Very Cool, Free Text-to-Speech Readers for PC

Principle #1 of Universal Design for Learning is,

"To support recognition learning, provide multiple, flexible methods of presentation."

Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning by David H. Rose & Anne Meyer (2002)

Here are a couple of free software applications that will allow the user to provide some of those "flexible methods of presentation" in the are of reading.

ReadPlease 2003 is a simple application that lets the user open or paste text into its main window and have the text spoken aloud to the student. There are a number of voices from which to choose, you can vary the rate of speech, change the font size, and even translate the text into different languages!

UltraHal is my personal fav in free text-to-speech applications. It runs in a full-sized window, will speak items copied onto the clipboard from any application, speak instant messages, as well as allows the user to copy or open text files in its main window to be spoken. My all-time favorite feature of this software is that it will convert text into .wav files.

This means that a teacher could copy a passage from Edgar Allen Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" (which can be found at Project Gutenberg) and paste it into either application to be read aloud. If this passage were pasted into UltraHal, the teacher could convert it to a .wav file which could be burned to CD and listened to at home. (You could actually go a step further and open that .wav file in Audacity, save it to MP3, and download it into your portable media player, too.)

Now your students with reading difficulties or who are auditory learners can have their text in visual and auditory formats.

Voila! Universal Design for Learning. For free!

Closing the Gap Roundup - Part II

Will I sound tragically unhip if I say that this post is a "shout out" to all of the folks that attended CTG this year?

Anyone who has gone to the Gap knows that it is a non-stop flurry of information that no one can possibly process.  I was only able to attend a handful of presentations, and I know that the same holds true for all of you.

So I want to learn from you.  And I'd love it if you learned from one another, too.  So, if you attended Closing the Gap this year, please post a comment about:

1. Your impressions of the conference,
2. any speakers that really impressed you,
3. new tools that you saw and fell in love with in the exhibit hall, or
4. how you are using what you learned in the classroom.

You don't have to answer all of the questions, just pick one or two.  Posting is simple, just click on the comments link in the bottom right-hand corner of this post.

Let's see where this can go!

Closing the Gap Roundup - Part I

I've linked to both of these sites over in the right-hand column of this blog, but thought I'd add a mention here.

There are great blogs out there that provide phenomenal information about AT and tech for learning.  The first is Karen Janowski's site,

Ed Technology Solutions - Teaching Every Student 

She has a wonderful summary of some of the new things presented and introduced at CTG.

Another name that you might be familiar with is Dr. Brian Friedlander.  His blog is entitled:

Assistive Technology

Dr. Friedlander also has some wonderful posts regarding CTG.

Here at the Gap!

Greetings from Bloomington, Minnesota!

I'm here at the first full-conference session at Closing the Gap. It's been wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones.

We had a wonderful meeting with the NATE network last night, and I especially enjoyed a conversation with Brian Friedlander, Brian Wojcik, Nora Bardi, Karen Janowski, Jane Ricard, and Jodi Nibbelin. We had a wonderful discussion about Web 2.0 and it's potential impacts in Special Ed. and AT.

I'll try to post reflections from the sessions and exhibit hall throughout the next two days.

Here is a blog that I've been meaning to post about for awhile. Please go visit Ed Technology Solutions - Teaching Every Student. Karen Janowski might be a familiar name to those who are on the QIAT listserv, and this is her blog. What a wonderful source of information. I'll also be adding a link to the sidebar for her site as soon as I can.

Bulletins as events warrant or I have time to post them :)

Instructional Strategies to Meet the Needs of Students with Autistic Disorders Presentation

OK, all of your Infinitec North Coalition members - I need your information.

And to get your information, I'm willing to cough up a prize. (OOOH! AAAH!)

For those of you that will be attending/attended Susan Stokes' presentation: "Instructional Strategies to Meet the Needs of Students with Autistic Disorder" on October 6, I want to know what you learned from it.

Please write in the comments section of this post in response to any or all of these questions, or post your own thoughts:

1. What did you take away from the presentation that you want to try in your classroom?

2. What did you actually try and how did it work for you?

3. Did you have a student or some students in mind when you went to this presentation? Did you get information that will help you serve them better?

4. Is this an important topic area, and should we be providing more training and additional resources in this area?

Those of you who make the time to respond will be entered into a drawing for a CD copy of Susan Stokes' video, "Individual Visual Schedules." The names of everyone that posts will be put into a hat, and the name of the winner will be drawn on October 13, 2006. Please post as many times as you would like, but to make if fair, your name will only be entered for the prize, once.

Let's have fun and learn from each other! Maybe we can even have Susan check in and offer ideas and feedback!

You may also want to log into the new il.myinfinitec.org website to check out related resources, such as:

• Individual Visual Schedules Video - Streamed online for CPDUs!


• Mayer-Johnson Group Buy information - Boardmaker at more than 45% off!


• Macromedia Breeze Presentation - Using Boardmaker in the Classroom

Learn Science through Videos

Confused by Chemistry? Frazzled by Physics? Do you just need a visual means of grasping those pesky chemistry concepts? Then do I have the site for you...

