ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Always in search of the more perfect gadget, this past week I received my Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 from Amazon and had a chance to use it with both my PC and iPad. The Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 is a very aesthetically pleasing sculpted charcoal black speaker with a built in stand in the rear. The Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 can be used with any Mac/PC as well as with the iPad.

To start using the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515,  first I had to charge the built-in battery for approximately 6 hours. Once that was done I tried it with my iPad. Pairing the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 with my iPad was really a piece of cake- all you need to do is hold down the two Volume control buttons and then turn on the Bluetooth on your iPad. Within seconds the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 showed up on the iPad and I was ready to go. I then opened up iTunes and played one of my favorite Allman Brothers songs Hot 'Lanta and wow the sound was great. It is hard to believe how these speakers can put out so much sound. I also tried them with Write Outloud and the sound was impressive. Way to go Logitech! These speakers are a keeper! To pair the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 with a computer you simply plug in the USB Wireless USB dongle and turn on the speakers and they you are ready to go- it really is that easy and the sound is awesome. I purchased these speakers through Amazon for around $75 dollars. The Wireless USB dongle stores conveniently in the back of the speaker and the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 does come with a carrying case to hold the speaker and power supply that is needed to charge the internal battery. I do wish Logitech would have included a power supply that allowed you to collapse the prongs- that is my only complaint. If you travel or if you are in the classroom and need some great speakers to use for your computer or iPad then this is the way to go.

A new category added to the iTunes store shows off special education apps for many differnet learners. The apps are sorted by categories including communication, hearing, vision, literacy and more. The list can help teachers and students find applications to fit their needs easily. To find the list go to the app store and then click on education apps, finally click on the special education image seen above. The apps included in the list are only the tip of the iceberg for special education apps in the app store. If you do not find an app to fit your needs keep looking. Click here for another list of assistive technology apps for iOS. For more assistive technology apps click read more below.






Learning Ally Audio 










ZoomReader










Merriam-Webster










Blio App









Dragon Go!










Trimit










iBooks

I have been using Adobe FormsCentral since its release and have found it really easy to create very professional looking forms which I have used for workshops, webinars, and demonstration registrations. One of the missing features of FormsCentral when it was initially released was the ability to be automatically notified when a form was submitted. Well that has all changed this week with the addition of this feature and now it is a cinch to get an email notification as well as a summary of the number of people who has responded in the body of the email. See the image below to see how easy it is to turn on this feature.

With Adobe FormsCentral it is now easy to follow up with all of the submissions with email notification-give it a try and see for yourself.

Some students may need tests and quizzes in an electronic format for various needs. Teachers may be hesitant to distribute tests and quizzes ahead of time because of academic integrity concerns. With Microsoft Word you can encrypt tests and quizzes and securely distribute them to students who need electronic documents. With an encryption document  the student is unable to open the document without knowing a code. The teacher could email a student an encrypted document for a test the next day. Then on the day of the test the teacher could simply give the student the code to unlock the test. This ensures students will not have access to tests and quizzes before hand, but also ensures that the test will be ready and available so the student who needs the electronic version gets it at the same time as all of the other students.  To learn more watch the video above. For more Microsoft Word tricks click here and here

Bubble notes is a great feature in Kurzweil 3000. Bubble notes allows teachers to easily assess students. Bubble notes also helps students easily complete tests and quizzes. To insert a bubble note go to tools, then notes, and then bubble notes. When a student reads up to a bubble note it will automatically open and be read aloud. Bubble notes can have multiple choice, true or false, matching and open ended questions Once a student completes the assessment the teacher can extract the student's answers to easily grade the student's answer. Bubble notes can make tests and quizzes easier for students and teachers. Watch the video above for more information. For more Kurzweil tips and tricks click here, here and here.

The above video is a short example of how to use online downloading in Kurzweil 3000 version 12. Online downloading allows users to download content from many sources directly into Kurzweil. Kurzweil allows users to download books Project Gutenberg, Bookshare and many more. To use online book downloading go to the online menu and then select search for books. Once you search for and download the book go to file and then open to start reading the book. This method of downloading books directly into Kurzweil allows you to quickly access books from many sources. To watch this video with YourTube click here. To learn more about YourTube click here.

"Next time you think to yourself, “Don’t forget to...,” just pull out your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and jot it down. Reminders lets you organize your life in to-do lists — complete with due dates and locations. Say you need to remember to pick up milk during your next grocery trip. Since Reminders can be location based, you’ll get an alert as soon as you pull into the supermarket parking lot. Reminders also works with iCal, Outlook, and iCloud, so changes you make update automatically on all your devices and calendars."

The Reminders app is not available on the app store and is only available for iOS 5. Click read more below to see more images and a video of the Reminders app.

While I was on vacation last week, I received a Press Release from CS Odessa about the release of the new MindTweet feature that was now integrated into to their flagship product ConceptDraw MINDMAP, and just today I had a chance to give it a try. Once you install the latest version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP V 7.1.0 you will now see the familiar Tweet icon on your toolbar. To start using the MindTweet feature you will need to authorize ConceptDraw MINDMAP to access your Twitter account which was quick and flawless. Once your account is authorized it is a cinch to use the feature to tweet directly from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP. Being able to tweet from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP is really a great idea and lets you get an overview of  what you have been tweeting. Having access to the brainstorming tool within ConceptDraw MINDMAP makes it a snap to quickly go from ideas to tweets with a click of the icon.

To get started tweeting from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP you simply type your tweet within a topic and then click on the Tweet icon on the toolbar. Once you do this the Tweet dialog box comes up where you can preview or edit your tweet before sending it. ConceptDraw MINDMAP also allows you to automatically place a check mark within the topic to give you a visual cue that it has been tweeted. If you have hyperlinked a URL to a topic it will also come over in the tweet which is handy. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP you can quickly create a dashboard for your tweets so that you can see how your campaign is coming along. It would be nice if in future release if you were able to set the date and time of when your Tweets were sent. Likewise it would be great if you could generate a ConceptDraw MINDMAP from a Twitter hashtag or from a particular person you are following. Overall, ConceptDraw MINDMAP does a great job of integrating tweeting and provides me with a dashboard for my tweets - which gives me a great overview within a powerful mind mapping application.

"Looking ahead, the Learning Ally Audio app will include text to speech functionality, enabling learners to enjoy the best of both worlds: human narration as well as text content of their books and reading materials." 

Click read more below to see screen shots of the updated app.

As a presenter and consultant, I am on the road a great deal doing presentations and am always on the look out for new tools and gadgets that makeS my life easier for me. I would like to share a couple of these tools with you which I think you will enjoy using. The first gadget is the Monster Outlets to Go300USB - this little device cost less than $20 dollars and gives you 3 additional outlets as well as a USB Quick Charging outlet, in a very small and concise package. With the USB Quick Charging  port you can charge your digital camera, cell phone or other devices. The power cord management is exceptional and the small size makes it easy to store in your laptop bag.

For the past couple of years I have been searching for the perfect speakers for my laptop that would give me good sound and really amplify the output. Using a lot of text to speech applications as well as audio it is very important that my participants can clearly hear the output from my computer. Just recently I purchased the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers which are powered via the USB port. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers can be found for around $39.99 and really does a great job of amplifying the sound. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers clips on to the screen and has volume controls to increase and decrease the volume. To configure and power the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers you simply plug it in to your USB port. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers work with Mac and Windows. The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z305 Portable speakers comes with a soft pouch for storage and the USB cable fits firmly in the track that is on the bottom of the speaker for easy storage.

I also recently started to carry the Woods 4907 25-Foot Extension Cord Reel with 4-Outlets and Circuit Breaker which has come in handy when I get to a venue that don't have outlets close by. The Woods 4907 25-Foot Extension Cord Reel with 4-Outlets and Circuit Breaker provides me with a 25 foot extension cord with 4 outlets and a handy reel to wind the cord when I am done using it. I now keep the Woods 4907 25-Foot Extension Cord Reel with 4-Outlets and Circuit Breaker in my car and take it with me whenever I am doing a presentation. I'm sure many of you have lots of gadgets you rely on and it would be great if you could share some of them with us.

"iTunes U brings the power of the iTunes Store to education, making it simple to distribute information to your students and faculty — or to lifelong learners all over the world. With an iTunes U site, your institution has a single home for all the digital content created or curated by educators, which can then be easily downloaded and viewed on any Mac, PC, iPod, or iPhone."

 iTunes U can help any student excel with its wide ranging topic areas and content uploaded by schools. Apple  explains iTunes U's universal access,

"iTunes U can be a powerful and accessible learning tool for students with disabilities. For the vision-impaired, iTunes U works with VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader on the Mac, as well as with compatible screen readers on PCs. iTunes U also allows for learning with iPod and iPhone, which offer features to help vision-impaired students find the information they need (using VoiceOver on iPhone and iPod touch, and spoken feedback on iPod nano and iPod shuffle). And for students with physical or motor-skills needs, iTunes U brings the classroom to them, so they can learn at their own pace and in a more comfortable environment."

To try iTunes U go to the iTunes store on any computer or iOS device. To read Apple's iTunes U web page click here To see more pictures of iTunes U click read more.
          

I have been kicking the tires as I explore the capabilities of Quartet Kapture over the last couple of days. Quartet Kapture works as promised and captures your hand written notes and ideas from a flip chart with ease. Here is a session that I captured and exported the notes as a Jpeg file. For more information about Quartet Kapture click here.

I just started to market a new product called Quartet Kapture and was interested in finding out how many of you use flip charts in your meetings when brainstorming or facilitation conversations.