Assistive Technology Webinar: From Knowledge to Advocacy

For someone who has been in the field of assistive technology for over 25 years it is really very exciting to see how far technology has come to assist students with special needs. For as long as I have been in the field, I know just how important it is for special education students to have have access to assistive technology. Unfortunately, not every school has the personnel who are knowledgeable about the latest advances in the field of assistive technology and so students are generally not offered the opportunity to try these tools. It is with this in mind that this webinar came to be. I reasoned that if parents became more knowledgeable about what assistive technologies are available- that they could become their child's best advocate in the schools and begin to request these services.

In this 1 hour webinar, Assistive Technology: From Knowledge to Advocacy- Dr. Friedlander will review the rules and regulations that pertain to assistive technology and talk about technologies  that can be employed to support access to the curriculum. Emphasis will be placed on meeting the needs of students with mild to moderate needs. Dr. Friedlander will talk about tools for reading , writing, organization, and math. Come learn about some of the new and exciting ways that computers, iPads, and eReaders can be used to address the needs of students with special needs. The fee for the webinar is $24.95 and includes the 4 page Assistive Technology Laminated Guide: What Every Educator Needs to Know About Assistive Technology which was recently just published- it is chock full of information about what you will need to know to advocate for assistive technology for your child. So join me for this informative webinar on November 19th at 1:00 pm. Sign up early and get your laminated guide mailed to you before the webinar! Once you are signed up you will receive via an email, the link for the webinar and information about how to connect to the teleconferencing center.

To pay for the webinar cick on the PayPal button below:

iTunes Apps Store Now Has Special Education Section

A couple of weeks a go I had the opportunity to work with a student who was having difficulty in the area of fine motor skills and decided to bring my iPad along. I had downloaded a number of apps to trial with the student but was counting on using the  iWriteWords app to see how the student would do with it. To say the least it was incredible to watch the student use the app and to see just how focused he was while working with it. His special education teacher and some of his therapist who watched the demonstration were amazed at his task engagement and attention.

It has been really exciting to see the iPad move into the realm of special education and I know for myself that it will find a place that is dear to the heart of special educators. There are lots of stellar apps out there that have the potential to change the way we think about assistive technology and the delivery of the services that we provide. Apple has always been at the forefront of accessible technology and recently added a Special Education section to the iTunes App Store. So check it out and let me know what apps you plan on trying with the students you work with.

NJECC Presentation: Reading & Writing Supports

This Tuesday, March 16th I will be presenting at the New Jersey Educational Computing Cooperative Annual Conference which is held at Montclair State University on the topic of: What's New in the Area of Reading & Writing Supports. My session is from 2:30-3:20 pm and if you are planning on attending it would be great to see you. A lot has happened this year in the field of assistive technology and in the field of technology in general which has resulted in some new and updated technologies that I'm sure you will want to find out about.

I have been busy this year publishing some new materials which can be used to support assistive technology in the schools. I recently released a new video called: Assistive Technology: Powerful Solutions for Success which is a wonderful tool for teacher in-service programs. Likewise, in this age of information overload I created a four page laminated reference guide called: Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know, which is chock full of resources and information about the use of assistive technology in the classroom. I will have both resources available at my workshop for you to take a look at. The session will be fast paced as we delve into some of the new tools and trends to support students in the area of reading and writing in the classroom. I hope to see you there- but just in case you can't make it here is my presentation deck that I will be using.



PS: You can now purchase my video and laminated reference guides right from my blog by clicking on the individual pages on the right side of the navigation panel.

Just Released - Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know

For anyone who has published, the day you finally actually get to see your finished product in your hands in very exciting. I had such a moment last week when my publisher NPR Inc., released a new laminated reference guide called: Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know. The guide is a chock full of information about assistive technology and is a great reference for teachers, special educators, parents, and for students in teaching training programs. With the explosion of information it is great to have a concise guide that can provide you with all of the essential information that you will need to learn about the advances in assistive technology. Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know reviews Universal Design for Learning as well as some of the legal mandates for providing assistive technology in the schools. Learn first hand about various assistive technology applications that can empower students and provide them with access to the core curriculum. Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know laminated guide is a great desk reference and a wonderful addition to any type of training and in-service programs in special education and assistive technology. Now you have the opportunity with the President's Stimulus Package to purchase this informative reference guide using you ARA dollars. So take advantage of this opportunity and provide your faculty with a great reference tool on the topic of assistive technology. Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know- laminated guide is available from AssistiveTek, LLC and lists for $12.95. Volume pricing is available and Purchase Orders are accepted. Please email me if you are interested in purchasing the guide for your school.

