Indiana Online is dedicated to supporting each student who enrolls with us, including students with accommodations. Our virtual learning environment naturally provides a quiet space to work outside of the general education classroom, extra time since students are able to work at their own pace in our asynchronous courses, and the use of a calculator on all assignments. Additionally, one-on-one time can be scheduled with teacher(s) during their office hours or an agreed upon time.
For those students who benefit from having content and assignments or discussions read to them (quizzes do not have this feature), whether it is for reading or vision purposes, Canvas has a text-to-speech feature called Immersive Reader which is available for most items. We also provide suggestions for additional resources which may be helpful for having content read aloud.
Sometimes having a paper copy of assignments can be helpful. Students have the ability to print any assignment from Canvas, and if they do not have the resources to print at home, we will work with them and their School of Record to ensure they get those necessary assignments.
All videos and live Zoom sessions for each course can be Closed Captioned enabled, which may be helpful for students with hearing impairments, as well as those who are better able to focus and retain details when they read the information instead of only listening to it. The student simply needs to ask their teacher(s) to enable this feature if it would be of benefit to them.
At Indiana Online, we strive to meet the needs of every student enrolled in our program and have a truly collaborative partnership with each school district. As our program has grown and expanded its offerings, the number of students with accommodations has increased. We have a Program Specialist, Allyssya Gossett, focused on supporting students with accommodations. She collaborates with district Teachers of Record and acts as a liaison between Indiana Online and the School of Record, attending case conferences when Indiana Online is being considered for placement, as well as any Annual Case Reviews or Revision Conferences throughout the year. She works with Teachers of Record and other support staff to get copies of each student’s IEP/504/ILP and, when requested, provides feedback from our Indiana Online teachers on course performance and progress toward annual goals.
Indiana Online has been a leader in virtual instruction for nearly two decades, and we are pleased to continue this tradition for students with accommodations. For some, the virtual format is a better fit, and they thrive in this learning environment. A parent of a student with accommodations recently shared during a case conference, “Indiana Online has been the blessing we had needed for so long. I can’t tell you how much he loves it and how much we love seeing him get so much from it. It truly is a perfect fit! I love seeing him enjoy learning again!!”
If you have any questions, you may reach out directly to Allyssya Gossett, Program Specialist focusing on supporting students with accommodations. She may be reached at agossett@indianaonline.org or 317-662-3789.
