Assistive Technology

Just Keep Moving-LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:40:00 +0000

In my effort to walk towards better health I was a little stymied when I wanted to listen to my music on my iPhone as I was walking tethered to the supplied Apple Ear-buds. Looking for a better solution, I came across the LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset which looked like it could foot the bill. I was able to find them for about $46 dollars online and ordered a pair to try out. The LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo

LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset

Headset has a unique design which is makes it ideal for anyone that may be walking or running. The LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset goes around your neck and the ear buds are attached on each side of the arc for easy placement in your ears. The volume controls and Rewind and Fast-forward controls can be found on either side of the headset. The LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset is also equipped with a microphone which can be used to answer in-coming calls. After charging the LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset with the supplied Micro- USB charger, I found the headset easy to pair up to my iPhone 4S and within seconds I was up and running. Just today I took a walk on a trail near my home and used my LG-HBS-700 Bluetooth Stereo Headset as I walked. It is great being hands free and be able to listen to my favorite music as I do my walk. And yes walking to the Doors and Led Zeppelin did in fact help me pick up the pace-turned in my best walking times today on my 4 mile walk :-).

Walking to Health

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Sat, 11 May 2013 03:27:00 +0000

Oh the years do catch up to you and when I turned and looked at myself in October 2012, I knew I had to chart a new course with regards to my weight and health, and so I decided to make some changes. I joined Weight Watchers in mid October and have been attending the meetings religiously which has helped to keep me focused and on track with their program. Each week our Weight Watcher leader encourages us to talk about a topic that pertains to changing behaviors and thinking about food differently. Having a group of supportive members in the meeting allows us to share new strategies and tactics to help propel us in the right direction. As much as it is a diet - it is really about changing your attitudes and behaviors with regards to food and one's life style. Weight Watchers really instills in you the

importance of looking at the ingredients and the size of the food portions. Using their helpful Weight Watchers app for the iPhone, I can quickly determine the Point value and decide if it something that I will add to a meal- which is invaluable when I am shopping. During the meetings there is a great deal of emphasis on getting off of the couch and keeping active which I have really embraced. Of course being a gadget guy- I knew that in order for me to embrace this change, I needed to throw a gadget or two into the mix and so I decided to purchase a FitBit Zip- which I have been wearing for the past 6 months-which syncs up with my iPhone. The FitBit Zip is a really small digital pedometer that I wear on my belt throughout the day to track my steps and the distance I have walked. It is extremely unobtrusive and has worked flawlessly for the past 6 months providing me with the necessary feedback and encouragement. Yes- encouragement. You see if I walk the 10,000 steps a day it sends me nice messages and keeps me motivated. The feedback and the charting of my activity has really helped me to continue to lose weight on my journey.

I recently got my Kickstarter Pebble Smartwatch and have been using it with the RunKeeper app for the iPhone which has added another dimension to my exercise. Utilizing both technologies I can now track my walk and see the distance, pace, and time on my Pebble Smartwatch. Every five minutes RunKeeper will announce my progress and tell me my pace which really keeps me on track. Once I am home, I can go to the RunKeeper web page and look at the route I just walked, which is a lot of fun. Having tools like the

FitBit Zip and RunKeeper are keeping me motivated to stay on task and continue my new regiment. During this past week, I have walked 31 miles and continue to shed weight as I move closer and closer to my goal. Having joined Weight Watchers has been a god send and has motivated me to make the changes in my diet and activity level which will propel me to good health. For those of you out there who struggle as I do with weight management-commit yourself to a program - add a spice of technology- and walk your way to better health! You will be glad you did- I am!

Tools of the Trade- A Day of iPad Training

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:22:00 +0000

MaxCases Educator

Today I set off to do an iPad Training and thought it would be interesting for you to find out what I packed for the workshop. Of course, I packed my trusty Apple iPad which I have been using for the last 2 years and it has treated me well. I also used my Epson Powerlite 915W projector which not only supports VGA but HDMI which is great for using with the Apple TV. If you really want to experience the iPad when doing training then you need to carry your Apple TV with you, so that you can move around the room with the iPad as you are projecting the screen. Apple's Airplay technology is just great for sending the video and audio to the device. I also used the Maxcases Educator Case with my iPad which allowed me to hold the iPad securely with the adjustable hand strap which gave me the freedom to write directly on the iPad using the free IPEVO Whiteboard app. Using the IPEVO Whiteboard app enabled me to use the iPad as if I were using an interactive whiteboard and could simply write on the screen on the iPad and everyone was able to see the contents. I also demonstrated the IPEVO Ziggi-HD document camera and IPEVO Wireless Station for iPad which gives you the power of utilizing a document camera with the iPad. For my presentation, I used a Haiku Deck that I customized for this training session which looked spectacular- the graphics really popped.and having a 3000 Lumen, Epson 915W projector really sets the stage for some fantastic looking images on the screen. I also used the Belkin Tablet Stand which worked great to position my iPad on the desk when I wasn't using the Maxcases Educator case. It's really a symphony when all the pieces come together! A super day of training was had by all :-)

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Clicker Docs for iPad Updated to Version 1.2

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:58:00 +0000

For those of you who are using Clicker Docs for the iPad it was just recently updated to version 1.2 and some really nice features which include:

Clicker Docs- Large Size Prediction Bar & Word Count

What's New in Version 1.2

- Option to set a bigger size for the Predictor/Spell Checker suggestions
- Improved predictor performance
- Improved hardware keyboard support – predicted words, spell checker suggestions and SoundShift button can now be accessed while the virtual keyboard is minimized
- Word count added to Document menu
- Thumbnails of Word Banks are shown in Explorer, Favourites and Recents
- When adding a new grid, this is now inserted after the current grid
- New View & Edit option when pasting text in Edit Mode – makes it even easier to create an A-Z Word Bank from any piece of text
- The language (British or American English) is still set automatically when the App is first used, but this setting can now be changed
- More pronunciation improvements

I for one am very happy to see that the you can now change the size of the Predictor/Speller Checker bar which should make it easier for students with visual or fine motor disabilities to select words from the predicted list. Likewise, it is now easier to use the word prediction feature when a student is using a Bluetooth keyboard. i also like that students can now get a word count and some overall stats on what they have written. All in all, this a very nice upgrade and I would suggest that you go to the apps store and upgrade your copy of Clicker Docs.

iReadWrite for iPad-Powerful Tools for Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:22:00 +0000

It is really exciting to see the traditional publishers of assistive technology jumping into the app marketplace and providing end users with powerful new apps that pack a lot of features. I had the good fortune to be able to review iReadWrite from TextHelp, Inc. which was recently released and am very impressed with the feature set. This is TextHelp's first foray into the iPad marketplace but they have been long standing publishers of Read Write Gold on the Windows/Mac platform and have a great deal of experience providing students with assistive technology supports.

iReadWrite is a well designed app that works as advertised. It provides students with text-to-speech , word prediction and vocabulary support. iReadWrite does not require an internet connection to utilize the program which is ideal for students who may be in schools with poor web connectivity. At the time of this writing iReadWrite can open rtf. and txt. files. Students will quickly grasp how to use the word prediction feature which is a real strength of the program. I have worked with some students who have dropped out vowels and iReadWrite was still able to predict the word. iReadWrite has one of the most powerful word prediction features that I have seen to date for iPad apps. However, I would like to see some way for students to be able select the predicted word from the list, when they are using a Bluetooth keyboard. Perhaps having the first ten word numbered that can be entered via a number key from the keyboard could work. Utilizing the Swipe feature students will be able to quickly enter the words into the writing area. If a student is unsure of which word to use- they can hold their finger down and up pops the definition with a picture support. This vocabulary feature is well designed and implemented and will be very helpful for students when they are writing. In addition to spell checking, iReadWrite also does homonym checking and will look for those confusable words that students often use which are incorrect. This feature is easy to use and students will quickly see which words were flagged as iReadWrite changes the font to Blue. When students have completed their written work they can export the text to: Mail. Message, Twitter, and Facebook. They can also copy the text and paste it into another app if they prefer. It would be nice to be able to Print directly from iReadWrite, but maybe that is a feature for a future upgrade. Short of some minor feature requests, iReadWrite provides students with a robust set of tools that will help them in the area of reading and writing. TextHelp, Inc has done a tremendous job of creating an app that is both powerful and full featured for the iOS platform and educators need to include this in their AT Toolkit when making recommendations.

I have included a screencast that takes a quick tour around iReadWrite:

Belkin Tablet Stands - Adding Ergonomics to the Tablet Equation

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:42:00 +0000

While most schools are eager to purchase the latest iPads or tablets for the classroom sometimes they may over-look how and where students will be using them. When looking at how students will be utilizing the iPad it is

Belkin Tablet Stand

important to take look at the positioning of the iPad so that it is at a comfortable viewing and typing height. Sometimes in our haste to get the latest technology into the classroom we may overlook the ergonomics which can have a big impact on just how functional the system is. With this as a backdrop, I had a briefing with Jon Roepke, Belkin Senior Product Manager, Education who had a chance to share with me some of their offerings from Belkin in the K-12 marketplace. Belkin has released two stands for the iPad (Belkin Tablet Stand & Belkin Tablet Stand with Storage) which vastly improve the ergonomics when students are typing or utilizing the iPad in either landscape or portrait mode. These finely crafted devices are both aesthetically pleasing and molded with a soft cushion material on the top of the stand with a hard plastic on the bottom. The soft cushiony material in the channel firmly grips the iPad in either landscape or portrait mode, thus putting the iPad and a comfortable viewing and typing angle. The bottom of the Belkin Tablet Stand has non-skid

Belkin Tablet Stand with Storage

rubber which prevents the iPad from moving when typing or interacting with it.

Aimed at the primary grades Belkin also shared with me the Belkin Tablet Stand with Storage which adds to the basic stand the capacity for students to store their schools supplies. The Belkin Tablet Stand with Storage is an ideal stand for students who will be using the iPad or other tablet and who need the ability to organize their supplies. It is ideal for students who need to store their ear buds, pen, pencil or whatever these choose. The design is very pleasing and the latching mechanism is easy for students to access and securely closes. If you are using iPads or tablets in the classroom then you need to consider the ergonomics and take a look at the Belkin Stands to help you create better working environments for your students.

My Evernote Workshop at the Library

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:34:00 +0000

Over the past couple of years I have done a number of technology sessions at my local public library which have pretty well attended. This year I decided to do a presentation on Evernote, which I thought would be of interest to the community I have been an Evernote user for over 5 years and use it more and more for my own personal and professional needs. During the presentation I demonstrated how to use the Evernote application on a computer, iPhone & iPad. Using my trusty Epson PowerLite 915W projector, I am able to connect my laptop via a standard USB cable to the projector and connect my iPad via the VGA cable. Using the Epson Remote that is included with the projector, I can quickly switch between the two devices which makes it really handy and easy to switch between the computer and the iPad when doing presentations. I should note that the USB connection sends both the video out and audio to the projector which makes it a really easy set up when doing presentations. During the presentation I used a presentation deck that I created with the Haiku Deck app on my iPad which I then imported into Keynote. Once the Haiku Deck presentation was in Keynote, I could now use the Keynote Remote app to move through my slides which works really well. I will do another post about this workflow in the near future. I am really enjoying using Haiku Deck and the finished product looks like I hired a graphic designer to create-in fact I did it myself and you too can with Haiku Deck. Below is the Haiku Deck that I used for my presentation. Enjoy!

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Great Day Presenting to Undergraduate Students Majoring in Education

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:18:00 +0000

It was really great being able to share the work that I am doing with undergraduate students who are majoring in Education at the College of St. Elizabeth. Today was their annual educational association conference and I had a chance to share the work I am doing using iPads in the classroom. I had a chance to demonstrate a number of new and innovative technologies that in some way all connect to the iPad. The students got a real kick out of the demonstration I did with the iPevo Wireless Station and the iPevo Ziggi HD document camera. I placed three quarters under IPevo Ziggi HD camera and then handed three groups of students an iPad with the iPevo Whiteboard app installed Once the students logged into the iPevo Wireless network they were all able to see the three quarters and annotate on top of the image. I shared with the group how this strategy and approach could be used as students set off to solve real world problems having access to high quality video feeds. In my presentation, I next demonstrated the Mighty Scope Connect, a handheld wireless digital microscope from Aven, Inc. The Mighty Scope Connect, is an impressive microscope that easily creates an adhoc wireless network with your iPad and utilizing their Wi-Viewer app it wirelessly sends the image to the iPad. The quality of the image under the microscope was really crisp and clear and the future teachers could think of some interesting ways to utilize this tool in the classroom. Just like the iPevo solution, students could log into the Mighty Scope Connect network and view the image in stunning detail on their iPads using the supplied app. I plan on doing a more in-depth review of theMighty Scope Connect in another blog post. As part of my presentation I also demonstrated probeware from Pasco and how it could be utilized with the iPad using a Bluetooth connection. Using the PasPort Airlink 2 connected to a Temperature, Sound Level, & Light probe, I was able to demonstrate how the device could capture the light level in the room in real time and display it on the iPad. It was enjoyable day and the students were very excited to learn about all of the innovative technologies that are out there and find their way to the classroom.

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Using Inspiration 9.1 to Visually Map Our Process

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:17:00 +0000

I think that we have all come to realize that using visuals is a great way to communicate ideas and processes. This is especially true when we need to communicate a series of steps to complete a process. While words and step by step directions can help us understand the process,I have found that for most students as well as adults having that visual support is a great way to ensure that everyone is on the same page and understands the steps needed to accomplish the task. I just recently was working with a school that will be utilizing the Boogie Board RIP to take digital notes and while using the Boogie Board RIP is a fairly easy, there are some important steps involved to do use it correctly so that the notes are recorded properly. Rather than write a long list of step by step directions, I decided to use Inspiration 9.1 to create a visual that would explain the process. Having access to tools like Inspiration makes it easy for teachers to create great looking visuals that can explain complex processes. If you have Inspiration take it out and give it a try the next time you have to explain a complex step of directions or process!

Livescribe Helper-to the Rescue

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:08:00 +0000

I use my Livescribe SKY WiFi pen almost everyday to make classroom observations, take notes, and when I am doing assistive technology evaluations. Having the Livescribe SKY WiFi pen sync all of my notes to Evernote has really changed my work flow and giving me the freedom to use my pen where ever I may be. Not having to manually sync my Livescribe SKY WiFi pen has been huge for me-eliminating a big step in the process that I had to do with the Livescribe Echo pen. Now I don't even have to think about it and when I am in a WiFi area the pen automatically connects and uploads all of my notes including the audio which is really fantastic. But there are those times when I am in places that while I have access to WiFi, requires web authentication which unfortunately the Livescribe SKY WiFi pen cannot negotiate. This is the case in my office on my college campus, where I teach. To solve this issue, I have been using the Livescribe Helper application which I have installed on my desktop. With the Livescribe Helper application installed I can now plug in my Livescribe SKY WiFi pen and it will automatically sync my notes to my Evernote account. In addition to allowing you to sync your notes when you don't have a wireless connection, the Livescribe Helper will perform firmware updates to your pen which I have found go a lot quicker when plugged into your computer and using the Livescribe Helper. So if you have been trying to find a way to sync your Livescribe SKY WiFi pen when you don't have access to WiFi then do take a look at the Livescribe helper application- you will be glad you did.

From Inspiration 9.1 to Inspiration Maps-Seamless!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:52:00 +0000

It is exciting to watch as software publishers are rolling out software that take advantage of each of the respective platforms and in the process creating some powerful workflows. Such is the case for Inspiration 9.1 on the desktop and Inspiration Maps on the iPad. If you have Inspiration 9 installed on your computer and are using Inspiration Maps on your iPad, I would strongly suggest updating your desktop application to version 9.1. I recently did a presentation to administrators on how they can use Evernote to organize their workflow in the cloud and used an Inspiration Map to visually demonstrate the uses. I was able to quickly accomplish this task by opening Inspiration 9.1 on my laptop and creating the map. Since I used web based graphics in my map it was a lot easier to create the map using my computer. When I was done using Inspiration on my laptop, I simply went to the File Menu and selected Export to iPad Inspiration Maps... This automatically saved it to my DropBox account and when I went to my iPad and opened Inspiration Maps, I could open the map. It was really that simple. This solution really leveraged the strengths of both platforms and when I was ready to present to the administrators, all I needed to do was open the it from my iPad. It was really that easy!

Exporting your Clicker 6 Grids to Clicker Docs

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:47:00 +0000

If you haven't updated your copy of Clicker 6, I would highly advise it- especially if you are also using Clicker Docs and Clicker Sentences on an iPad. One of the really nice features of the recent update to Clicker 6, is the ability to export your grids to Clicker Sentences and Clicker Docs. The process could not be any easier and it is a great way to re-purpose your grids so that they can be used by students on the iPad.. You can see from the screenshot that under the Clicker Set menu there is now an Export Clicker Set for App option. Once you select either Clicker Sentences or Clicker Docs- the grid is automatically saved in your Apps folder within your Dropbox account. In this example I created a grid with text from the book Call of the Wild in Clicker 6 and then Exported it to Clicker Docs. Now once in Clicker Docs on my iPad, I can click on the Folder icon on the Top Left and Select Dropbox to see the Grids that I have Exported. Now all that is left for me to do is select "Call of the Wild " and I am ready to use the words. It really is that easy to do. Give it a try you will be glad you did! To update your version of of Clicker 6 click here.

Setting Up A Kanex meDrive File Server

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:19:00 +0000

OK, I'm a bit of a geek and I admit it. I have used hundreds of software titles and apps but setting up a file server-that I have never done. So when Kanex offered me the opportunity to review the Kanex meDrive File Server I was a little hesitant but thought I would give it try. I had watched their video on their web site and thought - wow that looks easy. So last week, when the Kanex meDrive File Server arrived, I was eager to see just how easy it really was to set up. The Kanex meDrive File Server is a little smaller than an iPhone in an all white enclosure that resembles what you would expect to purchase from Apple In the box you will find the Kanex meDrive File Server and a micro USB cable, an Ethernet cable, and getting Started Guide. To power the Kanex meDrive File Server you will need to plug it into a power adapter which is not supplied. I found an Eveready Power USB Adapter at Staples for $5 dollars which is plugged into the supplied cable. I next plugged the Ethernet cable into the Kanex meDrive File Server and then plugged that into my wireless router. Next, I then plugged in a 2 GB Flash drive into the hot swappable Kanex meDrive File Server which served as my storage. With the Kanex meDrive File Server connected I downloaded the Kanex meDrive App from the App store to my iPhone and opened the app. I configured the meDrive app and within seconds I was up and running. Who knew that I could install a file server on my home WiFi network so quickly.

The beauty of having a file server set up in my home is that I could back up and store my files that I routinely save when I use Keynote and Pages app. Both apps support the Copy to WebDav which is ideal for the Kanex meDrive File Server. To test out the Kanex meDrive File Server I went to Pages on my iPhone and used the Copy to WebDav command. Once I entered my IP address and user name and password for the file server drive into the dialog box I was able to save my files to the Kanex meDrive File Server. It was incredible just how fast it took me, to configure the file server once I took it out of the box. In addition to supporting WebDav, I was also able to import pictures and videos which was a great way for me to back up my files. All in all, the Kanex meDrive File Server was easy to set up and could be a great tool to use on your iPad in the classroom to store and curate Keynote, Pages, Numbers and other Apps that support Copy to WebDav. Kanex meDrive File Server is available from Kanex for $99 and is well worth the money. Set-up was a snap and n excellent value proposition!

New Trend Emerging in Classroom Presentation Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 02:32:00 +0000

As the iPad begins to transform the face of education- we will shortly begin to see it take hold of another facet of learning in the classroom - notably the interactive whiteboard. I can remember like it was just yesterday the excitement of working on a SMART Board for the very first time. It transformed the classroom and gave both teachers a portal to the internet that they could share with their students with such ease. While interactive whiteboards of all varieties are much more common in today's classrooms across America they never really changed the dynamic of the classroom with the teacher standing in the front of the classroom directing the lesson. Yes- I know that students do come up to the interactive whiteboard on occasion to interact with the board but for the majority of students, they sit idly at their desks waiting for a turn. This is all about to change as the iPad infiltrates this next arena of the classroom notably the interactive whiteboard.

About two weeks ago I had a briefing with Jon Roepke, Belkin Senior Product Manager, Education who had a chance to share with me some of the new offerings from Belkin in the K-12 marketplace. I was excited to learn about the Belkin Tablet Stage and the accompanying Belkin Stage App that would be released in March 2013. The Belkin Tablet Stage transforms the iPad into a document and presentation system which looks to rival some of the standalone systems that are currently be used in the classroom. The Belkin Tablet Stage is compatible with tablets that are 7" to 11" and has an adjustable platform with cable management allowing you to adjust the iPad as you see fit. The Belkin Tablet Stage contains adjustable LED lights and has a document camera mode to captures images and live video. The accompanying Belkin Stage App which is free, compliments the system and lets teachers annotate on top of the live video feed. With the latest edition of the Belkin Stage App, teachers can pay $1.99 which allows them to record and save live video feeds to their Camera Roll. Teachers will find using the Belkin Stage App easy and intuitive to use, providing teachers with a good set of annotation tools. Teachers can draw on top of any image or video feed using various colored markers or use the Label Tool to bring text flags into the stage. If you opt to buy the video record feature you can record your annotations and audio and save it to the camera Roll and share it out which is a great feature. Utilizing the Belkin Stage app will enable teachers to move around the classroom and use the iPad as if it were a graphics tablet. Anything written on the app will be immediately projected to the screen. Students could easily take hold of the iPad and share their ideas and thoughts or small groups of students could be working together and sharing their group work. Giving teachers the flexibility to move about the classroom with the iPad projecting the image will be the next wave and utilizing Apple's Airplay technology is pretty straightforward. Many classroom are installing Apple TV's to accomplish this while other may choose a software solution like the Reflector App which routes the video and audio through a Mac or PC that is on the same wireless network.

I am really excited by this product because it will enable teachers and students to scan and capture high quality worksheets and text book pages which can then be utilized by other programs. Working with lots of students with fine motor disabilities it is possible to scan their documents and annotate on top of them- but one of the weak links is getting a good quality scan which is sometimes hard when you have to hold the iPad still for a period of time. Having access to the Belkin Tablet Stage will enable students to capture high quality images which can then be annotated on using a variety of scanning apps. Similarly we will begin to see higher quality Optical Character Recognition (OCR) apps which will enable students to scan the text directly into their iPad and have it read aloud. Pretty amazing developments!

IPEVO Whiteboard Screenshot with Annotation

In the same vein, I had a chance to sit down with Alex from IPEVO to get an update on some of their new product offerings for the classroom which should be imminent. It was exciting to hear about all of the new releases which as you can imagine, revolved around the iPad. Alex brought with him the Wireless Station for iPad and USB Document Cam and demonstrated how using their Point 2 View (P2V) Document camera that one could wirelessly send a live video feed from under the camera to the iPad in real time. The set up was very easy as the Wireless Station for iPad sets up an ad-hoc wireless network that communicates to the iPad. One has to simply plug in the P2V Camera into the Wireless Station and then in the iPad's Network Settings select the Wireless Station WIFI network. Once you open the IPEVO Whiteboard app you can click on the Wireless Device icon to select the device and you are ready to use the camera. If you want to use the Internet while connected to the Wireless Station you can route the Internet via WIFI connecting through the Wireless Station making it easy to use both the camera and Internet at the same time. Utilizing their recently released free IPEVO Whiteboard app it was possible to annotate directly on the video using any of a number of different markup tools which includ: free from markers, arrows, boxes, circles, text, lines and arrows. The software was easy to use and a teacher could capture what was on the iPad screen to the Camera Roll or send it to Evernote for later use. The IPEVO Whiteboard app gives teachers the freedom to bring in pictures from their Camera Roll or create a new board using a Plain White background for writing on. While teachers can certainly use their fingers to write with it, is easier when using this app to use a stylus. IPEVO's telescoping Stylus fits the bill and give you the option to elongate it if you need to do so when using the iPad. Teachers can use the Point 2 View or Ziggi USB camera with the Wireless Station and the soon to be released Ziggi-HD camera. Teachers can create sessions with multiple boards while using the IPEVO Whiteboard app and switch between them quickly.

It is clear to me that the we are beginning to see a new trend in using the iPad as an interactive presentation system in the classroom which will begin to take hold for the start of the next school year. The interplay of Apple's Airplay technology coupled with these low cost solutions will define a new market for interactive technologies in the classroom; benefiting both teachers and students in the learning process.

WETech 2013 Presentation

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:28:00 +0000

I had the opportunity to present this past weekend at the WETech 2013 Conference which was a lot of fun. More than 150 educators attended the conference and had the opportunity to select from a vast array of exciting technology workshops during the course of the day. I presented on the topic of Supporting Students with Executive Function and Learning Disorders. The presentation focused on the rich array of apps that are now available on the iPad to support students who present with Executive Function Disorders and Learning Disabilities. During the course of the presentation I touched up a long list of apps that have enabled students to be more successful and productive in their schoolwork. Some of these included: Evernote, Clicker Docs, Read2Go, Voice Dream, Inspiration Maps, iWordQ, Remind101, iThoughts, and Penultimate to name a few. It is amazing how the field of assistive technology has been transformed by the iPad and going forward we can only imagine what the future will hold. One of the significant aspects of the iPad is that it can be personalized and customized to meet the needs of students with Executive Function and Learning Disorders. Below you will find my presentation deck that I used at the WETech 2013 Conference:

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

My Top 5 Tips When Using Evernote

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:30:00 +0000

I have been an Evernote user for the past 5 years and find myself using it more and more each day in the work that I do. Having access to my notes, PDF's, emails, Word documents, and whatever else I need to store, is invaluable to me. So here are a couple of tips that I hope will make you more productive using Evernote.

Tip 1 Set up Import Folders

From your Mac or PC it is easy to set up a folder known as an Import Folder from your computer. Once this folder is set up anything you save into it will automatically be saved in your Evernote account. Wow now that is easy!

Tip 2 Forwarding eMail to your Evernote Account

Every Evernote user is automatically given and Evernote email address which can come in really handy for forwarding emails. You can go to your Account setting information to find out your Evernote email address and once you do - enter into your Contacts so that you can always pull it up. If you add the @ sign at the end of the subject field with the name of the notebook you email will be automatically filed in that notebook.

Tip 3 Encrypting Sensitive Material

If you have sensitive material you would like to include in a note but want to make sure it is protected you can select the text and right click to select Encrypt Selected Text... This will bring up a dialog box asking you to enter a password to lock the text.

Tip 4 Use the Livescribe SKY Wifi Smartpen

As much as I enjoy using computes and mobile devices there are times when it just makes sense to use pen and paper and when I do, I use my Livescribe SKY Wifi Smartpen to automatically get my hand written notes into my Evernote account. The Livescribe SKY Wifi Smartpen seamlessly uploads all of my hand written and audio notes to my Evernote account over Wifi-simply brilliant.

Tip 5 Share your Evernote notes

Evernote provides you with lots of ways to share your notes. Just go to the Share Menu and select how you would like to share your note.

Sugru- the new Play-Doh for the 21st Century

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:46:00 +0000

Nothing could have been better when I was a child than when my mother or father would pick me up a fresh container of Play-Doh. I could spend hours playing with the Play-Doh forming all kinds of animals and structures. And yes there were times when I would leave it out of the container to cure so that I could display my handiwork for my friends and family. So when I cam a cross sugru, a new form of play dough, I had to get my hands on it and check it out. So thank-you Suki from sugru for providing me with a sample of sugru for me to test out. You see Sugru is a self setting silicone rubber that when left out at room temperature for 24 hours cures to a hard but flexible silicone rubber.

Sugru comes in small 5 gm minipacks in a couple of different colors ( red, yellow, purple, black and white) which can be molded in your hands. Because of its properties sugru is a wonderful product that can be used in many different ways. You see sugru is self-adhesive and can bond to aluminium, steel, ceramics, glass, wood, some fabrics and plastics. Sugru has some wonderful properties which makes it ideal for projects that involve repair of items that will be in and around water. Likewise sugru is electrically insulating which makes it an ideal material when doing minor repairs of electrical equipment (ie. power cords). It also handles the hot and cold temperatures well as well as sunlight. Just in case you aren't satisfied with your handiwork, sugru is removable from most non-porous surfaces.

I was fascinated with the possibilities and thought that it would be a lot of fun to create a customized pencil grip using sugru. Getting started was really easy- I opened the minipack, rolled the suru in my fingers and then began to form the suru around the pencil. Once the sugru was on the pencil, I held the pencil as I normal would to create the customized grip that I desired. I then left the pencil out over night and when I returned 24 hours later I had a great custom pencil grip to use. The pencil grip feels great in my hand and has a nice cushiony feel to it. I'm sure many occupational therapists would enjoy using suru in the work that they do with students in the school. Using your creativity the possibilities are endless when using sugru. With a little innovation you will find sugru indispensable for both home and school. Sugru gives you the flexibility to use just one material as you design, improve and customize the things you rely on every single day. Suru has a wonderful website with some great ideas on how you can use sugru- so check it out.

The iPad and More: Help Children Improve Communication, Cognition, Literacy and Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:10:00 +0000

Speakers..

Joan L. Green, M.A. CCC-SLP and

Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D

Saturday March 9^th, 2013

9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Register at www.ist.ticketleap.com

Holiday Inn in Hasbrouck Heights

283 State Highway 17 Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604

COST: $175 per person including lunch

Space is limited Group rates available

· Some scholarships are available- contact Joan at Joan@innovativespeech.com

· 1^st 10 registrants receive free copy of Joan’s book- The Ultimate Guide to Assistive Technology in Special Education: Resources for Education, Intervention and Rehabilitation

Joan Green is a speech-language pathologist from the Washington, DC area with many years of experience helping a wide range of children maximize progress with the help of cutting-edge affordable technologies. Dr. Friedlander is a school psychologist with expertise in the area of assistive technology. This is a great workshop for parents as well as education and rehabilitation professionals and anyone else who wants to learn more about ways to use an iPad or other iDevice to help children reach their goals faster, enjoy the process and enhance school success. Joan and Brian will be showing their top picks for speaking, reading, writing, thinking, organizing and enhancing the learning process. They will also review accessibility options, strategies for success and the nuts and bolts of using the iPad.

Participants are encouraged to bring their iPads and iPhones and to use them while shown an overview cutting-edge strategies and tools to use to help children with and without special needs.

For more information please go to www.ist.ticketleap.com

Bookshare Releases Bookshare Web Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:41:00 +0000

Making text accessible for students with "Print Disabilities" has become one of the cornerstones of the work that I do day in and day out. By being able to provide students with accessible text, they can know with confidence that they will be able to keep up with the work load in their respective classes. Utilizing services like Bookshare has really made a significant difference in the lives of students that I have worked with, but it is still incredible when I realize just how many parents, students and educators are unaware of the service. As I continue to go out into the educational community and share this information one of the things I have learned in my years in the field of assistive technology is that: the technology has to be dead simple to use and access. If there are any kinks in the process there is a real likelihood that the technology just will not be utilized. In this respect with the release of the Bookshare Web Reader, Bookshare has taken the necessary step to make the process of accessing and reading books a simpler process for both students and teachers. Now students can log into Bookshare with their Individual account credentials-open the Google Chrome Browser and simply install the Bookshare Web Reader Extension and have immediate access to their books complete with text to speech support. Students will no longer have to download a separate application to access their books and by using the Google Chrome browser they can access their books on any computer through the browser.

I had a chance to try the Bookshare Web Reader, just today, and I am very pleased with how it worked. The installation of the Chrome extension was simple to do and by simply logging into a Demo Individual account, I could click on the Read Now link which automatically opened the Bookshare Web Reader. Bookshare Web Reader, has an easy to use tool bar at the top of the Browser which lets you navigate the book and start and stop the Text to Speech engine. By clicking on the Gear icon- it will pop up a dialog box that will allow you to change some of the reading and visual settings. Students can change the look and feel of the book and can determine just how fast they would like the text to be read. Working with the Bookshare Web Reader, I did not see a way to change the speech engine and I am guessing that the Bookshare Web Reader, uses a text to speech engine that is installed with the Web Reader Extension. If I had to make a recommendation, I would like to see a range of speech engines that students can select from in future releases of this product. Overall, Bookshare Web Reader makes accessing Bookshare books easy and straight forward and eliminates the need to have a full blown reading application installed on the computer. As we remove more and more friction from the reading experience, more students will find it second nature to utilize their Bookshare accounts with the Bookshare Web Reader to access their books- and in the end, that is what's really important.

Clicker Docs for iPad Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:56:00 +0000

You can read my original review of Clicker Docs, which adds considerable writing supports for students that need word prediction, text to speech, and talking word wall support. Since my review, Crick Software has released an update to the app which adds some powerful new features. The latest version of Clicker Docs now supports external Bluetooth keyboards, Dropbox, as well as spell checking. While the word prediction feature was well implemented in Clicker Docs- it is now more powerful in that any word that is included in the grid automatically comes to the top of the prediction list when a student is typing. So for example if the student was writing about the rainforest and you had created a grid that included the following words: canopy, orangutan, understory, sloth, opossum, emergent layer, forest floor, etc.- these words would automatically come up to the top of list as the student was typing and could be selected from the prediction bar. You can see from the screen shot above the list of words and in the screen shot to the right-see how the word prediction engine suggested the word "orangutan" in the list. This is a very powerful feature and will allow teachers to build customized grids on specific topics so that students are better supported when they are doing writing a particular topic. Clicker Docs also added a feature called Show Touches which is great for those of us who are doing training, it adds a small yellow highlighted circle whenever you touch the screen at that location. Likewise, Clicker Docs now supports Dropbox which will be fully integrated with the desktop version of Clicker 6. If you have downloaded Clicker Docs to you iPad make sure that you update your version so that you can take advantage of these new features.

From ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 to Evernote- Seamless!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:36:00 +0000

With each passing day, I am finding that Evernote is becoming a bigger part of my workflow and it is exciting to see how developers of other applications are taking advantage of this. Just today CS Odessa released an update to ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 that seamlessly allows you to upload your mind maps to Evernote with a click of a button. If you have the Evernote application installed on your computer the upload takes place in the background and within seconds your outline and mind map are transferred to Evernote. For those of you who don't have the Evernote application, you can send your mind maps via an email client that you have installed on your computer. Since the Evernote application is free, I would highly recommend that you install it on your computer so that you can have this seamless experience uploading your mind maps to Evernote from within ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7. Watch the video below to see the Evernote options that are built-in to ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7.

