"Listen & Learn" Feature of National Geographic's Young Explorer! magazine #edtech #spedtech #elemchat #IWB

Do you teach preschool or lower elementary grades?  If so, be sure to check out the "Listen & Read" of National Geographic's Young Explorer! magazine.  This feature include audio narration as well as word-by-word highlighting!  This feature is available for issues from September 2009 to present.  There is also a printable Teacher's Guide available for each issue with lesson plans, discussion questions, and student printables.  Young Explorer! would be a great whole class activity using an interactive whiteboard!

-  Jeremy

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All Abilities ePlayground #a11y #assistivetech #spedtech #spedchat #tck

All Abilities ePlayground is an online, or virtual, playground that features fun and games that are accessible to children of ALL abilities. This site, which is based in Australia, is an initiative of the Gold Coast City Council supported by the Department of Communities (Disability Services) and developed by Sonokids Australia.  The All Abilities ePlayground reflects the values and aims of 17 outdoor all abilities playgrounds funded by the Queensland Government.  Learn more about this ground-breaking project enabling all children to participate in play - Queensland All Abilities Playground Project.


The All Abilities ePlayground, which was developed to create a way for children to visit an all abilities playground from anywhere, aims to:

• reflect an all-inclusive and safe play environment
• offer fun, innovative and accessible ways of interactive online play
• stimulate and support imagination, skills development and cognitive learning
• allow a child with a disability to play as independently as possible
• create awareness and acceptance of alternative ways to play
• support integration and mutual understanding by play and interaction

The ePlayground features a number of entertaining actions as well as 4 games: IbisBuster, Memory, TrixMix, and Roo Hill Thrill.

1. IbisBuster - adventure game in which the player collects different "good things" and "shoo" Iris the ibis who tries to steal them.  The game is accompanied with a great adventure story.
2. Memory - puzzle-type game that involves finding the matching pairs of sounds and images
3. Trix Mix - creative game with music and animations that allows the child to mix and record musical sounds to a set beat.
4. Roo Hill Thrill - action game with a fantasy setting in which a kangaroo must surf over hills and avoid beach balls.

The entire site features audio instructions\narration by BuddyFly, who guides children through the playground.

Also, please note that you will need to complete a FREE registration to use the site.

With regards to accessibility, there are two versions of All Abilities ePlayground:

1.  Mouse and keyboard ePlayground - recommended for children who are able to use a mouse or keyboard.  This version is also accessible for children who are blind using a screen reader.  There are a number of ways the games in this version could be accessed: mouse & keyboard,  interactive whiteboard, touch screen, or trackball\joystick.

2.  Automatic scanning ePlayground - In this version, all actions as well as the games are played feature automatic scanning.  Access options include single switch, space bar, mouse left-click, puffing into microphone (Puff2Play™) , or interactive whiteboard.

The activities and games on the site have been tested by children with print disability, autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, learning difficulties, speech impairments, cognitive delays, and physical impairments.

-  Jeremy
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Introducing the special needs directory (@SENICTdirectory) #spedchat #assistivetech #a11y

The SEN / ICT Directory has been created in an effort to gather information and resources surrounding special needs.  Although this site is based in the UK, it seems that any resource related to special needs could be submitted from around the globe.

Since the directory was just recently launched, there are not that many listings yet.  Follow @senictdirectory on Twitter to receive updates as new listings are added.

The directory currently has 10 different categories:

1. Companies -  For an annual fee, companies can be included in this category.
   
2. Products - For an annual fee, companies can have their products listed in this category.
   
3. Software - For an annual fee, companies can have their software listed in this category.
   
4. Hardware - For an annual fee, companies can have their hardware listed in this category.
   
5. Equipment - For an annual fee, companies can have their equipment listed in this category.
   
6. Services - For an annual fee, companies list the services they provide in this category.
   
7. Jobs - For a minimal submission charge, companies can post jobs in this category.
   
8. Events - For a minimal submission charge, events can be posted in this category.
   
9. Charities - 
   Charities are able to submit (for FREE) their websites in order to gain much needed support.

   
   
10. Resources  - 
    Teachers & parents can submit (for FREE) useful websites and online resources.  This is my favorite category so far.  It includes a number of great resources featuring switch-accessible activities, interactive whiteboard lessons, visual supports, and printables.  Although none of these resources are new to me, they are some of the best resources for special needs.  The UK has always seemed ahead of the game in terms of developing multimedia activities and resources for children with special needs.

