Via: Medical Coding Certification

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. Did we mention that it’s free?

I have an office computer, laptop and home computer in addition to an iPhone and access to the internet about everywhere I go.  Evernote gives me a system for collecting notes, to do lists, websites, photos and more in one place.  Say I’m at a store and need to snap a picture of a product to check out later.  No problem, I just take the pic with my phone and add it to evernote.  It will show up on my computers, phone and evernote website when I log in.  Same goes for contacts, notes from a lecture and more.

From an educational perspective, think of how useful this would for students who are in seven class periods a day and have computers and/or internet capable phones at home.  I can see this being a very useful resource for them as they collect information for a report, story or other project.  In addition, for students who have poor organizational skills, this could be an excellent support.  A screenshot of the desktop version for windows is below, but this application works on the internet, mac and iPhone as well.  Oh, and it’s FREE for the basic version that should handle most uses.  The premium version on runs $5/month.