Productivity Apps Supporting Higher Order Writing Skills for Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities

Students with learning disabilities tend to focus on lower-level elements of writing, leading them to compose poorly organized paragraphs comprised of strings of linear ideas. Deficits in language and working memory negatively impact ability to produce quality writing. Technology and software applications can provide a means of academic supports for students with disabilities. Four productivity applications (i.e., apps) that encourage focusing on higher-order writing skills and support cognitive load are presented for use with secondary students. These apps are combined to provide teachers with a step-by-step technique for instructing students to write a quality expository paragraph.