Features:

• Nice, clean user interface.  I really like the use of visual thumbnails.
• It is fairly easy for users to submit resources to be included.
• Information is posted on the website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Suggestions:

• In terms of how the directory is organized, I think some of the current categories could be combined.  For example, the categories Software, Hardware, and Equipment should be sub-categories of Products.
• Also, the Resources could be more clearly defined as FREE Resources and divided into sub-categories like For Kids, For Parents, and For Professionals.  
• Add a site-wide search engine
• Consider asking users to include keywords or tags when submitting a resource.

-  Jeremy

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Create SMART Board lessons from home for FREE using SMART Notebook Express

With a recent update by SMART Technologies to the SMART Notebook Express tool, teachers can now CREATE new Notebook files on any computer that has web access WITHOUT having the SMART Notebook software installed. When you launch SMART Notebook Express you are presented with two choices: 1. Open an existing Notebook file or 2. Create a new Notebook file. I know that I will definitely find this new feature helpful when I want to create new SMART Notebook activities and might not be on my classroom computer or personal laptop, which have SMART Notebook software installed!

- Jeremy


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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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#ATIA2010 - Favorite Products

This will be a short post, just wanted to share some of my favorite products from the Vendor Hall.

Satalight - SMART Board on height & tilt adjustable stand.  You can access with any type of touch - fingertip, fist, and can take a hit (don't ask them to demonstrate, it's quite impressive!) It's downside is that it does use a projector and can create shadows.  Can include a switch interface, laptop arm, and speakers. - Satalight.

Tap-it - another SMART Board solution also on a height & tilt adjustable stand.  It is LCD screen, that accepts touch input.  It is able to distinguish between intended and unintended touch - so a student could lean on the board with one hand and still access the activity with another. One drawback is that you have to use an isolated finger to access. - Tap-it

News-2-You - a great weekly, current events newspaper modified with symbols.  Very accessible, text-to-speech version available online, with tons of extension activities - News-2-You

Aimee Solutions - amazing sets of curricular, theme based materials.  This year started selling sets of computer activites based on Life Skills adapted using SymbolStix. - Aimee Solutions

Conceptua Math - I'll be posting more about this website later, but it is my pick for the best product of ATIA.  Check out more here - Conceptua Math

Patrick


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#ATIA2010 - Orlando, Friday

I had intended to write each evening before going to sleep about the day I had had....as you can see that clearly did not happen!  As I got back to my room last evening, I need to get a few things finished with my own presentation - My Crazy Idea..., pack, and get a good night rest.  So I never got around to talking about Friday's presentations.  So here's what I thought.

I attended a great session Friday morning by Penny Reed & Gayl Bowser (both very active QIAT Leadership type people!).  They presented a great session about ways to work smarter, not harder by using web tools like - Blogs, Nings, & Wikis (hmmm...seem familiar!).  Some of the blogs they mention were Teaching Every Student, No Limits to Learning, & TLWMSN.  They also talked about the AT Help Desk they created to help teams diagnose the best way to fix problems - AT Help Desk.

I went to a great session by Libby Rush on how to teach writing!  While she had way to much material for a 1 hour session, she was thoroughly engaging and fun to watch!  There was a lot discussed and most of it is in my notes (but she talks really fast, and I can't type that fast!).  I'll do my best to try and put up a post soon about her ideas.

My favorite sessions were by last two.  First I saw Marie Duggan, a Mom-NOS (not otherwise specifed), of 6 kids, one with Autism!  She had filled her sons life with symbols, schedules, and communication.  I'm amazed at all the solutions she came up with.  When a problem arose they found a way to to help him.  I think what I was most impressed by was that she didn't just work on the problem, she worked on the WHY!  Then she worked on a way to help him understand!  An utterly amazing woman.  I wish she had had more time because we never got to hear about the new software she is working on.

