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

With the start of the semester I have been busy preparing for my classes but still have some reviews in the hopper that I have been meaning to post for some time. This past summer I had a chance to speak with Wayne Grant, Ph.D., Chief Education Officer at Pasco, a leading science education company located in California about the release of SPARvue for the iPad. Pasco has been known for their high quality science probes and software for some time now and are leading proponents of mobile solutions to help make science education come alive in the classroom. Dr. Grant was kind enough to show me the latest release of SPARKvue a software app that runs on the iPad that can teamed up with various probes so that students can collect data in real time.
Using the PASSPORT Airlink 2 students can collect real time data on the Ipad without the need to be directly connected. The PASSPORT Airlink 2 uses Bluetooth technology to automatically send data from the sensors to the iPad for instant visual analysis. I had a chance to work with the PASSPORT Airlink 2 and one of Pasco's Weather sensors to see what it would be like to use, to collect data. Pairing the Bluetooth PASSPORT Airlink 2 with the iPad was a cinch and within seconds after plugging in the Weather probe I was collecting data about the humidity in New Jersey. Based on my experience I would say that the PASSPORT Airlink 2 has good range and I was able to collect data from at least 20to 25 feet away from my iPad. It was really exciting to be able to see the data streaming live to my iPad using the PASSPORT Airlink 2 and the Weather probe. Pasco should be commended for designing such and elegant solution that can be used with the iPad to give students hands on opportunity to collect data in real time. Pasco once again has shown their ingenuity and innovation in the design and implementation of this device. If you would like to try out the SPARKvue app just go to the Apple Apps Store and download to see how it works.