ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE

 

Assistive technology allows students with accessibility needs to achieve independence and success at school.

Here is a list of some programs that may be of use to students with low vision problems, motor disabilities, learning disabilities:

• Dragon Naturally Speaking: voice dictation software that allows students to write by speaking to a computer system programmed to recognize their voices. www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/products/default.asp 
• JAWS: screen-reading software that allows blind or low vision students who are unable to see a traditional computer monitor to access the screen via a voice output system that literally reads the contents to users. www.freedomscientific.com/default.asp 
• ReadingMadeEZ (Key to Access): Ten programs are preloaded onto the portable USB MP3 player so no installation is needed, and the user can access whichever programs are required from any computer station. www.readingmadeez.com
• Kurzweil 1000: screen-reading and scanning software that allows blind or low-vision students to access reading materials. www.kurzweiledu.com/kurz1000.aspx 
• Kurzweil 3000: screen-reading and scanning software that is specifically designed for students with learning disabilities and challenges with comprehension of print-based material. www.kurzweiledu.com/kurz3000v11_default.aspx
• Livescribe Pulse Smartpen: Note-taking device that integrates written notes with a live recording of what was being said when the notes were taken. http://www.livescribe.com
• TobiiAti:  Tobii has released a range of new augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) solutions that help individuals with speech impairments communicate. http://www.tobii.com/en/assistive-technology/north-america/products/
• Zoomtext: screen-enlarging software allows students who have difficulty seeing screen contents on a standard computer monitor to see the computer by enlarging the screen up to 16 times. Zoomtext is particularly helpful for low-vision students. www.aisquared.com/zoomtext/

HOMEBOUND KIDS GO TO SCHOOL VIA VGO

One tool that schools should keep in mind for total accessibility (or the least restrictive environment) for kids that cannot go to school because of chronic illnesses, extended illnesses, immune deficiencies, injuries or other physical challenges is the use of robotics. This $5,000 robot allows remote students (students who cannot physically go to school and must stay at home) full interaction with the classroom. 

Vgo is a robot that is helping kids that cannot go to school do exactly that. The robot features a screen that allows the user to do video-conference at all times. At school, kids can see the person at home and the kid at home can control where the robot goes during the school day. You can say that this robot performs as an avatar of the remote student... And so far, it has been quite effective at the places in which it has been used.

To read more about Vgo:

• Vgo for remote students
• Vgo is a robot that goes to school or work for you
• About Lyndon Baty, a 15 year old boy from Knox City, Texas that uses Vgo (kidney disease):
1. NBC Curious Medicine: A boy and his robot 
2. Student Lyndon Baty Attends School in Texas via Vgo Robot
• About Devon Carrow, a 7 year old boy from Winchester Elementary School, West Seneca, NY (chronic allergies):
  
1. Robot helps put boy, 7, at the head of his class 
2. Bubble Boy goes back to school: Robot helps seven-year-old isolated by deadly allergies to take part in class again - from the safety of his home

GLOGSTER

What is Glogster? As the site defines it, "Glogster debuted in 2007 as a unique social network based on the creation and sharing of Glogs - interactive posters loaded with text, graphics, music, videos, and more. Glogster’s goal was to provide an outlet for unlimited creative expression online. It didn’t take long for users to get hooked! In 2009 Glogster launched Glogster EDU, a secure learning platform for teachers and students. Today, Glogster empowers millions of people all over the world with a space to express their emotions, ideas, and knowledge online."

I had never used Glogster until the past week when I completed a small project about Edgar Allan Poe. At first I thought it was just too simple, but after spending some time discovering its features I definitively saw the big uses it can have in terms of education. Imagine if for each day you could create a "glog" about the material you are to cover in the classroom. All the multimedia that can be involved would be immersive enough to reach the different types of learners: auditorial, visual and kinetic-tactual. It allows for students to discover the information on their own and at their own pace, enabling them to repeat whatever they need as many times as they need to.

The glog's interactive capacity for vodcast, podcast and presentation, as well as its ease of use, is an invaluable tool that can be used to bring options to students as a learning tool and as a way for them to present their own projects. Glogs engage all learners and allows for multiple types of expression, one of the main goals of the universal design for learning which is stressed in the new education common core.

VODCASTS FOR EDUCATION

This week I actually came to face the term “vodcast” and looking into it I realized I have used them so many times, especially with some college courses. It turns out to be a very convenient way of following up a theme with the videos coming to you whenever they are available. I liked the term “video on demand” used by Christopher Breen in his article “How to create a vodcast”.

What is a vodcast? Videos streamed through a feed, so they can be viewed by anyone . They can consist of episodes, become a series... the important thing is that they are usually grouped for a specific purpose and they are viewed "on demand".

I see many uses for this in education. A teacher can keep the class interested by expanding on themes that cannot be explained in deep when there are time constraints... Creating these video on demand streaming can be a source for a bonus question on a test, or simply encourage the kids curiosity about a theme. Dedicated videos delivered in such a way can make a class come to life. The kids could make a closed circuit streaming of weekly assignment, maybe “acting out” the theme of the week... This could also be a way for school teachers to deliver the class to kids that cannot physically go to school because of a temporary illness, or to make a whole curriculum available through streaming it (and then keeping it for future references). The beauty of it is that whenever a person can view it then it can run. And the information is always there to be used.

You Tube is one example of a very successful and popular vodcasting collection. Whenever you create a video, everyone subscribed to its RSS will gain access to it instantly. The beauty of having RSS is that it does not rely on a person looking it up... making it very convenient especially for the new generation (who want everything new right now). The whole file can be downloaded without problems to any media for later viewing (if downloading is allowed).

