ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

It was really great being able to share the work that I am doing with undergraduate students who are majoring in Education at the College of St. Elizabeth. Today was their annual educational association conference and I had a chance to share the work I am doing using iPads in the classroom. I had a chance to demonstrate a number of new and innovative technologies that in some way all connect to the iPad. The students got a real kick out of the demonstration I did with the iPevo Wireless Station and the iPevo Ziggi HD document camera. I placed three quarters under IPevo Ziggi HD camera and then handed three groups of students an iPad with the iPevo Whiteboard app installed  Once the students logged into the iPevo Wireless network they were all able to see the three quarters and annotate on top of the image. I shared with the group how this strategy and approach could be used as students set off to solve real world problems having access to high quality video feeds. In my presentation, I next demonstrated the Mighty Scope Connect, a handheld wireless digital microscope from Aven, Inc. The Mighty Scope Connect, is an impressive microscope that easily creates an adhoc wireless network with your iPad and utilizing their Wi-Viewer app it wirelessly sends the image to the iPad. The quality of the image under the microscope was really crisp and clear and the future teachers could think of some interesting ways to utilize this tool in the classroom. Just like the iPevo solution, students could log into the Mighty Scope Connect network and view the image in stunning detail on their iPads using the supplied app.  I plan on doing a more in-depth review of theMighty Scope Connect in another blog post. As part of my presentation I also demonstrated probeware from Pasco and how it could be utilized with the iPad using a Bluetooth connection. Using the PasPort Airlink 2 connected to a Temperature, Sound Level, & Light probe, I was able to demonstrate how the device could capture the light level in the room in real time and display it on the iPad. It was enjoyable day and the students were very excited to learn about all of the innovative technologies that are out there and find their way to the classroom.

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

I know it might seem like a little thing, but not having a carrying case for my IPEVO Point 2 View USB Document Camera at times really got in the way of carrying it with me. Since I have been using the IPEVO Point 2 View Document Camera I have kept it in the original box was somewhat bulky and would stick it in my duffel bag. when doing presentations. I have to be honest there were times that I decided not to take it because it was too bulky to carry in the original packaging. However, that all changed today when I received my IPEVO Point 2 View Document Camera Carrying Case specifically designed for the camera. The carrying case secures all of the cables and the stand and makes it an elegant portable solution which is easy to carry and store the camera. If you own the IPEVO Point 2 View USB Document Camera this is essential. I know that once you have the IPEVO Point 2 View Document Camera Carrying Case that you will be more inclined to take it with you when you are on the road and making presentations.

With the right tools it is easy to quickly do an impromptu webinar with good results. Today I had a chance to do a screensharing session with my friend and colleague Karen Janowski showing her the capabilities of PaperShow. For those of us in the field of assistive technology we are always looking for new tools that can be used to support students in the classroom. For those students who have in their Individualized Education Program that they are to be provided by their teachers with classroom notes, PaperShow can be a god send. In today's classrooms, teachers generally have access to a computer and data projector and with the addition of PaperShow they can simply write their notes on the PaperShow Flipchart paper for all of the students to see. Just plug in the PaperShow USB key and you are ready to get started- you see no software installation is needed, everything runs off the USB key. When they are done with the class they can save the notes as a PDF file and email it to the students or post it to the schools web site for easy retrieval. Now back to the impromptu screen sharing session.

Karen and I have been using Skype for some time and we regularly talk with each other about assistive technology and whats new. Today we started chatting and then called each other to talk about PaperShow. Using Glance for the screen sharing I started a session and I sent Karen a link in Skype that she could click on. Within seconds we were up and running. Glance still remains one of the easiest screen sharing tools out there. With a simple click you are up an running in no time. One last detail- I wanted to to be able to show Karen some of the controls on the PaperShow Flipchart paper and so I connected the iPevo Point 2 View camera so that I could show her how I was using the PaperShow pen and paper. With all my technology humming, I was able to show Karen both my computer screen and what I was writing as if she was looking over my shoulder. Karen was intrigued with the possibilities as I am with how we can support students in the mainstream that may need to have notes supplied by the teacher. Using PaperShow in the classroom is definitely the way to go as an accommodation for students who need to have notes provided to them.

The number of new Bluetooth devices that roll out each and every week is astonishing. If you want to keep you can go to the official Bluetooth Site and check out all of the new products. Since doing the iPevo Point 2 View Webcam review, iPevo was kind enough to send me the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers to review, which takes advantage of Bluetooth, to stream the audio from your iPhone, IPod Touch, BlackeBerry or your PC to their speakers. I have to tell you when Bluetooth was first introduced I was not a real fan. I'm sure many of you spent countless hours as I did trying to pair up your Bluetooth devices. But Bluetooth has come a long way in the past couple of years with vast improvements in speed and pairing your device.

