Technology

The regular assessment of children’s progress in literacy is essential for helping primary school teachers to understand what reading support pupils need to fully access the curriculum. But how efficient and economical is a fully paper-based reading assessment programme, currently in use in many schools?

To investigate the impact that COVID has had on children’s learning and literacy, The BBC One Show  sent poet, writer, and musician Benjamin Zephaniah to a primary school in Farnham. Having experienced disruption to his own education, due to moving around a lot as a child, he was able to share his own personal experiences of struggling when it comes to reading…

In the following blog post, Myles Pilling, an ICT SEN Advisor with over 30 years’ experience, explores a wide range of assistive tools, such as spelling, grid selection and word prediction, which can help learners with additional needs. He also discusses the importance of using assistive technology with mainstream software…

Diagnostic assessments are the only way in which dyslexia can be formally identified. By providing a clear picture of someone’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses they can pave the way for more effective support, whilst also providing evidence for access arrangements, funding applications or even employment adjustments. But, how do you know when it is the right time to refer your child or pupil for a diagnostic assessment?

In the following blog post, Bernadette McLean the former Principal of the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, discusses how new technology can help teachers to dig deeply into what is really going on when children read, paving the way for the much earlier identification of literacy barriers in the classroom.

For the first time at Bett (stand NJ58), we will unveil a secondary school version of our unique assessment which uses the latest in AI and eye tracking technology to help teachers accurately assess attainment and spot children encountering difficulties within minutes…

Lexplore, the company behind the award winning eye-tracking literacy assessment for schools, has announced it has changed its name to Lexplore Analytics, effective from January 1, 2020.

Earlier this year we were thrilled to welcome Dona Stevenson, who after 14 years working with the British Dyslexia Association, joined the Lexplore team as our Training and Education Specialist. In the following post Donna reflects on how first term at Lexplore has certainly whizzed by, in a frenzy of meeting schools, learning about AI and eye tracking technology, as well as attending TES SEN South and launching an exciting webinar programme!

For the 148,000 children who leave primary school every year unable to read well the secondary classroom can be a daunting place, especially with many subjects now increasingly content heavy. As Lexplore consultant and teacher of 29 years Mark Fraser describes in his recent article, which was published in The Technology and Innovation Magazine by The Teach Company, many children enter the secondary classroom brimming with ideas and ready to engage but the difficulties they face when it comes to reading and writing often hold them back…