be a limitation a individual may not have been compl tely h ne t and
accurate in what they reported.
Kurzweil Use in No rth A me rica n Schools

In the

nited tate , pp (2007) inve ti gated both the influence of a istive

technology on tudent ' ocial tudie achiev ment and the effectivene

of u ing Kurzwei I in

clas room co ll aborative ly taught by a pecial education teacher and a oc ial tudie teacher.
The American study took place in a high sc h ol in
tudent of m tly African-Am rican d cent.

e rg ia with even mal e and fi e female

II I I tudent were diagno ed a having LD in

the area f readin g. The tudent participant were part or thre
t a h r c !l ab rated to en ure all t

tb

cia e . Th

k pag , hand ut , note , and a e ment '" re

RV Y

K RZW I

ei I. Th

ann d int Kur
the pr gram.
[irt

h

H R

R

n

tud nt

arti ipant

re pr

id d

bri f Kurz

ith

il tut rial and time t e pi re

mput r lab, Intern l, nd Kurz

iI a

w -k.
Pre- and p t-te t Iikert- a l

an a I 1 .

a iI l a her b r ali n

tud nt attitud e u e
f~

n

li

n arc, tud ent beha i ur,

n

nn

tudent enga0 ement, and int

w re th med in th e fin al data

t d l th int r enti n w re re

Tea herl g

re an al 7ed t determin e if th e int rventi n wa

tudent aehi

ment.

tud nt a e m nt

w re c mpared ( pp , 20 7). R

fr m

u

rd ed.

ful in innu n 1ng

ur ew rk pre- and p t-inter enti n

ated th at tud nt wh w rea ti ely engaged in

learnin g made a ademi impr

m nt , 'v\h erca pupil

ho we re n t engaged did n t make

impr v m nt .

co mpl eted b

ugge ted th at tud enl

ttitud e ur e

tudent

po iti e attitude about Kurzwe il aft r th int r enti n.
to them by Kurzwe il helped w ith ac hi

howed

tud enl felt hea rin g th e materi al read

ment. Performanc co mpan

n demon trated

achi e ement improve ment , but be au e o f th e hort tud y, the re ea r her co uld not
de finiti ve ly attribute acad mi c ga in to Kurzwe il ' interventi on.

ac her fe lt tea m teac hing

and u ing Kurzwe il helped meet I arner need butt ac her had con

rn about th e am unt of

tim e needed to

an and prepare materi al ( - pp , 200 7).

In an inn er city publi c hi gh choo l in

o ton Ma a hu ett , r

archer

Jac b (20 I 0) in ve ti ga ted co mputer ba ed in tructi on ( 81) with Ku rzw il 000.

hi ang and
mputer

baed in lru ti on impl y refer to tea hin g thr ugh co mputer program li ke Kurzv. eil. Unl ike
th e prev iou

tud y th at I ked at Kurzwe il u e in

ked at Kurzweil u e in language art .
hi ang and Ja

b

cial tudi

, th

hi ang and Jacob ' tudy

in g a qualitati ve de ign and e ami nati on f them

tri ved t und er tand hi gh

h

I pc ial ed u ati on t a her ' and tudent ·

K RZW IL

RV Y

p r pti n

f Kurz eil.

17

R

ngli h tud nt fr m the

program participat d in th 6 m nth ur

u in g K 000 t r ad

rt pr gram.

il at lea t thr

Lan guag
w

k . F urteen of th

B t n Publi
t

tud nt u ed Kur

of th

hoo l

tud nt ubj e t r

ial du ati n

p r

ee k for

er ten

ded and id entifi ed by th

e1 in g 2 -5 o/o fth ir

h

than 2 o/o f their ch

educator teachin g in the p ial ed u ati on department wh had
Kurz

p

1gnm nt for th ir ~ ng li h

tim

pe ial du ati

dl

hoo l'

Id a 111 a re

ur e r

I da

urce roo m.

111 a r

m while
IX

peri ence integratin g

il int their cia e parti ipated in the project. F ur teacher u ed Kurzwe il

ftware in

their teaching durin g th e re ea rch project, whil e the ther tw teacher had u ed Kurzw il in
the pa t.
Foc us group intervie

were co ndu cted by

hian g and Jaco b (20 J0) to determine th e

advantages and di advantage of Kurzwe il and the facto r affectin g both teacher ' u e of Bl
and student progress. Focu groups too k place on chool gro und , Ia ting 30 minute for
stud ents and 30-50 minutes for teacher . Teac her we re a ked about th eir cia roo m
experi ences with Kurzweil , reaso ns why they used

BI in the cia room, and experiences

related to tudent progre s in readin g comprehension, task perform ance, and motivation.
Student were divided into four focu gro ups and as ked four que ti on related to preferred
reading environment, experi ences with Kurzwe il , examples of how Kurzwe il helped with
readin g and with tudents' chool performance.
indin gs indicate that after regular use, tudents r ported improveme nt in (a) their
pronunciation, (b) th e amount, (c) peed, and (d) quality of both their r ading and
co mprehen ion abilitie u ing the Kurzweil so ftware.

tudents al o reported improved

RT A H R

RV Y

W I

K

elf-per pti n, and nh an d p r~ rman

a ad mt

11 f u 11

t i na I ta k

u h a fi II in g ut a

J b app li ati n.
Feedback fro m Teache r o n th e Inte ra ti n f Kurzwe il

In
re p n

hian g and Ja
t

di abiliti

20 1 ) ~

ard

I and in rea

re p nd

ell t th e

r du in g th e am unt f de

H

b'

r, tea her a l

human re ourc

u gr up int r ie

d I arn r ng ge m nt.

[! It

I a Kurz"' il hi ghli ght d th t

t whil it read al ud ,

din g r quir db I arn r a nd impr

r p rt d in uffi i nt a

t

tud ent

ith I arn111 g

in g th e ir c mprehen

mput r , t

n.

mu h preparati n, Ia k f

upport, pr fer n e fo r traditi nal t a hin g, Ia k of fa mil ia rity t wa rd

t chn ol gy , and diffi cul ty manag in g cia e a ba rri er to
Kurzw il program

, t a her r p rt d po iti e tud ent

BI w ith Kurzwe il.

trength

f th e

ere de crib db teacher a pro idin g indi idua li ed ettin g D r I arn er ,

readin g aloud , hi ghli ghtin g whil r adin g, and in tant ace
noted improvements we re needed

to wo rd de finiti n . Tea her

ith Kurzwe il ' te t-editin g, un attracti e and co nfu in g

layo ut, hi gh price, rob tic vo ice , and mi pro nun ciati on . Accordin g to auth or , if

Bl

confu e or fru strates teacher , edu cator will top integratin g th e techn ology into th eir
teachin g practi ce.
hian g and Jacob ' (20 I 0) reco mm end d tud ents u e Kurzw il (a) durin g cia

but

al o for co mpl etin g homewo rk or oth er fun cti onal ta k , (b) teachers hould u e Kurzw il
across th e curri culum and for exam if accomm dati on are written into the tu de nt'
Individu ali zed ducati on Plan , (c) ch

hould provide tech upp rt and that di tri t

hou ld

enc urage teacher t D rm techn logy u er group to I arn fro m one anoth er, (d) choo l
h uld be c ntinua ll y upgradin g their er i n f Kurz eil t en ure th e are a c

ing the m

K RZ'v\' l

R

y

R

R

urr nt and im r ' d

~

ran

Kurz,, il h uld b

iti n. an

r tud nt

t

t h m '' rk and fun ti nal t k .
u....,g......
~

ti n :D r futur r

KurZ\\ il n indi' idual · fun ti nal
in lud

ngli h a

tud). d

111\

nd

t

ndu t

k . b r pli

t thi

ar h '' r

nguag

arn r

p r~ rm n

I tudi

f~

t

[

tudy '' ith a larg r amp! . (
u in 0 Kurz,, il in a r plicat d

mpl tin g ta k . and

ticat Kurz,, il u r · p d f

r eoardin o th

gain inC rrnati n

......

tin f,ari u KurZ\\ il u r gr up .

ab ut th
urzw il 1..:

Hal

with IndiYidu a l
t al. ·

r

ff ct d by
ll1\

, ·e r R a din o a nd

f:D

tigat
d th
....

r ading (L 'v\'R on both ompr h n ion I \ el and rat
ed to thr

with emoti onal di ord r

m ti n a t Di a iliti e

of li t nin g and li t ning-\\hil

. F ur mal middl

h

I tudent

xpenm ntal readin g onditi n . In the fir t

enari o. L 'v\'R. tudent read il ntly al ong id an xpenm nter who read al ud . In the ec ond
cenari o. li tening only. tudent li t ned to an e ' perim nt r r ad. but"' ith out i ual mat rial
to accompany what th y '' re h aring . The third
tudent read ilently.

enario \\a the control gr up where

fter ea h cenari o. the tud nt v.ere given 10 ompr h n ion

que ti on . but were not permitted to refer back to any printed material u d in the reading
ituati on . Hale et al. reported L WR and li tening produced uperior compreh n ion
than the ilent reading control condition.
chmitt 2009 e tend d Hale· (200 ) re arch on L WR u ing parallel de ign
procedure .

chmitt' re earch differ d from Hale· b u ing Kurz\\eil a i tive technology t

o ercome poor reading abi lity.

chmitt contributed t the lit ratur on b th a

techno! g and Kurzweil b re earching the ffe t
compreh n

f Kurz

tive

il n parti ipant

n accurac and rate in indi idual with e ere r ading and m ti nal di abilitie .

hmitf I 0 da
h

pri ate da

tud t

k plac

I for indi idual

(ADH D); thre
diagno

tud ent

includ d t

II be low

h o l and hi gh

hi h in cluded

ere d iagn

d

tud ent with pp

depre ion, and n di agn
reading

r beha i ur di ffi ulti

ith

and n femal e tud nt fr m midd I
tud nt had multipl e di agn

ith ·~ ur tudent from a

r con e uti e ch ol m rmn g

h parti ipated in th

h

tt nti n

itiona l d fi ant di

hoti c di

rde r.

tud y. All

efic it /11 p ra ti ity Di ord er

mbi ned t pe.

