Cosmonaut-Wide grip iPad stylus for small hands or other motor impairments

My last post dealt with how switch scanning in the new iOS opens up the iPad to people who couldn't previously use it due to physical motor limitations.  In that same vein, I wanted to briefly discuss the Cosmonaut Large Grip Stylus.  This was designed to feel more like a dry erase marker than a traditional pencil style stylus.  I think it is ideal for young children who can't really grasp a smaller stylus yet, as well as for young children who have not yet learned to only touch the screen with one finger at a time.  They can grip the stylus and then the stylus becomes that one point of touch screen contact.  (We've all been frustated by trying to tap somewhere on the screen with one finger and accidentally doing something weird when another finger made contact with the screen at the same time).  This stylus may work as well for older students who have problems extending just one finger to tap a touchscreen, or who cannot hold a teeny little stylus, but could control something a little bit bigger.  You can get more information at
http://www.studioneat.com/products/cosmonaut

New Accessibility Features in iOS 7- Including Switch Scanning!

Apple has released their newest update to iOS, the operating system that runs their iPads, iPods touches, and iPhones last week.  For those of you keeping track, they have now updated from iOS 6 to iOS7.  If you've already downloaded the update, you've noticed that the look is very different, but the feel is still pretty familiar. (Note: Updating to iOS 7 will require some storage space on your device.  You may have to delete some things off of your device, perform the update, and then put those things you deleted back on your device.) There are several changes and additions in iOS 7, including several changes and additions to the accessibility options.  Some of my favorite are more and better voices for Speak Selection, better features in Guided Access, and, my personal favorite, Switch Scanning options!  This feature will allow people with motor impairments to access all aspects of the iPad and many of the great iPad apps.  To see a general list of what is new in iOS 7 accessibility features, click here.  To watch an excellent video overview of the new accessibility features in iOS 7, click here. 

Read on for more information about switch scanning:

Until now, many people with physical disabilities have been unable to interact with touchscreen devices, or their motor impairments have severely limited their ability to interact with the screen.  With iOS 7, these people can bypass all that junk that used to keep them back and can now access the iPad using 3 different methods:
1) using an external bluetooth switch
2) using the entire touch screen of the device as a switch
3) moving their head to the left and right (the front facing camera on the device watches your movement)
 You can also use a combination of switch options, such as using one bluetooth switch to scan through features, but using the touch screen of the iPad to go back to the home screen.

 (Note:  There is no way to plug a switch with wires into an iPad, so you will have to purchase a bluetooth switch to use with the iPad.  Click here for an earlier post about bluetooth switches and  iPad apps.)  

  You can set up the iPad for automatic switch scanning, where the iPad automatically moves the cursor from one choice to the next and you press the switch to select the option you want when highlighted.  You can also set up 2 or more switches to perform step scanning (i.e. one switch moves the cursor to the next choice and another switch chooses the highlighted option).  The head tracking option uses the front facing camera of the iPad and detects when you move your head to the right or left.  You have to move your head approximately 45 degrees either direction to get it to work.  When I played around with it, I had a hard time getting the iPad to recognize my right head movement, but the left head movement worked perfectly.  If you are trying to use this feature in extreme lighting conditions, it will not work very well either.  The switch options are highly customizeable.  You can set it up for very basic users, all the way up to neuro-typical kids with limiting motor impairments. 

I am really excited to see how these new features will open up the iPad to a whole new group of people who were previously held back just by their motor limitations.  To see an excellent video tutorial on iOS 7 switch scanning, including setting up your bluetooth switch and customizing all the settings, click here.  I would love to hear (in the comments) how your students and children are using this new feature.

Introducing Students to Text to Speech Accommodations- (That weird computer voice can be your friend!)

I have produced a short (4 page) document designed to help concerned, yet busy teachers and parents make sense of Text to Speech (or screen reader) technology, when you really don't feel you have time to take on ONE MORE THING!!  It is designed to quickly and easily help you:

1. Better understand what Text to Speech (TTS) technology is and how it can help struggling readers.
2. Find you free and easy tools to get Text to Speech going in your classroom TODAY.
3. Figure out how to build Text to Speech into your already WAY too busy school schedule in small, manageable steps.

To access the document, please click here.
 

Highlights from 2012-13 school year

This post is dedicated to the well meaning slacker in all of us.  Deep down inside we all WANT to do it all, but sometimes we just run out of time and energy.  I know that isn't YOU, of course.  But you know somebody like that and sympathize with them occasionally just to keep up appearances :) 

I know that every single one of you has already read and re-read every single post on this blog (along with 50 other educational blogs, Pins, and Tweets), outlined them, translated them into Spanish/Portuguese, and Chinese, and shared them with all of your friends, neighbors, and Congressmen. :)  

But just in case you missed a few things (Don't worry, I won't tell.  Your secret is safe with me), I have posted a few links to Cache AT blog posts you may have missed last school year.   I just thought I'd highlight a couple of my favorites to get you started this year:

Guide Access (how to disable that pesky Home button on the iPad!)

Speak Selection in iOS (make the iPad read to you!)

Uploading Word files to Google Drive

Free Text to Speech Options for your classroom

Bookshare.org tutorials

Abilipad-My favorite writing app for iPad

Simple 1 page communication boards

Boardmaker Share-find Boardmaker activities online

Literacy Based lesson plan for Life Skills classrooms

Switch Prompting Training Video

Text to Speech in the classroom-Research into Practice Article

I came across a great little article just the other day about using Text to Speech technology to help struggling readers.  You can access it by clicking here.  This article does a great job of taking the current research about Text to Speech accommodations and explaining it in plain English.  I love the concept of presenting Text to Speech to all students and letting them decide for themselves whether or not it is a useful tool for them.  This empowers students and makes sure that nobody falls through the cracks.

  This is also a great article to share with interested (or disinterested) parents, Regular Education Teachers, and Administrators who are seeking more information, or who need to overcome to false notions about reading accommodations.

Thanks for reading.  I would love to hear people's thoughts about the article in the comments!

Free Apps resource (and lots of other great info too)

I've posted about this before, but I wanted to let everyone know about a GREAT resource for free iOS and Android apps, as well as all the information you could every want about technology in education.  That resource is the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) blog that can be found at http://ucetnews.blogspot.com/.    They regularly post links to free apps, many of which are usually paid apps that have become free for a limited time.  They also have lots of great TED talks, Web 2.0 resources, and other great things for teachers who want to use technology to enhance student learning.  UCET is directed primarily toward the general education population, so everything may not pertain to your classroom, but I think you will find plenty that will.

NOTE: We have put a link to this blog on the main page of our blog in the "Favorite Links" section on the top right hand corner of the blog.

Do YOU have great online resources you go to for information and goodies?  I would love to hear about them in the comments!