As a discipline, Rhetoric and Composition continues to make adjustments related to Universal Design for Learning principles and ongoing research related to disability studies. Yet, this (sluggish) progress can be enhanced by the ongoing innovation of computer programs, applications (apps) for mobile technology. Thus, broadly, the author argues for increasing accessibility for disabled students in the composition classroom through the use of technology. More specifically, this essay considers mobile learning or m-learning that takes place through various applications and platforms that have potential and productivity within disabled communities and posits their importance to learning the communication skills critical once students matriculate and eventually graduate from the university system. Part of this rationale for increasing access and the discipline's adaptability is that more students are coming to the writing classroom with at least one disability, if not several, that affect learning and their potential throughout later life. Further, the sheer diversity of the student body and ongoing learning research suggests learning is more individualized than we may have previously realized. In short, the writing classroom must become more flexible and accommodating for all students regardless of differences. Finally, the author pushes forward the ongoing paradigm shift in education and away from a us/them model to a model that can provide access to all learners, increase participation, and provide accessible classrooms for students and position them to be as barrier-free as possible.
Keywords: technology, e-learning, m-learning, access, disability, pedagogy