Technology Predictions for 2010

I guess this is the time of the season to look into the crystal ball and make predictions about the year ahead. Certainly 2009 has been an exciting year for all types of technology and in 2010, I predict we will begin to see even more rapid developments. One of the really exciting development has been in the area of mobile handsets.

With more people connected to the web via their smartphones we need to take a look at this factor and plan accordingly. With Apple raising the bar with the iPhone we have seen a flurry of development and new smartphones are being released on a weekly basis. This year we saw the release of the BlackBerry Storm 2 as well as the Motorola Droid featuring the Android operating system from Google. This has certainly been a hotbed of development and the apps for these mobile devices continues at a furious pace. Next year we will continue to see huge developments in the mobile handset market which will play out well for us in education. The real tipping point for this technology will be the ability to run Flash applications on these handsets. From what I have been reading Adobe is working hard with Research in Motion (BlackBerry) and Google to build Flash into their development tools. Once Flash becomes standard on these devices you will see incredible applications that can deliver on the promise of these devices for learning. In many cases the students we work with are carrying very powerful computing devices which could be used as an educational tool to advance their learning. So next year look for smartphones to play a larger role in the area of classroom and mobile learning. I am already beginning to see a number of companies that are developing accessories or companion products to work with smartphones which could really propel this whole arena. So next year might just be the year of mLearning- that is mobile learning opportunities from anywhere on your smartphones.

As much all of us are used to starting up our applications from our hard drives - we will continue to see a shift to the cloud at even a faster pace of adoption. I recently had a conversation with my nephew who is in his early twenty's who had just purchased a new Windows laptop. I asked him if he had purchased a copy of Microsoft Office to install and he looked at me and said "there is no reason to, I am now using GoogleDocs for all of my work." So yes there is a huge shift happening and as we move forward we will begin to see more and more students and educators adopt the cloud to do all of their work. I suspect that as I speak to educators, that many schools will jump on board in 2010 and will sign up for Google Apps for Education. In doing so, both teachers and students will recognize the quantum leap in collaboration and learning that just wasn't possible with standalone applications. So look for 2010 to bring about huge shifts in collaboration and moving to the cloud for our personal computing.

We have also just begun to witness the movement from the printed book to the digital book and 2010 is going to be a banner year for ebooks as it explodes into the market. If it is any indication, Amazon reported that their sales from downloaded books to the Kindle outpaced that for printed books for the 2009 Holidays! With this in mind we will see a number of new players in this market with their own spin on the feature set. During the 2009 holiday season we saw the release of the Nook from Barnes & Noble which was an instant success. We also have Sony in the market touting not one but three different Sony Readers. Competition is good, and I suspect we will see a host of other companies making announcements about their branded eReaders at the Consumer Electronic Show come this January in Las Vegas. In any case- it is clear that ebooks will evolve over time and will play a much bigger role in schools. As we saw in the Kindle 2- having access to text to speech built-in can make a world of difference for students who need accessible curriculum material. Having consumer products that are designed with assistive technology from the beginning helps to keep the costs down and make it a universally designed product from the get go.

I hope you have a wonderful and Happy New Year! I would appreciate hearing about your predictions for 2010- so feel free to add your comments.

NPR Inc Releases DVD: Assistive Technology- Powerful Solutions for Success

After months of work I am proud to announce that my new Assistive Technology DVD- Assistive Technology: Powerful Solutions for Success is now available from my publisher, NPR Inc. To find out more click on the links.

Technology is not only having a profound impact on the way we live our lives, but also how we learn and access information. For students with disabilities, technology can make the difference between success and failure in general education environments. Assistive Technology (AT) provides a means to help students compensate for their disabilities while building upon their strengths. Utilizing the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), this revised and updated DVD takes you into classrooms where AT solutions are being successfully implemented for students requiring:

• auditory processing supports
• fine-motor and writing supports
• reading supports

Observe first-hand how hardware and software programs not only assist students in being more successful academically, but how AT empowers them to be more confident and independent learners.

How to use this DVD

• If you are a principal or school administrator, use this DVD at faculty meetings to build the skills of your staff.
• If you are a professor/instructor at a college or university, use this DVD to enhance your classroom instruction.
• If you are a staff developer or trainer, use this DVD with new and/or experienced teachers.
• If you are a classroom teacher, use this DVD as a resource for proven Assistive Technology solutions.
• If you are a parent, use this DVD to better understand the value of Assistive Technology

The viewer will be able to:

• Describe the value of Assistive Technology in helping students access the general education curriculum
• Explain how Assistive Technology adheres to the theory of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• List a variety of hardware and software programs available for use as AT solutions
• Identify specific AT devices and software programs to support students experiencing auditory processing, fine-motor, writing, as well as reading problems
• Identify the five steps to successfully implement Assistive Technology

To find out more about the DVD click on the link.

