More and more K–12 school teachers are using handheld devices in classrooms. The mobile nature of handheld technologies is often seen as an integral characteristic facilitating collaborative learning and flexible learning arrangements. Since both portable devices and ideas about the learning environment are rapidly evolving, teachers need to be aware of technologies and classroom arrangements that can help improve student performance and classroom experiences.

This chapter reviews assistive technology solutions to literacy teaching challenges in the classroom, current trends with literacy and technology, available open source, commercial, and mobile literacy technology tools, and how to select the proper tools in the classroom to create a valuable toolbox of literacy-based technology tools to advance literacy goals in K-12 schools. Because these technologies are always evolving, we provide decision rules for selecting new tools to teach literacy.

Teacher knowledge of and comfort with assistive technology (AT) has a profound effect on the use of this technology by students with disabilities. Currently, very few teacher preparation programs effectively address AT with their students. This chapter will discuss how to improve AT training at both a preservice and continuing education level for teachers by focusing on the innovative initiatives being undertaken by the Iowa Center for Assistive Technology Education and Research in the preservice teacher education program at the University of Iowa. By the end of this chapter, readers will understand the pressing issues in AT training for teachers and what is being done to create a new generation of AT savvy teachers by improving overall AT knowledge and comfort levels.

This chapter reviews assistive technology solutions to literacy teaching challenges in the classroom, current trends with literacy and technology, available open source, commercial, and mobile literacy technology tools, and how to select the proper tools in the classroom to create a valuable toolbox of literacy-based technology tools to advance literacy goals in K-12 schools. Because these technologies are always evolving, we provide decision rules for selecting new tools to teach literacy.

Computer-based Assistive Technology (AT) has had a powerful effect on people with disabilities in the areas of reading, writing, communicating, and accessing information. One of the roadblocks for use has always been the expense of AT. Advancements in computing and mobile technology, however, are making some technology more readily available, accessible, and cost effective for people with disabilities. Computer operating systems, for example, now contain features to magnify screens for reading and in the entering of text. The mobile movement of smartphones, e-readers, and tablets has also been changing the way people with disabilities access information. The capabilities of these devices combined with the immediate availability, affordability, and ease of use, has been making the world more accessible for people with disabilities, and with mobile devices increasingly becoming a necessity for most, this trend is anticipated to only continue.