Some people and some organizations have their own place in their servers where they allocate their videos, and provide controlled access to specific people. This is very useful for training purposes. In education, this can actually provide a video collection of tutorials, of specific-themed informational videos and documentaries, and of courses for expansion or self growth.

The right images and sound allows for teaching the old stuff in a new, “you are there” way. This can give wings to virtual field trips, virtual classrooms, virtual hands on work, virtual job demonstrations, virtual travels... There are no boundaries for enhancing interactivity in the classroom using vodcasts.

VIDEO-CONFERENCE: LETTING THE WORLD INTO THE CLASSROOM

One of the main technologies available these days is used by everyone through Skype and sites like TinyChat. There are no barriers for talking with someone and actually seeing them. There are no barriers to gathering in a group, not even if each member is n a different continent of the world. Video-conference has broken the rule of the need to be physically there to actually do things (like work or studying). Why? Because you are there, rain or shine, and everyone acknowledges that is true and real... because you respond to questions and answers, and express emotions, all in real time live video.

What is video-conference? Basically, it is a two way communication using audio and video. This means that you have an image and you can hear the voice of a person who is using this technology. Oh, and the person can also see and hear you. Cool? Of course. This is even better than making just a phone call (voice only) or texting (writing only) or filming a video and placing it in You Tube (where you cannot see a response, just read about it many hours latter). Through video-conference you see and hear, and you can be seen and heard. And the coolest part is that it can be a group thing, just as when you make a conference call... without the guessing part (or imagining part0 of how someone looks.

Video-conference in education can be a strong resource. It can allow a teacher who is in another country to reach several students from anywhere in the globe. It can allow students to have “video pals” from other schools also around the world. It can allow sick kids to keep in touch with classmates and attend class virtually. It can allow busy parents to have meetings with PTA and with teachers, from wherever they are. So, the big question is, why so many districts refuse to Skype?

I see video-conference as the tool to allow terminal and medically fragile kids to attend school without having the physical dangers that prevent them from going there. It is the school experience without the “cooties”.

Through “Skiping” these kids can:

1- Get the socialization exposure needed for their right age group

2- Interaction with the actual classroom leading to normal classroom activities let them feel that they are not missing anything from school

3- They will get the actual information that teachers provide at school, and the input from their peers

4- They will get to know their peers and be part of their lives (the same for their peers)

5- Their confidence will improve as they face and respond to daily tasks

6- Gives them something to look forward to, something that takes them away from their immediate reality of hospitals and doctor appointments

7- Feeds their minds much better than having home instruction two hours a day five days a week (that's for the lucky ones)

Some districts feel that "Skiping" is a hazard to the school's servers and site. They also claim that the efforts and technology needed to deliver it is far beyond their reach. These two reasons are excuses. If security is such a concern, not even teachers would be allowed to login from their homes into the school system. Every kid that is home-bound gets an instructor, and that instructor has access to the school through Internet. That instructor, or an assistant, can be in charge of keeping he password to go into classroom Skyping. At  schools kids have access through user ID and passwords, and the same can be used for users at home just changing privileges to keep security concerns at bay. The technology is not far beyond the reach of all districts... Skype can be used on PCs and Macs and iPads. It is a free service. If there is no state funding, a sponsor could be found for kids that have these special conditions. 

Right now the main barrier to Skype, or any technology, is the people in power that just won't accept change. The use of technology in education has a sound plan, and has admirable goals on that plan... It is just a very steep and rocky mountain to climb because for every project that Assistive Technology Professionals, Speech Therapists, and Media Specialists try to propose they get a sound no just because of the fear of empowering the students... And I will go further, saying that until there is real equality and fairness in the application of each student's rights, we will keep sailing in a boat destined to sink.

UNDERSTANDING EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

Seems simple enough to get the fact that technology helps so much to make the learning process a much more interactive experience. Reading about the different types of students that use technology and the challenges that they face both inspire and is very daunting. Kids these days expect everything ipso-facto... the older generation has to adapt or get out of the way. You hear many teachers and education staff complaining that kids just don't want to study, and the dichotimy of this being true or not is another big subject for study.

Ed tech is everywhere:

Everyone uses iPads for leisure and for work. Education is not behind by any means. With apps like TeamUnizumi's, Sesame Street and Dora, education at our little people's fingertips is definitively up their alley... And it is all effective. Apps for tutoring languages, math, brain skills, to learn about places, people, facts... And apps to help people with special needs communicate and also have some fun. The iPad has changed how technology interacts... before the process was much one sided and required a long wait... Now it is all about anytime, anywhere...

Social networks benefit from these, and contribute to education by allowing virtual groups that can be literally anywhere in the world! Having everything digitalized and in the cloud facilitates sharing data, imges, programs, books, music, videos... anything you can think of.

Switches and cameras allow special needs kids to use a computer even if paraplegic or blind. They also allow for controlling toys, and specialized equipment.

Special programs help kids with autism to communicate. Kids with learning disabilities can learn thanks to other specialized programs tailored to them.

Ed tech is physical and virtual. There is much out there to explore, as well as there are still more resources to be created/invented. Technology is the core of our new society, and education can have full benefit of all it brings.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Educational technology, the newbie in my life... or so it seems. This journal should be a repository of the new experiences within this field, and of items that I find interesting or useful within the scope of school media specialist and assistive technology. The journey starts now.