Eye Impairments Don't Inhibit Learning with Accelerated Reader Student App

It used to be, not so long ago, that vision problems in school could do quite a bit of damage to a student's education – especially if they went on for any length of time. But with the newest update to the Accelerated Reader Student App from Renaissance Learning, announced just yesterday, visually impaired or even blind students will be able to get an edge without having to commit staff to reading questions aloud.

The new update to the Accelerated Reader Student app on iOS allows VoiceOver support to step in, which will automatically read aloud questions for users with lower visual capability. This allows the blind and visually impaired student to take the full range of quizzes available via Accelerated Reader, and get much more rapid feedback – all without having to be helped by a teacher or similar professional.

The app, which is free to download, must be configured with each school's own Accelerated Reader software in order to allow individual iOS hardware to access and take quizzes. This ensures that the data remains trustworthy and allows the results of the quizzes to be taken seriously and applied to students' grades.

It's not just about the quizzes, however, as the app is also capable of serving as a baseline testing tool to determine a student's overall reading level, and from there can set practice goals and personalize a map of practice techniques according to the individual student's overall capability. With the practice techniques in place and operating, the student can get access to relevant quizzes and the associated rapid feedback, which help to reinforce that which is done correctly and change that which is not.

Jack Lynch, CEO at Renaissance Learning, described the Accelerated Reader app's new features as being able to provide an independent learning experience for the blind and visually impaired that is the same as fully-sighted students would get.

“This new technology is a turning point, not only for today's students but for the next generation of students,” he said. “According to Prevent Blindness America, one out of every 20 pre-school aged children in the U.S. will have a vision problem that affects their ability to learn. The update supports our mission to improve educational experiences for all students through innovative technologies.”

For those who favor behavioral psychology, rapid feedback is a vital tool to have on hand. Quickly reinforcing positive behaviors is a great way to help ensure that those behaviors repeat, and the Accelerated Reader Student App looks like it provides very rapid feedback indeed, going a long way toward providing the best classroom experience that can be had.

Providing a proper learning experience for all children, no matter the level of ability, is an important task for all educators. Tools like Renaissance Learning's Accelerated Reader Student App look to go a long way in making all students better readers – a tool that is not only prized in learning, but also beyond the classroom.

Adding in the extras for the blind and visually impaired only improves the overall package.