Smart Start: Leveraging Technology to Detect and Support Learning Differences Early

On July 1, 2025, in the second session in CGLR’s Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning Institute, panelists explored the evolution of “assistive technology” that has longed been used to enhance and enable instruction for children who learn differently due to neurodivergence and other conditions affecting knowledge acquisition. Education technology (EdTech) for students with learning differences has come a very long way, and schools across the United States saw an influx of EdTech in the wake of the pandemic aimed at accelerating equitable learning recovery.

The conversation took a deep dive into this evolution and how the post-pandemic investment and recent developments in technology are being researched and deployed specifically to support students with learning differences and how these tech tools are leading to improved and updated instruction. Top researchers — Nadine Gaab, Ph.D., of Harvard Graduate School of Education and Ola Ozernov-Palchik, Ph.D., of Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT — engaged with moderator Carla E. Small of Sprout Labs in a discussion of the many technology-based interventions and tools being evaluated and the evidence demonstrating which tools are effective, for both teachers and for students. Simultaneously, these empiricists are discovering what brain development can reveal about early literacy and early learning and the ways in which technology can meet specific needs. Gaab emphasized how research on brain development is linked to early detection of learning differences:

“We were wondering, when do these learning trajectories in the brain actually diverge between kids who later develop problems versus not? We were even surprised…that some of these trajectories in certain brain areas important for learning to read are different…in infancy. But also some start diverging around 18 months…suggesting that some kids start with a less optimized brain for learning to read. That doesn’t mean they can’t learn to read, but we need to really find them early. That’s exciting.”

Small continued the conversation with an exploration of Universal Design for Learning with Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D., of The UDL Approach. Nelson explained how this approach is being made universally accessible through an AI tool called LUDIA and how it is most effective for students with dyslexia and other neurodivergent conditions. Tina Zampitella, M.Ed., of the AIM Academy and Glenna Wright-Gallo of Everway joined the discussion and offered a practitioners’ perspective. They talked about making use of technologies such as the Rapid Online Assessment of Reading (ROAR) in the classroom to scale the number of students who can be screened and educated with specially designed instruction to meet their needs. Wright-Gallo shared how the tech tools being developed to support this specially designed instruction are also useful for all learners in the classroom:

“All of these tools, built from an accessibility standpoint, really support student learning. They’re interoperable, they work across platforms and they support multilingual learners. This is all about making sure that every student can access and participate fully in learning at grade level, regardless of their specific needs. We already talked about the research, the 24% improvement in comprehension. But it’s also important to note that the research is showing that these tools can be the most effective in meeting the needs of all students. And so Everway has this term that I really like which is “necessary for some but beneficial for all.”