Click on http://www.ctserc.com/lrenews/Articles/Winter2006/AssistiveTechnologyEnhanc.html to read about how a school division in Connecticut (my home state-go Nutmeggers!) shared AT with other educators to build awareness of and appreciation for students' need for assistive technology. The article is brief, clear and includes a few references to the work of the AT team.
Click on http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080818/CPUB/80813055 to see an article about how therapists work with students to build capacity and facility with assistive technology and improve their quality of life. For those of you on AT teams, this is the kind of article you could quickly put together and throw into a local free paper and build awareness and support for your team!
In today's USA Today newspaper, an article showcases the growing use of social media tools for the summer Olympic games. Everything from sharing videos, digital ideas, blogs, and websites. As these authors note, "more than one in three mobile phone owners have video-capable cellphones and...more than 147 million people worldwide not participate in a social network via their mobile phone" (USA Today, Friday, August 8, 2008). The use of web-based technologies are growing more social and providing increasing ways to share and communicate. This blog, http://www.asssitivetechnology.vcu.edu, is one of those ways we use social media to share best practices in AT and instructional technology tools. Another, ning.com, is being used by the Virginia Society for Technology in Education organization (http://vsteonline.ning.com/ to encourage educators to share and communicate. These tools are growing in popularity among younger users and offer opportunities to promote effective practices and bring individuals together around common interests.
The RCA Small Wonder and the FLIP compact video camera are excellent portable devices for capturing video on the fly. Simple to use, the RCA camera has four button controls: on, play, delete and a red button for recording. A nice example of a product that designed with simplicity in mind. Users simply turn the device on, press the red button to record, capture and close when complete. Afterwards, the pop-out usb connector device allows the user to simply connect to their computer and transfer or open the files. Great tools for capturing video for digital portfolios that might be infused into a PowerPoint, posted to a website, or shared as an another representation of content.
Click on http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu/dsmith/At_files/at38/at-38_files/default.htm to see and hear a talking head (Kim Hartsell, Project Director – GPAT) and PowerPoint show about the legal foundations of assistive technology. Not bad, and a good use of 7 minutes!
The 2009 Virginia Society for Technology in Education (http://www.vste.org) conference is just around the corner and proposals are needed. If you're an AT practitioner, team member, or educator in Virginia...consider submitting something. The world needs to hear from you and your best practices! Dr. Daniel Arkin from VSTE shares the details below in his e-request,
"Call for Annual Conference Presentation Proposals - we are now accepting proposals for over 110 concurrent presentations (each 60 minutes in length). To get further presenter information including to submit a proposal, go to http://www.vste.org/vste/presenters/. We seek first time presenters as well as experienced models. We are pleased to offer reduced registrations to our workshop facilitators and main presenters. Proposals may be submitted online ONLY. The deadline for submitting proposals is October 1, 2008. Time to complete the proposal form is less than 10 minutes once you have a Title and Description edited and ready to enter. Be sure to remember our theme and employ it creatively in your proposal. Again, the deadline for submitting proposals is October 1, 2008."
Remember also that membership in VSTE is free and a great organization to support!
In most instances, education agencies rely on products such as Blackboard or Web CT to deliver course content to teachers. But what happens when those products are too expensive for one's budget, not accessible, or simply not available. An open source product known as Moodle may be the solution. To read a review of this product from the National Center on Technology Innovation, visit http://www.k12opentech.org/implementation-study-3-moodle
On Tuesday, July 22 2008 and Thursday, July 24, 2008, assistive technology consultants/ trainers Kelly Fonner and Bob Kellar presented an array of tricks and techniques on AT for struggling readers. Participants throughout the state of Virginia took this opportunity to learn about best practices, low and high technology tools and devices, and instructional strategies to consider for low performing readers.
