ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

I was thinking about all of the options we have today to put up slide presentations on the web that were just not possible a couple of months ago and thought it would be helpful to do post on them. One of the really exciting areas with Web 2.0 is being able to share and post our ideas on the web. There are lots of options and I wanted to highlight some of them. One of the sites which I have used is Slideshare. Slideshare lets you upload PowerPoint (.ppt) and PDF (.pdf) and OpenOffice (.opd) files which you then share with others. Slideshare makes it easy to post or embed your slideshow to a blog. Slideshare is very easy to use and registration is free. Another option is using Google Presentation, you can register for a free account and be up an running in no time. With Google Presentation you can choose to upload your PowerPoint presentation or you can start from scratch and create one right from within Google Presentation. You do not have all the bells and whistles of PowerPoint like transitions or animation but you do have the benefit of being able to share it with anyone connected to the web. I have begun to upload some of my PowerPoint presentations on Google and use it when I ma presenting. One of the advantages of Google Presentations is the ability to invite others to be collaborators. It is a great tool for group work in an out of the classroom. If you want you can also share your PowerPoint so that the recipient is just invited to be a viewer and can't make any edits or changes in your slide presentation.

Lastly, you can also use sPresent which lets you create presentations from scratch. sPresent is a Flash based application and has some very stunning features. It is easy to add images, buttons, charts, hyperlinks, and sound to your sPresentations. Once you have created your presentation it is easy to embed your presentation or email it to whomever you would like. Give each of them a try and let me know what you think.

I just completed the 3rd day of a conference on Universal Design for Learning and am really excited to be able to part of the State's initiative on helping New Jersey's Public Schools apply and put into practice Universal Design for Learning. Universal Design for Learning makes you look at the curriculum through another lens so that we can remove barriers to learning. Using the techniques and strategies consistent with Universal Design for Learning will benefit all learners in the classroom. Look for some exciting programs being offered through the Educational Training Technology Centers on Universal Design for Learning.

For those of you that are using the Mimio Interactive you should visit the Mimio website and check out the Mimio Interactive lesson plans. These are free lesson plans that you can download on-line an use with your Mimio Interactive. Here you will find a core of easy-to-use, instructionally sound activities to support your classroom curriculum. You can customize each of these to meet your individual students needs. There are science, math, and English lessons on-line.

Odessa, Ukraine, October 29, 2007 – CS Odessa today announces availability of ConceptDraw Business Suite for Mac OS X 10.5 operating system. An integrated business software package that consists of diagramming application ConceptDraw 7, project management tool ConceptDraw Project 4, mind mapping and personal productivity software ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 will support the recently released operating system for the Macintosh.

Oleg Bocharnikov, Head of Product Management Department for CS Odessa notes, “Mac OS X 10.5 has highest upgrade rate than any other operating system ever and many our customers will be interested to buy Leopard by the end of the year. Making ConceptDraw Business Suite, the software many people rely on, running smoothly on Leopard CS Odessa helps them to easily switch to the new OS”

Among complete Mac OS X 10.5 support for all ConceptDraw Business Suite applications an update adds Quick Look capability for ConceptDraw 7. Quick Look is a powerful technology introduced in Leopard that provides users a way to preview content of files without opening them as a result, necessary charts and diagrams could be easily found on a computer.

Read more information about the ConceptDraw Business Suite


ConceptDraw Business Suite is available for $499.

ABOUT CONCEPTDRAW PRODUCTIVITY LINE
The ConceptDraw product line for Macintosh and Windows is comprised of ConceptDraw 7 diagramming and drawing software; ConceptDraw MINDMAP, a brainstorming tool that uses standard mind mapping techniques to help organize ideas and tasks; ConceptDraw Project, professional project management software; ConceptDraw WebWave, software for creating professional diagrams and drawings on the stage of website or application prototyping and design, page mocking-up and site-mapping; ConceptDraw NetDiagrammer for network and system design.

