Choose It! Maker 3: A good choice for individualized learning materials

Hey Tek-Ninjas! Those of you who have been in the field for awhile will remember Choose It! Maker

(CIM). Originally CIM was software you installed onto your computer. CIM allowed users to create customized learning materials relatively quickly using personal photos, symbols, text, and sounds to create any cause & effect or choice making activities you could imagine.  The end product would then be used on the computer it was made on.

Well, the folks at HelpKidzLearn have made the product more powerful, while also easier than ever to use. Now, Choose It! Maker 3 is an online, subscription based product. You make customized learning materials in minutes which can be accessed by any computer (PC, Mac, Linux) with internet capability, as well as on the free apps available for your iPad or android tablet.

Subscriptions are available for individuals or larger organizations. 

Individual: $99 annually

5 users:  $159 annually

Site location:  $219 annually

District: available based on size of district. 

Hajime!

The Seuss Prescription

iTune Books

Hey Tek-Ninjas, as a child I was a fan of Dr. Seuss. Today,  I still am a fan.  There have for some time been a number of his books available for iDevices and other platforms. The books are chock full of interactive features that are sure to interest young learners. The books come at many different price points, some with "in-app purchases", and occasionally a few free. 

These books allow for reading along with highlighted narration, read it yourself, or to utilize auto play. You may want to equip your students with headphones if they are using the app during reading time. You may also wish to use Guided Access, to make sure inquisitive explorers from leaving the app for other activities.

Touch a picture, gets names

The "books" encourage users to tap on the various aspects of the pictures, exposing the reader to concepts of rhyming, phonics, and reading comprehension. Eventually, on each page you can find a star which opens a learning component. 

Spelling

Most recently I revisited the iPad version of Green Eggs. It is an engaging take on the classic. Your students will want to come back to it more than once. 

Take a look at the many offerings and see if Dr. Seuss might help some of your readers in class!

Happy therapy!

Printing from your iDevice!

Hey Tek-Ninjas, a number of apps have offered IOS printing... But until now, I haven't found one that works easily for me.  iDevices will even print to specific printers. But I have not purchased any of these printers, as the ones I have are in good shape.  
Recently, I stumbled upon Print by Eurosmartz.  Print does just what it says it will, quickly and easily printing photos, contacts, and web-pages from my iDevice. 

The app retails for $1.99, and the downloadable "WePrint" add-on for your computer is free.  Print works on Apple and Android devices. The computer software works on Macs or PCs. 

Downloading and installing the computer software is simple, then open and follow the directions.  In moments, you can pick from any printer that is already installed on your computer.  

According to the app writers, WePrint allows the user to print from a mobile phone even when away from the printer location, so the print-job will be waiting for you upon return.  Simple, affordable, and you don't have to be a technological wizard to set it up! Well done Eurosmartz!

Happy therapy!

Word Prediction with Google

Lingapps apps creates apps for iDevices, Android platforms, and Google Docs. AppWriter provides word prediction and text-to-speech.  For your pc or macbook, the app is sold as a subscription for $12 annually, which is a pittance compared to most of the competitors. This review is based on AppWriter on my iMac.

AppWriter offers high quality synthetic voices for twelve different languages.  All menus and buttons are read aloud. The user can determine which reading strategies benefit them, such as read from cursor position or read words as you type them.  AppWriter offers context based word suggestions AppWriter comes with one free language. Additional language are offered through in-app purchases. Additional languages retail for $7.99.

AppWriter Cloud is offered free for a month trial.

I was especially excited about this app as my school district talks about moving to a Google platform.   I don't know if this will happen, and if it does, will that include our special needs population, but, apps like this and ChromeVox make it seem as though we could make it work.

AppWriter worked seamlessly. Word prediction was solid, and the voice quality was terrific. This is an app that I definitly recommend you take a look at.



Happy therapy!

Storysmart: A Very Interesting Story!

What happens when a veteran Speech Language Pathologist marries a Designer, and they have a child with High Functioning Autism?  

Well... if the moons align correctly, you get some really fabulous apps!

Jennifer Minnelli is the SLP, and her husband Pete Minnelli is the Designer.  Integrating their unique skill sets they founded a company called Rubycube which creates mobile apps for children with high functioning autism, ADHD, and other social challenges. Currently they are producing a series of apps called Storysmart.

Their website describes Storysmart as a "suite of apps that provide both a recreational and therapeutic activity for elementary-school aged children and are designed to help them develop social communication, social cognition, critical thinking and narrative skills."  That is a tall order, but I'd have to say the apps definitely have that ability.  

Ultimately, the Minnelli's plan is to create six stories in the suite. Currently there are two ready from iTunes.  The stories are very reasonably priced at $3.99 a piece.  In addition, the Minnellis intend to make the apps for the Android platform soon.

Passage Choices

Each story presents a page at a time. The artwork is very sweet and endearing, some of it animated, some of it static.  Each page is clean and uncluttered.  The story can read itself, or just each word you touch, providing scaffolded reading support. On each page there are generally two passages that allow the user to choose what the most socially appropriate passage for the situation would be.  Prior to using the app, the user is able to record their own responses for correct and incorrect answers, and when they choose the passage, one of the recorded messages is played, thereby reinforcing the correct answer.

Therapeutically speaking, this app packs a whole-lot-of-punch for SLPs, OTs, or educators who bring their clinical reasoning tools with them.

Tool Bar

There is some nice functionality built into the programming such as the ability to turn the music on or off, change the font, return to the beginning, email Rubycube.  In addition, there is a brief educational section called "Parents" but useful for therapists or educators as well.  All of these features are easily accessed through the tool bar at the bottom of the page.