Kelly Fonner shared numerous tools and techniques such as highlighters, low tech strategies, electronic book readers and instructional guides. While she kept one group engaged, consultant Bob Kellar 
took participants on e-tours of several electronic text aloud readers and the newly debuted Virginia Accessible Instructional Materials website, AIM-VA, http://kihd.gmu.edu/aim
The Center for Applied Special Technology recently added a set of guidelines on UDL and a graphic organizer depicting how UDL approaches are considered across the three UDL areas providing:
multiple representations of representation
multiple means for expression
multiple means of learner engagement
To view both these new guidelines and the graphic organizer, visit: http://cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) has developed a new online Strategy Tutor tool that works in tandem with the Google Search Engine offering supports to students. Try this at
http://cst.cast.org/cst/auth-login
The appreciation of social media and related tools has been on the rise over the past several years. Often referred to as Web 2.0, these encompass those web tools such as blogs, wikis, social networking sites, and video-sharing sites. While these offer many opportunities for social collaboration and sharing of information, in some instances, individuals with disabilities may find the designs full of web-based barriers or limitations to their access. Social media tools are growing in popularity and use and educators need to understand how these can promote learning. To appreciate this situation, the National Center for Technology in Innovation published a brief discussing this topic entitled, The Power of Social Media to Promote Assistive and Learning Technologies: A Collaborative Issue Brief. To read more, visit: http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/documents/power_of_social_media.pdf
CAST has recently released a new online series entitled, UDL Editions, which provides online texts and embedded digital strategies to assist the reader. In combination with TextHELP tools, the user can add highlighting, activate speech, navigate from the text to the web to search for deeper meaning and listen to the text in another language. To take a tour, visit: http://udleditions.cast.org/
I found a neat website for searching and matching educational and assistive technology products to the learning support needed.
The TechMatrix is a powerful tool for finding educational and assistive technology products for students with special needs. See the Find Product menu for other search options. Create a customized matrix by subject and/or learning support. Send your customized matrix to a friend or colleague.
They also have Consumer Guides for School Administrators as well as Educational Vendors to assist educational teams with making technology decisions.
Continue reading "Matching Technology to Learning Supports" »
One of the biggest struggles faced by AT teams and individuals who use AT face is funding for the technology. Teams and individuals know what is needed for success, but finding a way to finance it is a difficult. The RESNA Alternative Financing Technical Assistance Project (AFTAP) provides technical assistance to State Financial Loan Programs. This includes Alternative Financing Programs funded under Title III of the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-394) and Access to Telework Loan programs funded under the New Freedom Initiative.
Check out their website:
http://www.resna.org/AFTAP/RESNA.html
Wondering how to stay abreast of the latest trends in technology and learning? Wondering how to locate assistive technology resources on a national scale? Visit the Center for Technology Innovation at http://www.cited.org. Several new resources provide:
A virtual space for taking online courses from the American Institutes of Research.
Links to the Executive Brief, Moving Forward with Technology.
CITEd's Tech Matrix for searching technology/ assistive technology tools, http://www.TechMatrix.org
...and much more!
Take a peek, explore this summer!
One Rochester, MN local paper just featured an activity in its "local life section":
The PACER Center will present a free workshop sponsored by Ability Building Center, Inc. from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on May 22. The workshop, titled "What Parents and Professionals Need to Know About Assistive Technology," will provide parents and professionals with an introduction to AT and the relevant legal requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Tips will be given about selecting appropriate AT devices, and attendees will be introduced to the "Minnesota Assistive Technology Manual." Participants will also hear about state and local resources for trying and acquiring AT.
Sometimes we forget that just getting the word out about AT in schools-regardless of who comes to the two-hour session-will help us raise awareness in both the professional and family populations. Plus, I bet that they'll have cookies! But seriously, this kind of event is worth keeping on the school calendar once a year-especially for those schools/divisions with AT Teams!
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!!
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
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
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/
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
The CAST National Consortium for UDL E-Newsletter for March, 2008 can be accessed at http://www.cast.org/pd/consortium
The National Assistive Technology in Education Network site: http://natenetwork.buffalo.edu/ has some great information for Assistive Technology team members that represents all disciplines and it is presented in a collaborative manner. Lots of great resources are available including mentorship!