ABOUT CS ODESSA
Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, USA; CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries. The ConceptDraw Productivity Line of products has won numerous awards (www.conceptdraw.com) and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

I just got back from attending day 1 of a three day training presented by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) on the theory and practice of Universal Design for Learning in today's classrooms. I have always been a big fan of CAST, and in fact I spent a week there about 15 years ago when they were running an assistive technology institute. While CAST initially was servicing the needs of individual students with disabilities through their Assistive Technology Clinic, it became more apparent to them that they could have more of an impact if they focused on making the curriculum more accessible instead of working with one student at a time.

Looking at the basic tenets of Universal Design for Learning it is clear to me that if they are applied- we would reach many more students and facilitate the learning that takes place in all classrooms. Taken as a whole the basic tenets are: Multiple Means of Representation. Multiple Means of Expression, and Multiple Means of Engagement. Utilizing these principles it is possible with supports and scaffolding to reach more students and to bridge the gap thereby making the curriculum more accessible to all students. Today we had a chance to learn the theory and tomorrow we will be discussing ways that technology can assist students in reaching their learning goals in the classroom. It is truly a wonderful learning experience and gives me a chance to reflect on what we know about brain and put into practice research based strategies that will make a difference for a wide range of students with all abilities in our classrooms.

As many of you know I am a big Macintosh fan and it is really heart warming to watch individuals with disabilities use the Macintosh with the software application that were created and developed by David Niemeijer of AssistiveWare. If you have a chance take a look at the videos and listen to the podcasts to see what is possible.

Press release: Mac users with disabilities speak out

Amsterdam - 24 October 2007 - AssistiveWare today announced "Users in
Control: A Fresh Perspective on Accessibility". This new audio and
PDF podcast series offers an insightful look at how people with
disabilities are empowered through Mac OS X, while shattering
preconceptions on disability and assistive technology (AT). Here the
users of AT are in the driver's seat! Created by Mac users with
physical, speech, or vision impairments, it seeks to inform, inspire,
and provide a platform for new ideas.

More information on this podcast can be found at:
http://atpodcasts.com

You can listen to the podcast in iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=266093431

The audio version of the podcast was created using GhostReader
(http://www.convenienceware.com/ghostreader.php) with the Infovox
iVox voices (http://www.assistiveware.com/infovox_ivox.php).

Thie new audio and PDF podcast compliments the "Exploring the
Frontiers of Assistive Technology" video podcast found at
http://www.frontiersofassistivetechnology.com

This press release is also available at:
http://www.assistiveware.com/pr.php#PR241007

AssistiveWare (http://www.assistiveware.com/) is the worldwide leader
in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X that gives
people back their lives. This includes award-winning KeyStrokes(R)
and TouchStrokes(R) virtual keyboards, SwitchXS(R) scanning on-screen
keyboard, LayoutKitchen(R) panel editor, Proloquo(R) multi-purpose
speech solution, and VisioVoice(R), the award-winning solution for
vision impaired Mac users. The ConvenienceWare product line
(http://www.convenienceware.com) makes the advanced technologies
developed by AssistiveWare available in cool and convenient
applications that can make the life of Mac users easier.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or
registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. VisioVoice, SwitchXS,
KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, GhostReader and Proloquo are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox
iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are
properties of their respective owners.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
David Niemeijer, CTO & co-CEO
AssistiveWare(R)
D.Niemeijer@assistiveware.com
http://www.assistiveware.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------

What better way is there to get my graduate students excited about technology than by modeling for them what is possible with today's Web 2.0 tools. Using programs like Skype and Yuuguu has enabled me to make my graduate classes so much more dynamic and has allowed me to bring in guests into my classroom which was just not possible years ago. Just yesterday, I had Laura from Inspiration give a demonstration of InspireData to my students who had never seen it. Using Skype, and the video conferencing capabilities Laura was able to introduce herself and my students were able to see her which really personalizes the experience. Once she had introduced herself , I turned off the video component and I just used Skype for the audio so that we could listen to Laura as she described the product. Using Yuuguu, a free screen sharing application Laura was able to share her computer with my class and move through InspireData as if we were looking over her shoulder. Yuuguu worked extremely well and kept up with the pace of Laura's presentation to us. Using tools like this gives me access to other experts and makes it easy to bring them into my classroom. One of the really nice parts of this technology is the ease of use; with just couple of clicks of the mouse I was up an running on Skype and Yuuguu. What great tools to use to make classrooms more dynamic and exciting!

