While these questions are familiar to everyone, students with disabilities often confront unique challenges when they write. These students may have trouble generating ideas because of gaps in their background knowledge, or, they may have vivid ideas and solid information, but have trouble finding the language to express them. In either situation, it becomes a challenge for these students to stay focused on the topic and task. Increasingly, teachers throughout the country are experimenting with instructional practices that incorporate a variety of media to stimulate and support writing.
Multimedia can support writing in a number of ways.
It can help students deepen conceptual understandings. It can engage their prior knowledge and help them form mental images. It can also provide tools for composing and publishing. Perhaps most importantly, it can ease the transition from concepts and images to words. One group of students is crowded around a large flowchart mapping out their adventure story.