Dr. Carlson's Science Theater.

Dr. Carlson's Science Theater is a "video podcast of cool science demonstrations. Join Dr. Matt Carlson as he risks life, limb, and dignity to bring you the finest science videos on Earth."

You can watch the videos by clicking on the link on Dr. Carlson's blog, or by subscribing via iTunes.

Hat Tip: Lifehack.org

Danger-sensing Wheelchair

Have you ever driven a motorized wheelchair? How about worked to teach a student how to drive one? Both can be hair-raising experiences, especially if the driver has any sensory/perceptive difficulties. And what happens if the driver gets too close to a set of stairs or is going too fast when approaching an intersection?

Well, the brilliant minds at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in cooperation with the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, have developed a camera array and software that will slow or stop a motorized wheelchair when it senses danger. This technology is based on danger-avoidance technologies available in some higher-end cars. (Note: The links above may take you to sites written in Japanese - but they still have very cool pictures of what this technology can do!)

Check out this summary article for yourself by clicking here.

Hat Tip: SlashGear.com

Back in the saddle again!

Good grief. I've beaten my own record for not posting to the blog.

It's been an extremely busy start to the school year, starting with the birth of my daughter. Lena Elise was born on August 8, and is growing like a weed. Needless to say, my time has gone into other, more diaper and bottle-related activities.

But we're back. And I've got a lot of exciting items to share. But I want this year to be different. I want to hear from you. A blog is not supposed to have only one voice. I want to learn from you and get your feedback and input on the items that are posted. We're going to find out what you are doing with the training that you're receiving - how you're implementing it in your classrooms, what went well, what flopped, and what you would do differently. And I'm going to throw some prizes in the mix to whet everyone's appetite.

So buckle up and let's ride!

Gearing Up for a New School Year - Writing

For many of you, the school year will be starting soon, and I'm going to feature some websites focusing on different content areas, with some modification ideas for kiddos with more significant disabilities.

I'm going to try anyway.

So let's kick things off with a great writing website. The internet and new technologies like blogs and wikis are creating exciting, motivating new opportunities for students to write. If you need a place to get started, check out WritingFix.

This website is sponsored by the Northern Nevada Writing Project and the National Writing Project, and based on the 6 Traits of Writing, (Idea Development, Organization, Voice, Conventions, Sentence Fluency, and Word Choice). This website provides wonderful interactive writing prompts, tools for poetry, tools for journaling, tools for writing across the curriculum... I could go on for hours. There is a ton of great material here.

So what about writing for students that have more significant learning or cognitive disabilities? WritingFix provides a great place to start. The prompts and ideas can be very easily adapted to software, like Clicker 5, that would allow a student to write by selecting symbolic representations of words. Or, if the student needs auditory feedback to help detect spelling and grammatical errors, use this site in conjunction with a talking word processor, like Intellitalk 3 by Intellitools, WriteOut:Loud by Don Johnston, or free downloads like ReadPlease! or UltraHal. If the physical act of writing is causing difficulty, perhaps a portable word processor or classroom computer can be used for writing. There are many, many possibilities for accomodating and modifying content to make it accessible to all students.

Click here to visit WritingFix.com.

(Hat Tip: Gamra Zenaidi, TechLearning.com.)

FY07 Group Buy Forms Now Online!

The Illinois Infinitec Group Buy for FY07 doesn't begin until September 1, 2006, but for those who want to get a jump on spreading the word to your districts and schools, the forms and flyers are now at www.coalitionconnection.org. They can be found under AT Leader Supports.

The Writer, Intellitools, Mayer-Johnson, and Don Johnston (coming soon) informational flyers are all posted. Here's looking to a great Group Buy!

Technology, Education, and Culture

OK, this may be a little much before your first cup of coffee on a Monday morning, but I ran across this post on one of my favorite education blogs, CoolCat Teacher Blog. Have you ever heard that Assistive Technology is "just a crutch" for a student? How about "regular" technology? Does the integration of technology into the curriculum supplement or detract from a student's education?

Here are a few thoughts from the post:

"Education fails when it is not engaging and relevant. In third world, industrialized countries, the students expect and can be made to sit in desks like robots. They can have three hours of homework. Education is the way out for many students. It is hope for many.

We bemoan the fact that America is slipping in education and seek to emulate the countries who are leading us. There is a significant flaw in that. Cultural differences can be significant. To expect a child in India to behave exactly like a child in Japan or China or America is not a correct assumption.

This is not to bemoan the shortcomings of America or any other places. Shortcomings or strengths, cultural differences must be accounted for in teaching delivery methods. America does have a culture of entertainment, television, X-boxes, computers, and personalized everything. We are who we are. Do I agree with it? Not entirely.

But when I stand in front of a room of wriggly teenagers and look to educate them, I must understand the culture to which they belong. To pull them from their electronic culture and sit them in a pioneer-model schoolroom would be like putting me under a tree sitting on a rock with Socrates. (I think I'd rather drink hemlock than sit on a rock all day!) I could learn from Socrates but I would be distracted by the rock!"