Mindjet, Inc. just recently released the Mindjet Productivity Pack for MS Office which is a straightforward set of handy MindManager 7 mind maps demonstrating step by step how to get the most out of MindManager 7 and Microsoft Office. The Mindjet Productivity Pack for MS Office takes you step by step through each of the Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Visio) and provides you with tips and ideas and how to integrate the two applications into your work flow. Mindjet, Inc. is running a promotion and if you purchase or upgrade to MindManager Pro 7 by October 31 you can get the Microsoft Office Productivity Pack for free (a $34.99 value). For more information click on this link.

I had a chance today to do a run through of my webinar, Innovate using MindManager Pro 7 both in and out of the Classroom-which will be hosted by Mindjet, Inc., on Thursday, Novemeber 8, 2007, Time: 10:00 am PST / 1:00 PM EST. I hope you can join me as I share how I am using MindManager Pro 7 to create lectures, proposals, and organize the information that helps me be more productive in the work that I do. It was very exciting doing the run through and I am really looking forward to doing the webinar. So please join me. To register just click on this link. Hope to see you there- it should be fun and informative. Thank you- Gaelen and Kymberly from Mindjet, Inc. for helping me put this webinar together!

Here is some important news from Bookshare for students with a print disability. Effective October 1, 2007 Bookshare will be offering their service free of charge now making it possible for students to have access to their books in an accessible format. Here is the news from Bookshare. Bookshare expects to add over 100,000 new educational titles in high quality DAISY and Braille formats over the next five years, getting students the terrific quality textbooks they need for academic success!

Major Great News about Bookshare.org

We're happy to share incredible news, which will transform Bookshare.org. On Friday, the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. federal Department of Education made a major five-year award of $32 million to Bookshare.org. This will further the objectives of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), by supplying high quality textbooks and educational materials to students with special needs.

This funding is to fully support all schools and students 26 years old and under with qualifying print disabilities in the United States, K-12 and post-secondary. We will provide these students with access to the entire Bookshare.org collection of accessible electronic books and to software for reading those books. As of October 1, 2007, we will cease charging these schools and students anything to join Bookshare.org. We also expect to add over 100,000 new educational titles in high quality DAISY and Braille formats over the next five years, getting students the terrific quality textbooks they need for academic success!

By all accounts the Web 2.0 workshop was a real success! I had a small group of teachers for whom this was an eye opening experience. Having a chance to work with some of the major Web 2.0 technologies helped them to grasp the power of the technology and gave them a lot of food for thought on how they could use the technology in their classrooms. During the workshop I had the opportunity to connect with Philip from OoVoo which demonstrated the power of video conferencing and its implications for instruction in the classroom. Reflecting on the workshop I can say wow there really is a lot going on with regards to educational technology that has the potential for changing the educational landscape. I hope the teachers that did participate in the workshop can go back to their classroom's and begin to utilize some of the Web 2.0 technologies that we discussed in the workshop. Time will tell!

I am just collecting myself tonight and doing some minor tweaks for my Web 2.0 Workshop to be held at the Middlesex ETTC, East Brunswick, New Jersey. I am really excited to be doing this presentation and have a lot of ground to cover. I understand that there will be a small group of teachers attending which will give me the opportunity to cover a lot of ground. During the workshop we will be covering RSS feeds, Social Bookmarking, Blogs, Wikis, and Web 2.0 applications. It should be really exciting wit lots of time to play in the Web 2.0 sandbox. I will let you know how it goes. One of my goals is to do the entire workshop using nothing but Web 2.0 applications. Wish me good luck!