H

ith

. Th er wer thre mal e

th er parti cipant

rd er, two di agn

of

II fo ur tud ent were recogni zed a

p ctati n ba ed n th eir g n ral cogniti ve abiliti e .

Pariicipant in chmitt' (20 09) tud y we re e p

d to three experim ental c nditi on

and we re a ked to read il ntl , li ten to a pa age read a loud , and li ten whil e readin g (LWR)
in individually admini tered 20 minute e ion .

II reading tas k in co rporated th e u e of

grade four text pa age and comprehension qu e ti on from th e T im ed Readin g in L iterature
program . A laptop computer with Kurzweil 3000 oftware was used for all experim ental
conditi on .

il ent readin g sess ions we re done by reading onscreen. Li t nin g e ions

invo lved Kurzweil readin g al oud with th e laptop monitor turn ed off, o no vi ua l info rm ati on
could be gain ed. LWR sess ions involved Kurzwe il readin g the text al oud whil e simultaneo u ly
hi ghli ghting th e word s read. All e sions required parti cipants to co mpl ete fi ve factual and five
in fe rential multipl e cho ice qu e ti ons which provided three an we r from whi ch to choo e.

II

co mprehension acti viti es were co mpl eted usin g traditi onal pencil and paper format. Inter c rer
agreement on co mprehension res ponses was I OOo/o. Interv nti on se sions we re
co unterbal anced for di ffi culty ae ro

each e peri menta l co nditi on, and tud ent rece ived the

same in structi ons durin g eac h experimental co nditi n. An ind pend ent ob er er fo und the
experim enter c nducted tud y procedure with I 00% a curacy

er the two da

of

RT

RV Y

b r ati n .

12 p int ~ nt

21

H R

a u ed ac r

nditi n to all

pa ag and liminat th ne d ~ r n cr n pag
adju t th

lume. H

each e i n thr ugh th u
pr gram.

f pe ch wa maintain d at
upported at the end f

tud ent ' parti cipati on

of min r rewa rd a part f th e

t th e c nc lu 1 n f th

t th e entire

r !ling. Parti ipant we r permitt d t

e er, Kurzwe il ' default rat

125 word p r minute[! r all parti ipant .

tud ent a e

tud , parti ipant

h

I'

re in ~

rcem nt pti n

ompl eted int r enti n a ceptability

ratin g form
tudent ' co mprehen IO n acc urac
accomm odati on a ro
ari ous conditi on

a

~

un d t be hi gh t in th L WR

al l ubj e t . lndi idu al di ffe ren e in parti cipant ' re p n e

t

th e

ere noted and we re attri buted to pot nti al di f~ renee in lea min g tyle

The acceptabi Iity qu e ti onnaire revea led 2 parti cipant found th e L W R acco mm odati on
enj oyable, 3 tud ent rep rted th ey beli eved their co mprehension improved a a res ult of L WR,
3 students reported a greater ability to decode unfamili ar text and 3 beli eved class mate wo uld
enj oy the L WR accomm odati on.
Limitati ons of Schmitt's (2009 ) re earch includ ed both a mall sa mpl e ize and
re earch ers did not ensure students read th e text or we re engaged in th e interve nti on as
participant were not required to read al oud . Re earcher queri ed whether the L WR
accommodati on was too much info rmati on for one parti c ipant to proce .
For future research , the author

ugge ted inve ti gatin g (a) th e u e of th e p r nali zin g

features in KurzweiI such as rate of speech and electi on of vo ice , (b) u e Kurzwe iI to read
co mprehension qu esti on and an we rs aloud to rul e out decodin g cha ll nge , and (c) e. amine
the impact text t

peech has on an indi vidu als' ability to read co rrec t word per minute.

K RZW l L

RV Y

h ir finding

R

22

H R

ugg t that

me indi idual

ith motional and readin g di

rd r may

comprehend mor mat rial with th u e fthe LWR ace mm dati n af~ rded by Kurzwe il
m re than ju t I i t nin g al n

r i lent reading.

urn ma ry

hapt r 2 wa

mpri ed f i difD rent r

arch tudie relat d t b th a

tive

techn I g and Kurz ei I.
aband nment fthe a i ti e technology, and (b) th
the effe ti ene

fKurzw il in a ademi

tudent and taff p rception r gardin g

etting .

Kurzweil a i ti e oftware ha been and
vanou di abilitie around the world and acr

ntinue t be u ed by individual with

Briti h

lumbia. Alth ugh m re re earch i

needed in the area of a i tive techn ology and Kurzwe il in particular, th ere earch pre en ted
above peak to the potential of Kurzweil a si tive

ftware to upport the elf confidence,

motivation , and learning of individual with learnin g di sabilities.
In the following chapter l will di scu
of B teachers in one school di trict.

the methodology used in thi exploratory survey

RV YF R T

2

H R

ha pter 3

Meth dol g
In thi

ti n I

informati n on participant , (d) r ear h pr
and (f) data anal

fth e tud , (b) re arch que ti on , (c)

ill in lude (a) th purp

dur , (e) in trum enlati n and data

II cti n,

1 •

Purpose of the tud y

The purpo e ofthi

tud wa t c ntri but t th know ledge on tud ent with lea rnin g

di abi I itie and th u e of a i ti e

ftwa r , in rd er to upp rt tudent , t acher and

di trict u in g Kurzweil 3000 a i ti ve

hoo l

ft are.

R esea rch Qu e tions

With th e compl ex and di er e need in B

class r

ms and give n both th e lac k of

additi onal targeted Mini try fundin g fo r tudent with di ag nosed learnin g di abiliti e and th e
increa in g case load demand on Learnin g upport Teacher I had two questi on . F irst, do
teachers require support( ) of any kind in order to in clude Kurzwe il in their dail y teachin g of
stud ents w ith learning di sabiliti es? And seco nd , if teach ers require support( ) to make
Kurzwe il part of th eir pl anning fo r and teachin g of student with learnin g di abiliti es, what are
th e specific support 8

teachers require?

Pa rticipants

The participants in thi s research tudy we re all certified teacher . Fo r the purpo es of
thi s study wh en I refer to parti cipant or teachers I am referring to 8
Parti cipants included clas roo m teachers, pec iali t

ce rtifi ed teacher .

uch a Integration upport Teac her ,

Teachers of th e Vi ua lly Impaired, and Lea rnin g upp rt Tea h r . Administrator with
teachin g duti e al o parti c ipated in thi s tud y.

II parti ipant we re empl o ed b th e ame

uth ea t rn B

RV Y

R

ch

I di tri t.

24

H R

m

female mak up m t f

( t fD nhag n 20 1 ), it i n t urpn ing that th
tud . Pat1icipant tau ght in an u
cho I and di tribut d learning
tti ng , wh iI other

h

tting .

mpl

participant ran ged in age and ear

r m re femal

t a hing p pulation
wh participat d in thi

tting including elementa ry, middl e

ho I, hi gh

me participant w r In mall i olat d multi -grad e

d in larg r urban ar a .

urv y re ult revealed that

f e perienc and included both new teac her to those

Table 1- ).

approaching retirem nt (
Re ea rch P rocedure

Th r earch r recruit d a ample of 50 pat1icipant through conveni ence amp lin g.
Convenience ampling wa u ed a par1icipant were wil lin g and avai lab le to participate
(Cre wel l, 20 12). A participant invite wa

ent t 82 pro pective partic ipant via ema il. The

sample size of 50 wa determined by the number of wi lling participant I wa ab le to obtain
through the emails 1 had .

electing as large a sampl e of participant a possib le all owed for

better representati on of the teaching population in the di trict where this research was
conducted (Creswell, 20 12).
The survey was deve loped by the re earcher. Questions were created based on the
information I was seeking. A sa mpl e of the par1i cipant co nsent form and urvey i included as
Appendix 1.
To reduce measurem ent error, my surv ey was created using clear, unambiguous
questions and response options (Creswe ll, 20 12) after being pilot tested by friends and family
and revamped accordingly. The web-based survey was designed to targ t my specific
demographic,

teacher in one schoo l district u ing a web-ba ed ver ion of Kurzweil 000 .

h

a di tribut d t p rti ipant

ur

n m1 al ur

h
in~ rmati

mp n , Fluid ur

n gath r d thr ugh thi

pot ntiall m nit red b th e
urv

a

a th

ur e t

n a e ure

I a all

rver. The u e f th

an ad ian

n id r d, but in[! rmati n gath red thr ugh
u bj e t t the

ing ~ Juid ur e
m n an g

arti ipant ' re p n

ernm ent, a th e

f

Patri t

f their re p n e , I ch

pr

, ~ luid ur e

anadian

ing [! r ef[i ti e nd

m n an e r e r and i

n

200 I (Patri t A t, n.d.).

, all

er 1
e V\ a

M

M nke

1a luid ur e

IL 20 12 .

in g ( re

anadian

p pular ur
ur

2

RT

RV Y

t u e th e

w uld n t be

an b wi th th e p pular

Monk y web- er 1 e.
nc participant co mpl eted th e ur e , re ult

ur ey [! cu ed on participant d m graphi
ection to har

trateg i

ere a ail ab le to m e~ r analy i .

he

, percepti n related t Kurzweil, and an opti ona l

andre ource fo r wo rkin g

ith indi idu al affect d by learn in g

di abilitie . Demographics in clud ed participant 'g nd er, age, ear of teac hin g experi nee,
ty pe of choo l( ) in which participants were empl oyed, and both ca eload 1z sa nd e timate .
After pat1icipant completed the urvey, a hard copy of th e ir re pon e wa printed and
sto red in a bind er in my home offic e in a loc ked e ure filin g cab in et. The Flui d urv y
account allowed th e re earcher to track which pat1icipant completed th e que tionnaire .
follow-up friendly reminder email wa

ent out be[! re th e deadlin e to tho e individual who

had not c mpl eted the urv ey. An electronic ver ion of th co mpl eted ur ey wa
thumb driv e.

