Assistive Technology Isn’t Cheating: It’s Access

Assistive technology is often misunderstood, but what if it's actually the key to unlocking learning? In this engaging, hands-on session, you will explore how assistive technology and everyday edtech tools support access, engagement and achievement for all students. Grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the session challenges the myth that using tools is cheating and reframes them as essential supports for equitable learning. Through interactive activities and classroom scenarios, you will experience the difference between decoding, comprehension and expression, and see how traditional instruction and assessment can unintentionally measure the wrong skills and limit students' ability to show what they know. Explore practical tools such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text and accessible digital materials, and learn how they provide access without lowering expectations. Leave with ready-to-use strategies for integrating built-in accessibility tools, offering flexible ways to access and respond to content and designing lessons that remove barriers while maintaining rigor, along with a new mindset: when we design for access, we expand what's possible for every learner.