ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

It has been exciting being able to use Glance to provide my students with support when they are not able to make it to class. Just last week I had two students who could not make it to class and they had a project due on a software application called ClozePro, from Crick Software. Since this is a hybrid course, I decided to use Glance to provide them with a webinar that I could demonstrate to them how to use the software, without anyone having to leave their home. We all agreed on a time and we decided to use Skype to deliver the audio portion of the webinar. Once we were connected I sent both my students the Glance link via the Skype chat and we were off an running.

One of the really great features of Glance is its simplicity. I know that there are more screen sharing applications out there that have a host of features, but one thing that is critical for new users of this technology is their ability to simply click and see your screen. For this reason Glance is on the top of my list for ease of use. For the presenter there is very little behind the scene work that you have to do. Just initiate the session and let you guests connect. As the presenter you can really focus on the content- after all, isn't that the reason you initiated the session? Glance is just simple to use! . Give it a try and let me know about your experience.

In previous blog posts I have shared with you how I am successfully using PaperShow in my classes as a digital flipchart. It has been great to be able to write my ideas on the interactive digital paper and have them show up on the screen. Using the computer and the data projector with PaperShow has really made it easy for me to communicate ideas and have them displayed for my students on the screen. What is nice is that there is no hardware and software to install-everything you need is on the PaperShow USB Bluetooth Drive.

This past week I explored another feature of PaperShow which allowed me to import a PowerPoint presentation into the PaperShow software and print it out on the supplied interactive paper. Once you have printed your PowerPoint presentation out on the interactive paper you can now take out your digital pen and mark it up so that your paprticpants see the slide with your written annotations. If you have not used digital pen technology there is a "wow factor" that comes over others watching as you write with a pen and they see the changes being made live to your presentation. I have created a short screencast to show you how to import your PowerPoint presentation into PaperShow. Enjoy! Brian

Over the year's I have written about the importance of giving students hands-on experience when doing science and what better way to do it than with probeware. Vernier, one of the leaders in this area has developed the LabQuest an easy to use handheld device that can be used in the classroom or in the field to collect data using an array of different probes and sensors. Using the LabQuest students can collect and analyze their data in ways that were once too time consuming to actually do in the classroom. Using the LabQuest students can collect the data in real time and spend the rest of the time analyzing and making sense of the data that was collected. The LabQuest does all of the heavy lifting and allows the students to better visualize the meaning of the data.

I recently had the opportunity to test out the LabQuest Emulator which currently works on the Windows platform and allows teachers to display a working LabQuest on their computer which is ideal for demonstrations and for teaching. You can download a free copy of the LabQuest Emulator from the Vernier website. Once you have downloaded the LabQuest Emulator you will need to have your LabQuest connected to your computer via the USB port and your probe connected to the LabQuest. Within a minute or so you will see your LabQuest on your computer screen with a live digital read out. In my case, I plugged a temperature probe into my LabQuest and was able to see the temperature read out on my computer screen. The LabQuest Emulator software is an ideal way for teachers to demonstrate how to use the LabQuest and is a great tool that can be used with an interactive whiteboards. I have created a short screencast showing you the LabQuest Emulator in action. I hope you enjoy it. You can also download a free copy of Inclusion Times which talks about the importance of using tools like the LabQuest with students to help them analyze and visualize data more effectively.

FYI- today I received an email from John Crick announcing the release of WriteOnline 1.3. As you will see in this post Crick Software has added a number of features and enhancements that will make WriteOnline even more compelling for students with writing disabilities. WriteOnline has added SoundsLike word prediction which works really well with students who are phonetic spellers. WriteOnline 1.3 clearly provides students with the supports they need wherever and whenever they need it. Take a look at WriteOnline to see for yourself how these supports can help the students you support in the classroom.

WriteOnline release 1.3
We have just gone live with WriteOnline 1.3, which incorporates our new SoundsLike^TM technology in the word predictor. This works out what the word you are typing sounds like, and then predicts words that begin with that sound, making the prediction even more powerful for writers who have difficulty spelling! For example, if you type 'fiz', the predictor will offer you words beginning with 'phys'.

There are a number of enhancements in this release, including:

• opening and saving as MS Word documents (.doc and .docx)
• option to customize speed of speech
• right-click speech on Wordbar tabs and spellchecker suggestions
• enhanced picture handling, with captions
• more accessibility enhancements for users with low vision
• SoundsLike^TM word prediction

Now the new version is live, it will be delivered to you automatically next time you login, so you don't have to do anything to update! For more information click here WriteOnline

Wallace Tait and I had the privilege of being able to interview Patrick Koh, the Managing Director of SimTechUSA Office located just outside of Dallas, Texas. Patrick is involved with developing business with customers and reseller partners worldwide for MindMapper 2009. SimTech recently released MindMapper 2009 with a host of new features which now includes use of the Ribbon Interface as well as built in project management features. MindMapper 2009 is a very formidable visual mapping tool which is both powerful and easy to use. During the interview we were able to ask Patrick to share with us his views on the visual mapping field. We hope you enjoy the interview, and look for Wallace and I to do more thought provoking interviews with thought leaders and developers in the visual mapping field. Enjoy.

I'm on the road today and stopped into a Panera's to have some coffee and use their free wifi on my recently purchased Acer Aspire One. Many of the schools and students that I am working with have been asking me about these netbooks and I thought that it was time to invest in one so that I could try it out and use it with some of the students that I'm presently working with. When I saw the Acer Aspire One on sale at Staples for $299 dollars I knew it was time to jump in. The 2.2 pound Acer Aspire One has worked famously and while the keyboard is a little smaller than the typical laptop keyboard it is fine for some light typing. In fact I'm blogging from my Acer Aspire One right now without any difficulty. I typically have the screen zoomed in so that it is easier for me to see te text. By putting two fingers on the trackpad and gesturing towards the side of the computer you can easily zoom in which makes it a lot easier for me to see the text. For younger students with smaller hands and better eyesight the screen and keyboard should not be an obstacle.

I have installed some of my favorite applications on the Acer Aspire One, which has a a 160 Gb hard disk drive running the Intel Atom processor with 1 GB of RAM. The Acer Aspire One runs surprising well and is very responsive even running larger applications like Microsoft Office 2007 and MindManager 8. Having used the Acer Aspire One for the past couple of weeks I has lead me to believe that this could be an ideal assistive technology tool for students with writing disabilities. I have used the Acer Aspire One with a couple of students who have used Inspriation 8 in the writing process and it worked like a charm complete with text to speech. Transferring the student's work to Microsoft Word from Inspiration was very fast. I was also able to install NaturalReader the free text to speech application which worked well right within Microsoft Word. All told I have been really happy with the Acer Aspire One and look forward to seeing how other will benefit from this technology. At just 2.2 pounds and a battery life of around 2.5 hours this could be a great assistive technology tool.

XMind v3.0.2 Released

Thank you for your long time support. XMind, a leader in mind mapping, visual thinking and collaboration software, today announced XMind 3.0.2, the most feature rich, easy to use visual thinking tool to date.

This version designs some new useful features, such as "Security" to let users set the password for XMind files, instead of worrying about losing data.

For the corporate environment, XMind v3.0.2 includes some new templates, such as Meeting Template letting your meeting efficient, Personal Management Template letting you manage your life and work clearly, Project Management Template letting you work easily.

Please visit the download page and select the proper package for your computer:
XMind 3: http://www.xmind.net/downloads
XMind Pro 3: http://www.xmind.net/pro/downloads

It has been a very busy two weeks for me doing a number of Web 2.0 workshops and consulting to some of the schools that I regularly work with. The more I show Google Docs the more it resonates with teachers- giving them new ways to work with their students. In my workshops I have been showing off the capabilities of the various Google applications and while the teachers have been impressed with the word processing and presentation tool-many of them have just begun to think about how to use Google Forms with their students. Google Forms allows teachers to set up surveys and publish then on the web which can be completed by students. Once students enter their responses Google Forms will aggregate the data and provide you with both the individual student responses as well as a summary of their responses. In a nutshell that is how Google Forms works.

While I was sitting and working with a special education teacher last week in dawned on me that Google Forms could be a great tool to create an accessible test when paired with a text to speech tool. So what better way to test out my idea but give it a try and so I did. My colleague and I opened up a new form and we created a 3 question test and then published it to the web using Google Forms. Once we were given the URL for the form we opened Cast eReader which is what the schools uses and pasted the Google Forms URL into the browser window. Within seconds the form opened within Cast eReader and all of the questions on the test could be read by the program.

Here is an example of a simple current events quiz that can be created with Google Form. After you have completed the quiz click here to see the results added to the Google Spreadsheet.


When you have completed creating your test you can get the published URL and give that to your students so that they can access the test on the web. Using Kurzweil 3000, WYNN, Cast eReader, TextHelp, ReadOutloud, or NaturalReader you can give the students access to text to speech, making the test totally accessible to them. If you want to try taking the test with one of the aforementioned text to speech applications here is a link to the test on the web. Once your student's complete the quiz you can see their individual responses as well as the aggregated summary on the Google Spreadsheet. Give it a try and let me know how this solution works for your students.

I want to thank LaCie for sending me a iamaKey USB Flash drive to test. Looking at the design of the iamaKey USB Flash drive you feel like saying to yourself "How come I didn't think of this?" With so many different USB flash drives to choose from today in the marketplace, Lacie has created an inspiring design for their latest USB Flash drive that takes the form of a key. If you are like me you probably have several USB Flash drives in your desk, in your briefcase, or in your pockets. Inevitably you will misplace or lose one at any given time. So the idea of creating a USB Flash drive in the form factor of a key is really fantastic. Simply place the iamaKey USB Flash drive on your keyring and you are ready to go.

The iamaKey is scratch as well as water resistant and has gold connectors (Gold SIP) making it very durable. The iamaKey is extremely thin and lightweight and supports High speed USB 2.0 read transfer rates of up to 30 MB/s; and write mode of up to 10MB/s. The iamaKey USB Flash drive is compatible with both Windows and Macintoshcomputers and is available in a 4GB and 8 GB model. I had a chance to test the iamaKey USB Flash drive this afternoon and it worked beautifully-the transfer rates when copying and moving files were very fast and having the ability to place it on my keyring is really a dream come true. Now I know that when I need access to one of my files I can always count on it being on my keyring. The 4GB model of iamaKey is $17.99 and 8 GB model is $27.99. Lacie has added two additional USB Flash drives with a key form factor which they are marketing as LaCie itsaKey and LaCie Passkey USB Flash drive. The LaCie PassKey includes both a USB Flash drive as well as a micro SD card reader.

I'm sold on the iamaky USB Flash drive, and now all I need to remember, is not to try to use it to open the door to my home with it :-) Give it a try and let me know what you think.