aved t a

RT

In trumen tation and Data

r thi

HR

2

ollection

pi rat ry r

arch proj

t, a qualitati

under tanding f parti ipant ' p r epti n (8 rg, 20
b cau
d

).

appr a h
ur

a u d t gain a greater

re arch d 1gn wa

(a) it i p pul ar in edu cation and ha b n u d D r man year , (b) ur

ribe trend , parti ipant ' b li f, and pini n , ( ) ele tr ni c ur

becom incr a in gl m r
data qu ickl

e ten i

mmon and p pul ar ~ r

ith their te t d ur

II

can

ys via th Int rn t have

ling data, and (d) urvey

an gath er

qu e ti n D rm ( re we ll , 2 12). My nline

urvey wa dev lop d t d termin e t ac her 'e peri ence with Kurzwe il acr

ne ch

di trict and to determin e if teac h r required upp rt when learnin g to u e Kurzweil a a
teaching and I arnin g too l

ithin th e Ia r

m

tting. Being a large and top graphi call y

diver e choo l di tri ct eparated by a m untain pa , a large lake with a ferry cro in g along
two different tim e zo nes for th e majo rity of the yea r, made face -to-face interview imposs ibl e.
onsequentl y, thi

tudy used an online urvey of BC teac her in one sc hoo l di tri ct who u e,

have u ed, or were intere ted in usin g Kurzwe il in th eir cia roo m .
Data Ana lys is

Anal y i ofth e results was co mpl eted th ro ugh th e Fluid urveys we b ite usin g primaril y
descripti ve stati tics. Permi ion was granted by parti cipant to share th e data from thi

urvey

to schoo l di stri cts' pl annin g for succe sful cia sroom u e and impl ementati on of Kurzwe il
3000 .
After the tud y was co mpl ete, th e hard c p1 e of re pond ent ' surveys we re hredded
and burn ed. Material s on the thumb dri ve we re deleted, and the co mputer' recyc le bin
empti ed.

K RZW IL

RV Y

H R

R

27

ha pter 4

Finding
Introdu cti on

The Kurzw il
emai l link t

plorator

ur

2 indi idual from n

Januar 2, 20 I .
live on Fluid ur

t

e appendi
ch

I)

a mad e available throu gh an

I di trict. Jn itati n

tal f 176 in itati on and remind r wer

y until Januar

ur ey /number of in it

~ r participant

ent ut while th

went out

urvey wa

I, 20 13. The r p n e rate wa 38% (c mp let d

nt). Thi chapt r will har participant ' d m graphic and

re ponse .
R es ult

Participant [N =4 7] demographic of the expl orat ry survey indicated 3 8°/o of
respondent were male (n= 18) and 62% were (n=29) female. The age-group with the large t
number of participants was 51-60 years (see Table 1).
Table 1
Frequency Distribution by Age-Groups
Age-Groups

Frequency

20-35

Percent

10

N
47

21%

36-40

5

47

11 %

41-45

7

47

15%

46-50

10

47

21%

51-60

12

47

26%

60+

3

47

6%

RV Y ~ R

H R

he frequ nc di tributi n b
di abiliti

an b ~ und in

' P ri ence t a hin g tud nt

abl 2. M

ear

28

f

p n n

t a hin g tud nt w ith learnin g

t tea h r (n= l 5) had at lea t

r m re year

f

ith lea rn ing d i ab il iti e .

abl e 2

Fr qu n y Di lribution by Y ar of Exp rien 'e T, aching Students with Learning
Di ab ilitie
nee

Frequency
2

47

Percent
4%

1-5 year

6

7

1 %

6- 10 year

15

47

32%

11 -20 ear

II

47

23%

47

28%

More th an 20 ear

In Tabl e 3, parti c ipants reported the type of choo l or schoo l in whi ch th y were
empl oyed and have or had access to Kurzwe il. T he majo ri ty of parti cipants (n=34) revea led
th ey wo rked in an elementary schoo l settin g, w ith seco nd ary schoo l co min g in eco nd (n= 14) ,
and middl e schoo ls (n=9) tra ilin g Ia t.
Tabl e 3

Type of Schools Where Kurzweil is Accessible
Schoo l Type

Frequency

N

Percent

lementary choo l

34

47

72%

Middl e choo l

9

47

19o/o

Seco ndary choo l

14

47

0%

R

RV Y

Wh n a ked h

man

I-1 R

tud ent

parti ipant ' a I ad , th e maj rit
e

epti nal learn er .

qu

ti n.

29

ith di ag n ed I arnin g di abiliti e (

)

ere n

f parti ipant indi at d ha in g ~ ur r m re f th e e

abl 4 indi ate th fr qu en

di tribu ti n f r p n e t thi parti cul ar

Tabl 4
Freque nCJ Di. trib ution by

umber of , tud nt. H'ith LD on Participants' 'aseloads
~

requ ency

Perce nt
17o/o

2

10

46

22%>

3

10

46

22%

4 or mor

18

46

9%

Wh en a k d how man

tude nt we re on participa nt ' ca eload with u pected but

undi agn ed lea rnin g di abiliti e (L D), 60% of part icipant (n=28 ) indi cated hav in g 1-3
additi onal tud ents, wherea 40o/o (n= 19)s u pee ted th ey had 4 or more tud ent wi th
undi agno ed LD on their ca el ad.
Regardin g how many parti cipants have or had choo l access to Kurzwei l, 9 1% (n= 43)
of parti cipants reported eith er hav ing current acce
how long parti cipant have had acce .

or acce

in the pa t. Table 5 rep re nt

RV YF R

H R

0

Tab! 5
Fr qu n Di tribution b
Th ir chao /(.)

umb r of Year Participant. Have Had Ace

requency

to Kurzweil in

7

46

Percent
15%

II

46

24%

1-2 ear
Mor than 2

ar

16

46

5%

Mor than 5

ar

8

4

17%

4

9o/o

More than I 0 ear

Que tion nine of th e ur e a ked parti ipant in which ubject th y u e or would u e
Kurzweil in their cia room.

n

er helming 96% (n =45) re ponded th y u e, have u ed, or

would u e Kurzw il in Language

rt I Eng li h/ Humaniti e .

ee Table 6 for the frequency

di tribution of participant ' re pon e . When give n the option t

elect "other" a a ubject

area and provide additional informati on, four individual added ocia l tudies a another
chool subject they use, would u e, or have u ed Kurzweil in their teaching.
Table 6
Frequency Distribution by Subject Areas Supported by Kurzweil in Participants · School(s)

Subject

Frequency

N

Language Arts/ Eng Iish/
Humanities

45

47

c1ence

30

47

French/ pan1 h/ LL

2

47

Mathematics

II

47

Other

4

47

K RZW IL

RV Y

R

H R

a ked parti ipant in whi h grad e th ey
ha

u d r w uld u e Kurz

abl 7 r fl

il in th ir tea hin g.

t parti ipant ' r p n e

M t parti ipant indicated ha ing u d or p tentiall u in g Kurz

il in their t aching in

el m ntary

ndar

and 6

ho I m re ofte n than in eith er hi gh

re th m t p pular grad

h

ettin g .

rad e 5

parti ipant indi ated ~ r in c rp rating Kurzwe il int th ir

t aching.
Tab! 7
Frequenc Di lributi n by Grade Le1el Participants Have
Their Teaching

Grade

Fregu n y
12

43

Grade 4

23

43

Grad 5

26

43

Grade 6

27

43

Grade 7

22

43

Grade 8-1 2

20

43

Post-Secondary Educati on

4

43

ed or Would

se Kurzwei/ in

When asked how man y of th e parti cipants' students have u ed, or would use Kurzwe il ,
the maj ority of re ponses (n=34) indicated 0-5 students. Table 8 umm ari zes participants'
responses to questi on 11 fro m th e ur-vey, regardin g the number of students u ing Kurzweil.
!early the maj ority of parti cipant envision a small number of tudent u ing Kurzwei l, rather
than integrating th e technol ogy for either a whole cla ss or half a cia .

K R W I

H R

R

2

abl
Frequency

i. lrihution of. tud n/. J¥ ho I[, Jl'e

. ed, or Would

se Kur=w 7 il

7

6- 1

11-2

2

4

9%

4

5%

M re th an 20

7%

ften parti ipant ha e u ed, r

T d termin h
D r le

n , th

n wa p

parti ipant ' r pon e

n

1n

rp rating Kurz

d nth

il int th ir le

ho I day D r L

a qu ti n twe l e. Tab le 9 repre ent th e

erwhe lmin g maj rit
n

~

r 1-5 le

f parti ipant ha e r w uld
n pe r w ek. Thi

in ~ rm ati

n ider
n ind i ate

r en i ion Kurzwe il a bei ng integrated into th e maj rity f

parti cipant do not current! u
each

ur

ul d u. Kurzwe il in th eir pl annin g

tud ent ' read in g, writin g and plannin g upp rt. The data indi cate

few parti cipant are u in g r wo uld co n ider u in g Kurz ei l e en twice a day for le

n .

Tabl e 9
Freq uency Di tribution by How Often ParticljJants Have/Are/ Would In corporate Kur::-...1 •eil into
Their Les ons

per wee k
6- 10 le on
11 -2 0 le

n

More than 20 le on

Fr quency
37

43

Percent
86o/o

4

4

9%

2

43

5%

0

4

0°o

ue Li on 13 on th e urve wa

pen-e nd ed, a kin g what chall enge. people ha chad or

w uld anti ipate when u in g Kurzwe il with tudent . Re. po n e to thi que ·ti n \\ ere printed,
th emed and tall ied by h w ften ·tatement we re made. Three broad theme '"ere not --<..1, (a)

ha ll eng

RV Y

R

ch

I, (b) hall eng

at th

II

H R

at the tud nt I

I, and (c) chall enge with th

Kur w il pr gram.
Tabl e I 0 repr
mo t reported on

nt parti ipant 'c mm nt ab ut ha ll ng

rn (n= 16)

a regardin g th tim required t

preparati n -G r tud ent ' le on .
Kurzwe il r ad y [! r tudent

at th e ch

I level. Th e

can and edit material in

ea her rep rt d thee tra tim e requir d to get materi als

hen glitch

cur r th ey are n t abl e to fi gure thin g out.

