This is so awesome. You've got to try it. Now you have the capability of sending e-mails by using your cell phone (or any phone). By calling a toll free number and speaking your message, your message is then converted to text and sent via e-mail. It can also send your message via a text message. Or how about this one, set your cell phone as a reminder to go off for an appointment. Oh, the uses we can have for this. Check it out and start Jotting.
Recently I heard Hall Davidson from Discovery Education speak on the uses of an iPod for education. He was a fantastic speaker that kept the audience engaged. I always like hearing about innovative uses for the iPod. Here is one he suggested. How about making use of the contact section of the iPod. Instead of storing your contact information, make individual "Contacts" for each of the Presidents listing facts such as term in office, birth date, etc. The possibilities are endless: elements on the periodic table, states and capitals, even math equations. Use your imagination!!
Here's a cool site. Audio guides are digital audio walking guides to popular neighborhoods. These can be downloaded to your iPod or favorite mp3 player. For more information visit, http://audiosteps.com/ or http://podguides.net/
Watchminder ( http://watchminder.com) may be for you. Programmable with up to 30 (brief) text messages per day, the creator is billing this digital wristwatch as both a reminder system and potentially a training tool for those working on behavior change.
Have you seen the Attainment Day Planner? Click on http://www.attainmentcompany.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16288&cat=0&page=1 and take a look--for those of us who are WAYYYYYYYYYYY into dry-erase, this is kind of cool :)
Page up and Page pal are both document holders that free your hands to do other things--and free desk space for other things, too! Great organizational and reading tool...reduces frustration when things fall all over the floor, reduces stiff neck while working on the computer from a document, increases focus on a page of directions when surrounded by project materials. What more could you want from a junky little piece of plastic? Ahh, a lower price! How about, "almost free"?
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Well, make your own! Head to the craft store for polymer clay that has the ability to harden to permanence in a kitchen oven at 260 degrees in 20 minutes. Make a flat-bottomed, 2" dome of clay. With a piece of plastic-such as the cover of an old notebook, cut a "mouth" part of the way into the dome to hold the paper upright. Be sure to curve the plastic slightly from right to left while making the cut; this curve makes the paper stand up tall. Good luck-send us a picture!
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There is a gold mine hidden in Caroline Musselwhite and Julie Maro’s web site, www.aacintervention.com! The May “Tip of the Month” talks you through 10 reasons why learning to use iTunes can simplify your life. Each reason is supported by an explanation of why you need to know it, and how to accomplish it. In most cases, there are references to on-line tutorials that can cover the topic in greater depth. Check this out and dig deeper into her site for lots of other practical information! We gotta love Caroline and Julie for the creative ideas that go into their web site!
We often overlook AT when we are addressing problem behaviors; we turn quickly to plans that involve outsiders in managing students' behaviors...but we know that students need to learn (and practice) those self-management techniques to be successful in life. If an AT or IT software program can help with that, perhaps it should be considered!
This month's Intervention in School and Clinic (vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 12-19) includes an article about KidTools, a free electronic performance software system for K-8 students to use independently to manage "problem" behaviors. The authors review the software as well as test it on real students. They conclude that the point cards, monitoring cards, contracts, and make-a-plan applications lead to positive behavior change and that some students improved their hand-raising behavior, self-regulation, and on-task behavior and others increased their focus and attention to task while reducing negative interactions with peers.
The KidTools programs are available in CD format and in free downloadable versions from the website http://kidtools.missouri.edu.
The Inspired Learning Community(tm) offers educators a dynamic forum to
find and share ideas about visual learning, Inspiration(r), InspireData(tm) and Kidspiration(r). Visit
http://www.inspiredlearningcommunity.com to become an active participant and to learn more!
Brian Friedlander just posted a review of Livescribe at http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2007/06/livescribe-this-isnt-ordinary-pen.html. Click and read his thoughts on this digital pen that transfers writing to your computer--without requiring a slate/tablet format!
First, click on www.mypageup.com to see what I'm talking about! Once you're done thinking "Why didn't I invent that? Another chance to make my million--lost!", let's think through a few ways to use this nifty tool.
#5 You physically can't look down at the paper lying on the desk--due to motor or range of motion concerns or even the fact that you have a crick in your neck!
#4 You're working at the computer while referring to paper resources and need to reduce the motion and stress of looking back and forth between the vertical monitor and horizontal paper.
#3 You need a consistent place to post task instructions/checklists for collaborative or cooperative groups, but find that the task lists get lost in the shuffle of project materials and once it's out of sight, it's out of mind.
#2 You need a way to focus a student who has the typical "desk swamp"--papers everywhere, things flying off of the table surface, and no good way to focus on one set of instruction, task sequence, or text while working on a worksheet, essay, project or other task, so you set up a PageUp as a reserved location on the desk to maintain task directions.
