AssistiveTek Launches iPad Summer Institute

One Day iPad Summer Institute

Held in the Warren Middle School

Two (1 Day) Sessions of the Summer Institute will be offered on

  Dates: July 12 or July 13th

Presenters

Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D. & Christine Besko-Maughan, M.S., ATP

Using the iPad to Enhance Learning & Facilitate Communication for Students with Special Needs

The iPad is a revolutionary technology that is changing the way educators present information in the 21^st century classroom.  The multi-sensory design of the iPad appeals to all learning styles and is an ideal tool for students with special needs.  In this workshop, educators will learn about a variety of applications (apps) that address academic skills such as reading, writing, mathematics, and science.  Communication apps designed for individuals with limited functional communication abilities will also be explored.  The presenters will highlight Proloquo2Go and iCommunicate, as well as other apps designed to enhance language development.  Strategies for implementation and best practices will be discussed.  Attendees are encouraged to bring an iPad for a hands-on learning experience that will transform their teaching strategies.

Seating is limited so register early!                                                    Registration Fee: $99

For more information email: brian@assistivetek.com or call 908-852-3460

School Purchase Orders are Accepted made payable to AssistiveTek, LLC,
174 Stephensburg Road, Port Murray, NJ 07865

Conference Location: Warren Middle School, 100 Old Stirling Road, Warren, NJ 07059




Online Registration  Form

Using MindManager 7 as a Presentation Tool

Today is a big professional in-service day for educators in New Jersey and I was lucky enough to be able to present to teachers in the beautiful Warren County. I always enjoy doing presentations and workshops in Warren County-you can count on beautiful vistas and lots of farms along the way, and there is never much traffic. Today I had the opportunity to do two different workshops-one focused on free Web 2.0 technologies and the other one was a demonstration of more traditional assistive technology.

I really enjoyed working with the teachers as I shared with them a number of free resources that can be used with their students to make the curriculum more accessible. In this economic downturn the teachers were very glad that I was able to focus on free web services and software that runs through the browser. For many of the teachers, many of the applications and resources that I shared with then were new. It was exciting to see them use NaturalReader with Microsoft Word and have it read the web. Many of the teachers saw many application for this application with the students that they work with. Because the workshop was only 90 minutes I need to have a way for them to jump from web site to web site without having them have to type in the URL. This is where MindManager 7 came to the rescue. After creating my visual map I exported it to the web and was able to publish it to my website. Using the Overview map my participants could quickly move to the links by simply clicking. This worked like a charm and it is a strategy that I will use in future presentation when I want my participants to be able to move quickly from one website to another. Here is an example of the Overview map that I used for my workshop today. Take a look at it and let me know what you think.

Reflecting on the Web 2.0 Workshop

By all accounts the Web 2.0 workshop was a real success! I had a small group of teachers for whom this was an eye opening experience. Having a chance to work with some of the major Web 2.0 technologies helped them to grasp the power of the technology and gave them a lot of food for thought on how they could use the technology in their classrooms. During the workshop I had the opportunity to connect with Philip from OoVoo which demonstrated the power of video conferencing and its implications for instruction in the classroom. Reflecting on the workshop I can say wow there really is a lot going on with regards to educational technology that has the potential for changing the educational landscape. I hope the teachers that did participate in the workshop can go back to their classroom's and begin to utilize some of the Web 2.0 technologies that we discussed in the workshop. Time will tell!