Digital Competency: Using Digital Tools to Foster Inclusion and Address Diverse Needs

This dimension of digital competency involves integrating adapted digital tools to meet a wide range of needs. To do this, you should begin by asking yourself the following questions:

• What are my needs?
• What are my students’ needs?

Next, think about what tools and strategies you’ll need to adopt, taking into account any cultural, physical, technical, and economic constraints.

The aim is to promote inclusion by ensuring that everyone, including students with disabilities or learning difficulties, can participate fully in learning activities. This is in line with the pedagogical principles of universal design for learning (UDL), whereby right from the activity planning stage, teachers should be thinking about how to provide the means or tools that will optimize learning for everyone and remove barriers.

There are myriad ways to use digital tools to support learning. However, teachers can only do so if they are well versed in a variety of tools and their pedagogical potential, as this knowledge is necessary to be able to use them effectively and make recommendations.

Here are some examples to help you visualize how to apply this dimension as a teacher:

• Allowing students with learning difficulties to use software tailored to their needs (e.g., assisted reading, translation applications for recent immigrants, text accessibility functions)
• Evaluating the digital tools at your disposal and choosing the one best suited to your specific needs (e.g., making a presentation, creating a poster, devising a questionnaire)
• Giving a student who has just moved to Canada access to a translation app so they can communicate and participate in class

Its application from a student’s perspective is more or less the same. Take the following examples:

• Using software features to maximize comprehension and learning (e.g., checking the definition and usage of certain words via Antidote or Usito [French only])
• Using software like WordQ and Lexibar to complete the same learning tasks as other students, even if they have learning difficulties
• Evaluating and choosing the best digital tools for both their needs and the task at hand (e.g., preparing an oral presentation, making a video, creating a geometric drawing)

This dimension of digital competency is multi-faceted, ranging from the elimination of learning barriers, to digital accessibility, to support for students with special needs. Instead of turnkey activities, we have put together a range of resources for you to consult or explore in order to apply this dimension when teaching.

RÉCIT’s guide to producing and selecting accessible digital resources (French only) contains a wealth of information on how to ensure that the content you share with your students is accessible. Examples include:

• Checking the accessibility of your documents in Microsoft Office
• Checking accessibility in Google Docs, Google Presentations, or Canva
• Checking the colour contrast or accessibility of a web page

Don’t forget about students from more disadvantaged backgrounds, who may not have access to the same resources. You can learn more about giving them the support they need in this article.

There are numerous digital tools designed to help students with various difficulties—everything from reading and organization to mathematics. A number of software programs are already widely used in schools, but here are a few examples of lists of tools compiled by education experts according to the different needs of your students (note that all links are in French only):

• RÉCIT Service national de l’inclusion et de l’adaptation scolaire offers a list of digital help features organized by category: reading, writing, editing and proofreading, and information processing.
• The educational resources department of the Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys offers several resources on finding help features related to fine motor skills, math, organization and planning, and focus or attention. Numerous other tools are provided elsewhere on the microsite.
• A similar collection of help features can be found on the Centre de services scolaires de la Rivière-du-Nord microsite.

Universal design for learning seeks to meet the diverse needs of all learners, and digital technology offers many tools to make this possible. Among other things, we encourage you to:

• Consult and familiarize yourself with a range of tools for audio and video communication, feedback, interactive quizzes, and collaboration. A number of resources are listed in our article on the Developing and Mobilizing Technological Skills dimension.
• Practise differentiated instruction and support students who need enrichment or who tend to finish their work before others.
• Take CADRE21’s online training courses on universal design for learning or technological learning aids (available in French only).