SmartBoard Lessons & EXPO

I enjoyed seeing the other gadgets that people found in the SmartBoard software, and how they would use them in the classroom. In learning the Spanish colors and some Math facts, I learned how to use the software to make things seem to be invisible and appear by grouping them together. I hadn't figured it out on my own, so it was great to hear it from someone else.
Other gadgets I liked, were the grouping activities. They give you immediate responses to whether you were correct or not. I think that it's great for students, and teachers who like quick responses.

I attended the PaTTAN Assistive technology expo this Friday and saw a lot of different tools that can be used and or purchased to help a student in need. While the focus of the attending companies is special need students, I can see numerous ways in which any student could benefit from the tools.
For example, Bookshare.org allows digital access of thousands of books. Students can read their required, as well as pleasure books without having to worry about the physical mechanics of page-turning, or font size on the page. However, in order to be a member of Bookshare, teachers must sign that they are using Bookshare for special need students only. I believe that any student could have great benefits from using this digital text. With students very comfortable looking at computer screens and reading text on-line, I think that there may be regular education students who would find reading a book on the computer instead of in it's physical form.
Along the lines of reading text on the computer, Kurzweill technology is also a great tool that would be utilized for teaching all students. Simply the note-taking, outlining, and organizing capabilities of the software would help teachers differentiate for their students. It would assist students as they begin to learn these skills, and allow them to focus on the actual task, rather than "How do I spell a word?" or "Do I indent now or later for this outline?" or "Where did I find this quote again?"
The EXPO had a lot of companies with Document cameras. These are great way for teachers to avoid making overhead sheets. You don't have to worry about cleaning off the sheet time after time, as the students can write on the board where the sheet is projected. Also, when students have a good example, the teacher can easily and quickly share it with the class, without taking extra time to walk around with the students' paper, or taking the time to write it on the board.
While there were a lot of special need specific technologies at the EXPO, the fact that they can very easily be used to help any child learn remains a strong thought in my head. I would love to see these companies extend their technologies to any child in the classroom, rather than just those with IEPs.