SoundingBoard-Easy (and free) AAC app for iPad

Sometimes, you don't want an AAC app that comes with thousands of buttons and lots of complex menus to have to learn.  Sometimes, you just want to quickly and easily create a board with a few pictures for your emerging communicators.  And sometimes, you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an app that you're not even sure will work for your student.  If any of those "Sometimes" applies to you, then you might want to check out a FREE app from Ablenet called SoundingBoard.

SoundingBoard is an easy to use app that lets you quickly make communication pages (or "boards") for students.  These boards can be linked together to make a more complex communication system, or can just be selected as needed based on the setting and task.  The AbleNet website describes the app this way:

SoundingBoard is ONLY available for download at iTunes stores.

SoundingBoard transforms your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into the latest in communication technology. In just minutes, you can create custom boards using AbleNet symbols or your own photos.

• Create boards with up to 20 message locations
• Virtually unlimited capacity; create boards for any situation
• Use the built-in AbleNet symbol library for instant access to hundreds of symbols
• Record messages of virtually any length for each symbol
• Use your own photo library for even greater flexibility and options
• Take your own photos using your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch and use them in a board immediately*
• Increase the physical size of the boards by using the iPad

If you haven't checked out this free resource yet, you should add it to your AAC toolbox.  It is a great app to have for many different situations.  My only caution about "build your own pages" apps is that, for students who have a lot to say, it may be a very frustrating experience to only be able to say the things my teacher and SLP get around to programming for me.  For those kinds of students, you may want to check out a more fully featured AAC app.

2 new fully featured AAC apps for Autism: AutisMate and Avaz

When most people think about AAC and the iPad, they usually think about Proloquo2go.  It is a great app that offers tons of preloaded vocabulary, along with a highly customizable interface to support lots of different levels of communicators.

  I have recently learned about two other apps that share many of the features that make Proloquo2go so popular.  They are called AutisMate, and Avaz.  Both apps are designed for students with autism, but would support many other students with cognitive and communication impairments.  It is always good to have options when individualized supports for students, and I hope this info will help you expand your AAC toolbox a bit today!

First, let's talk about  AutisMate.  It costs $149.99 and is available on the Apple app store.  This app is a unique blend of visual behavior supports and communication.  The AutisMate website says:

AutisMate is an iPad app for autism that improves communication and social and behavioral skills (life skills) for individuals with autism by reinforcing autism treatment through a comprehensive approach, offering all of the Visual Supports, including Visual Scenes, Visual Schedules, Video Modeling, Visual Stories and Grid-Based AAC.

The idea is that, since communication and behavior are so intertwined, why not combine them into the same app?  The interface is clean and easy to use, and the visual supports are great.  Check out the AutisMate website to see some great videos of the app in action.  I have also included a video demonstration by a mother of a child with autism showing how she uses the app at home.



Next up is the Avaz app. It costs $99.99 and is available on the Apple app store. Unlike AutisMate, which is a hybrid between a behavior and communication app, Avaz is an AAC app designed to rival Proloquo2go.  It offers many really nice features, including:

• 3 levels of vocabulary (500 - 5000 words)
• Easy customization
• Multiple types of vocabulary and communication strategies, including Core Words, a Keyboard with word prediction, a Mistake button, an Alert button (for getting someone's attention), and Grid based AAC.
• Can start with only 2 buttons on a page and grow from there.
• Can hide buttons and zoom in on buttons when tapped
• High quality voices
• Automatically tracks how the app is used during a session (instant data collection!)
• Lots of ways to adjust and change settings based on the student.

 This looks like a great app, with lots of great features, and at a very reasonable price for an app of this caliber.  Check out the Avaz website for more info.  I've also included a brief 1 minute video overview of the app for your enjoyment.

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!

FarFaria app for iPad: The Netflix/Hulu for kids books

A while back someone told me about a new iPad app called FarFaria.  It has been described by some reviewers as "A Netflix (or Hulu) for children's stories". I just recently got around to downloading it and playing with it a bit and there are some things I definitely like about it.  The app is free to download, but, in order to actually use most of the books, you must pay a $3.99/month subscription fee (roughly $48/year).  You do get to try it for free for 30 days.

  Some of the things I like about this app is that there is a wide selection of books in the Preschool to 2nd grade range.  The books are high quality, and many books come with a "read to me" feature that will read the book in high quality, pre-recorded human narration.  All of the books are developed specifically for the app, so you can't find your favorites from Barnes and Noble or the public library here, but most of the books are still very good.  This app is easy enough to use that a child could operate it independently, which would be great for self selected reading time in school and at home.  If you are willing to spend a little less than $50 a year for children's books, then this app might be for you. 

For a more in depth review of the app, check out this link.

There's an app for that! But is it right for you? - NCLD

This is a great little article that one of my colleagues shared with me about choosing apps for educational use.  I think it shares some great tips for evaluating apps before you waste your money on something that doesn't suit your needs.