I think it’s a must site to bookmark and check regularly!
Just in from the FCTD folks,
"We've long understood that individualization of instruction makes for better education. Teachers only have so much time, however, and when a range of technology tools are added to the mix of their regular curriculum materials, customization of those tools may be too much to expect. Where to look for help? Perhaps to the students themselves. In the Family Center on Technology and Disability*s March online discussion, we will explore methods for promoting student self-customization of technology tools. We'll discuss a range of important questions, including the sometimes conflicting technology standards set for students by adults and peers. Please join our expert moderator, David Davies, Director of the Florida Instructional Technology Training & Resource Unit, for another interesting and informative FCTD forum. The discussion will begin on Monday, March 3rd and continue throughout the month. To participate, please visit http://www.fctd.info/webboard/index.php."
Discovery Education speaker Hall Davidson recently reminded us at the VSTE conference of the true power in those iPods. Did you realize that a full size iPod can hold over 40,000 clips and the entire Discovery education library? That an iPod is truly a small computer -- the video iPod has 80GB and more of storage space and can carry most of the same files as your laptop. To learn more, visit the following link for detailed information on how you might use this tool in a classroom to support student learning, http://discoveryedspeakersbureau.com/node/87
At the recent VSTE
state conference, presenters from Fairfax County Public Schools shared a thought provoking presentation on "FREEdome of Speech: Vocabulary 2.0". Their point, the emerging world of Web 2.0 brings a new vocabulary-- and often an unfamiliar one to many students. Considering how the creative use of technology to strengthen background knowledge and enhance visual literacy can be important strategies for students. To learn more, visit http://conferenceconnection2008.edublogs.org
Wondering where those keyboard shortcuts are in Word 2007? Hold down the ALT key on your keyboard to view all these shortcuts on the screen/ menu
Speakers at the recent VSTE state conference in Roanoke reinforced the importance of infusing technology into the classroom -- strengthening the learning process and complementing today's learners approach. Mr. Hall Davidson of Discovery Education and a member of the Discovery Education Speaker's Bureau, reinforced this message in his many engaging presentations. He reminded us of the power in customizing iPods into curriculum specific instructional devices and using freely available software tools such as Photo Story and Movie Maker. To read more from this engaging expert visit, http://discoveryedspeakersbureau.com/davidson/concurrent
Noted researcher Dr. Ted Hasselbring recently shared his message at the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) conference. As Dr. Hasselbring noted, helping students to build mental models through supporting their background knowledge and anchoring instruction can enhance their fluency and understanding. Technology can play a central role in this process. To read more on his contributions, visit http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/The_Peabody_Difference/Reflections/Ted_Hasselbring.xml
"The Firefox Accessibility Extension 1.2 is now available from the following website:
http://firefox.cita.uiuc.edu
New features include:
1. Testing dynamically generated web pages with the Illinois Functional Accessibility Evaluator
2. Improved support for ARIA markup, but for the latest ARIA features try beta version 1.3
3. Updated menus and better organization, fixing of reported bugs
The developers are looking for your evaluative comments. "Please write a review of version 1.2 on the Firefox Add-ins website, they will not update the version on the website until there are a certain number of reviews. Curretnly they only have version 1.0 on the "Firefox add-ins" website, so your help would be greatly appreciated."
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1891
Interested in following the latest trends in social networking? You might want to visit the website of Danah Boyd, http://www.danah.org. Ms. Boyd, a PhD candidate at Berkeley, has focused her research on this topic and shares this through her blog.
Ai Squared has recently released a new version of it's product ZoomText for a USB drive. This provides the screen magnification functionality on a portable flash drive--allowing users to take the software to another computer and access the program. For more information, visit http://www.aisquared.com/Products/usb/index.cfm
Want to read more about a great conference on technology innovation? Follow the link below to review information, presentations, handouts, and more indepth information from the nation's leading innovators in AT and technology innovation. For more information visit, http://www.nationaltechcenter.org
Recently I heard a presentation on how to "think out of the box" in delivering email messages. For many, the textual design of email messages offers just a long list of things to do and work to accomplish. But, what if that email message included a different representation of the message?
