Universally Designed

Mission-US.org

I had the opportunity to sit in on the unveiling of a new interactive multi-media project Thursday. Without going too far into the background of the whole thing, it originated from a grant that was awarded to a New York public broadcasting company (see www.thirteen.org), who then chose 10 sites in the US through another grant to start using it with.  KET (Kentucky Educational Television) was awarded one of the grants and I had the opportunity to be invited to the initial training provided to a few teachers, KET folks and representatives from other state organizations.

Now for the important part. This multi-media project is a fancy name for a game, but as we all know using the word game in education isn’t always a good idea.   Mission-US is different however.  While it is a game, it comes with more teacher materials than you can imagine.  It breaks each section of the game down and provides background information, vocabulary, how it relates to standards, and tons of activities to do in class.   So a teacher could decide to use the game in one class, or do what most teachers who were involved in the pilot did and use it over multiple class periods.

There’s really much more to say about it than the information I provided here.  The first game in the series is “For  Crown or Colony”, which deals with the American Revolution.  It has been tested with teachers and students in a variety of settings and proved to be both engaging and increased achievement.  More games are to come over the next few years on a variety of US History topics.  One of the best parts about this is that it is completely free.  I believe the official release date is towards the end of September, but it can be accessed now.  Check it out at www.mission-us.org

MindMeister – Another Brainstorming Tool

I just came across a site called MindMeister, which is a web based mind mapping/brainstorming software. It is similar to mywebspiration.com (which is currently in beta and free, but will likely be available as a paid subscription only soon) and is free for up to three boards, or if you are in education you can get the Premium edition for only $18/year. My initial thoughts on this site are very positive. The free version allows for the basics (create a board, sharing, printing, exporting to a pdf, etc…), but for $18 a year there are some additional very cool features. There is really too much for me to mention in a blog post, so check it out for yourself at http://www.mindmeister.com/. Another big plus for me is the ability to work in offline mode if you are traveling and do not have access to email and the mobile app.

Media Converters

We all know that it’s a good idea to use multiple means of representation when we present content.  There are several ways to do this including lecture, images, PowerPoint, audio, video, etc… Many times video poses a problem however.  First, it is not always easy to find sites that schools allow us to access.  Then of course, if we do find videos online it isn’t always easy to get them on your computer so that you can insert in a PowerPoint or share when internet (or certain website) access isn’t available.

To help with this, there are two websites I use when I need to grab a video from the web and save it on my computer to include in a presentation.  There’s been countless times when I found the perfect video to share while presenting at a conference only to find out there was no internet service, leaving my links useless.

• Zamzar – www.zamzar.com
• Media Converter – www.mediaconverter.org

Both resources are similar in the way they work.  First, find the youtube or other video you would like to download.  Next, simply visit one of these sites and paste the url of the video in and choose a file format.  If you are using windows, choose .avi or .wmv.  For macs, choose .mov.  Click submit and in no time you will have a copy of the video available for download.

Would love to hear your favorite resources in the comments section below.

The case for mobile learning in schools

I read an article in Fast Company magazine the other day that talked about the rise in popularity of smartphones and other devices that allow kids to access information anywhere.  There are over 6 billion people in the world today and according to the article, it is estimated that there will be 5 billion cell phones by the close of 2010.

To experiment, I downloaded one of the apps (pocketphonics) recommended in the article and turned my 2 year old loose with it (she’s familiar with the iphone already).  In no time she was following along with the program and learning to write letters.

So this got me thinking about the larger picture of mobile devices in classrooms.  There’s the iPhone, iPod touch, and now the iPad from Apple.  Then there are the droid smartphones that Google has a part in, not to mention the growth of affordable netbooks.  A recent survey showed that over 70% of kids already have access to these devices, but unfortunately are not allowed to use them in schools.

Without writing a book, here are a few of the reasons I think that schools should be seriously considering the use of mobile devices in classrooms:

• Cost (Hardware) – A laptop computer runs close to $1000 on most state bid contracts.  An 8 GB iPod touch is under $200.  In fact, you can buy an iPod touch station that comes with 30 touches and a macbook pro for substantially less that it would cost to buy a few laptops.
• Cost (Software) – Software may be more expensive than computers by the time you add up all the software that needs to be on every computer.  Many apps on the other hand cost .99 cents to a few bucks.  And if I’m not mistaken, with iPods, you sync all of the touches up to one computer… So if you buy an app once for .99 cents, you can then load it onto all of your touches.
• Fidelity – Not all classrooms I visit are using research based strategies.  I know that with RTI, “research based” is kind of a buzz phrase right now, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.  Something is researched based because it works.  Things that aren’t researched based may work, but we don’t know that for sure.  If you download an app that uses a research based strategy, you know that each student is getting that strategy every time he or she uses it.  This isn’t the case in classrooms where lecture is the primary medium used.
• Cost (technology support staff) – I work quite a bit with Assistive Technology.  It can be a pain to install, maintain, troubleshoot, etc… A friend of mine in the software world was just telling me that the cost of supporting software in schools is actually more than the software itself.  With apps, they are downloaded, maintained and updated through a system separate from the school.  Other than a quick how-to tutorial, the technology support team can spend their time on other projects.
• Access – Many kids already have these devices.  They can use them at home, school and anywhere in between.