What better way to get students engaged in a project then by having them use authentic data. I was reading today's New Jersey Star Ledger and there were several articles about the crime statistics for the tri-county area where I live complete with tables of all the crimes reported by the New Jersey State Police for 2006. I found the data set to be very interesting and as I was looking at the data tables, it dawned on me that this would be great data to have students look at in InspireData. Students could create the data tables and spend some time looking at the trends to get a better handle on what types of crimes are occurring in each of the towns. Using the tools in InspireData students can look at trends and report back to the class. Working with authentic data makes this task extremely engaging and can help student to better understand trends and make hypothesis as to why certain crimes seem to ebb and flow.

Kurzweil Educational Systems announced today the release of Kurzweil 3000™ USB for Windows. With this release students can access all of the features of Kurzweil 3000 on any Windows computer by virtue of plugging in the device into a USB port. Kurzweil 3000™ USB for Windows is available in both the Professional and LearnStation versions. The Professional version also for the scanning of text while the LearnStation version provides all the features less the scanning capabilities. Here is a list of the features as noted on the Kurzweil 3000 website:

Key Benefits of Kurzweil 3000 USB for Windows

For Struggling Students

• Easily use Kurzweil 3000 at home or on other non-school computers.
• Save files and user settings — saving files on the USB flash drive enables students to have ready access to their important files regardless of what computer they are using.

For Teachers

• Gain immediate access to Kurzweil tools for students and teachers alike — without depending on others to install software.
• No installation of software necessary.
• Use Kurzweil 3000 on virtually any Windows computer — even at home.
• Bring Kurzweil 3000 to demonstrate at IEP meetings with parents.

For IT directors

• No installation of software necessary — less effort (if any) in supporting software installations.
• Provides an easy way to move software from one classroom or lab to another so that a limited number of licenses can be used anywhere in the school without having to install it on a network.
• Enable students and teachers to use software at home.

System Requirements

• Processor: 700 MHz Intel Pentium III (or faster)
• Operating Systems: Windows 2000, XP, Vista;
• Memory: 128MB or if using VoiceText™, 256MB
• Disk Space: 200MB
• Screen Resolution: 16 bit high colors, 800 x 600 pixels
• USB 2.0 port
• Scanner: TWAIN compliant
• For audio file creation: MP3 encoder and/or Windows Media Player.
• For how-to videos: Windows Media Player.
• Sound card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or other16-bit compatible sound card with speakers and microphone; keyboard and mouse.

Mango Software for 1 day is having a special promotion on XMIND 2008 for Macintosh. XMIND 2008 is a full featured mind mapping application complete with templates to jump start the process. XMIND 2008 allows you to attach notes, files, hyperlinks, and audio files to your mindmaps. When you are finished with your mind map you can export it to Word,PowerPoint or as a PDF. Check it out!

I recently came across the Wowio website which has a number of free PDF books that you can download for free once you have registered. Take look at the directory-it looks as if they have a nice size library and a varied list of books on various topics.

As I thought about a Web 2.0 workshop that I will be doing at the Middlesex ETTC, East Brunswick, NJ on October 19th, I wanted to harness the power of the web and share with teachers the changing landscape. I have been trying to move away from paper handouts when I do presentations and have everything accessible on the web. As I was planning the workshop I thought about how I could do this in the most user friendly and accessible way and decided to use The PersonalBrain to put together my presentation. Here was my thinking. I could easily add URL links to my web as well as PDF files that my participants could access. Similarly, once I put together my Web 2.0 presentation in the PersoanlBrain I could easily export it to a Sitebrain HTML and put it up on web. One of the key benefits to this strategy is that my participants can quickly go to sites on the Internet as well as download PDF files that I have embedded in my PersonalBrain. After the workshop, my participants can access the site and dive deeper into exploring the material that I put up. If you would like to see the Web 2.0 Brain that I posted click here.