Th e eco nd mo t co rnm n I reported on ern (n= 12) related to th e need for ngo tn g
trainin g t

upp rt t a her in their learnin g of Kurzwe il. Teacher had an u comm ent

about how fru tratin g and time co n uming it wa try in g to lea rn Kurzwe il and pr p materi al
when attempting to in c rporate th program into va ri o u le on and ubj ect .
Outd ated computers that take too long to boot up or run Kurzwe il wa the third mo t
commonly reported co ncern (n= 8) at th e choo l le el. Teacher reported wa tin g too mu ch
tim e waiting for outdated computer to tart up and run Kurzwe il. Fru strati on regardin g low
technology were reported to create a lac k of commitm ent to th e program by both teac her and
students. Teacher co n train ed by timetabl e reported wa ting too mu ch tim e waiti ng for
Kurzweil on old co mputers, and bein g unabl e to take extra tim e to acco mm odate the low
techn ology. Again , computer time lags, and finite ava il abl e class tim e re ulted in ome
teac hers not in cluding Kurzwe il in their teachin g repe1io ire.

K RZW IL

abl

RV Y

R

H R

4

l0
istribution bv Parti

about Chat/eng s at the School Level

<

anning/editing mat ri al
Fa t rate at whi h materi al are n um ed
Training
ngo111g taff upp rt need d t I arn
Kur cil
Acce to omputer /Tec hn olog
Man
m ha e n c mputer
tud ent an nl a
in pull ut

16

4
4

12

43

2
2

43
43
43
43

9
f Kurzw il

2
Computer/Inte rnet hall e nge
nreli abl e/ limited Intern et acce
omputer i ue , t ch upport n eded
ld computer take t o long
taffing
eed Kurzwe il trained EA
an ' t teach my cia and Kurzwe il
tud ent
Ia room teacher wo n' t all ow Kurzwe il
Kurzw eil is too much wo rk
Physical pace
N eed more pace/outl et fo r charging

6
8

43
43
43

2
3

43
43

I
2

43
43

2

43

5

Table 11 represe nt comment regardin g Kurzweil chall enges at th e tudent leve l. The
most frequent comm ents (n= 10) were c nn ected to tud ent ' fear of being tea ed or perce ived
by peers a being different. In clud ed und er thi umbrella of percepti on we re co mm ent
regardin g tudent fearin g bein g ti gmati zcd becau e th ey had to lea e the cia
acce

Kurzweil in are

urce ro m.

1n rd r to

urrentl y in the choo l di tri ct in ol ed in thi

m Iapt p u e is not th e norm ~ r m

t I arn r . Th e Ia k

r ac c

tud ,

t laptop vv a

rep rted t be mainl y a finan cial i ue. II wcv r, wh en !apt p ar pri oriti zed lor tudent LLe

5

Jn

ur

h

I, th

ar I an d t

tud nt with e cepti nal itie before being ffered t the

g n ra l tud nt p pulati n.
Th

nd m

ftim it take
Kurzweil.
imultan

t

mm n I r p rted c n

tud nt , particular!

rn (n= ) at the tudent le el wa the I ngth

ith learnin g di abiliti

, t bee me independent u in g

omment from participant relatin g to how difficu lt it i t teach a cia
u ly in truct a fe

tud nt

and

n Kurzweil aro e more than once .

Table II

Frequency Di tribution by Participant ' 'ommen!s about 'haflenges at the Student Level
Frequ ency

N

need foundational com puter kill

I

43

tudent need to become Kurzwei l independent

3

43
43

LD tudent need as i tance, but no EA time
tud ents fear tea ing/v iewed as different

10

43

Time needed for stud ents to I arn Kurzweil

2

43

Older tudent reluctant to use Kurzwe il

43

Students need organization sup port

43

Costs to facilitate for di stributed learn ing

l

43

Table 12 represents challenges related spec ifically to the Kurzwe il pro gram.

!though

these factor are beyo nd use rs' control, the author of thi study will share participant 'program
concerns with Cambium Learning Technology. Hopefull y

ambium Learning wi ll addre

teacher ' concerns in the future.
The poor quality of ome of the Kurzwe il voice wa the m t frequent (n=4) comment
by parti ipants. Teacher ' feedback in thi s tud y i c n i tent with teacher ' feedback in
hian g and Jacob (20 I 0) tud y wh re tea her had imilar complaint abo ut Kurzweil'
r b tic v ice . Ke pin g up with th number of update and chan ge w ithin th pr gram v\ a

K RZW I

RV Y F R T

H R

the ne t m t frequ nt pat1icipant :G dback (n=2).
u er
d

ere u in g th e m

tra tim r quired t

earch and en ure

t urrent er 1 n f Kurz ei l wa noted b participant . Kur w il

n taut mati all al rt u r t updat

'

th

a Micro

ft Wind w ' updat

cc ur.

Tab ! 12
Frequency Distribution b) Participant ' Comments about

ha//enges with the Kurzweil Program

Frequency
with formattin g in Kurz eil
Fr qu nt update /chang

I
2

4

Kurzwe il doe not work well V\ ith math

43

Flexibility of product i a chal lenge

43

Ea e of u e of program i a chal lenge

43

Poor quality of om Kurzwe il vo ice

4

43

When a ked how participant learned r wou ld learn to u e Kurzwe il , th e most frequent
respon e (n=26) was se lf-taught. The second mo t frequent respo nse (n=25) was learn in g
through a speciali t teacher. Learning through wo rkshops trailed clo ely behind in participant
respon e (n= 2 1). Parti cipant al o had the opportu nity to provide add iti nal comment
regarding ways they learn ed or wou ld learn to u e Kurzweil. YouTube, learning throu gh
Learning Support Teachers, and learnin g from students were additi onal comment made .

RV Y

abl

H R

R

7

I

How Parti ipant Learn d or Wo uld Learn Kurz-vve il

il

ncy

N
4

ch

I e el upp li

4

elf-Tau ght

26

4

nline upp rt

4

43

21

4

T- 8

13

43

ch oo l Di tri ct upp ri

13

43

ther (pl ea e e plain )

6

43

Work hop(
In- ervice from

Pariicipant we re a ked to li t what th y needed or may need to help support th e u e of
Kurzweil w ith tud ent who have learnin g di abiliti es. The 43 re pon e t thi qu e ti on we re
printed , coded, and th emed. The main re ponse th eme we re Tim e and upport, w ith three
ubthemes und er upport ; Suppori for Teacher , up port fo r tudent and Fami li e , and
Supports from th e Kurzwe il program itse lf. Tabl e 14 represent th e th eme , co mm ent , and
frequency of parti cipant ' comm ents.

K RZW IL

RV Y

R

8

H R

ab l 14

Participant ugge. ted . . upporl f or
Di abiliti

ing Kurzwe il 1-1 ith tuden/ Who Have Learning

reguency
T im e

IS

L arn Kurzwe il / dit Materi al

4

43

oll aborati on with th er Kurzwei l u er
upp ort for Teacher

More training

9

4

Acce ibl e upport fo r qu e ti n

6

43

Acce

12

43

11

43

to tec h upp rt fo r taff/ tu de nt

Better co mputer /tec hn ology needed

43

More pace fo r techn ology
upports for Lea rn er & Fa mili e

Adult upport fo r Ieamer 1 needed

12

43

In-service for parent to up po rt kids at
home

43

Introduce Kurzweil in elementary sc hoo l

43

More di stri ct Iice nses needed

43

Kurzwe il Prog r a m S ugge tions

43

More user fri endl y
More afford abl e, versions fo r iPad/iPod

43

2

The most frequ ent suggesti on (n= 15) for support was for tim e to learn and edit
Kurzweil material s. The second and third most frequent ugge ti ons (n= l 2) fo r uppo rt
needed when working w ith stud ents affected by LD we re, (a) improved acce
and (b) havin g adu lt support for tudents learning Kurzweil.
support th e e findin g in that choo l
en ourage teachers t

to tech upport,

hi ang and Jac b (20 I 0) wo uld

hould prov ide tec h upp rt and th at di tri ct

~ rm techn ology u

r gro up t I arn from one an ther.

h ul d

H R

R

RV Y

h ne t m t fr quentl

9

ugg ted upp rt (n= I I) in thi e pi rat r re earch tud y

a th ne d ft r b tter c mput r t run Kurz eiI.
When a k d

heth er a tea h r-fri endl Kurz

arnin g to integral Kur

il handb

k

uld a i t educat r

il int th ir plannin g and tea hin g, 8o/o (n=

) fthe parti ipant

re p nd d "Ye ", and 12% n=5) re pond ed "

me parti ipant (n= I I) lab rated in th

optional th r

ould b helpful to includ in a

ti nab ut what p ifi c inft rm ati on
15).

pe ifi c participant co mm nt in lud d r que t ft r

Kurzw il t a her handb

k ( abl

(a) contact informati n

h n parti ipanl needed help, (b) a li t ofr

urc

air ady available

in Kurzwe il ft rmat, (c) link l h lpful Y uTube clip , and (d) a frequently a ked que li on
ection.
Table 15
Frequency Di tribution by Information Participant Felt Would be Helpful in a Kurzweil
Teacher Handb ook
Respon se
Who the program can help/why
teacher may use Kurzwe iI

Frequency
28

N

Wh ere and how t beg in u in g the
program in plannin g/teac hin g

36

43

Teaching progre ion for
introducing tud ent to the program

34

43

xampl es of how some teachers
u e Kurzwe il w ith com monl y used
programs/resource (e.g. readin g
textbook , prov incial exa m ,
Writin g Power etc.)