With this in mind, I set off to take a look at the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers which when paired with your audio device lets you transmit audio to the speakers without the need for a physical connection. The iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers has a unique design and lives up to its name-you see the two individual speakers when stored are in the shape of a tube. The iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers design works well and makes it easy to store the hidden USB cable and Mini RCA jack to connect the two halves of the speakers together. The built-in rubber spools on each speaker makes it easy to store the cables.The iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers ships with a built in rechargeable battery which should give you 6 - 8 hours of listening pleasure. When it is time to recharge the battery you simply plug in the USB cable into your computer and charge it up. Each of the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers output up to 3 watts of sound which should be enough to fill a small room with your music.
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As recommended I initially charged the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers for about 2 hours to charge the battery. The indicators on the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers will let you know when the speakers are fully charged.Once charged I took out my BlackBerry Curve and started the pairing process to the speakers. The steps to do the pairing were prominently printed in the speakers and withing 30 seconds I was up and running. Pairing the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers with my BlackBerry was a cinch! Now the moment of truth! I opened my media player on my BlackBerry Curve and started to play a song and lo and behold the music was directed to the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers. The volume controls on the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers worked well and the sound quality was very good.

My next attempt to use the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers was with my MacBook. Once again I went through the pairing process very quickly and then went to my Sound Preferences and selected th iPevo speakers as my sound output. I fired up iTunes and had the music streamed to the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers. It truly was a very easy process and one that gives you the flexibility to play your music with just about any music device. Based on my experience I would say that you can successfully stream your audio from about 20 feet from the sound source. I was thinking that this would be a great device to use with the iPod Touch in the classroom especially for students that might be using Proloquo2go.com. Imagine a student sitting at their desk with the iPevo Wireless Speakers using their portable augmentative communication device and not having the burden to be physically connected to speakers. Let me know what you think.

As many of you know by now I carry quite of bit of technology with me when I am doing presentations and workshops. I always carry with me my laptop, data projector, PaperShow, and speakers. The only other piece of equipment that I wanted to add to my toolkit was a document camera, but I had not found just the right one for me. Then a couple of weeks ago I was introduced to the iPevo Point 2 View Camera at the New Jersey Computer Cooperative (NJECC) by Dave Marra from Apple Computer. Dave was using the iPevo Point 2 View Camera to demonstrate some apps on his iPhone. I was totally blown away by the quality of the picture that I saw and by the size and flexibility of the camera and knew that I had to get my hands on one to review for you. I would like to thank Pauline from the iPevo Company for providing me with this review unit.

So if you are looking for a lightweight document camera that can be used with both Mac and Windows then I urge you to take a look at the iPevo Point 2 View Camera. The iPevo Point 2 View Camera is a 2.0 Mega pixel camera with auto focus which attaches via your USB Port. In order to start using the iPevo Point 2 View Camera camera I downloaded the latest iPevo P2V software application from their website simply plugged in the camera. It was just that easy to get started. The iPevo Point 2 View Camera does come with an installation CD and a User Manual on the supplied CD- but just in case I wanted to download the latest software from their website.

In the box is a QuickStart Guide which will have you up and running in no time. The iPevo P2V software is easy to use and allows you to adjust the Exposure, Resolution, Zoom in, Zoom Out, Mirror, as well as Timer function. The iPevo P2V camera has an Auto Focus feature which makes it an ideal tool to be used as a document camera. Place a book or any object under the camera and within seconds your picture comes into focus. The iPevo is an ideal tool for taking a look at objects at a very close distance with great sharpness. It is amazing to see the object or page you have placed under the camera lens come up on your computer with such clarity. The iPevo Point 2 View Camera comes with handy weighted stand that can be used to affix your camera and makes it an ideal portable document camera. The camera can also be taken off the base and used as a handheld camera for taking close up snapshots of items. Likewise, you are also supplied with a handy clip to allow you to use the iPevo P2V camera as a webcam that can be affixed to a monitor or a laptop. Once you have placed an object under the camera it is very easy to take a snapshot of the item by pressing the Enter key or by Pressing the Green camera button on the camera itself. The images are automatically stored in your pictures directory and can be reviewed from within the iPevo P2V software.

For anyone who is doing instruction of an electronic device (ie. iPhone, IPod Touch, Blackberry phone) or needs a portable document camera, I urge you to take a look at the iPevo Point 2 View Camera from iPevo. I truly was amazed at the quality of the picture and just how light it is to carry around. I know that this is one gadget that I will carry around in my bag when I do presentations and workshops. If you are a presentor or teacher you are going to really enjoy uisng the iPevo P2V camera and at a selling price of $69 dollars I predict they will fly off of the shelves. For more information about the iPevo P2V Camera click here.