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Patrick Black

SpeEdChange: A 'Universal' VoiceThread? Not quite. And, Google and Prezi - 0 views

  • VoiceThread has failed to work with any kind of screen reader, leaving those with sight issues, and reading issues, disconnected... from totally to partially
  • VoiceThread Universal lets full-scale screen readers, software like JAWS and ORCA, read the text comments left on a VoiceThread and allow navigation. The navigation allows you to add comments as well, and that's great. But as the developers point out, the current system won't help you with, "creating and adding content to VoiceThreads," won't allow searches, doesn't allow phone integration, though they say all these things are being "worked on."
  • A bigger issue for me is that neither VoiceThread nor VoiceThread Universal works with the kind of "light" screen readers used by those with dyslexia.
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  • So, is it OK for us to use these tools in schools? I am conflicted. I tend to think "yes" assuming that we always - automatically - provide alternative access capability which is, essentially, equal. After all, we still use those inaccessible books in our rooms, we still let teachers write, in handwriting no less, on the "board." But I'm bothered by it because use may tend to remove the pressure on these organizations to move toward accessibility. These companies want access to our students, should we offer that if they don't really want access to all of our kids?
J B

Engineering Universal Access for Learning - 0 views

  • “Universal design usually means creating buildings that are physically accessible to everyone, with hallways wide enough for wheelchairs,” he says. “But, in promoting ‘universal design for learning,’ we have to simultaneously confront the technological, social and psychological barriers to equal education.”
  • “Rather than see one person as being blind and another as having dyslexia, we’ve found that it’s most useful to think of both of them as having difficulty processing visual information.
  • some of the most critical issues in educational access remain social rather than technological. As he says, “there is still a stigma that makes some students unwilling to disclose their learning disability.”
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  • Bowie State is collaborating with researchers at the University of Illinois to combine image processing, facial recognition and natural speech to interpret and describe graphic images.
J B

Intellectual disabilities, fragile X: Promising treatments being tested for intellectua... - 1 views

  • It is a moment of triumph for Chase, one of an estimated 90,000 in the U.S. who live with an inherited form of intellectual disability known as fragile X syndrome.
  • On a surprising drug — a workhorse antibiotic used since the 1960s to treat acne, skin infections, strep throat and chlamydia — Chase is learning.
  • The medications are still far from proven: Large-scale trials may take several years to complete. But if they live up to their promise without dangerous side effects, they could accomplish what no medication has been able to: cure a genetically based intellectual disability.
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  • Minocycline, the medication Chase has been taking for almost eight months, is one of several drugs that might correct — even reverse — many of the brain perturbations of fragile X and several other developmental disorders, including autism.
  • "People haven't thought about what it would be like to reverse intellectual disability or mental retardation," says Dr. Randi Hagerman, medical director of UC Davis' MIND Institute, who ran the minocycline study in which Chase was enrolled. "We now think it may be possible."
  • It's a goal as controversial as it is ambitious. For decades, activists and parents championed inclusion for those with what was until recently called "mental retardation" (the preferred term now is "intellectual disability" or "developmental disability").
J B

Kid Cart for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store - 0 views

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    made-for-kids grocery list, which focuses on practicing reading and counting
J B

Camera Mouse - 0 views

  • Camera Mouse is a free program that enables you to control the mouse pointer on your computer screen just by moving your head.
  • To use Camera Mouse you need a Windows 7, Vista, or XP computer and a webcam.
  • developed by researchers at Boston College and Boston University
Patrick Black

Special Education Teacher Describes Fun Classroom Technology Learning Environment to Te... - 0 views

  • video interview with Education Specialist Rebecca Byers.Video Interview: http://web.teachtown.com/article-byers-042011
  • “The technology enables teachers, parents and specialists to work together to provide consistent instruction. Student data reports guide us to develop more effective IEPs (Individual Education Plans). Consistent instruction and progress data are two primary benefits of computer aided instruction to help all children learn.”
  • TeachTown®: Basics incorporates the latest artificial intelligence and best practices in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Discrete Trial Performance to prescribe individual lessons based on learning styles and student progress.
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  • I also think this program would work well for English Language Learners.
  • TeachTown®: Basics was designed by a team of autism researchers led by Dr. Christina Whalen, PhD, BCBA-D, Chief Science Officer, who co-founded the company while working at the University of Washington Autism Center. The intervention curriculum addresses early childhood learning standards, and uses prescriptive and adaptive intelligence to deliver direct instruction. At appropriate intervals, children are motivated with games and rewards. Teachers can view progress reports online and receive a monthly email report to track accountability. The program contains over 800 On Computer Lessons and Off Computer Activities, and delivers thousands of concepts in six essential learning domains: Mathematics, Language Development, Language Arts, Adaptive Skills, Cognitive Skills, and Social and Emotion Skills.
Patrick Black

Matt Bergman's Universal Design for Learning / Ed Tech 2.0 Blog - 0 views

  • Recently, a graduate student of mine introduced me to a site called Answer Garden, which is an online brainstorming tool. All you need is a question and computers for your students to use to answer! Answer Garden makes it easy to embed on your website or just provide a link for your students to access.
  • If you are lucky enough to have a few extra computers in your classroom, you may want to use www.vocabulary.com. Your students are given the challenge of answering a variety of multiple choice questions about vocabulary. The questions appear on a note card, giving it a classroom feel. The site has built a database of over 40,000 words and you have options for narrowing your choices down or getting clues. As you compete, you can accumulate points, making it a competition.
J B

Tech Ease - 0 views

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    Funding for Tech-Ease content development has been provided by by various grants from the University of South Florida and the Florida Department of Education.
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