Maybe a virtual link using Google Earth to share an address, http://earth.google.com/. Try this sometime....find the address in Google Earth and copy/ paste the address and send that to your email recepient!
Maybe an engaging comic strip with personalized characters? Consider creating your message in a comic strip format using http://comicstripgenerator.com.
How about adding text to an image that you wish to share, with enthuisiasm! Consider, http://www.txt2pic.com/
Interested in starting a community portal? A place where many can create, edit and build a web-based community? Consider using a wiki tool. We've
tried a few that are free and some with fewer commercial advertisements.
For a few places to try, visit:
PB Wiki, http://www.pbwiki.com
Wet Paint, http://www.wetpaint.com/Wiki Space, http://www.wikispace.com
Happy Wiki Building!!
Here's a neat website that provides a presentation on the topic of "How the Learning World Became Flat: Ten Knowledge Sharing and Technology Trends Equalizing Access to Learning". This offers some interesting information and perspective on how technology is spanning the world ....in new a varied ways to share information!
http://www.trainingshare.com/pdfs/SFX8F90.pdf
Wondering how to jazz up that PowerPoint presentation? Maybe consider a different format or design? At the recent Virginia Department of Education's Educational Technology Leadership Conference, several great resources and suggestions were shared. Consider a few of the following websites:
http://www.beyondbullets.com/
http://www.meade.k12.ky.us/TRT/Teachers/PowerPoint_downloads.htm
http://www.presentationzen.com/
If you're like many of us, the proliferation of information that is shared through email, the web, and a host of other locations can be overwhelming. There are however several web-based tools that can help to simplify this process. Check out a few of the resources below:
Delicious, http://del.icio.us/ is a social bookmarking site that allows users the opportunity to build a web based location of frequently visited websites. Building websites in this location is similar to using your "favorites" bookmarking within your own computer...just offering a more mobile location.
Netvibes, http://www.netvibes.com or PageFlakes, http://www.pageflakes.com, provide a web space where users can take advantage of customizing RSS (real simple syndicated) information feeds. So, essentially, the user can customize a link to a web site they typically wish to remain abreast of and receive the updates in one central location.
Thanks to the collaborative sponsorship between CITEd and Don Johnston, the following FREE webinars are scheduled in 2008. A range of topics will be discussed on using and integrating technology into instruction. For more information, see below and visit http://www.cited.org/
Technology Decision Makers Hold the Keys to Successful Implementation
January 4th at 11:00 am ET & January 14th at 3:00 pm ET
Are you in a position to request or recommend technology purchases? Learn how to be an informed consumer, with an understanding of the leverage points in district administrations as well as with vendors. Based on interviews with over 50 administrators, this webinar provides you strategic information on how administrators are making decisions related to technology.
The Role of Technology in Response to Intervention (RTI)
February 11th at 11:00 am ET & February 28th at 3:00 pm ET
RTI is fast becoming a household term, but what does it mean for you in your school and classroom? How can technology help you manage the process and serve students? Discuss the implications with the experts at the new National Center for Response to Intervention about research to practice efforts.
Finding the Technology that Supports Your Reading, Math, and Writing Instruction
March 18th at 11:00 am ET, 2007 & March 24th at 3:00 pm ET
How do you find the technology solutions that best address your students’ needs? Join us to celebrate the launch of the TechMatrix 2.0, a database of technology tools reviewed on accessibility and instructional features. The TechMatrix 2.0 supports user-generated searches and customizable returns that can be shared with colleagues. Come see what tech tools will work for you!
The Assistive Technology Planner: A Guide for Implementing AT
April 14th at 11:00 am ET & April 29th at 3:00 pm ET
Beyond mere consideration, how do you fully implement AT for students on IEPs? Explore the innovative AT Planner, a comprehensive set of guides for administrators, teachers, and families full of checklists, resources, and recommendations. Based on the research of the National Assistive Technology Research Institute, the Planner will guide implementation according to evidence-based practices.