The Summit 3000 from MyCharge to the Rescue

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:39:00 +0000

While having an iPhone 4S has made me much more productive, it seems that wherever I am, I am always looking to plug it in for a quick charge. One of the downsides to owning an iPhone4S is the battery life-make no mistake about that. If I'm traveling and away for the office it not unusual for my iPhone 4S to be down around 10% by the end of the day. That is where an external battery charger come into play. I recently had a chance to review the Summit 3000, from MyCharge which is a 3000mAh Rechargeable Power Bank and have to say it did a great job of keeping my iPhone fully charged while I was on the road. According to MyCharge, the Summit 3000 will give you 13 plus hours of talk time and 10 plus hours of Browsing on your smartphone.

The Summit 3000 is about the size of the iPhone 4S only a little thicker. What is unique about the Summit 3000 is that all the connectors are built-in so there is no need to worry about toting your cables with you. The Summit 3000 comes equipped with the 30 pin Apple Connector, Micro USB and a full sized USB Port.The Summit 3000 is extremely well designed and pleasing to the eye and feels good holding it your hand. The Summit 3000 can be easily and quickly charged with the built-in ultra-fast wall charger. To check the battery level of the Summit 3000 simply press the button on the front panel and an array of five LED's will light up and the Summit 3000 will announce using text to speech the battery level- nice feature! Once fully charged you can charge up to three devices at once making this ideal if you own other electronic devices in addition to the iPhone.

In my tests I was able to charge my iPhone 4S which was at 50% charge in two hours. After I had charged my iPhone 4S to full capacity, I checked the Summit 3000 which still had 50% charge, which meant that if I needed to I could have gotten another nice charge out of the battery. I also tested the Summit 3000 with my Kindle PaperWhite which was down to 50% and it took about hour and half to charge it to full capacity using the Summit 3000.

The Summit 3000 is an ideal rechargeable battery bank that can be used to charge not only your iPhone but your iPad and tablets as well. I know that from here on in, I will not leave my home without my Summit 3000 in my case. MyCharge makes a full line of rechargeable batteries with real innovative features- but having the built-in cords makes it an ideal battery for the person on the go. So now, I always have my Summit 3000 in my bag wherever I go, and have the confidence knowing that my iPhone and electronic devices can be easily charged when I am on the go. Go to MyCharge to take a look at the full line of rechargeable battery banks.

CamNote is Launched for iOS & Android Smartphones

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:07:00 +0000

About two weeks ago, I was reading some blog posts on my Flipboard app when I came across a piece about a new app called CamNote for IOS and Android platforms which was just recently released. The blog was accompanied with a great video tour of the app which caught my attention. CamNote lets you have the best of both worlds-continue to hand write your notes on the CamNote A5 Journal or A7 Jotter as you have always done and then scan them in with your smartphone using the free CamNote app. The developer has done a fantastic job of developing an app that quickly and automatically recognizes the borders of the writing pads so that you can upload your notes to DropBox, Evernote, or Google Drive in one quick step. If you have ever tried to scan a document with your camera you will realize the benefits of using the CamNote system to archive and share your notes with others. The CamNote A5 Journal or A7 Jotter are well designed and the quality of the paper is fantastic and developed so that ink will not bleed through the page. Once you upload and tag your notes to Google Drive or Evernote you can take advantage of their OCR feature to search and find words in your uploaded notes. Organizing your hand written notes has never been so easy with the CamNote System. If you are interested in purchasing CamNote in the United States email me for the details. If you still enjoy using pen and paper to take your notes but want to take it to the next level, then you need to take a look at CamNote. The CamNote system is an ideal way to capture, archive and share your hand written notes with others- so give it a try!

Happy New Year from AssistiveTek, LLC

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 22:07:00 +0000

It has certainly been an exciting year in technology and I'm confident that 2013 will be an even more exciting year for us. Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year! Sincerely, Brian

MyScript Calculator- All Hands on Deck!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Friedlander) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:18:00 +0000

It is really exciting to see the innovation that is happening in the iPad space especially in the area of math, which has taken a back seat to apps in the areas of reading and writing. I came across the MyScript Calculator the other day and have been playing around with it on my iPad. MyScript Calculator is free and can be downloaded from the App Store. It is really phenomenal-simply open the app and write your mathematical expression with your finger or stylus and it automatically solves it for you. Even with my handwriting I was able to write the square root sign and the number 81 and within seconds it returned the value 9. The handwriting recognition is really fantastic and MyScript should be congratulated for their handwriting recognition engine which has become a standard in the industry. MyScript Calculator can be used to setup very sophisticated computations which would be ideal of high school students. Check it out and you will see that you will be able to put away your standard calculator on your iPad for good. MyScript Calculator is available for free from the Apple App Store. Download it and give it a try you will be glad you did.

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