Having said all of the above, there are still all sorts of things that can cause this to not work.  For one thing, there is a cost involved.  Although computers are more expensive, those are probably already in the district.  Setting up an iPod touch or iPad station would have a significant start up cost.  Then there is figuring out how to go about purchasing apps, letting students check the devices out, etc…

Of course, we can always think of reasons to not do something, but I challenge people to come up with solutions to make it work rather than why it can’t.

There’s more to this from a global perspective than what I am writing here.   I’ll save that for another post.  In the meantime, I am working on a session for a few upcoming national conferences.  Hope to see you at one of them.

iPod Touch/iPad resources

Just had an excellent resource passed on to me regarding iPod touch and iPad apps.  There are literally thousands of apps out there.  It would be a full time job just trying to sort through them all.  Luckily there is a guy who does this for you.  He handles all of the training on iPod touches for his school and posts his resources on his website.  The site is http://ipodtouchtraining.weebly.com/.

On a separate note, I had a chance to check out Proloquo2Go on the iPad.  My first impression is very positive.

Closed Captioning becoming readily available

I remember going to a session on closed captioning at a conference a couple years ago.  Although the presenter did an excellent job walking through the process of creating subtitles I remember leaving thinking that there is no way this is something an average video poster could or would do.  Not only did it require several pieces of software, but it was a very time consuming process.

It looks like this is all starting to change.  I received an email from a friend on the Universal Subtitles movement.  Mozilla (makers of Firefox) is playing a major role in this movement.  According to their site, The Universal Subtitles project will make it easy for anyone, anywhere to create and view video subtitles. You can learn more about it here:  The Universal Subtitles Project

Also, Google is now making it easy to add closed captioning to YouTube videos.  Learn more about it here: YouTube Closed Captioning.  One thing I took away from reading about it was that if you are in need of a video with closed captioning, just choose “Type: Closed Captioning” before you begin your search.

Please leave comments if you know of other resources!

CEC 2010 Sessions – Nashville, TN

Apologies for being away for so long… I started another venture that occupied way too much of my time.  Fortunately I’m back now, so should be able to provide updates much more often.

This post is just to speak on the two sessions I did with my colleagues at the CEC Conference in Nashville, TN.  They were both very well received.  Handouts can be found in the downloads section of our educational site and www.systemsofsupport.org.  The titles/descriptions were as follows:

The Best of Both Worlds: Integrating Technology and Instruction to Increase Reading Comprehension”, with Jason Gibson, University of KY, and Lisa Shaw, Central KY Special Ed Coop

Reading comprehension is critical for students’ long-term success. With the availability of numerous instructional strategies and technology applications, it is unclear what works and where to start. The presenters will share a variety of comprehension strategies and technology solutions validated through research that can be immediately implemented into any classroom.

“Tools at Your Fingertips: Emerging Technologies for Preservice and Inservice Teacher Training”, with Jason Gibson, University of KY and Rob Pennington, University of Louisville.

Supporting teachers in implementation of effective practices is a critical process in preservice and inservice settings. Unfortunately time, distance, budgets, and limited personnel limit the level of support provided. During this session the presenters will demonstrate simple ways of using no-cost/low-cost Web-based solutions to provide teacher training and support.

I hope everyone has a chance to look over the handouts.  Let me know if you have questions.

Speakers for your iPhone or iPod Touch

I’ve been on the road quite a bit this week and last, so not much time for posts.  I did run across a set of speakers for the iPhone or iPod touch however that I think will work great with the Proloquo2Go software I highlighted last week.

iMainGo

The speakers pictured to the left are from iMainGo.  They fit snugly around your iPhone or iPod touch, which not only looks  nice, but gives your device some extra protection as well.

I havent’ personally used the speakers, but the reviews I’ve seen are excellent.  This will give your device the extra volume it needs to become a very legitimate communication device.

I’m sure there are more options out there, so be sure to send me an email or comment if you have recommendations.