37

43

th er (plea e xp lain)

43

II

Wh en a ked about the type of tea hin g ituati n. participant (N 4 ) '" ould u. e
Kurzwe il in, 91 o/o ( n- 9)

r urvcy parti ipant we re in favour of u ing KurL\\Cil in a team

RV Y

K

40

RT A H R

tea hin g ituati n ith r a L arnmg upp ri r ther
pariicipant were not in fa
n

ur f u in g Kur

eil in a team tea hin g nv1r nm nt.

rwh lmin g maj rit of pari icipant (N=4 ), (n= 9) we re

tim 111 ol d t

can and/ r edit materi al

am unt f tim in

lv d in preparin g I

Th

urce

cce ibl e Re

Kurzweil r ad n
had acce

nv r ly, 9% (n=4) of

to

,t

~

r Kurz eil.

I arl , a

ncerned ab ut th e

ncern relat d t th e

n mat ri a l i an 1 u for man y parti cipant .

ntre- Briti h

lumbi a (

) i a re o u rce D r

tb ok , and mate ri al . Wh en parti cipant (N=43) w rea ked if th ey

R -B , 72o/o (n=3 1) had acce , 7o/o (n=3) did n t, and 2 1% (n=9) did not

kn ow what ARC-B

wa .

eventeen parti cipant requ e ted a co py fth re ult fro m thi e pl oratory re ea rch
survey . Additi onal feedback from parti cipant

n th e topic of Kurzwe il i li ted in Appendi x 2.

For additi onal fee dbac k fro m parti cipant (N = 19) related to spec ific re ources th ey find
most helpful wh en working w ith tudent with Learnin g Disabiliti es, ee Appendi x 3.
ln th e foll owing chapter, I will prov ide an overv iew and summ ary of th e stud y.
Limitati ons, contributi ons to know ledge, impli cati ons for practi ce, and areas fo r further
research will al so be in cluded in th e upco min g and fin al chapter.

K RZW IL

RV Y F R

A H R

41

ha pter 5
0

0

I CU

I

n

Th i Ia t hapt r b gm b r tating th purp
lern ent that fl u

e f th e tud y. It i foll ow d by a

n the CUlT nt hall ng

teacher enco unter with

Kurzw il. Thi i ·fl II w db an

arni nati n of orn e f the lirnitati n

influ need th e findin g .

Ion

hi s di cu

ntinu

hi h may have

by indi at in g the tud y' co ntributi on to

holarly kn ow ledge and impli ca ti n for practice. It conclud e by pr po mg area for
further re earch.
Ove rv iew of th e S tud y

The purpo e of thi exp lorat ry urvey wast determine if certifi ed 8

teacher

required upp01i(s) to include Kurzwei l when plannin g for and teaching tud ents w ith
learnin g di abilities. A a learnin g upport t ac her wo rkin g with elementary tudents and
teachers, I was intere ted in conducting thi re ea rch to improve supports for both stud nt
with learning di sabiliti es and their teacher . My two re ea rch que ti ns were: Do teacher
require support(s) of any kind in ord er to in clud e Kurzwe il in their dail y teaching of tudents
with learnin g di sabiliti e ? And if teacher req uire support(s) to make Kurzwei l part of their
planning for and teaching of tudents with learnin g disabilities, w hat are the pecific upport
B teacher require? This research stud y co n i ted of an onlin e survey of 50 ce1iified
teacher in one schoo l di stri ct in outh ern B

who u e, have used, or have ace

as i tiv e s ftware. The following section pres nts orn e of the key findin g of thi
whi ch are interpreted and di scus ed.

to Kurz eil
tudy

RV Y F R T

H R

42

Key Element of th e tud y

Thr ugh th parti ipant ' re pon e and feedba k reported in th previ u chapter, I
a abl t determin th parti ipant fr m one B

ch

I di tri t did n ed upport t

int grat Kurz ei l when pl annin g D r and t ac hin g tud nt with learnin g di abiliti
Thr ugh feedbac k n th e ur e , I a a l
tea h r are n

unt nn g

hall nge '

abl t (a) determin e th e current hall enge th e

ith Kurzwe il and (b th e pec ifi c upport parti cipant requir d.

r rep rt d at thre leve l , (a) cho I leve l chall enge , (b) tud ent leve l

chall ng , and (c) Kurz eil program hall enge .

era II , th e maj ority of parti cipant '

concern s (n=75) wer related to upport cha ll enge at th

cho I leve l.

m parati ve Iy,

cone rn at th e tud ent le el (n=20) and chall enge related to th e Kurzw il program (n= I 0)
were few wh en co mpared to sc hoo l leve l chall enge .
chool level challenges. At th e choo l leve l th e three most frequ entl y reported i u

were (a) th e time it take to sca n and edit materi als fo r tudents (n= l6 ), (b) th e need fo r
ongo ing upport fo r trainin g taff (n= J2), and (c) slow, outdated co mputers th at take too long
to u e w ith Kurzwe il (n=8). Respond ents shared fru trati ons about not hav ing enough time to
make materi als Kurzwe il ready fo r student with learnin g di sa biliti e on top of thei r many
other regular classroo m re pons ibiliti es. They al o shared fru trati n about the lack of
timely support when they got tuck usin g Kurzwe il , notin g peri odi c wo rk hop were not
enough support. N umerous respondents referred to low co mpu ter that e ith r to k to lo ng
to run Kurzweil or had g litche , di co urag in g both t ac her and tudent from u ing Kurzwei I.
Student Level challenges.

tudent ' perce ived ti gma of appearing differ nt fr m pe r

when u in g Kurzwe il , or being teased, we re the mo t fr quentl y reported chall eng
tudent leve l (n= I 0). The I ng length f tim e it take

at th

tud ent to become independ nt u ing

RV Y

th Kurz

43

iI pr gram wa th e ne t m

(n= ). Th r
th 75

R

t fr qu entl y r p rt d

ere 20 co mm ent about chall enge at th e tud nt leve l, co n id rably I

mm nt r portin g hall enge at th

h

II

ab ut b ing ti gmati z d, re pondent reported relucta n
u

ncern at th e tudent lev

I. Ho

th an

ve r, if tud nt are con ern ed

n th e tud nt' part to buy in and

Kurzwe iI fo r up port.

Kur;:;·v11ei/ program challenge, . The p

r qua lity f om Kurzwe il vo ice wa th e

m t fr qu ent c mpl ain t abou t th e Kurzw il program (n=4). The freq uent but not automati c
update and change to the Kurzwe iI program wa the econd mo t reported chall enge with
th Kurzwe il program (n=2).

ve rall , the 10 c mm ent ma de abo ut chall enges at the

program I v I eem min or co mparative ly. However, poor voice quali ty and both t ime
con umin g and freq uent upd ate interfere with u er maxi mi zing Kurzwei l's u e in ed ucation.
By fa r, most of the chall enges (n=75) were reported to be at the ch ol leve l. The
chall enges we re re lated to (a) too much tim e required fo r editin g/ preparin g Kurzwe il ready
stud ent materi als, (b) the need fo r ongo in g training and tro ubles hootin g upport for both staff
and stud ents, (c) the need fo r in c rea ed access to better computers, (d) inc rea ed and more
tim ely tech support fo r comput r/lnte rnet chall enge , (e) the need fo r more Learn ing upport
Teac her and

ducati onal As istant sup port at the choo l leve l to upport u ing Kurzw il in

class roo ms with LD student , and (f) the need for uffic ient physica l pace for u ing, charging
and storin g Kurzwe il acce ib le computer .
As ment ioned in

hap ter 2, Brodw in , tar, and

ard so (2004) e pi r d the

aband nm ent rate of a istive tech nology, repo rting rate as high a 40%.
rate

re ~ r t

bandonment

when indi vidual qui t us ing te hnolog due to fru tration or diffi ulti

rodwin , ta r, and

ard

made ugge ti n regarding hov to redu e comput r a

K

RV Y ~ R T A H R

t chn

I g (

) aband nm nt.

h

el ti n f

, (b) n urin g th

di abi liti e in th
n id rin g th
and upp rt

f 1 erati n f th

di abiliti

th er re

ith

f th u er, ( )

T, and (d) n urin g th r ugh and ng in g edu ati n
ith di abilitie .

rp rat t hn I g in t program

mm nda ti n menti n d b
t ac h r in th i

' (2004) ugge ti n to a

in g ind i idua l

me t th n ed

rvin g th indi idual

to in

R c gni z in g th e hall eng
ard o

u0 g ti n in clud d: (a) in

er a ail ab l t pr fe

trainin g in te hn I g and h

and

44

id

tudy fa

~

in , tar, and

ng 111g

r indi vidua l with
ard

o.

d, and kn w in g Br dw in , ta r,

aba nd nm ent, th di tri ct in whi h thi

tud y

wa c ndu ted ma wa nt t c n ide r how b t to a oid teac hers aba ndo ning Kurzwe il
a i ti e oftware.
R ecomm end a ti o n

i ti ve t chn ology i u ed to upport indi id ua l with va ri ou di abili ties, leve li ng
th e pl ay in g fi eld and all ow in g individ ual t access learnin g oppo rtuniti e more full y.
Kurzwe il i an a i tive tec hn o logy too l which can upport in dividual with I arni ng
di abiliti es to overco me ba rri ers in their lea rning enviro nm ent , ac hi ev in g th eir learn ing
potenti al and meeti ng their in dividuali zed edu cati n goa l (A lberta Mi nistry of ducation,
20 13). When Kurzwe il highli ght text while reading it aloud, the amo unt of de oding
required by learn ers is dec rea ed all ow in g fo r imp roved compre hen ion ( h iang & Jac b ,
20 I 0). Ku rzwe il can upport academ ic a we ll a engagement Cor tudent aiTe t db
learnin g di abiliti es ( pp , 2007). In cr a ed tude nt engagement and motivati n are e entia I
co mp nent
u

f acade mi c ucce , pro id ing po itive reinforccm nt to encourag continu"'d

f Kurzwe il ' t chn ology ( hiang
pli ca l charac ter re

Jac b , 20 I 0). l· eatur

or KurZ\\ il in luding

gni tion, w rd prcdi tion, writing aid and ta lking \H rd pr

c. or are

RV Y

ju t

m

fth k

&

iu 201 1).