One Sentence Summary Created with Context Organizer After months of work I am proud to announce that my new Assistive Technology DVD- Assistive Technology: Powerful Solutions for Success is now available from my publisher, NPR Inc.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic - Individual Membership is now Free

Thanks to major funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Grant #H327D090001 and support of private donors, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic ® (RFB&D®) Individual Membership is now free to individuals with proper certification*.

Member benefits include:

• FREE access to the nation's largest audiobook library of textbooks and literature titles
• Human-narrated audiobooks with descriptions of images, tables and graphs
• Easy-to-use online catalog
• 24/7 online member services and phone support
• Various audiobook downloadable formats, including DAISY and WMA (Windows Media Audio)

Register Online for Immediate Access

Download an Application

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*Learn more about Certification

Recording of Technology Supports for Writing Webinar is Now Available

This past Wednesday, Joan Green and I held a webinar on technology supports for writing which was based on our new eBook, "Technology Supports for Writing" which we recently released. The 51 page eBook which is accessible with Adobe Acrobat Reader includes a great compilation of resources for anyone who needs to support students in the area of writing. Included in the ebook iare over 12 videos that are embedded that let you actually see how the software works. You can view the videos in full screen and get a sense first hand if you think that the program may have application for the students you are working with. During the webinar we highlighted a couple of reesources, ie. PixWriter, Livescribe Pulse Smartpen, Ginger, and NaturalReaders. You will find the eBook to be a helpful resource to have on your computer which not only includes a breakdown of features and interactive links to the publishers website.

This 51 page cutting-edge video ebook is a rich resource for information about various software and hardware tools to improve the writing process. It includes one video describing how to take advantage of this new "just in time" type of multi-media interactive learning tool and 12 integrated videos showing readers examples of how to use supports built-in to some of the highlighted products.

Clickable topics in our video e-book include:

* Software with customizable drill-and-practice exercises to improve writing
* Software to improve spelling
* Software to help stimulate written content
* Features of word processors and assistive writing technology
* Text-based word processing features
* Text- based word processors
* Picture-based talking word processors
* Stand-alone word bank program
* Dictionaries
* Graphic organizers: technology for organizing written narrative
* Technology to help with the physical aspect of writing
* Speech-to-text and voice recognition
* Initiation of the writing process
* The physical act of handwriting or typing
* Portable word processors



A recording of the webinar is now available for everyone to view for one week- until November 7, 2009. Please feel free to pass along this information:) If you know of colleagues, friends, teachers or others who might be interested in this topic, it would be great if you could email them the info to access the recording. If you are involved with support groups, listserves, blogs and Facebook - we would appreciate your help posting this info.

To view the recording go to http://tr.im/Do3z.

In this 60 minute presentation, you have the opportunity to see how assistive technology can help individuals with the writing process. Joan and I demonstrate and discuss several products such as Ginger Software, PixWriter, Livescribe Pulse Pen and Natural Readers and present information about our book titled "Technology Supports for Writing" (available as an instant download or on a CD from www.ittsguides.com.

Until Nov. 7th, use the coupon code "presentation" for a 30% discount for online orders of the download. Contact me at Joan@innovativespeech.com for an order form if you prefer to pay by check or need to use a purchase order.

You will need Windows Media Player on your computer in order to view the webinar recording as well as high speed internet access. If you don't have the software, it can be downloaded from here.

After ordering the ebook, you will neet to have at last Adobe Reader 9 to view the integrated videos. If you don't have at least that version, it can be downloaded here .

We are both available for consultations as needed (on this topic or others) if you would like to explore in greater detail which resources might be most appropriate for your situation. Our contact information is included below. We'd also appreciate hearing from you about other topics you would be interested in learning about.

Brian Friedlander, Ph.D.
Brian@assistivetek.com
908-852-3460
Skype: assistivetek
Blog: assistivetek.blogspot.com

Joan Green, M.A. CCC-SLP
Joan@innovativespeech.com
1-800-IST- 2550 or 301-602-2899
Twitter- @jgreenslp

Free Webinar: Technology Supports for Writing

Technology Supports for Writing

Join authors Brian Friedlander, Ph.D and Joan Green M.A.CCC-SLP for a free webinar to learn about their new interactive video ebook.

Space is limited.