One feature I'd like to see added would be the ability to either significantly enlarge the font, or change the contrast. The inherent difficulty would likley be that this might change the layout of the pages, but it could make the app more accessible for those with visual impairments.

As noted above, Rubycube has two stories ready to be purchased:

1. Trudy Goes to the Beach: focuses on what is expected on a family vacation.
2. Casey's Big Day: focuses on what is expected from a student on his first day of 5th grade, including modulation and transitions.  

They are working on the following:

1. Ruby Gets in the Game: focusing on playing a team sport, and the nuances of following directions, paying attention, and getting along with others. 
2. Mario's Big Reactions: focuses on modulation and appropriate problem solving. 
3. Pia Stands up for Herself: focuses on navigating friendships and self advocating.
4. Aaron Plays it Safe: focuses on personal space.

If you work or live with a youngster struggling with social skills for any reason, Rubycube's Storysmart suite is  a "must-have" set of apps. 

Happy Therapy!

Tell Me Something Good!

One of my most significant "take aways" from the WATI (Wisconsin Assistive Technology Institute) conference I recently attended was an introduction to the iPad and Android app Avaz for Autism.  

According to the company, Avaz is "a research-based AAC app, specially developed for children with autism. Avaz was designed in collaboration with hundreds of experts: parents, speech therapists and children."  

I would add that Avaz could work well for any user struggling with communication and needing an alternative voice.
This review will look at the iPad version, as I have little to no experience with the Android OS.

Let me begin by saying how pleased I was with the intuitive layout, and ease of use. Avaz is ready to work and play immediately.  

When you first open up the app you are presented with very simple tutorials that are more than sufficient to get you started using the app.  Or you can by-pass the tutorials and plunge right in. 

Avaz for Autism very easily alternates from a keyboard to picture symbols. There is a word prediction bar that works well with the keyboard, and the keyboard can be QWERTY or ABC.

If the user has a common phrase, tapping the "Save" key on the bottom left makes it readily available anytime with the tapping of the "Load" key.

Also of interest is the "Alert" key on the bottom right which makes a doorbell sound to alert folks that the user has something to say.  That is a simple feature, yet so fantastic!

Picture symbols come in folders. The user can very quickly and easily create new picture cards and new folders. Simply tapping on the "Edit"  pencil icon on the top bar. It will turn red when in edit mode. Symbols and folders can easily be copied, moved, and deleted.

It is easy to begin a message with a picture symbol, and then navigate to the keyboard to type a word or two, and then navigate back to the symbols. When your sentence is constructed, just tap the word bar up top, and the sentence will be read in a crisp and clear voice.

I spent the better part of yesterday not using my vocal-voice, but rather Avaz to communicate with folks, learning as I went.  I was able to walk around my building and create 5 icons of co-workers and place them in a folder named "Staff" effortlessly. I then proceeded to taunt, and banter with those lucky staff members with Avaz, thus proving how quick it was to learn!

Another really nice and seemingly simple feature is the ability to send one's message straight to your Facebook, Twitter, or email account.  On the left, note the message in the top left corner. That was easily sent straight from Avaz! 

Other customizable options include the ability to change the number of pictures per screen, change font size, change contrast, color coding, and auto-home.  

In addition there is a built in "Backup & Restore" function which links to a DropBox account.  Just one more reason to get a free DropBox account if you don't have one already! 

I also really love that there are both adult and child US accented voices, adult male and female British voices, and an Indian female accent, for a total of seven different voices. 

So, if you are looking for AAC apps, Avaz for Autism may be just what you need. Currently it is on sale for $79.99 on iTunes, and it is $99.99 on Google Play.  These prices may feel a bit steep compared to other apps, but that's apples to oranges, compare it to some other AAC apps, and it is almost half the price of other popular products.  Or, compare it to dedicated AAC devices with integrated software (some of which sell for $9,000+) and it is a relative steal. 

Avaz for Autism is one of the most aesthetically pleasing, intuitive to learn, customizable and effective apps I've seen for our special needs population ever. 

Happy Therapy!

Join Me: Intervention for Visually Impaired Individuals

I have long been a fan of LogMeIn, software which allows me to help my wife or sons when they are struggling with something on their computers (say adding a printer).  LogMeIn was designed for remote management over the web.  So, I can be at work, and my wife at her work, and she may call to ask for help. Sometimes I can talk her through a process, but other times, I really need to drive the computer. LogMeIn allows for that, even if her laptop is across town.

The folks at LogMeIn have taken their remote management and streamlined it to allow users to share what is on their computer screen with other users, specifically on iPads. The beauty of this is that the viewer can view, but cannot edit. JoinMeIn was originally designed with a business user in mind, but really is an amazing tool for our students with visual impairment (VI).

Imagine the teacher using the SmartBoard, and all the students are engaged watching the lesson unfold. Some VI students might follow along by pointing their closed circuit tv at the SmartBoard Screen, but this is not ideal because the image quality is not great (CCTVs are not really designed for this use).  Now imagine that the VI student is able to watch the lesson on his/her iPad, even taking screen shots of salient images. The student is able to expand, and hone in on anything they deem important. Watch the "how-to" video here.

JoinMe is free. To use it, first download the iDevice app here. Or, if your an Android user, get the app here.  Then get the software for your computer. PC users here, and Mac users here.

Happy Therapy!

The Good and the Bad of Technology #2 Texting and Driving

Here's an effective video. Share it with your teens, young adults, and if you're like me... with yourself.