A Low Cost AAC Alternative – Proloquo2Go

If you haven’t already heard, there is an App in the apple application store for iPhone and iPod Touches that can turn your iPod into an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device.  If you’re not familiar with AAC devices, they help people who are unable to speak communicate with others… they give you a voice.  The app is called Proloquo2Go and is priced at $199, but can currently be purchased for $149.  This may sound expensive for an application, but considering the alternative is a $1,200 – $8,000 device, I consider the price very reasonable.

Porloquo2Go.com

In addition to the low price, there are a few other things I like:

• Unlike some software, it comes with some standard vocabulary that makes it usable as soon as it is downloaded.
• You can add new messages at any time.  This includes symbols, or just snap a picture with your iPhone or iPod touch and make a custom button
• You can type a message at any time and have it read aloud
• There is a button that allows you to re-read something you said 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, or longer ago instead of having to re-type the message.
• You can put beginner to advanced vocabulary sets and change the size of the symbols (which of course will cause less symbols to be displayed on the screen).

The only thing I am not to excited about is the volume.  This has nothing to do with the software itself, but if you are in a crowded area there’s not much of a chance that your communication partner will hear you (you could always show them what you are saying I suppose).  I know there are external speakers you can buy for the iPhone, but not sure if there are any that are portable enough to stay connected to the iPhone with a power source for long period of time.  If they do not exist yet, I imagine someone will be coming out with them soon.

A final thing I would like to note is that this could be the tool to end much of the abandonment of AAC devices we see all to often.  There aren’t too many non-verbal students that get excited about carrying around an AAC device everywhere they go.  Even if it is a smaller device, it is still different.  This changes everything however.  I can pick up an iPod touch for under $200 on ebay ($229 new for the 8GB version from Apple) and be using the same device to communicate that others are using for a variety of purposes.

Determining Communication Status

I find that I get more requests to do consults in the area of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) than anywhere else.  This has forced me to put together a process to help ensure I am making the best possible recommendations.  Contrary to popular belief, AAC is not rocket science, so I figured I would share my process here in hopes that it will help others needing to learn more.  This post will focus on determining the type of communicator you are working with.  Future posts will go into more detail about particular devices.

While in Orlando at ATIA this year I stopped by the DynaVox booth.  They gave me a laminated sheet labeled the interAACT framework (you can download it here)that helps determine what type of communicator a potential AAC user may be.  The framework is adapted from Patricia Dowden’s work at the University of Washington (see more information by Clicking Here).

The point of this framework is to help you know whether the potential user is an emergent, context-dependent, or independent communicator.  You should visit the site or download the document to learn more, but the basic things to look for in an emergent communicator include things like having limited purposeful communication, little or no social interactions, etc… The more able a communicator, the further up the continuum he or she would be.

So why does this help?  First, going through the characteristics forces you to ask important questions that you may not otherwise ask.  Second, although we’re not at this stage yet, knowing the answers to some of these questions will help you to immediately rule out several types of devices.  For example, if you have an emergent communicator, and they have not yet grasped the concept of pictures representing actual objects, it’s probably a little early to be going out and purchasing a the latest and greatest $10,000 dynamic display device.  However, if a communicator is at the independent/creative stage, that may very well be what you need.

Once I have a clear understanding of the type of communicator I am dealing with, I am able to start researching the most appropriate supports.  I have several books, websites, magazines, etc… that keep me up to date on what type of AAC devices are out there.  If you are new to the AAC field, I recommend going to the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative’s website and downloading their AT assessment guide (4th edition - get it here).  There is a complete chapter on AAC, which includes an AAC device continuum with examples.  Although this isn’t an exhaustive list, it will give you the general idea of what’s out there.  Then you just need to do your research.

After determining the type of communicator you are dealing with and getting some ideas from the WATI or other resources, you are ready to start trials.   AAC, and AT in general, is really a trial and error field.  You gather the most information you can, find what you think the most appropriate device at this time will be, and try it out.  Collect data and if it works great, if not, it’s back to the drawing board.  Hopefully your school system or university will have AT you can borrow for trials.  If not, most regions have some type of lending library (in Central KY we have the Bluegrass Technology Center and Special Education Cooperatives).  As a last resort, most companies will let you lease (or even borrow) a device for a short amount of time just to try.

Hopefully this post will be beneficial to some of you. I will make future posts on more concrete AAC ideas and examples.  The point that I want to get across for now is that the person who knows the most about a student is the person who works with him or her on a daily basis.  Pulling in an “AAC Expert” may be helpful because of their knowledge, but remember that this person will have limited experience with the potential user.  By using the process I’ve tried to outline here, you may be more qualified to make suggestions than what you originally thought.

Please send feedback on this process.  I just wanted to get something in writing and am sure there are many areas for improvement.