45

h lpful ~ ature for indi vidual af[i cted by I arning di abilitie ( hian g

If th e ugge ti n ab

re ar h tud y t addr
be in

H -R

R

eb

rod in , tar, and

hall enge and d

I ed in th e elec ti n f

ard

(2004) are app lied to thi

rea e aba nd nm ent rat , th n (a) tud nt

T uch a Kurzw iI, (b) th per nal i ation feature

Kurzwe il hould be utili zed to allow u r t

hould
f

upport th ir I arning and meet their need , (c)

hen con iderin g th ea e f peration of Kurz eil , tudent 'too lbar co uld be

panded or

hidden to impli fy r nh ance a ce ibl e tool G r stud nt , (d) teacher could contr I th e rate
at which Kurzwe il t

I are introd uced to tud ent

The chool di tri ct where thi

o as not to overw helm r bore I arn r .

tudy took place has the capacity to address many of the

concern and needed upp rt id entifi ed in thi

tudy. Through co llab rati ve effort between

di strict taff the di tri ct can offer ongoi ng thorough education and support to both the
profe ss ional s and paraprofes i nals servi ng indi vidu als with learning di abiliti e .

ome

ugge ti on include (a) releas in g taffto create and develop a di stri ct Kurzwei l committee to
address challenges and supp01is outlin ed in this stud y, (b) co nn ecting Kurzwei l using taff,
student , and parents potenti all y to each other and to current resource and tips through a
poss ibl e di stri ct bl og, (c) prov idin g relea e time to staff to maintai n and regularly update
printabl e re ources fo r trouble hooting tip and frequently asked question , and teaching
ugge ti on , (c) ensurin g taff and tudents are aware of the Kurzwei I d i trict Iibrary fl r
accessing and co ntributing to Kurzweil ready-made material
Limitation
The participant in thi s tudy represent the iew , e penen
Briti sh olumbia (B )

hoo l di trict.

s, and opinion in n

incc the target population \\a n t random!)

RV Y

ampled , inD r n

H R

4

t th g n raJ p pulati n rna not be drawn ( re well , 20 12).

Furth rmor , on I 43 of th e 50 part icipant co mpl eted th e entire urv ey. F r th
gen rali zati n to th er ch

I di tri t in 8

e rea on

ca nn t be mad ba ed on th e r ult from thi s

tud .
u ti n nin e of the urve a ked parti ipant in whi ch ubj ect th y u e r w uld u e
Kurzwe il. T rn a irniz th e prec i i n and alidi ty f thi s tudy, th e e tw co nditi n

hould

have be n a k d and report d n epa rat ly to get a cl arer pi cture of current practi ce and
anticipated prac ti ce.

irnil arl

experi nee of Kurzwe il u er
15, 18, 19 of thi

eparatin g th e pec ul ati on of"wo uld yo u" fr rn th e
hould have al o bee n appli ed to qu e ti on I 0, I I, 12, 13, 14

urvey .

More elementary (n=34) than seco ndary (n= 14) teach ers parti cipated in thi s re earch.
Alth ough it is not known why more elementa ry than econda ry teachers parti cipated,
peculation i Kurzwe iI is in teg rated into more elementary schoo l programs th an seco nd ary
schoo l classes. The ass umpti on is in hi gh choo l stud ents may be expected to be more
independent, and are foc used on learnin g co ntent, rath er than also learning a i tive
techn ology such as Kurzwe iI.
When rev iew in g th e literature on Ku rzwei l, no

anadi an studi e were located .

A lthough th ere we re stud ies co nducted in No ri h Ameri ca, th i re earcher wa unab le to locate
any Kurzwe il studi e whi ch occurred in

anada.

Simil arl y, when look in g fo r a defin ition of as i ti ve techn I gy thi re earcher vvas
unabl e to find a clea r de fini tion fr m a

ource . In stead, a definition fr rn the

Mini stry of ducati on was u ed. The lack of clari t for lerminol gy u din the B
y tem and th e lack of 8

and

anad ian rc ca rch ludic r Ia ted to KurZ\\ eil wer

lb rta
edu ati on

RV Y

di app intin g.

H R

he n d [! r lea r and

th ne d [! r m

r

47

nll rmin

anadi an re ar h tudi e

logy in th 8

du ati on y tem, and

upp rt th rati nale fo r thi re arch

pr j e t.
ont.-ibution to Knowledge

It appear fr rn thi

upp rt( ) in rd er t

f~

ur e that ed u ator in ne B
ti

I and

t aching tud nt wi th learnin g di abiliti

ch ol di tri ct require additi onal

lu de Kurzwe il when pl annin g D r and
. ln fo rrnati n fr m thi

tud y co uld be u ed by th is

choo l di tri ct to guide di tri ct and choo l budget , future tec hn ology pl an , th e focu for
tud ent erv i e 'ca pac ity day , a potent ia l district Profe io nal Learnin g
and Profes ional Dev loprn ent (Pro- ) opportuniti e .

ornmuni ty (PL ),

n additi onal benefit of thi

tud y wa

the barin g out of additi onal reso ur es ed ucato rs have fo und effecti ve when wo rkin g with
student affected by learnin g di sab ilit ie . The e add itional re ource may be h lpful to
readers of thi s tud y.
Th e opport uni ty fo r parti cipants to expre s their view and be heard i anoth er
contribution of thi s tud y. More th an one participant thanked me for the opportun ity to p ak
out about their successes and needs.
Perso nall y as a result of my in quiry 1 have a better understand ing ofth n d of
teacher usin g Kurzwe il in our di tri ct and beyo nd the wa ll s of the schoo l in which I teach.
Thi s inform ati on ca n also be used to fac ili tate co ll abo rati on within both our

hool taff and

fa mil y of choo ls in our geograph ica ll y diver e di trict. Thro ugh co ll aboration and di
co me th e opportunity to co nn ect with, learn fr rn , and upport m colleague .

u

1

n

K

w ~ IL

RV Y

H R

RT

48

Implication for Practice
I h p that ch

I di tri t per nn I in Judin g th

uperintendent Dire t r f pecial

ducati n, Dir ct r of tud nt earning, Principal , earnrn g
upp rt er JC

h ol boa rd memb r , and int r

11npro in g upp ri

[! r

tud nt

d taffwill w rk t geth r t lo kat

ith I arning di abiliti

A m nti n d arli r in the r c mm endati on
foil

ing Br d in , tar, and

ardo

· (200 ) r

i tance teacher , t chn I gy

and th e ducat r wh t ach them .

cti n fthi chapter, it i pos ibl
mm ndati n to improve th e Kurzwe il

tea hing and I arning e p rience in the chool di trict wher thi re earch wa conducted.
Areas for Further Resea rch
Th is re earch re iew and e pand on r earch related to Kurzwe iI tud ent with
learning di abilitie s, and e perience
build on or replicate thi

fB

teacher usin g Kurzwe il.

tud y, more pecific que tion

hould future re earch

hould be deve loped to separate th e

knowledge and experience of participant familiar with Kurzweil from the pec ulati on of
those who have not u ed the program . For in stance , in stead of a kin g in which grade have
you or wou ld you u e Kurzweil in your teachin g? Are earcher could break the que tion into
two parts asking: (a) in which grade have yo u used Kurzweil in yo ur teaching?

nd (b) in

which grades would yo u use Kurzwe il in yo ur teaching? By breakin g th e que tion into two
parts the resea rcher wi II have a clearer picture of current practice and anticipated practice,
making the research results more valid and reliabl e.
Future con ideration s cou ld al o include meas urin g the effects of Kurzweil on both
student ' academic performance and se lf-percepti ons. Although re earch ha indi cat d
Kurzweil i effective at upporiing tudent ' academi c , it w uld be intere ting t mea 'ure
thi I ca ll y thr ugh pre and po t Kurzwe iI tests to try and determine the effe tivcne

of the

RV Y

int r
b li

nti n.

RT

49

tud ent ' elf-p r epti n 1 al

the cann t u eed, th

th ir loc u

H R

Iike!

f contr I, and in turn will n t b

1111p tiant t a ademic ucc

. Jf a tud nt

ill n t tr th ir b t, b li ev in g ucc
u e ful.

ga in b u in g pre- and p

b y nd

t-t t to

det rmine tudent ' b li f b th b ~ re and afte r an interv nti n u h a Kurzwe il , it wou ld be
intere ting to d termin e if Kurzw il chan ged tudent ' belief and elf-pe rce pti on . Although
th i re ea rch r i unfam iIiar wi th th b t t
and

n w u ld u e t m a ur academic ucce

If-percepti on , I am co nfid ent that uch t ol c uld be ith er I cated, or created I ally.
It i m hop that in th future th i e pi oratory tudy w i II be rep Iicat d on a larg r

ale to get a clearer pictur

fteach r ' n ed to supp rt tudent with learnin g di abiliti e .

Perhaps the finding of future prov incial trend w ill create new oppoti uniti es for supportin g
tud ents with learning di abilitie and the edu cators who teach them.

RV -- Y

H R

R

50

Reference
lb rta Mini tr

f - du ati n. (20 I ) A si live technology.for learnin . Retri eved fr 111

http :// du ati on.alb rta. a/ad111in /te hn ology/atl. a p
B rg,

.L. (2009).

ualitat i

r earch 111 th d D r th

ial c1 nee

(7th

d.).