#1 You are looking to add another cool, flexible AT tool to your toolbox and see that the PageUp can help everyone, not just those of us with disabilities!
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#10: "Text on paper" is a fairly common teaching and learning tool in your classroom.
#9: You assign students reading during classtime.
#8: You assign students reading outside of classtime.
#7: You have ever lost your place in the text when looking away.
#6: Your students have ever lost their place in the text when looking away.
#5: You have a student who cannot easily scan to find a portion of text.
#4: You assign tasks that require students to move back and forth between a text and a worksheet or other source (perhaps a dictionary or speller).
#3: Your students share textual materials (directions sheets, books, etc.) during group work.
#2: It's written into a student's IEP, 504 plan, or student assistance plan.
#1: You haven't tried using reading frames before--and you'd like to have another tool in your bag of tricks!
We have several classroom sets of Reading Helpers and Heads Up Frames available in VCU T/TAC AT lab-email or call us and we would be happy to lend them to you for 3 weeks! (We can also show you how to make your own, home-made versions!)
Know someone with attention deficit disorder who seeks a useful time management strategy?
From the http://www.add.org/articles/index.html website, look at the "Plain and Simple To-Do List Illustrated" by Mary Jane Johnson:
http://www.add.org/pdf/Plain%20&%20Simple%20To%20Do%20List%20Illustrated.pdf.
The IPOD, and other Mp3 players, are growing in popularity
My new favorite timer...flashes, vibrates, and switches between stopwatch and countdown (as well as HH:MM and MM:SS). But the best part is the elegant design of the back of the timer...it has a clip--with a magnet attached--and when you open the clip, a little metal bar can be used to prop the clip open like a picture frame stand! 3-in-1--an elegant solution! Best design I have ever seen, and only $6-10 if you buy it at a kitchen or electronics store (instead of an AT vendor). Do a web search for "Vibrating Digital Timer by Polder" to find it.
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Seen the Porta-Book from Page Up?
From http://www.headsupnow.com/modules.php?name=Catalog&op=viewcategory&catid=8:
This hard plastic product allows user to maintain a correct posture during daily activities: writing and reading (erect trunk and forward slightly inclined head) Will hold up to a 600 page book, or a single page. Also functions as a clipboard, a portfolio and a pencil-box.
Click on http://www.mypageup.com/english/tribeseng.htm to see the cool new Page-Ups...who doesn't want a Page-Up AT device that features the band "KISS"?
Yep, organization is probably only second to exercise on the list of resolutions...
Click on http://www.onionmountaintech.com/item.php?id=766 to see the Pen Grip, a sweet little organizer that can grip to the side of a desk or a nearby wall...more help for our desk swamp kids and less redirection and direct assistance!
You know a few kids with swampy desks. Maybe you have one, too.
Mess B Gone is a cool organizer for desks with lids that helps kids stay organized. Check out the pics at Onion Mountain ( http://www.onionmountaintech.com/item.php?id=846) and the nice Student Desk Check Data Collection sheet that comes with the product--nice way to check on IEP goal progress! Click here to see it: View image
Note: Mona, our OT specialist here, pointed out that for kids who have front-entry desks, you can just use the lid of the big carton that copy paper comes in--slides in and out of front-entry desks like a dream!
New Time Timers have an optional audible alarm--you'll have to hear it to decide what you think of them!
Call the VCU T/TAC library if you would like to check one out for 3 weeks.
Check out the new Time Timer personal wristwatches! Click on www.timetimer.com.
They're pricey ($55-$65) but have some cool features:
Watch Mode (Analog & Digital)
Time-of-Day Alarm
Timer Mode (Up to 12 Hours)
Optional Timer Pre-Alarm & Alarm
Backlight
We've been talking about how useful they might be in vocational settings...
We will soon have a few in our AT lab; call the VCU T/TAC library for info on how to check one out for 3 weeks!
Many of you are regular visitors to www.ldonline.org, a well-know website loaded with information for students, families and professionals regarding a variety of issues related to serving students with learning disabilities. It was originally started by Richard Wanderman, a well known educational consultant, presenter and successful adult with learning disabilities, who also happens to be a technology wiz. The site now contains lists of tools, schools, organizations and professionals and other resources for the LD community as well as new articles and commentaries. Richard has now developed a blog with his colleague David Clark, a well-know web accessibility consultant and successful adult with cerebral palsy. Richard has presented several assistive technology workshops for our TechKnowledgy Conference and is an amazing source of information. His creative and practical use of technology is helpful to students and adults with learning disabilities and the families and professionals who support them. We suggest that you check out his new blog at www.ldresources.org!
Did you know that Boardmaker will create a symbol if you provide them with an idea or graphic? If you have a need for a symbol that is not included in the Boardmaker library, click on the link below and submit a request. Any new symbols that they create are also available on the monthly tips section of their website.
The world of visual maps and concept mapping is now available on the web. Users can actually create visual concept maps within the web, reducing the need to download any software. This approach to visual concept mapping can also be included in online communities....such as blogs. Visit http://www.gliffy.com for more information!
The Virtual Vine is a great website for teachers of students in preK-2 or any of us focusing on early learning skills. The webmaster, Cindy, has 19 years experience as a Special Education Resource Teacher, teaching range of students with mild to significant cognitive disabilities. Hew website, http://www.thevirtualvine.com, is full of great ideas for centers using no tech and low/light tech manipulatives.
Here's an example of one:
Counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s: I use my number chart and "highlighter tape" to help my students see the patterns of counting by 2s, 5s, & 10s. The highlighter tape is actually cling on bookcovers that I purchased by the box at Office Depot. You just cut the film to the size you need, then it easily sticks and and can be easily removed without any sticky residue. Eventually dust and grime will get stuck to the back, so you just throw it away and cut new pieces. I've been using the same box for years!
Click here to visit the math section of her site and see her hundreds chart with "highlights" http://www.thevirtualvine.com/math.html
A great way to prompt any and all students during choral response counting activities!
Click here to hear this entry read aloud: Download file
Highlighter Tape is a transparent tape that looks like a fluorescent highlighter pen, but the removable adhesive means you don't make permanent marks.
Who uses it? From a recent advertisement:
Pilot, Musicians, Knitters, Attorneys: use highlighter tape for expensive navigation charts, sheet music, knitting patterns, and legal documents! Removable highlighting tape is a great way to mark your route on all aeronautical charts. Easily change and remove the route without marking or damaging your charts.
How else can we use it?
Now you can highlight word parts, words, phrases, or sentences on any surface without damaging it! Use different colors to break words. Highlighter tape is easy to remove, and you can even write on it.
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The Palm Beach County Schools Dept of Exceptional Student Education has posted the SETT framework questions as a considerations document that can be completed and shared by IEP team members. Check out http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/Records/PDF/1859.pdf.
The areas of handwriting, reading, math, learning/study skills, and computer access are included in the considerations form, with a multitude of suggestions for students and their IEP teams to try (Magic Rub erasers, highlighter tape). A column in the document is provided to evaluate effectiveness.
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If you provide a small, magnetic wipe-off board to each student in the class, students can interact with concepts and practice skills in the large group with little concern for making big mistakes! In addition to acting as individual response boards for informal student assessment, the small dry-erase boards can be used for sorting and classifying.
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For instance, the class discusses what the word "freedom" means, and students are asked to provide examples of freedom. On their small markerboards, they draw a picture or write a few words to illustrate the concept of "freedom." Students can erase as much as they want, use dry-erase stamp sets, and use peel-off stickers. The teachers can redirect and guide students as they work. Students then stick their magnetic boards to the main board and explain to the class what they wrote or illustrated. When it comes time to sort the boards into personal freedom and public/group freedom, any student can move the concepts around in the way they think is best, with no need to write--just re-stick on the board under a different heading! Also, no "error" or changed decision is difficult because the markerboard can simply be moved under a different hearding. The resulting graphic organizer can be copied down by students or could easily be digitally photographed, photocopied, and added to student notebooks.
Boone makes 5"x8" markerboards that are also magnetic and come in sets of 4, so 6 sets would outfit most classrooms. Want to make your own? Try laminating large index cards and sticking heavy-duty business card-sized magnets (available at office supply stores cheaply) to the back.
Tech4Learning has a wonderful resource, Recipe4Success, for supporting teachers and students using technology in the classroom. This resource includes software tutorials and guides for particular features, tools for creating graphic organizers or rubrics, as well as a multitude of many other resources available for free once your subscribe. This resource will save you lots of time and will allow your students to become more self-directed learners and better cooks! You need to check it out! Go to http://www.myt4l.com/
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iPod/Cell Phone/PDA Centralized Charging Station
From www.welovemacs.com:
I’ve got so many rechargeable gadgets, I can’t keep all the rechargers straight. So now I organize them in Recharging HQ PowerStation. Open the lid, and an internal power strip lets you plug in up to 3 recharging transformers, without consuming 3 wall sockets. You need only plug HQ PowerStation into the wall to get power. Circuit protection guards against voltage/surge overload. Deep well inside has plenty of room for tall transformers, and for excess lengths of cord. Just feed the recharging cords out the slots, and plug into your devices. Adjustable dividers on top lid firmly hold personal electronics in place...So you’ll feel organized, not out of control!