Click Here Reserve your Webinar seat now or go to

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/440908155

Learn about a new interactive guide to cutting-edge technology tools, strategies and resources to improve the writing process. This video ebook is now available at www.ittsguides.com.

We plan to record this webinar and make it available for viewing for one week after the session. Please register here even if you can't participate live and we will notify you about how to view the recorded session after it takes place.

Everyone who registers will be given a coupon code for 20% off the price of Technology Supports for Writing.


Title:   Technology Supports for Writing

Date:
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Time:
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT



After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

 

Ginger Software Updated

I have been following the development of Ginger Software for the past couple of months and wanted to let you know that a new version is available at their web site. Ginger Software is a very innovative spelling correction tool that works with Microsoft Word and well as with Outlook. Students can do their writing in Microsoft Word and with a click of the F2 key bring up the Ginger Software application.

The Ginger Software interface has changed significantly since the last version and I trust that once you try it you will find it even easier to use. Once you invoke the F2 key the Ginger Software interface drops down from the top of your Word document and provides you with the suggestions for your misspelled words. If you click on the suggested word which is underlined, you will have some alternative words to select from. I think that you will agree that the new interface is much more intuitive and easier to use. You will note on their website that built-in text to speech support is coming to Ginger Software. So if you have not had a chance to experience using Ginger Software give it a try and let me know what you think. Click on the word demo to see Ginger Software in action. The algorithms that are used are fantastic for students with dyslexia. I would be interested in your feedback and how your students have found using Ginger Software.

WizCom ReadingenTS

I had a chance at NECC 2009 to meet up with Chris from WizCom Technologies to see some of their new reading solutions. For those of you who may not be familiar with Wizcom, they develop handheld reading tools with built-in optical character recognition (OCR) software that can scan text from a book and read it using text to speech (TTS). Once the text is scanned into the device, the WizCom Readingpen using text to speech (TTS) will highlight each word and read the text on the screen. The WizCom ReadingPens also includes extensive dictionary supports which allows students to look up words they are unfamiliar with and hear them being read with the text to speech. Over the years I have used the ReadingPen Basic Edition K-12 which includes the American Heritage® Children’s Dictionary and Thesaurus with good success with elementary and middle school students.

Like all technology the key is to match the features of the tool to the student. I can remember quite vividly that when I demonstrated the Readingpen to my graduate students (all of whom are certified teachers) , that one of my students got quite excited with what she saw. After class my student approached me and asked if she could try out the Readingpen with one of her students, which I said of course. My graduate student went back into her classroom and implemented the Readingpen with her student with great success. I can recall that at the end of the semester my student brought a card into me from her student who was using the Readingpen thanking me for introducing it to her and how it helped her throughout the year with reading text. What a great feeling to know that the Readingpen made a such a difference in the student's life. These are the stories that keep me motivated to teach others about new tools and gadgets that can assist students with reading and writing disabilities.

While at NECC 2009, I was able to see first hand the recently released ReadingpenTS, which includes a touch screen technology along with the option to choose between two different dictionaries, as well as the ability to connect the ReadingPen via a USB cable to a Windows based PC. The ReadingpenTS now includes a Children's and College level dictionary to choose from- giving the student more ways to cutomize their experience. The ReadingpenTS is a little larger than previous models which may make it a better tool for a middle to high school students. Having access to a touch screen allows student to directly interact with the text making it easier to select the word they want to have read or look up in the dictionary. The ReadingpenTS also gives students the ability to use a stylus and a virtual keyboard to manually enter words to be looked up which is a nice feature. The virtual keyboard will try to suggest works once you begin to input letters to help you along the way. The stylus is tucked away and secured within the slot provided on the side of the ReadingpenTS. The student will need to have good fine motor skills to use the stylus and virtual keyboard since the letters are small due to the limited real estate of the touch screen. The ReadingpenTS is designed to let you navigate the features using a 5 Way Toggle button located towards the front of the pen. I found the navigation system to be intuitive and work well for moving about the options. The ReadingpenTS can syllabicate words, provide you with definitions, synonyms as well as provide the student with English to Spanish translation. I found it very easy to move about the various options with the 5 Way Toggle and feel that students will find it easy to do as well.

If you have not taken a look at the Readingpens in awhile I urge you to do so. While some of the earlier models did have difficulty with recognizing the text, you will find that the ReadingpenTS with its faster microprocessor and advanced OCR software does an extremely good job of recognizing the text. I would say that if the quality of the text you are scanning is good and you get your technique down that you should achieve somewhere in the 96%-98% accuracy when scanning the material. Students can listen to the text being read discreetly using the headset that is supplied that plugs into the device. The ReadingpenTS is an ideal accommodation tool for students with reading disabilities during testing situations. The ReadingpenTS would allow student the ability to take the test independently without the need to have a reader. Likewise, if you need to, teachers can turn off the ability for the student to access the built-in dictionary or thesaurus when using the ReadingpenTS in a testing situation.