Food for thought on an early Monday morning. What are your thoughts - I'd love to hear them...

Click here to read the whole article.

"The Touch Messenger" by Samsung

Greetings from beautiful downtown Chicago!

I am working out of our downtown office today, and feeling a little spoiled as I'm working in an office with a great view of the Chicago River.



(No, that's not a joke - it is pretty from here. I just wouldn't want to swim in it. And Chicago isn't really blue - I took the picture through the window.)

But anyway, back to the world of AT.

Check out this cool concept phone from the folks at Samsung. It won the Gold Medal at the Industrial Design Excellence Awards and uses what seems to be a refreshable braille system to write and read text messages.

Now I'm not that old, but I did manage to miss the text-messaging craze. In other words, I only text-message sparingly, and it takes awhile to compose a message. I know that there are people out there who can carry on a conversation in almost real-time via text-message. Is this a sign I'm getting older?!?

This concept phone isn't available commercially yet, but would allow persons with visual impairments a way to access the text-messaging features of this cell phone. You can read the article, but clicking here.

New Literacy Grant Available

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy's 2007 National Grant Competition applications are available for all who are interested at the Foundation's website.

From the Foundation website:

"Ranging in size from $44,682 to $65,000, the ten winning grant applications were chosen from nearly 550 proposals, submitted by a wide variety of private non-profit and public organizations including libraries, correctional institutions, universities, housing projects, and public schools."

The goal of the grant is "to develop or expand ten programs that will improve the literacy skills of parents and their children."

For more information, please visit their website,

http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com/nga.html

Pathfinder Underground

If you use Prentke-Romich's Pathfinder, you've got to check out Russell Cross' site, Pathfinder Underground.

This site is a wealth of information about vocabulary, new icons, teaching strategies, and activities for Pathfinder users. There is so much here, I couldn't hope to describe it all. Visit Pathfinder Underground by clicking here.

HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY INFINITEC AT BLOG!!

July 12, 2006 marks the 1-year anniversary of the UCP-Infinitec AT Blog. I hope that you've enjoyed visiting this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Here's to many, many anniversaries to come!

iTunes Tutorials

Confused about how to play digital music - downloaded (legally, of course) from the internet, or how to turn your music collection into a digital music collection that can be played in iTunes?

Apple.com has made some very cool tutorial videos available on their website on how to use iTunes.

Click here to visit their tutorial website, or visit http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/itunes/index.html

Free E-Books - Offer Expires August 4, 2006!!

DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DOWNLOAD FROM OVER 300,000 EBOOKS FOR FREE!!!

In celebration of Project Gutenberg's 35th Anniversary, the World eBook Fair is allowing the general public to download any of their 300,000 titles at no charge from July 4, 2006 through August 4, 2006.

The World eBook Fair has a goal of having 1 million electronic books in their library by 2009, and normally charges a yearly subscription of $8.95.

C'mon... With 300,000 titles to choose from, there has to be something that you haven't read :)

You can visit their website by clicking here or going to http://worldebookfair.com/

(Hat Tip: Kim Komando.com)

Dave Edyburn's 90 Days of Professional Development

If you haven't ever read a copy of "Special Education Technology and Practice," it is well worth a look. Developed by Dr. Dave Edyburn, it contains wonderful articles and research. You can visit the SETP website by clicking here. You can request a free sample copy while you're there.

Dr. Edyburn has come up with a very cool way to learn something new each day this summer and published it a new article. He's entitled it "SETP 90 Days of Summer" and it contains not only a great PDF of the article, but an interactive calendar with links to each professional development activity.

You can access both the PDF and the Electronic Calendar by clicking here or visiting http://www.setp.net/summer/90days.html

Previews of Coming Attractions...

Hot off of the QIAT Listserv and the AT Technology Listserv:

Mayer-Johnson is going to be offering a version of Boardmaker for families called Boardmaker @ Home. Here is the scoop as posted by Jeannette Van Houten:

"Hi! Mayer Johnson has a new release of Boardamaker @Home. It is not listed on their website at the moment but it is available for purchase. Boardmaker @ Home is slightly less comprehension than the standard boardmaker 3,800 PCS symbols Color and BW but it is family budget friendly. I only have very basic information but Mayer Johnson has a flyer that they are sending out. The stipulations on purchase are that the parent must order on their own (can’t go through the district with PO or Credit card from district) and it has to be shipped to the user’s home. There might be more stipulations but those are the ones that were stressed to me."

Initial estimates of price put Boardmaker @ Home at around $150. That's just an idea and the actual price could differ. If you call Mayer-Johnson, they can send you more information. Their number is 800-588-4548.

(Hat tip: Jeannette Van Houten, QIAT Listserve, AT Technology Listserv)

Clipart from: http://graphicdesign.about.com/
and http://www.hellasmultimedia.com/webimages/default.htm