In July, I shared with you information about a free screen casting application called Jing from TechSmith. If you haven't taken a look at it you really should. It has been indispensable to me in the training that I do. Now instead of making handouts, I create some screen casts which I store on Screencast which teachers can review any time they like. I will be doing a training on how to use Adobe Acrobat to make tests and worksheets accessible and I have put together a series of screen casts which the teachers can access anytime they like. Jing has been updated several times since July and just keeps getting better and better. The folks at TechSmith should be applauded for making this handy tool available and for their constant attention to small details that makes the current release even more polished. Now when you do a video recording you get a 3 second countdown on your screen with a message that your microphone is on. The ease of use is second to none with the Screencast integration. If you plan on using Jing on a regular basis it really pays to become a subscriber and purchase a plan that works for you.

You can click here to preview the Jing screencast using Adobe Acrobat.

I had a chance to take a look at the new Web 2.0 word processor called Buzzword which is in beta right now. Buzzword is Flash based and feels very much like a full featured application that you would have installed on your computer. It supports headers, footers, lists as well as adding comments. You can also add images and tables to your document. Even though it is in beta it has a nice feel to it. One of the features which is impressive is the ability to share the document for collaborative work. This is a great feature! You should be aware that documents are stored on their server- so you may be hesitant to store anything of a confidential nature. Buzzword is very responsive and has a great look and feel to it. Buzzword is an Adobe product with lots of promise. I have put together a short video for you to take a look at it. Here is the link to preview the video. Enjoy!

I came across this neat application called Sketchcast which gives you access to a whiteboarding feature that could be ideal for creating instructional videos. Sketchcast works right within the browser and allows you to record what you are writing for future playback. In the video that I produced I am using the microphone from my webcam and a Wacom tablet to write with. It was very easy to set up and use. Think of all the applications that this has in the training that you do.

One of the tools that I use on a regular basis to support others who are using technology are desktop screen sharing applications. For the past year I have been using a commercial product which allowed me to share my computer desktop with others. Having the ability to share my desktop has allowed me to demonstrate how to use various software applications without the need to get into my car. It is a great tool for providing "just in time" software support and training. It is also an ideal tool for doing webinars.

I am always on the lookout for new companies that are developing new and innovative products and I recently came across a new desktop sharing piece of software called Yuuguu. You simply download the application from their website which is available for Macintosh a Windows and within minutes you could be doing a web conference, as I did this afternoon with my friend Laura from Inspiration, Inc. Laura was kind enough to show me some of the new features in InspireData 1.5, which I have written about in my blog. Both Laura and I were amazed at just how fast it was to start a desktop sharing session. Using a familiar buddy list metaphor you simply click on start a session and when the other person accepts you see their screen. You can also request to take control of their screen which was very cool! Here is a screenshot of what the session looked like when we were using Yuuguu. Yuuguu was fast and easy to use. Yuuguu will be adding the capability of doing desktop sharing directly through the browser in a future update which will make it an even more indispensable tool for providing others with support and training.

Last week I had a chance to talk to Philippe Schwartz, the CEO of OoVoo.com at the DigtialLife 2008 conference held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York city. OoVoo is determined to do for video conferencing what Skype has done for voice over internet protocol (VOIP). OoVoo makes it very easy for anyone with a webcam to set up a video conference with up to six participants with any desktop computer and a high speed Internet connection. Using a familiar buddy list you can quickly start a video conferencing session with very high quality video and audio. Phillipe showed me a resource indicator when six participants were on line and it barely made a dent in the terms of the computer processes and resources. The quality of the video and the audio was exceptional. OoVoo service is entirely free and you can download a Windows version of the program from the company's website. OoVoo will be releasing a Macintosh and Linux version of the application as well- making the program truly cross-platform. If you are interested in using video conferencing in your business or classroom then please take a look at this incredible service. To see the program in action you can take a look at this link showing how Arianna Huffington recently used OoVoo to interview House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers.