Space Team

SpaceTeam is an interesting cooperative game 2- 4 people on mobile devices.  The object of the game is to turn on and off various buttons, knobs and switches.  Nothing complicated, but there is a time limit to each command.  If you don't complete an action in time your panel starts to fall apart and you have to fix it.  There is one more component, the commands you get are not for your panel, but for one of the people playing with you, so you have to complete actions based on what someone else tells you, and also tell the other players what to do at the same time.

I can see this type of game being an excellent way to build a classroom community, as well as communication skills.  There is an amount of literacy skills involved, as the names of the components on the panels are mostly technically sounding nonsense words, but I do think most students could be successful at it.  It would be a fun way to have students to learn how to work cooperatively.  You can give it a try here for free!

Space Team (iOS)

Space Team (Android)

Patrick

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Voice Control on Android

I have had very little contact with the Android operating system.  I do know that the more open nature of the platform has lead to some very unique options for controlling it.  One of them being Voice Control.  While Apple does have Siri, there are quite a few limits on what you can and can't do with Siri.  Here are a few options for people using Android that allows you to control the majority of functions of the mobile device.

Voice Actions for Android - Android has voice actions built into the operating system.  If you are interested in using these features you can find out more about them here - http://www.google.com/mobile/voice-actions/

utter! - Free
Developer Description - utter! is not your average Siri clone and doesn’t attempt to be a gimmick of a virtual assistant application, its priority is to be super functional and ultra fast! It allows many device based commands to be performed offline, without the need for a data connection.

Droid Life Review - http://www.droid-life.com/2012/11/20/beta-version-of-utter-released-to-play-store-most-powerful-voice-actions-app-to-date/

Dragon Go! - Free
Developer Description - Wouldn’t life be simpler if there were one app that you could simply tell it what you want – and it delivered it within seconds? Say ‘hello’ to Dragon Go!

With Dragon Go! you can do more in less time like book your next trip while riding the bus, buy movie tickets as you walk into the theater, go shopping at local boutiques while you wait for your nails to dry, settle a bet at the breakfast table on the square root of Pi, or plan and invite guests to that night’s happy hour – all with just one ask of Dragon Go!

Dragon Go! is finally the friend that truly ‘gets’ you – after all you know what you want, so why not spend more time enjoying the experience and less time searching for it? And only with Dragon Go! do you get direct access to 200+ of the most recognized destinations on the Mobile Web today spanning mobile entertainment and streaming media, social networking, shopping, and every other online content need imaginable simply by using your voice – such as Ask.com, YouTube, ESPN, LiveNation, OpenTable, Pandora ® internet radio and hundreds of others!

What’s more, Dragon Go’s dynamic Dragon CarouselTM not only delivers you to the best site featuring what you want, it also delivers complementary results that enable you to slide the carousel from side-to-side to compare information across the most relevant sites for your Dragon Go! ask.
Dragon Go! Review - http://androidandme.com/2012/01/applications/nuance-releases-dragon-go-voice-recognition-app-for-android/
Dragon Go! Review - http://www.theverge.com/android/2012/1/11/2698745/nuance-dragon-go-voice-control-arrives-for-android

Dragon Mobile Assistant - Free
Developer Description - Wish you had Tony Stark’s virtual assistant Jarvis with you everywhere you go? We do too! With Dragon you now have a Jarvis-like mini-mobile voice-enabled assistant always at the ready to deliver what you want – and fast! – with just a simple ‘Hi Dragon’. Eating BBQ and need to reply to an urgent text message that just came in? Dragon’s got you covered. Simply speak your reply and send! Tired of dialing long con-call numbers and complex passcodes? Let Dragon do the dialing for you direct from your device’s calendar at the exact meeting start time. Have a big family or a lot of friends always looking to catch up with you – simply tell Dragon when you do – and don’t! – want to share your location.
Yes – it really is that simple. And with Dragon there are no formal commands or memory requirements for getting what you want. Talk to Dragon as you would a friend you see every day. So next time you need to find a gas station -- “Hey Dragon – how about directions to a gas station near here?” Or – want to make sure you don’t forget of an awesome new movie for your Netflix queue? Just say “Netflix” – and the app launches right away.

And since this is the renowned Dragon speech brand powering this app – enjoy virtually limitless voice-enabled command and control for everything on your smartphone from dialing to creating emails to launching your newest music playlist, to finding and buying movie tickets and so much more.

What can Dragon do for you today? Read on for more Dragon feature/functionality highlights:

* NEW: Sharing your location – “Tell Nancy where I am”
* NEW: Finding where you friends are – “Where’s Dave?”*
* NEW: Option to automatically dial into any meetings that have a dial-in number
* NEW: Read aloud incoming text messages and hands-free “reply”
* Make a call - "Call Ashley on her mobile"
* Send a text message - "Tell John I'll be there in five"
* Create a calendar event - "Set up a meeting with Jake Barnes tomorrow at 2pm"
* Update Facebook or Twitter - "Send out a new Tweet, What a finish to the game!"
* Use maps and find directions - "What's the best way to Portland, Maine?"
* Find restaurants and make reservations - "Find brewpubs in Boston"
* Check the weather - "How's the weather look this week?"
* Look up local businesses and points of interest - "Fenway Park"
* Opening applications - "Open calculator"
* Playing on-device music - "Play Katy Perry"
* Setting alarm - "Set alarm for 6 AM tomorrow"
* And access content and information from over 200 websites with the Dragon Go! search carousel

And best of all, the Dragon Mobile Assistant is totally free to use with no limitations. Download it today and see all that Dragon can do for you!

Let me know if you are using any of these tools, I'd be interested in hearing how well they work!

Patrick

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Rate That App

Make sure you check out this great article on the ASHASphere - Rate that App.  Not only does Deborah Tomarakos provide links to all sorts of apps she has tried out and how she has found them.  She shares the rubric she uses to rate apps.   She included 2 rubrics - one for Speech/Language apps and one for other educational apps.  These tools are crucial to evaluating the 1000's of apps available for use with iOS and Android devices.  Definitely worth a read!

Patrick

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No Limits to Learning - AAC apps

Lon Thornburg (@lontee) from No Limits 2 Learning just posted a 2 part series about AAC apps for mobile platforms.  Take a look at his thoughts on these apps.

Apps for AAC Part One

Apps for AAC Part Two


Lon will be presenting a 3 hour break out session on these apps in Portland, Oregon at the AT Now! Conference March 1 and 2. (The breakout session day is March 2). If you are in the area and might be interested in attending, there are 2 other presenters doing sessions on iPads that day so there will be a lot covered. For more information go to the Oregon Technology Access Program website and check the conference page. They don't have the actual conference info up yet, but it should be up in January sometime to register.

Patrick

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AAC Apps Information

With the proliferation of iOS devices and communication apps, I thought it would a good time to share some resources for researching the best AAC apps.

Jane Farrall of the Spectronics Blog has an amazingly complete list of all the AAC apps available for iOS.  She has lots of information about what the app includes, what features it has, switch compatibility, along with her rating.  This is one of my first stops when checking out any AAC app.

iPhone/iPad Apps for AAC

If for some reason Jane does not have an app, or if you are looking at an Android or web app, I would suggest checking this great AAC Checklist from Scott Marfilius & Kelly Fonner.  The AAC Checklist is a wonderful tool to evaluate apps and see if they would fit your need.  It also includes a very extensive list of AAC apps and what platforms they run on (iOS, Android, Web, etc...)

Sorting Through AAC Apps

Patrick

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons - Bindaas Madhavi
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Jeremy's Android Apps List posted on @SNApps4Kids #edapp #assistivetech #augcomm #spedchat

My list of recommended apps for special education on the Android platform has been posted over at the Special Needs Apps for Kids site (@SNApps4Kids):  Jeremy Brown's Android Apps List.

-  Jeremy

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ePub for All

ePub is a free digital book publishing format that can be used to create ebooks for use on mobile devices and computers.  ePub created books can be read on browsers, and many mobile device apps like iBooks, Stanza, Nook for iPad & other free ereaders.  You can even read them on devices like the Nook, Nook Color, Kobo, or Andoid devices.  These books can include pictures, links, audio and video embedded in the book.

Since ePub allows you to embed audio and video it can be useful for creating social stories and books for many different students.  ePubBud is a site that helps you to create your own ePub formatted books for use on browsers and mobile devices.  The general ePubBud is available to anyone and you can use it to create books, view books, get ISBN's to sell your books online (for a small fee), or send them a book and they will digitize it for FREE!

ePubBud also has a EDU site for use by teachers and other professionals at edu.epubbud.com.  With this site you can create classrooms, manage students, as well as create your own books as all the other options.  This site is constantly being updated and the EDU version is very new, so stay tuned for many more updates.

A couple of things I'd like to share about the ePub format that is important when creating.  At this time audio and video are only usable in the iBooks app on iOS devices & in the Chrome web browser.  I don't know about other ereader devices (like the Nook or Kobo), but I would hope that more widespread support will be coming soon!  Also video in the .mp4 format & audio in the .mp3 format works best with ePub.  If you are interested in learning to create your own ePub book you can find out more here:

2 Differentiate - ePub directions
Use Google Docs to create an ePub book
Administer Classrooms & how to create ePub Books

Patrick

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Stephen Wiltshire's Draw! Test your skills

Draw! Test your skills is a FREE, online drawing app from Stephen Wiltshire, an artist with autism who creates detailed cityscapes. The app only works with certain browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). However, it is compatible with interactive whiteboards as well as iPad, iPhone, and Android devices!


- Jeremy


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Boxmeup

Boxmeup is a new website and app for Android that has some interesting applications in a classroom.  The basic idea of Boxemeup is that it allows you to create virtual "containers" and "lists" of items.  You can then assign the items to the containers.  While this is all done on the computer, but what makes it cool is that those virtual containers, can be real containers in your house, classroom or office.  Boxmeup creates a QR code to put on the physical container.  When you scan the code (using an Android app only at this time) it will tell you what is in the container.  You can also search for your items on the website and it will tell you what container they are inside.

I could see this app/website being used in a functional work environment.  It could help a student find items that they need to complete a job, giving them some independence.  You can also use in a school setting to help students remember where items are in the school, linking a location to the item.

Patrick

Thanks to Lifehacker for this information.


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