The Assistive Technology Blog

Click on http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2008/04/24/Campus/Student.Projects.Bring.Disability.Issues.To.Light-3347252.shtml to read more about how Ohio State University has students present research or ideas about disability, instruction, and support at the Eighth Annual Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion and Disability conference this month. The event is two days in length and involves faculty, staff and students attending and presenting sessions about topics relating to disability issues such as universal design, accommodating disabled students in classrooms and translating Shakespeare into sign language.

What a great idea-pulls in supports from more than just the classroom and keeps disability support and AT in the forefront. Every university school of education should do this!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

http://www.jott.com

Posted by Mona at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Can you tell I am in the summer mode and looking for something fun to do outside? I found another site that has some larger adaptable “toys” for the park and playground. If you know someone who is building a playground, or if you can convince your community to build one, consider sending them information about how they could make the playground accessible for all. Special Needs Toys (http://www.specialneedstoys.com) has a lot of really cool swings, rockers and other products that might just stimulate some really fun ideas! If anyone has been part of building an accessible playground, please share your ideas and resources!

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wonder what an article about AT in your classroom might look like in your local paper? Click on http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/04/21/technology_puts_more_pupils_in_the_mainstream/ to read a recent article in the Boston Globe about a teacher's use of "universal design" class and her students' use of AT devices.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...if we can only find 10 minutes in a row to play with it! Seriously, though-VoiceThread is a tool that several teachers of students with moderate to significant disabilities have been using with their students.

From the website: "VoiceThread is an online media album that can hold essentially any type of media (images, documents and videos) and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways - using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (with a webcam)."

Click on the link to explore: http://voicethread.com

Click here for some early commentary on the new tool: http://smeech-presos.wikispaces.com/Voice+Thread

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you missed the national Council for Exceptional Children conference in Boston, MA last week (like several of us), here's a link to the presentations that were provided on universal design for learning by our friends at CAST, http://www.cast.org/publications/conferences/

Posted by Fran Smith at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes it is hard keeping up with all of the new resources that have been created to help our school divisions learn more about assistive technology. The Georgia Assistive Technology Project (GPAT) has been a national leader in assistive technology for years. Many of us use their assistive technology resource guide with AT teams in school divisions. I recently discovered that GPAT has now linked video clips to their Assistive Technology Resource Guide. This is a great resource for many of our school divisions who are still struggling to learn about AT. Thanks to GPAT for providing us with another great tool!!

http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu/spe/ATRB/Tools_for_Tasks.htm

Posted by Mona at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I was looking through a magazine I received from a conference, I came across an article about The Alliance for Technology Access (http://www.ataccess.org ). It is a national network of community-based Resource Centers, Developers, Vendors, and Associates dedicated to providing information and support services to children and adults with disabilities. Their website has a particular area for families, “Family Place in Cyberspace”, with information about adaptable toys, how-to’s about creating accessible play activities, planning for transition after high school and integrating AT into instruction. There are a lot of great examples and ideas on this site! Check it out!

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looking for a web-based tool to convert text or other files to an audio format? Something that could be an Mp3 file that you could download to an Mp3 player (such as an iPod)? Something that could offer flexibility to a range of users styles and approaches? Consider Spoken Text!

Spoken Text offers that functionality and allows users to easily convert the following into Mp3 formats:

Convert pdf to mp3
Convert doc to mp3
Convert ppt to mp3
Convert txt to mp3
Convert html to mp3
Enter text directly to convert to mp3
Convert RSS feeds to mp3
Convert emails to mp3
Convert web pages to mp3

For more information, visit http://www.spokentext.net

Posted by Fran Smith at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here something shared by one of our reading colleagues,

"ReadWriteThink.org is a site designed to help children and teens continue to build their literacy learning outside of school. The site now offers even more activities for children ages 4 to 18. In addition, the site includes booklists, reading logs, book review podcasts, and best practice videos to help caregivers and tutors make the most of summer reading and writing opportunities. To see all of these features and more, please visit http://www.readwritethink.org/beyondtheclassroom/summer.
ReadWriteThink.org is a nonprofit website maintained by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, with support from the Verizon Foundation and in association with the Thinkfinity.org program."

Posted by Fran Smith at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was surfing Teacher Tube (www.teachertube.com) the other day and found the motherlode of student-created PhotoStory talking books! Click on http://www.teachertube.com/uvideos.php?UID=51495 to see "Professor McGonagall's" students' books-from No David to The Giving Tree! She even has a TeacherTube video about how she had the students make them! Got to love her...

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click on http://itp.nyu.edu/assistive/blog/ to read the Assistive Technology Blog of the
Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. Very cool! Check out the Camera 4K project...