Evaluating Your Technology Implementation Program
May 2nd at 11:00 am ET & May 12th at 3:00 pm ET
The influence of emerging (and existing) Web 2.0 tools is being quickly realized by many. The tools, often connected to social media/ social networking approaches, are favored by many of today's young people.
At the recent Virginia Department of Education's Technology Leadership Conference, Dr. Daniel Arkin (CEO- VSTE) shared a very thought provoking presentation on several examples. In fact, some of these tools are being used by the VSTE to share information. Explore a few of these below:
Blogging, http://www.wordpress.com (search VSTE)
Typing/ Blogging Phrases through Twitter, http://www.twitter.com
Social Networking --
Ning, http://ning.com (search VSTE)
Classroom 2.0, http://classroom20.ning.com
To explore and learn more, visit The Complete Web 2.0 Directory at http://www.go2web20.net
Georgia's Tools for Life website (www.gatfl.org) has some good publications and resources. One is particularly noteworthy to those of us working to put AT into the IEP...
Writing is a complex issue. If assistive technology is required to help with writing the complexity of the task increases significantly. In order to determine AT needs, writing can be broken down into two major areas. The first is the physical aspect of the writing process. Can the consumer use pencil and paper effectively for the tasks needed? The second is the writing process. Can the consumer use correct grammar, syntax, spelling, and organizational skills to complete the required writing tasks? This article will briefly look at several alternatives for each of these two areas by using two case studies.
Google's search engine offers some great services that, not only help folks browse the web, but also assist those with disabilities. For example,
the calendar provides a speech-friendly interface
the GMail email service offers a simple html interface that works well with many screen readers
the sign-in captcha service provides an audio alternative
For more information, visit,
http://labs.google.com/accessible/
http://www.accessibilityblog.com/2006/04/11/google-releases-audio-captcha/
Mary Wilds and members of the VDOE AT statewide Priority Project met with members of AT teams throughout Virginia to discuss several online tools to support their work, planning, and discussions. Mary shared a new online Blackboard course area that teams will use and explore through George Mason University and the TTAC Online (http://ttaconline.org) affiliation. Ongoing dialogue will continue until teams gather again during the upcoming 2008 Virginia Society for Technology in Education (http://www.vste.org) conference in February.
In addition, Dr. Daniel Arkin with VSTE, shared a few new resources for AT practitioners in Virginia including the new AT Rocks in Virginia social networking area at http://vsteonline.ning.com/group/at. Dr. Arkin encouraged participants to begin using some of the new e-resources that are now available through the VSTE organization and a new professional learning community for AT.
Assistive technology consultant and trainer, Mr. Dan Herlihy provided numerous tips and tricks at his session on "Creating Writing Adventures for Students" and "Creating Accessible Quizzes" at the 2007 TechKnowledgy Conference. Dan offered numerous insights into how to quickly customize functionality across programs such as Clicker 5, PowerPoint, Classroom Suite, and Kurzweil Scan and Read 3000. 
For many seasoned AT users, this presentation offered some new insights into how speech, embedded text tips, and automated study aids can support all students through assistive technologies.
Mr. Dan Keplinger--noted artist, painter, and writer--kicked off the opening day of the conference with a discussion/ sharing of his remarkable story. Co-narrated with his fiancee, Mr. Keplinger provided a discussion of how his life evolved, the barriers he faced, and the triumphs of his success.
At the conclusion of the day, he shared his Academy Award-winning documentary, King Gimp, which follows Dan's life as he discovers his voice through art. A truly remarkable person and advocate for individuals living with disabilities. Tune in again for future audio footage of his presentations!!
Here's an interesting piece written for Apple about a young man who's limitations were overcome through the power of distance technologies.
http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/belaire/?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss
The related services support of the all important occupational therapist practitioner cannot be stated enough! This month's issue of the Family Center on Technology and Disability dedicates the entire discussion to this important team member. For more information, visit http://www.fctd.info/resources/newsletters/index.php