Sunday, November 9, 2014

Blog post #12

iPads
iPad sitting on top of some books
iPads or tablets are a great way to use assistive technology because of all the apps they have available. One of my favorite apps was iCommunicate it allows students to design their own storyboards, flash cards and more. Another one is myHomework it lets students get their homework and everything for their classes together in one app. It is very easy to use and works great. The last one I want to talk about is Dragon Dictation. It is an easy voice recognition app that allows you to speak and see what you have said in text. It is 5 times faster than just typing on a keyboard.
~Sources~
iCommunicate
myHomework
Dragon Dictation
Research by Kaitlyn McLarty

Smartboard
The SmartBoard was created by research. Inventors used projectors, the white board, computers, and computer applications to create the SmartBoard. This combination and interactiveness created the ability to “touch control computer applications.” (wikipedia). Students with physical handicaps can use the SmartBoard as an assistive tool because it oprerates with the touch of the finger, or a stick. Math, Science, English, and searching the web for helpful information on school assignments are at the students request with just a touch on the white interactive board.
Work Cited
Wiki
Research by: Edna Montgomery

Digital Pen Teachers use digital pens to record the notes they take. They will take the notes then they will Digital Pen upload the notes to the computer to show to their students on a smartboard or projector. The digital pen can be a great resourse for students because they can put their notes on the computer and organize them. It can be especial helpful for students with disabilties because they can record the teacher talking then can be uploaded to the computer and converted to notes. the digital pen is slightly bigger than a stylus but very easy to use. Some particular pens require a certain type of paper but it is not that expensive.WikiPedia Another type of digital pen was made by Leap Frog. It allows the kid to slide the pen over the word and it will read it to the kid so they can repeat it.
Researched By: Heather Trawick

Electronic Worksheets
I chose to do "Electronic Worksheets". MathPad and MathPad Plus are websites that a teacher can use to make his or her own worksheets for students that might have ADHD or might need help refining their motor skills. The Mathpad version is for grades K-2 and it helps them with borrowing and adding. The Mathpadplus version is for grades 3-5 and it helps them with decimals, fractions, and word problems. Both of these electronic worksheets will read the problem to students. Students can use headphones when using these worksheets so that they do no distract other students.
Mathpad

Research by Jessica Mayo.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Kaitlyn, I think that you did a great job telling about the different iPad functions for the blind. I found the iPad to be a very useful device as well. I do agree with you as far as the storyboard feature on the iPad being very helpful to these students because it’s allowing learning to take place on a different level. The iPad is opening up doors that were not possible before. This, in my opinion, is one of the most useful assistive technologies that is available. I’m sure as the years go on it will only get better. Another video that I found to be pretty neat is called Interactive Whiteboards- Assistive Tecnology for the Blind.

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