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 4:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click on http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-medicine/2008/3/28/to-stay-at-home-seniors-will-embrace-technology.html to read a summary of (and access links to) recent reports on getting assistive technology devices and solutions into the hands of members of the increasingly aging US population. Tips for family/caregivers are also referred to in the article.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Making flash cards to memorize all those words and terms? Well, flash cards are handy but could get messy. Or maybe you're using a study guide. Less messy...but they tend to be as big as telephone books straining more than your brain muscle. Now, with Mobile Prep you can study right from your cell phone!! Mobile Prep delivers flashcards, multiple choice quizes, and study guides right to your cell phone. Check out their website for more information. What a cool idea!

http://mobileprep.positivemotion.com/

Posted by Mona at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Toys R Us has been making adaptable toys for many years. They produce a catalog of toys that are labeled with special guides that make toy selection easy. Many of the toys are typical and can be used by any child. If you would like to request a catalog or peruse some of the toys, go to their website: http://www.toysrus.com/graphics/coupon/TRUS_2007-Diff-Abled-Guide2.pdf

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Family Center on Technology and Disability has an interesting article this month on the history of AT. As they note,

"In the beginning the technology had no defining name. Its pioneers included earnest engineers aiming to help their own kids with disabilities or their friends’ children, or a neighbor or a school. Then, in 1982, a writer specializing in this emerging technology, while researching an article he was preparing for the Washington Post, tried to conjure an evocative name for what he was describing. “The story was about a blind user of a talking terminal. I began to jot down possible names for the technology, but I couldn’t pronounce them,” recalls the writer, John M. Williams a lifelong stutterer. “All the words were associated with ‘aids’ or ‘helps.’ Then I arrived at the word ‘assists.’ I looked at that word on my writing pad and said to myself, ‘Yes, that’s what the technology does, it assists. But I couldn’t pronounce the various forms of ‘assists’ - until I came to assistive technology. That was a term I could pronounce. I used the term in the story and the editor let it go by.” Soon, he remembers, friends and colleagues began telling him how much they liked the name assistive technology. “They said it was unique, accurate and memorable.”

To read more, visit http://www.fctd.info/resources/newsletters/index.php

Posted by Fran Smith at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The folks at EASI have shared some of their previous webinars on the growing explosion around digital text. These include both the Powerpoint with audio files and transcription (a great example of accessibility in action). To review these, note below:

Bookshare audio: http://easi.cc/archive/bshare/bshare.htm
Bookshare Web: http://www.bookshare.org
NLS audio: http://easi.cc/archive/nls/lib.mp3
NLS Web: http://loc.gov/nls

Posted by Fran Smith at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wondering, "how can I keep that video from YouTube on my computer...so that I can play that again or use it in my presentation". Try http://keepvid.com/, a web site that provides some of that functionality. Also, on the YouTube screen, there is a line of text that can be embedded into most web pages and/or blog pages...to automatically open the video. Happy viewing!

Posted by Fran Smith at 5:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One school is offering a "learning strategies course [that] provides each...student with one Computer on Wheels (COW), essentially their own laptop complete with up-to-date software and programs. The computers allow the students to gain access to an online source of learning tools. That source includes about 40 titles in the board's online library, though they hope to compile more....Since January, eight students, four from Grade 10 and four from Grade 9, have been meeting for one period a day to work on the COWs. 'We spent the first six weeks working with text-to-voice software.' ." Click on http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=976146 to read more.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a fun way to explain math concepts to students. Written on an older elementary level but the story is appropriate to students exploring geometry and algebra facts this series is another way to help students visualize math concepts. Check these titles out by by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan,they are available through Amazon for under $12.00

Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland
Sir Cumference and the First Round Table
Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi
Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone

Posted by Mona at 5:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Wall Street Journal just posted an article about how "the prospect of renovating to accommodate...disabilities may seem daunting, experts say there are ways to keep costs down, including potential federal tax deductions and assistance from nonprofit and government groups." Click on http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120742884133292721.html?mod=googlenews_wsj to read more.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found a nice resource for those of you who may be looking for furniture that is ergonomically designed. AD-AS has furniture for education & libraries, healthcare, kitchen & bath, as well as the workplace. And for those of you who would like to learn how much you really know about ergonomic design, the website also has a “Ergonomic Quiz”. Consider checking their very stylish selection of items on their website http://www.ad-as.com/index_f.htm

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a cool new tool....an online resource that let's you communicate to others, 'live", while attending an event. CoveritLive provides this technology and then offers that archived information to share with all. For more, visit http://www.coveritlive.com/

Posted by Fran Smith at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trying to stay abreast of the latest on social networking? Wondering what this entails and why it is important? Visit a wiki that was created and recently shared at the Virginia 2008 Transition Forum on "Social Networking Tools and Techniques: What Every Transition Practitioner Needs to Know". VCU TTAC Technology Coordinator Fran Smith chose this medium to share her handouts and resources while modeling the technology and sharing multiple web-based examples.
http://socialweb20.pbwiki.com

Posted by Fran Smith at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trying to make your websites accessible? Wondering how to stay abreast of the latest information on web accessibility? For more information, visit http://www.webaim.org/blog/wave-toolbar-and-blog-available/

Posted by Fran Smith at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new resource from CAST on checking your curriculum to ensure that it includes best practices that represent a UDL approach. For more information visit, http://www.cast.org/about/news/press/2008-03-19.html

Posted by Fran Smith at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a trick for printing on your Post-It Notes. The possibilities are endless for using this trick. Use it for making quick data checklists, create proofreading checklists for your students, enter information for the student to create a timeline, etc.

Here's the trick: Open power point. Select file. Select Page Set Up. Change width and height to 7.5. Select OK. Create your layout for the Post-It note. If you want to make the same Post It note then select duplicate slide from the Insert menu. Create 4 slides. Then from File menu, select print. Print handouts, 4 to a page. Print. Then take post it notes and lay over each image on the sheet. (See how great it fits). Run that page back though your printer again by selecting Print, handouts, 4 to a page. The trick will be orienting the page correctly in your printer.

Posted by Mona at 5:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)