Last, but certainly not least, was SMART Inclusion in the 21st Century:  Integrating SMARTBoards with AT.  A long title, but worth every second!  A SLP, Alexandra Dunn at a small school board in Ottawa, Canada decided that the best way to integrate their students with SCD in the general ed classrooms was through SMARTBoards!  The results were profound and AMAZING!  All students increased participation and showed skills they never had before.  Each SMARTBoard was used with BM, Classroom Suite, Notebook Software and they used it with all the students (not just the ones with IEP's!).  They had Airliners (think portable mouse), Intellikeys, and switches so that there was a lot of alternative access, just depending on what the student needed.  They even let some kids use their Bluetooth enabled devices to interact directly with the SMARTBoard!!!!!!  They have some research, and as soon as it is posted I will let you know.  This was some exciting stuff!


As you can see, I'm quite excited by my experience at ATIA.  It's always amazing to me how much it helps to go to conferences and meet with other professionals, it's just an electric atmosphere.  I have some information about today's sessions to post, and it will have to wait (I should be boarding momentarily).  Again, if you are interested in reading my notes from the sessions please feel free to check them out here - ATIA Notes.


Patrick


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SuperTeacherTools

I heard about a fun site from Angela Maiers (@angelamaiers) on Twitter.

SuperTeacherTools is a site for easy to use, flash games and utilities.   It includes Flash Jeopardy,

a seating chart generator,

a random name generator


and several others.  It's easy to use, customize and free!  I was able to set up a class list within minutes and start using the site.  Have fun checking this one out!


Patrick

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Academic Skill Builders

Twitter strikes again in today's post! Academic Skill Builders is a great site for practicing all sorts of skills. Most of the games are multi-player and are easy to play! You can play against random people, or you can set up a private game for students to play against each other in a safe setting. There are many math skills to work on and also a good amount of language arts games! These games would be great on a SMARTboard or for use in a computer lab. Check it out today!

Patrick

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SMART Board Resources

I haven't been feeling in the mood to write posts lately, and really haven't had much inspiration. And my gut tells me don't write just to write, so that's that. I've come across quite a few SMART Board resources that I can't wait to try out (I'm getting mine sometime this Fall!!!).

PBS Kids - PBS has recently added an entire section to their website specifically designed for SMARTBoards. It includes stories, games, and videos all broken into categories. There's even an activity where you can sign in individual students and follow their progress.

Fraction Monkey - A simple game where you match fractions using common denominators. Easy to play, great as a whole group or center activity.

Panorama Website - An amazing website with panoramic pictures of sites from around the globe. High quality amazing pictures.

Money Flashcards - A site that allows students to count money from Aplusmath. Uses all coins and bills.

A new blog that I've come across is The Whiteboard Blog. They recently posted 20 Interactive Whiteboard Resources, a great post for all SMARTBoard users.

I also recommend you read Anne Marie's Talking SMARTBoards & More if you are interested in more resources.

Patrick

Photos courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: Touring_fishman


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SMART Boards & Special Education

Things that go together:

• peanut butter and jelly
• popcorn & movies
• Jedi & Lightsabers (my geek is coming out)
• SMART Boards & Special Education

Maybe this last one isn't much of a stretch for you, I know it isn't for me. So what reasons would I suggest a SMART Board be in every special education classroom.

1.  It's big!
Students with special needs frequently respond well to visuals. So what's better than a really large visual? I personally can't tell you how many times I've wanted to project a worksheet, a picture for background knowledge, or anything that I've wanted to share with the entire class but have no easy way to do it.

2.  It's flexible!
A SMART Board give you the opportunity to change what you are doing on the fly. You can create an activity and change it as the students watch. You can have them edit a document using the pens, or just pointing out the mistakes. There are so many different ways to use it.

3.  It's interactive!
Students with special needs require different modalities to learn, but also to access technology. Traditional methods using mice, keyboards, etc... are limiting to some segments of our population. The touch and click ease of a SMART Board allows many students the opportunity to interact with a computer like never before.

4.  It's easy!
While you may require a little bit of training, most people can walk up and start using a SMART Board right away, it's very intuitive. You don't have to use any special software (although there are some nice features in the Notebook Software). You don't have to use it. You can use any piece of software currently installed on you computer and it will work seamlessly!