Might be something to suggest at an IEP meeting for students who use these tech items, but are chronic misplacers. Placement of an organizer like this (some versions are mahogany, others have nifty drawers and shelves) next to the front door, with a hook attached for house and/or car keys would support students in walking in the front door at home, setting the tech items to charge, hanging the keys, and knowing that they'll be there when they're needed during HW time or early the next morning!
School's about to start and now is the time to stock up on things that will cost more later!
For students (and any of us) who lose their place when distracted from reading and completing worksheets and forms, have pads of inexpensive sticky notes around the room. Model for students the use of a sticky note to "hold your place" while reading out of a book or off of a printed overhead. "Think aloud" about how you are using the sticky note not just when you walk away from the book or material, but because at any time there may be a distraction (knock at the door, buzzing fly, polite question interrupting, need to scan a list of questions for which one to answer next from the text) that would break your concentration. Think aloud for your students also about the amount of time you are saving by having the placeholder (not having to scan the whole page again when your eyes return to it) and how it serves double duty as a secure bookmark in a textbook (won't fall out).
Interesting posting on the website for Sabine Parish, LA: A quick checklist for determining student-specific modifications ( http://www.sabine.k12.la.us/standards/CSmchecklis.htm). Some good ideas for us AT-minded folks!
Only one note: many of the "modifications" they list are things I would see not as modifications, but as accommodations or simply differentiated or alternate instruction...
A picture is worth 3000 nagging reminders about time. This cute program comes from a CD called "Time Tools" from Trainer's Warehouse www.trainerswarehouse.com.
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August 15, 2006 Presenter: Karen McCall, Sponsored by EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information).
Register at http://easi.cc/forms/tablet.htm
This web seminar will demonstrate the ability of students with disabilities to use tablet technology and Microsoft OneNote. The tablet offers tool for task accessibility such as handwriting, speech recognition, the use of screen magnification, and screen reading software. With the new smaller models of tablets, you have “big Windows�? applications on a small Windows XP Pro based computer. Add Microsoft OneNote and you have a powerful digital notebook. OneNote is a free form digital notebook tool that can be used with adaptive technology. Tablets can be used by people with dysgraphia, learning disabilities, visual disabilities, or who are blind. More academic institutions are moving to tablet technology and this seminar provides an overview of how it can be used as an inclusive tool.
...it tolls for the kid you sent into the hallway about 25 minutes ago. You know the one- every time he asks for a pass to the restroom, you wonder what he really wants to do.
OK, so we all know that the first step involves making sure he is engaged in the class activities, feeling that his needs are met, and having a positive sense of self-worth in the peer group.
But he also might not know exactly how much time has passed since he left the classroom. The Hall Pass Timer (available for checkout from the T/TAC AT lab) might be what he needs. The same time is kept on both the Hall Pass and the Teacher Monitor and can be set for an allotted time for student to be out of the classroom. "Times's Up" warning lights and alarms on both Hall Pass and Teacher Monitor.
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Click here for another image: View image
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Worried that time is running out for the summer already? Worried that you haven't even had a chance to experience summer yet (except for the swell heat and humidity--we love Central Virginia weather!)--think about getting more familiar with using timers...in life, in the classroom, at the gym...
Time Timers (pictured) are great ways to show ourselves (and our students) the passage of time, in a way that digital and analog clocks generally don't do.
There are a few companies that sell a variety of cool instructional timers that are easy to use, and many can be displayed on a computer screen. Time Timer-brand timers will soon come with audible sounds indicating that time is up--something that used to only be available in the digital version!
Who are the retailers? www.timetimer.com is one, www.trainerswarehouse.com is another (with one CD that offers 13 different versions of a digital timer.
Know any sources? Share by posting a "comment"!
If you consider yourself tech-savvy, or are just interested in learning more about online forums and the like, I strongly suggest dropping in regularly on The Savvy Technologist ( http://technosavvy.org/). Click on the link to see a recent blog posting that lists many great brainstormed educational uses of iPods and iTunes, including roving reporters, capturing oral histories (family history), podcast vocab words and spelling lists, flashcard practice with iFlash ( http://loopware.com/iflash/), and “soundseeing�? tours.
The blog is written by Tim Wilson, Technology Integration Specialist at the Hopkins School District in Hopkins, MN, an Apple Distinguished Educator, and a Ph.D. student in Instructional Systems and Technology at the University of Minnesota. It contains information of interest to technology coordinators and integrationists, classroom teachers, and administrators. Most of the articles are related to Internet technologies such as blogs, wikis, online forums, Web standards and accessibility. Some of Tim’s posts are also found at the eSchoolNews Ed-Tech Insider blog where he is a founding contributor.
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