Reading (finally) the articles Barb provided reminded me of one of my favourite slogans that I think I made up: It's ALL technology. (OK, if I didn't invent, I imagine that someone will point that out to me soon, now that I've gone public.)
The articles brought out the struggle between providing "remedial" and "compensatory" strategies. Since my students are in Gr. 5, the time is coming for the powers that be (one of which I sorta am) to decide when we admit that some of them are not going to learn to read text. So the notion that compensatory technologies such as text-to-speech are still perceived as "cheating" intrigues me. And reminds me of my slogan: it's all technology.
A pencil. An eraser. A pencil sharpener. A doorknob. An elevator. A typewriter. A ruler. A flip charts. A white board. A white board marker. A car. A spoon.
As Wikipedia says: "Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function."
So all the above-mentioned items which most people use all the time with little awareness that they are using technology, let alone that they are "cheating." We all use technology. One person needs a doorknob in order to access a room; another needs a powered switch. It's all technology.