B ton, MA: Pear on.
Briti h olurnbi a T ac her'

ed rat i n. (20 I I). 2010 11 BC educalionfact. . Retri ev d

fro m htt p://l
Briti h olumbi a Teac her'

ederati n. (20 12). Chronology of edu cati n I gi lation

200 I 20 12. Retri eved fr m
http://bctf.ca/up loaded Files/Public/ dvocacy/GovtRecord/ hrono logyo/o20 f0/o20educa
tion%20 legi lation%20 ummary.pdf
British

olumbi a M ini try of - ducatio n. (20 13 ). Student statistic - 2012113: Prm'ince
-public and independent schoo ls combined. Retri eved from
http ://www .bced.gov. bc.ca/reports/pd f /stud ent_ tats/prov .pdf

Briti sh Co lumbi a M ini stry of Ed ucation. (20 J 2). Graduation program exams-Adjudication .
Retri eved fro m http://www. bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/adj udi cati on/
Briti sh Co lumbi a M ini stry of Ed ucation. (20 J J ). BC 's education plan
Retri eved from http://www. bced pl an.ca/assets/pdf/bc _ ed u_plan.pdf
Brodwin , M.G., tar, T., &

ard o o,

. (2004). Comput r a si tive technology for p

who have di sabilitie :Compute r adaptati on and mod ification . Journal of
Rehabilitation, 70( ), 28-33.

pie

K RZW IL

RV Y

H R

RT

hi ang, H. & Jaco b K. (20 10). P rcepti n

51

fa computer-ba ed in tru ti n y tern in

p c ia l du ati on: Hi gh

h

Prevention, A es m nl

Rehabilitation, 3 (4), 349-359.

hian g, H. & Liu ,
P r

l t a h r and tud ent ' iew . Work: Journal of

. (20 I I). ~ alu ati n of the benefit

ption of hi gh ch

fa

i tive readin g oftware:

I tu de nt with lea rnin g di abilitie . A. si live Technology,

23:4 I 99-204.

re w II , J.W. (20 12). ~ du cat i o n a l re ea rch: Pl annin g, c ndu tin g, and eva lu atin g
quantitative and qua litati ve re ea rch (4th ed.). Bo to n,MA: Pear on.
pp , J. (2007). The influ ence of as i tive techn ology on tud ent with learnin g
di sa biliti

in th e in clu ive cia ro m. Retrieved fro m

http ://teac h.vald o ta.edu/are/Vol6no I /PD F%20A rti cle I ppsJ_JR _ R .pd f
Hal e, A. D ., kinner,

. H., Winn , B. D., Oli ve r, R., A llin , J. D., & Mo ll oy, C. C. M., (2005).

An in ves ti gation of li tenin g and li tenin g-whil e- readin g acco mm odations on reading
comprehen ion leve l and rates in students with emoti onal di so rders. Psychology in
the Schools, 42, 39-5 I .

Jahoda, G., & John so n, E. A. (1987). The u e of th e Kurzwe il readin g mac hine in academic
librari es. Journal ofAcademic Librarian.s·hip, 13(2), 37.
Kennedy, M. J. , & Deshler, D. D. (20 10). Literacy in structi on, techno logy, and student with
learnin g di abiliti es: Resea rch we have, re earch we need. Learning Disabilit_v
Quarterly, 33(4), 289-298.

Kurzwe il

du cati onal System . (n.d). Kurzw il 000. Retrie ed from

http://www.kurzwei ledu .com/products.html

RV Y

Kurz

iI du ational
1

u

RT

H R

52

tern . (2004). ummar ofre. arch: cienti.fically-ba ed re earch

a/idating Kurz11 eil 3000: An annotat d re1 iew of current re earch supporting the
of Kurzweil 3000 in the classroom. Retri ved fr m

http: //wVvw.kurz
ct. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retri

Patriot

ed Jul y 24, 20 13 fr m

http: //en.wikip dia.org/wiki /Patriot
chmitt,

. J. (2009).

an t

t-to p ch a

t
tive technology improv the readin g

compr hen ion f tudent with ev rereading and em ti ona! di sab ilitie ? Journal of

Evidence Based Practice for chool , I 0(2), 95-115.
pecial

ducation Technology British olumbia (

T-8 ), (n.d). Kurzwei l 3000 v.l2.

Retrieved from http ://www. etbc.org/ etbc/acce /kurzweil3000 v 12 resource .h llnl
Steffenhagen, J. (20 13 , April 23). Women ga inin g eve n more ground in B.C. public
school .[web log post]. Retrieved from
http ://blog .vancouversun.com/20 13/04/23/women-gaining-even-more-ground-in-b-cpubl ic-schools/
Winzer, M. (2008). Children withe ceptionalitie in Canadian clas rooms (8th ed .).
Toronto, ON: Pearson.

RV Y

R

53

pp ndi
ur
ea he r ' Kurzw i1 pen e nce
Part I Participant Jnf rmati nand
Dear

~ r Teach er

nse nt

!leag ue,
l'm a B Learnin g upp rt Teach er int re ted in upportin g b th my co ll eague
r th e Ia t few yea r I hav wo rk ed to incorporate th e we b-ba d
and B ' tud ent .
editi on f Kurzw i I w ith appl ica bl ta ff and tud ent . A J am int re ted in [i nd in g o ut
if B teach e r require upp rt() in rd er to in c rp rate Kurzwe il into th ir teac hin g o f
tud e nt with lea rnin g di abiliti e , J w uld greatl y apprec iate yo ur re p n es on thi ha rt
15 minut ur vey.
A a Ma ter' of pecial du ca ti n tud e nt, thro ugh th e ni ve r ity of N orth ern
Briti h o lumbia (
B ) in Prin ce e rg , th e purp o e f my re ea rch is to ex pl ore if
B teacher require upp ort( ) in ord er to in co rporate Kurzwe il into th eir t achin g o f
tud ent with learnin g di abiliti e , and w hat pec ifi c upport may be required. Po ibl e
benefit fr om thi
tud y ma y in c lud e future proj ect to ensure BC teac hers receiv e
nece ary upport . Th ere are no kn ow n ri k t parti c ipatin g in thi tud y.
Yo u were ch ose n through co nve ni ence amp Iing to participate in th i re earch
proj ect beca u e f yo ur acce to and /or e pe ri e nce with Kurzwe il. Your participati on in
thi s researc h is vo luntary, and yo ur co nfid enti a lity in th e ga th erin g of data and anonymity
in the re portin g of findin g are ass ured. You have th e ri ght to w ithdraw from thi study
at an y tim e and if yo u ch ao e to w ithdraw yo ur inform ati on w ill also be removed.
Chec kin g the appropriate box be low is yo ur co nse nt to a ll ow yo ur res pon e to b
co mpil ed w ith oth e r res ponse . Reportin g of sur vey fin d in g w ill be done u in g
desc ripti ve tati ti cs such as mean , medi a n an d mode and w ill not id enti fy specific
individual , c hoo ls, or choo l di stri cts. Onl y my uperviso r, Dr. C lo uti er, and I will
hav e ac cess to yo ur perso nal inform ati on and res pon es. Should yo ur res pon es be
printed and co mpil ed in an appendi x of th e re earch, any id enti fy in g in for mati on w ill be
bla cked o ut to ensure co nfid entia Iity and anonymity.
Yo ur re ponses w i II be to red on FluidS urvey , a pe r ona l memory tic k, and a
hard co py of a ll responses w ill be printed and tored in a lock d fi ling cab in et until the
research proce
is co mpl ete in A pril 201 3. A t th e c nclu i n of my re earc h an
e lec tro ni c data w ill be deleted and recyc le bin s emp tied. Pri nted material wi ll be
shredd ed and burn ed to en ure co nfid enti a lity. If yo u wou ld like a copy of the re ear h
res ult , yo u have th e opti on to requ es t a co py at th e end of the surve , or b emai ling 111
at yo ur co nve ni e nce.
ho uld yo u have any qu tion or concern o u ca n r a h me r
Dr. louti er, my proj ect UJ e rviso r, through th e co ntact informatic n provided. If you
have co mpl a int yo u may co ntac t UN B 's Re arc h thi Board thro ugh th contact
inG rm ati n li ted be low.
Thank yo u ~ r yo ur tim e, I app rec iate yo ur participation in thi re , earch proje t
and a k that y u pl ea e co mpl ete th e surve by January 3 1, .... 0 I . Thank ou again, I am
m st apprec iati ve.

RV YF RT

H R

54

InC

Tina 1-larm
Ma t r' of ducati n
niver ity f
rth ern
25 0-4 28- 088 (home)

riti h

olumbia (

8 ), Prin e Georg 8

rand 8 d C rdinator UN 8
Dr. Y n louti r
3333 m er it Way , Prin
rge,
V2 4Z9 A A DA
ffi e: T L Buildin g roo m 403 8 Ph ne: 25 0-960-5 926
NB
3333 ni r it Way , Prine G org , 8
Ph n : 250-960-6735 · reb ur unbc .ca

V2

4Z9

Prin ce

eorge

A

Checkin g a bo be low indi cate that y u have r ad and und er tood the informati on li sted
above about the urvey. Pl ea e ote : You mu st chec k the "Ye " button be low in ord er to
proceed with the urvey: otherwi se yo u w ill be dir cted to th e end of th e survey.
0

Yes, I have read and understood the information above and am willing to participate in the
survey.

0

No, I do not wish to participate in the survey.