5.   It's FUN!
So maybe this is my inner geek coming out (actually I just have an outer geek!), but it's fun to use. Who would want to create a giant Jackson Pollock Painting? or race the giant timer? Or what about doing a giant number race? or what about having your entire calendar time done on the SMART Board? There are so many fun activities you can do with the SMART Board.

These are my thoughts, do you have any thoughts on why SMART Boards should be in more classrooms?


Patrick

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons User: Adwriter

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Make your own Interactive Whiteboard

One of the more techy adaptations floating around the internet at this time is the Wiimote Whiteboard. What exactly is a Wiimote Whiteboard? It's a way to turn a simple projector into a Smartboard. Basically you connect your Wiimote to your computer (that's hooked up to your projector), point the Wiimote at the screen, and use an LED pen to access the screen. The Infrared Sensor on the Wiimote detects where you touch and translates that to the computer, just like a mouse. The beauty of this, it can all be done for $75 or less! The software is available free on the internet, a Wiimote costs-$40, a LED pen-$10, a tripod-$20, & an adapter for the tripod-$10. Here are several sites that talk about how to set up a Wiimote Whiteboard:

Alltogether.com - Wiimote Whiteboard in Education: A tutorial

Speech Language Pathology Sharing - Low-Cost Interactive Applications for the MacBook - Touch-Screen, Interactive Whiteboard, Gesture Recognition

Check out these tutorials, and get started on your own Wiimote Whiteboard today!

Patrick

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uptoten.com

AnneMarie of Talking SMARTBoards posted a great website today called Uptoten.com. The site is designed for children ages 10 and under and has many features. There is a free, ad supported section, a premium section, and a educational section. Educators can sign up for a free account, which is ad free. I've been playing around with the site and found several nice features:

-You can sign up 10 students to have their own account
-The site allow students to save favorite activities
-There are several simple, switch accessible games, including a left/right activity to catch snowflakes.
-Coloring activities to do online and offline
-No advertisements
-No external links
-Open full screen

The site would work very well on a SMARTBoard or on a large screen. Make sure to check out Talking SMARTBoards for other activities you can use!

Patrick

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Poisson Rouge

Anne marie over at Talking Smartboards & more has posted a site called Poisson Rouge. It's really a great site for kids to explore and play. No directions that I could find, but lots to look at and do. Definitely geared toward younger students.

Have fun looking around!


- Patrick

1000 Books

An important milestone was reached today at Tar Heel Reader, 1000 books!!! The community has created these books and they are a great resource for anyone looking for accessible books. Take a look at book 1000 here:

1000 books

If you would like more information on the Tar Heel Reader please visit this post in my blog:

Tar Heel Reader

If you wish to register to write book please send me a message through my profile, or leave a comment and I will provide you with the registration code.

Patrick

Money Skills Practice

Here's a good site that I found on another blog: Talking SMARTBoards


This site show different coins, items to buy, and a cash register.  Students can pick an item, then drag the payment to the cash register, then check to see if you are correct. It keeps a running record and you get instant feedback.  A great tool to help students learn to count money.




- Patrick

ZAC Browser

There is a new browser out, designed for students with Autism in mind.  Here is a description from the website:

ZAC is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism, and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and PDD-NOS. We have made this browser for the children - for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom. Children touch it, use it, play it, interact with it, and experience independence through ZAC.

ZAC is the zone that will permit your child to interact directly with games (a LOT of games) and activities (focused on MANY interests) that cater specifically to kids who display the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, like impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior. ZAC has been an effective tool for kids with low, medium and high functioning autism.

ZAC focuses on the children and their interaction - But we also provide an excellent forum for parents, caretakers, teachers, and others to share their experiences, tools and resources and to unite as a caring, compassionate, and extremely knowledgeable community. It is said that "it takes a village to raise a child", and that is exponentially true for raising a child with autistic spectrum disorders. The power of your experience yesterday is going to be instrumental in helping someone successfully tackle the circumstances of today.

This browser allows a child to have access to the computer, but keeps them from going to harmful sites. It only allows them to access what is currently programmed into it. There are many learning games, videos, and audio clips programmed in. Take a look at the browser here: Zac Browswer