There's an app for that! But is it right for you? - NCLD

Mobile Bookshare Apps for iOS and Android devices

Bookshare.org is a wonderful resource for students with print disabilities.  If you have not yet heard about what Bookshare is and how it can change your student's lives, please check out www.bookshare.org, or check out our Bookshare post. 

Students wanting to access free books from Bookshare on their iPad, iPod, iPhone, or Andoid phone or tablet can now do so with the help of a couple of nifty apps.  These apps will access the bookshare website directly from your device, download books directly to the device via wireless internet, and read them aloud using synthetic computer voices.  They are very easy to use and a great tool for mobile device users.

The Bookshare app for iOS devices is called Read2Go.  It costs $19.99 on the iTunes App Store and is compatible with any iOS device.  The app comes with high quality voices pre-installed.  You can change the font size and screen/text/highlighting colors, as well as the speed, pitch, and gender of the voice.  You will need to access a wifi network to download books to your device, but do not need to access wifi to read books already downloaded to your device.

One Caution: In order to use Read2Go, you will need to sign in using your Bookshare username and password.  This means that if students do not have an individual Bookshare account, they will need a teacher to sign in and download books for them using the Teacher's Bookshare username and password.  (Teachers, be careful with your password if using this option).  I have had several families who, once they purchased the app on a personal device, and got set up with an individual Bookshare account, take off and use the app completely independent of the schools, which can be a very powerful thing.

If you are an Android user, there is a free, open source Bookshare app called  GoRead.  The basic setup and idea is similar to the Read2Go app.  You will still need wifi to download books, but not to read, and you will still need a Bookshare username and password to use the app. 

There are still no direct solutions for reading Bookshare books on a Kindle, Kindle Fire, or Nook.  These three devices do not support the DAISY format and, (to the best of my knowledge) do not have DAISY apps available like iOS and Android.  There is a way to convert DAISY books to the Nook's ePub format using a $99 software program called DAISYtoEPUB.  Since the Kindle uses a proprietary book format, you have to then convert the Epub file to a MOBI file using a program called Calibre. or convert it to plain text (.txt) format.  Hopefully these devices will become more user friendly in the future for Bookshare members.

As always, please let me know about any problems or questions in the comments section, and thanks for reading!

Free iOS apps available today/ A shout-out to the UCET blog.

I have been a fan for a while of a great blog put out by the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET).  It is located at http://ucetnews.blogspot.com .  The UCET is an educational technology organization that consists mainly of regular education teachers, but has been expanding more into special education as well as technology continues to bridge the gaps between them.

One of my favorite features of the blog is that they will periodically list iOS apps (apps for iPads and iPods) that normally cost money to purchase, but are available for a limited time for free.  I will try to update this blog with links to the UCET blog when they post that info.  To see today's list, go to the UCET blog, or click the following link.  Two that caught my eye were a Cookie Monster app, and a great figural analogy app.

Check them out and bookmark the UCET blog if you like to keep up to date on the latest in educational technology.

Guided Access - iOS 6 accessibility feature

I will be the first to say that I love the impact iPads have made in education. I have, however, always been frustrated that it was so easy for a student to quit a chosen app simply by hitting the home button on the bottom of the device.  It can be VERY difficult to use an iPad effectively once a student figures out how easy it is to exit that math app and play Fruit Ninja instead!  It is also frustrating when a student keeps tapping the wrong place in an app (settings buttons, ad banners, volume switch, etc.) and disrupts the learning of himself or others.

With the upgrade to iOS 6, that problem has been solved for us!!  Apple has introduced an accessibility option called Guided Access.  Turning on Guided Access enables you to do two really great things:
1) Disable all the external buttons on the iPad, including the home button, volume buttons, sleep button, etc.  (no more hitting the home button to exit an app, changing the volume, etc.)
2) Disable certain areas of the touch screen when using a chosen app. (no more clicking on ad banners or in-app purchase buttons, etc.)

Click this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wSuL-1TZro8#! to see a nice 3 minute video about Guided Access, or read on for more info.

This feature is accessed by tapping the Settings app, then tapping General-Accessibility-Guided Access.  Once you tap Guided Access, you will turn it on, and set a passcode (you will need to remember this passcode to get OUT of Guided Access once you've started it).

Then, get into an app, and Triple-click the home button.  This will bring up the guided access set up screen.  (NOTE: Guided access only works when you are already in an app, you can't get to it from the home screen of your iPad).  You can then draw a circle around certain portions of the screen you want to disable, as well as turn on/off access to the hardware buttons, touch screen itself, and the motion capability (shaking or rotating the device).

Once you have selected your options, hit Start in the top right corner of the screen to begin guided access.  Now you will NOT be able to exit the app by tapping the home button.  You will have to exit Guided Access by triple-clicking the home button, entering the passcode you set in the Guided Access settings, and tapping End in the top left corner of the screen.

Here's the link to the video again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wSuL-1TZro8#!

This is available on all iPads, iPod touches, and iPhones that will support iOS 6.  The iPad 1 and several older iPods/iPhones will NOT support iOS 6.  You can see a full list of iOS 6 supported devices here (scroll to bottom of page): http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/