What's in this episode?

10% of the population are estimated to be dyslexic. That means that for every ten of your colleagues, or ten of your students, or ten of your relatives or friends, on average, 1 has dyslexia. In the work place, the law stipulates that you must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to accommodate the needs of dyslexics. That might mean managing overloading environments such as open plan offices, adjusting intranets or screens so that they are less stimulating, allowing for longer time periods for organisation or kicking off a dyslexia mentoring scheme within your place of work. But what is being done before work, in schools, colleges, and Universities to move the national dialogue to one which celebrates neuro-diversity at the earliest moment and supports Dyslexic learners?

This episode features the full interview with Mike Tholfsen, Microsoft Education in conversation about: 

• Microsoft’s Learning Tools, OneNote and Class Notebook features for Dyslexic learners and the story behind how this came to fruition 
• An efficacy pilot study between the BDA, Microsoft and Knowl Hill School in the UK on improving dyslexic learner outcomes
• Playing the banjo, the Seattle music scene and coming to Bett

Don't forget to check out the solo interview with Dr Saunders  on The Edtech Podcast feed for extra insights. 

Quotes: 

 

'In the US, on average you will see four levels of reading in one class.’  

'Learning tools hit the right note, we saw the right responses. It's not just about accessibility, but also about empowering everyone.'

- Mike Tholfsen, Microsoft Education

Attending Bett? Meet Dr Kate Saunders and Mike Tholfsen from Microsoft Education at the Microsoft Village at Bett 2017. Register here. 

Don't forget to subscribe to The Edtech Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. 

References:

Mike Tholfsen, Principal Product Manager, OneNote at Microsoft

https://twitter.com/mtholfsen

https://twitter.com/onenoteedu

https://www.linkedin.com/in/miketholfsen

https://twitter.com/microsoft_edu 

Microsoft Hackathon:

https://news.microsoft.com/features/microsoft-hackathon-2015-winner-extends-onenote-to-improve-learning-outcomes-for-students/#sm.00019w17d92dpcxszfw12flf8329l 

OneNote/Learning Tools:

https://www.onenote.com/learningtools

ReadAloud app:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/readaloud/9wzdncrdn3ms

Bett: 

http://www.bettshow.com/ 

ISTE Conference, San Antonio

https://conference.iste.org/2017/

Alan November

https://twitter.com/globalearner 

 

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