One of the new features of the ReadingpenTS is the ability to connect it via a USB cable to a PC. Right now this feature is only available for students using a Windows PS. Prior to connecting the ReadingpenTS to your PC, you install the PenExplorer application and drivers from the CD that is provided. Once you have installed the software you can view the contents of the History.txt file on the PC to review the words that the students has looked up in the dictionary. More importantly, The PenExplorer application lets teachers upload text files (.txt) to the Readingpen TS with up to 9000 characters that can then be opened and read on the ReadingPen TS. Using the Notepad application I copied and pasted some text from the book Call of the Wild and saved it to my desktop. I then dragged the Call of the Wild text file to the Notes folder within the PenExplorer. I then plugged in my ReadingpenTS and selected Connect to PC on the Main Menu on the ReadingpenTS which automatically, in the background, uploaded the Call of the Wild text file to to my Radingpen. Once I disconnected the Readingpen TS from the computer I was able to open the file and have the Radingpen TS read it aloud. Just think of all of the ways that you could use that to accommodate your students with reading disabilities in the classroom. Once they have access to the text in the pen they can also look up words and provide them with a context for developing their personal vocabulary. I was very impressed with the features of the ReadingpenTS and urge you to take a look at it for your middle and high school students with reading difficulties. Of course there always has to be a good match between the tasks, tools and the learning style of the student-but it is important to have lots of tools at your disposal for those students that you work with. For more information about the ReadingpenTS go to the WizCom Website.

Reflections on the Webinar

It was really exciting to be able to offer a free webinar on the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. I decided about three weeks ago with all of the clamor of this stimulus package to share my ideas on how school districts can begin to dialog on how best to plan for purchases and professional development. First off I would like to thank Glance for providing me with use of their incredibly easy to use screensharing and teleconferencing service. It went off almost without a hitch- slight error on my part of giving my participants my old Glance address. Once I rectified that, we were on our way to having a smooth and successful webinar.

The stimulus package is an ideal was to really build and shore up your school's assistive technology program. While there is a lot to think about, the stimulus dollars will only be here for a two year period of time. One of the top priorities is for schools to purchase state of the art assistive technologies along with intensive professional development for regular and special education teachers. While there will be challenge- never has there been such a great opportunity for those of us in the field of assistive technology to demonstrate just how important these tools can be for the students to reach their goals. For those of you who were not able to make the webinar here is a copy of my presentation.

Free Assistive Technology Webinar on April 29

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) & IDEA Recovery Funds for Services to Children & Youths with Disabilities will certainly have an unprecedented impact on practice and opportunities in the area of assistive technology in the schools. Will you and your school be ready when these funds hit your school? Four principles will guide the distribution and use of these dollars and include:

· Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs.

· Improve student achievement through school improvement and reform.

· Ensure transparency, reporting and accountability.

· Invest in one-time ARRA fund thoughtfully to minimize the “funding cliff.”

Likewise Congress has earmarked this money with some initiatives that are quite compelling:

· Obtain state-of-the art assistive technology devices and provide training in their use to enhance access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities.

· Provide intensive district-wide professional development for special education and regular education teachers that focuses on scaling-up, through replication, proven and innovative evidence-based school-wide strategies in reading, math, writing and science, and positive behavioral supports to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

· Develop or expand the capacity to collect and use data to improve teaching and learning.

· Expand the availability and range of inclusive placement options for preschoolers with disabilities by developing the capacity of public and private preschool programs to serve these children.

· Hire transition coordinators to work with employers in the community to develop job placements for youths with disabilities.

It is clear from this mandate that schools will need to be in a position to act quickly as they put their programs together for assistive technology and professional development. This is a tremendous opportunity for schools to think systematically about assistive technology and its broad implications for the students you work with. In this free webinar Dr. Friedlander will talk about the The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) & IDEA Recovery Funds for Services to Children & Youths with Disabilities in relation to students with mild to moderate learning disabilities and the role of professional development. So please join Dr. Friedlander on April 29th at 1:00 pm EST.

Please sign up for the webinar using the form that is located on the top of this blog page on the Right hand side. Space is limited for this webinar so sign up now! Once you sign up you will receive information about how to log into the session. Looking forward to your participation! Brian