Part II
1) Gender:
0 Female
0

Mal e

2) Age:
0 20-35

0

36-40

0

41 -45

0

46-50

0

5 I -60

0

60+

Participant Demographics

RV Y

RT

55

3) Approximate year of experience teaching tudent with learning di abilities:
0 I
than ne ea r
0

1-5 ea r

0

6-lO

0

11-20 ea r

o

mor than 20

ar

ar

4) Type of chool( ) in which yo u are teaching and have acce
that apply)
o Elementa ry choo l
0

Middl e choo l

o
o

econdary c hoo I

to Kurzweil (check all

Oth er (p lea e pecify) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

5) How man y students with diagnosed learning disabilities are in yo ur class(e ) or on
your caseload?
0 1

0

2

0

3

0

4 or more

6) How many students in your class(es) or on yo ur caseload do yo u suspect may ha ve an
undiagnosed learning disability?
0 1-3
0

4 or more

RV Y

56

Part Ill
Kurzweil R elated Information
7) Do yo u have or ha ve yo u eve r had acce to Kurzweil?

0

Ye

0

0

8) If yo u a n wered Ye
Kurzweil?
o le th an ne ear

o

1-2 ear

0

more th a n 2 yea r

0

more th an 5 yea r

0

more th a n I 0 ear

to the previou

que tion, how lo ng ha ve yo u had acce

to

9) In which s ubj ect areas have you used or would yo u u e Kurzweil in yo ur teaching?
(check all that app ly)
0 Lan guage A rts/Eng li sh/ Hum ani tie
0

Sc ience

0

French/ pani sh/Seco nd Language Teachin g

D

M ath emati cs

0

other (pl ease pec ify) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

10) In which grades have you or would you use Kurzweil in your teachin g? (check a ll
that app ly)
0 Kind ergarten-Grade 3
0

rade 4

0

rade 5

0

rade 6

0

rade 7

K RZW IL

0
0

RV Y

R

H R

57

rade 8-1 2
p

t-

ndar

ducati n

11) Approximately how many fy ur tudent have used or would u e Kurzweil?
0 0-5
0

6-10

0

11-20

0

mor than 20

12) Approximately how man y times per week have yo u or would yo u plan le ons
incorporating Kurzweil?
0 l -5 le ons per week

0

6-10 le ons per week

0

11-20 le so n per week

0

more than 20 lesson p r week

13) What challenges have you had or would you anticipate when u ing Kurzweil with
yo ur students?

14) How have yo u learned or would yo u learn to use Kurzweil in yo ur teaching? (check
all that apply)
0 Spec iali t Teacher support

0

Schoo l Level Support

0

elf- taught

0

Online support

0

Workshop{s) on Kurzweil

0

In -service from

0

cho I

0

ther (p lea e e plain)

et-8

i trict upp rt

RV Y

RT A H R

58

15) Plea e li t what yo u ne d or may n ed to help s upport yo ur u e of Kurzweil with
who have learning di abilitie .

I
16) Do yo u think a teacher-friendly Kurzweil handbook would a
to integrate Kurzweil into their planning and teaching?

0
0

t educato rs learnin g

y
0

17) If yo u an wered Ye to qu e tion 16 above, w hat informatio n do yo u think would be
helpful to includ e in a Kurzweil teac her ha ndbook? (c heck all that app ly)
0 wh o th e program ca n help/why teacher may u e Kurzwe il
0

wh ere and how to beg in u in g th e prog ram in yo ur pl annin g/teachin g

0

teaching progre ion[! r introducing stud ent t th e program

0

e ampl e of how so me teachers u e Kurzwe il with co mm onl y u ed program /re
(e.g. readin g textb oks, prov in cial exams, Writin g Powe r etc.)

0

Oth er (pl ea e expl ain )

urce

18) Do yo u or would you use Kurzweil an a team teaching situation with a Learning
Support Teacher or anot her Teacher?
0

Yes

0

No

19) Do yo u or wou ld you have concern
materials for Kurzwei l?

o

Ye

0

No

about the time in volved to scan and /or edit

RV Y

RT

20) Do you cur·rently have acce
(AR -B ' ) re ource ?
0 y

HR

59

to Acce ible Re ource Centre- Briti h Columbia'

0

0

I am not ure

hat

R -8

21) If you would like to receive a copy of the finding from thi
available plea e include yo ur email below.

I
Part IV

urvey when they are

I
Optional Participant Feedback

Please share any additional comments or feedback related to this topic below.

I

I

Which resources and/or strategies do you find are most effective when working with
students who have learning disabilities?

I

I

Thank yo u for taking the time to complete this survey.
anonymity are assured.

Your· confidentiality and

K RZW I L

RV Y

RT

0

pp ndi 2
dditi nal Parti ipant F edback Regardin g Kurzweil

il ften r quire additi nal Lim e
upp 1 feedback and in rea ed

ntati n.
an' t er i e it.
ded ~ r kid
ith L

r at in- er i in g te hn I g wh n th e ~ cu i

uppo ed t be in orpo ratin g

, editin g and tim e required t g t th e pr gram up and get pa sw rd for new
tudent
mpl i ate matt r .
-If hi gh ch o l cia ro m teac her we re pent lea rnin g about and u ing Kurzwe il in th
cia r m m re tudent mi ght be willin g to d o.
-Te hn ology ca pabiliti e in our choo l are preve ntin g u fr m u in g Kurzwe il a ffec ti ve ly a
it could be.
-Kurzweil take a lot of add ed tim e to d wnl oad boo k and arti cle .
-Di trict should take adva ntage f tud nt wh a lready u e Kurzwe il on a dail y ba i . Th e
are th e real e pert , th ey ca n teach oth er tudent and teac her alike.
-Ha vin g Kurzweil n th e iPad ( irefl y) i important a many tudent brin g iProdu ct (iP d,
iPh one, iPad) to choo l. The cost to upgrade to ve r i n 13 may be kee pin g di tri t from
takin g thi s tep.
-In hi gh choo l tud ent will not tak lapt p into cia roo m to accc Kurzwe iL th y d n' t
wa nt oth er tud ent to know th ey need it. H weve r, the will utilize it in th e L arn 111g
A i tance Roo m.
- th er peo pl e' re iew of re ource th ey ha e u ed wo uld be helpful.
- he key to kid u in g techn o logy for print di abiliti i u in g it where and 'v\ hen the) v. ant it,
to avo id perce ived ti gma.
-M r tud nt w ith ut diagno d lea rnin g di abili tic are appearing in cia room. and do not
have acce to program s and ervice like KurzV\ e il and LA upp rt. We are at ri . k f
reducin g ervice t tudent a a di tri ct m ne avi ng tratcg) .

RV Y

RT

HR

61

ppendi 3
Re

urc

Pa1iicipant

It W r H lpful ·~ r Workin g with LD tudent

R

-T

t in try in g new trateg i
h r i e tremely valuab le.
that make th tud nt become
h

ducati nal a
ucc

m nt.

many tim e a

ment are c mpl eted and

with brain remappin g and the teaching o f appropriate

com pen atory ki II .
-Kurzwei l, las r om uite , adapt d I sso n , ma ll gr up a tivitie , independ ent proj ects with
pecifi and guided criteria.
-Having a manag ab le cia size and tim e to pr pare and do thing more effectively.
-A TA that tay in the roo m for the le on then tak s a mall group out. tayin g in th e roo m is
too di ruptive and unproductive for eve ryo ne.
-Lack ofT A is too difficult for reachin g e trem truggling learn er . Makin g and d li ve ring
IEPs with out support i not real i tic.
-Offering a nove l or text to have it read to a stud ent for them to participate in the di cu s1on
and class wo rk i rea ll y important.
-Relationships, observ in g tudents strengths and needs. Technology.
-Providing a carrot to encourage stud ent to u e technology . The testim oni al of tud ents who
have used it.
-http .// www. etbc. org /setbc/access/kurzwe il_gro up1 .html ; YouTube searc h #Kurzwei l; other
teacher who know how to u e Kurzweil ; 8 Vi ion Teachers' Yammer group ; a king
Teachers of the Vi suall y Impaired, Steve Barclay at Aroga Techno Iogie in Vanco uver;
assessment to ensure stud ents understand what th ey are li stenin g to · Teac hers using Kurzweil
as UDL ; use of a sessment to determine if flu ency is improv in g due to the hi gh li ghting and
read aloud too l; take small teps teaching navi gati on of the prog ram; makin g the tool availab le
at all time throu gh th e web version of Kurzwe il ; prov iding tudent time to pl ore Kurz\\eil
program ; ensure typin g ski li s are bein g deve loped/ dail y typ in g practice; u in g Kurz il in a
functiona l way in the regu lar cia sroo m settin g; tudent hear on ly po iti e thing about the
program even if it is fru stratin g for the adu lt(s).
-T im e with cia sroo m teacher built into the day to plan appropriate!
-Tim e with stud ents.
-iPad app
-Fa t ForWord program, iP d touch , Appl e app
- raphi c rgani zer , Drago n Naturall y Speak in g, word prediction oftvvare ror \\ riting.
adaptation trateg ies t prepare tudent prior to reading or vvriting.
-Time sp nt with A and LA i eiTe ti ve. Adjusting criteria to meet tudent' skil l I \ el.
Parent who und er tand their child ' ab iliti e and partner vvith teacher' . expc tation .
c

RV Y

62

RT

Appendi 4
Re ear h Ethic

oard

ppr va l Letter

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
RESEARCH ETHICS BOA RD

MEMORANDU M
To:
CC :

T1na Harms
Yvon Cloutier

From :

M1chael Murphy, Cha1r
Research Ethrcs Board

Date :

December 21 , 2012

Re:

E2012.0920 .117 .00
An Exploratory Survey of Teachers ' Use of Kurzweil Ass is tive
Software with Students

Thank you for submitting rev1s1ons to the REB regarding the above-noted proposal to
the Research Eth1cs Board Your revisions have been approved
We are pleased to issue approval for the above named study for a penod of 12 months
from the date of this letter. Contmuat1on beyond that date wrll requrre further revtew and
renewal of REB approval Any changes or amendments to the protocol or consent form
must be approved by the Research Eth1cs Board
If you have any quest1ons on the above or require further clarrf1cahon please feel free to
contact Rhea nna Robrnson at reb@unbc ca in the Offrce of Research
Good luck wtth your research
Smcerely.

Dr Michael Murphy
C arr. Research Eth1cs Board