Social Media in School?

Many schools struggle with the decision to allow social networking sites in school. I wrote this post on my other blog for a class I am currently taking in technology integration. 

Augmented Reality

I have discovered a new tool called Augmented Reality. There are several apps and websites related to this medium which has many applications for education.  One of the iPad apps I found that illustrates how AR works is AR Flashcards Space.  This app comes with a link to print out the flashcards, which when scanned with the app, reveal a 3 dimensional rotating planet.  When you tap on the planet its name is spoken and tap on the "i" for more information on the planet. The Flashcards Space app costs $3.99.  There is also a free app called AR Flashcards Animal Alphabet, which has a card for each letter with 3D animals. 


If you like that app, there are several other apps and web tools you can use to create your own AR auras.  One that I have played with is called Aurasma, which is both an iPad app and a website (with even more features).  You can have a picture on a bulletin board trigger a video or link to a website - which means lots of educational applications.  Using the app, kids could do video book reports and then attach them to a picture of the book so that others can get a preview of the book in the library.  A teacher could record an explanation of how to solve an advanced math problem and use a trigger image, the problem, to start the video.  You can also link to websites with a tap on the image or video.  This great 3-minute video was created by a high school student from Burlington, MA, and it shows how simple it is to create your own AR aura using Aurasma.

 

Aurasma Tutorial by Mira Mehdi, BHS

Other AR applications include LayAR which can be used to add multimedia information to printed magazines and much more. ColAR is an app that brings children's coloring pages to life (link to free pages included, additional pages are in app purchase) and Spacecraft 3D by JPL (free) allows you to "play" with NASA's robotic spacecraft. Daqri is another AR creation app.

There are also AR apps for android devices, including Google Skymap, which tells you which stars you are looking at when pointed at the night sky.  You can read about more Andriod (and iOS) AR apps (some for general info) in this Digital Trends article.

Check out AR, it is amazing, your students will love it!

ColAR coloring app

My Diigo Tools Links (weekly)

• Rewordify.com: Understand what you read

  Helps with difficult reading. Highlighting of difficult words with synonyms

  tags: AT reading literacy Vocabulary tools English

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Using Bluetooth to Access the iPad via a Switch

There are several switch interfaces to use to access the iPad with a switch, but I am going to focus on the Blue2 switch interface from AbleNet, because that is the one that we have in the technology room at school. Other suppliers that sell switch interfaces include RJ Cooper and Inclusive Technologies. A switch interface uses bluetooth technology, which is built into the iPad, to wirelessly use a switch to access the iPad. This is convenient for users who do not have the fine motor ability to isolate their touch on the exact area of the iPad to select their choice.  This method only works with switch enabled apps, a few of which I have linked below. The Blue2 interface uses the scanning function that is also used for the VoiceOver accessibility function on the iPad, the user can select the highlighted choice using a switch.


Here is what the Blue2 switch interface looks like:

To use a switch to access an app, you must set up the Blue2 and then open the app.  Follow these steps to get started:

• Turn Blue2 on
• Go to Settings>Bluetooth on the iPad.  
• Click on the Blue2 option when it comes up.
• Make sure that Mode 5 is selected on the Blue2 
• Connect your own switch(es) or use the built in switch(es). 

Set up the app by tapping play and then setting the switch options, then tap the X

Users press the switch to initiate the action at the right moment, like jumping over obstacles:

To use SoundingBoard, a communication app from AbleNet, follow the steps above and then wait for the iPad to start scanning the choices.  Select the desired board or phrase when it is highlighted.  You can set timing options on SoundingBoard under settings.

Settings:                              Board List:                 Speech choices:

Switch enabled apps:

 Memory Pairs

ChooseIt! Maker

Smarty Pants

Proloquo2Go

There are many more. Click on the following links for a list of switch accessible apps apps:

List of switch enabled apps from Jane Farrel

Inclusive Technology (Help Kidz Learn) apps

AT - Using Head Movements to Access the iPad

Picture from: http://www.technorms.com/

iOS 7 has a new feature that allows users to use head movements to operate the iPad.  It is under the accessibility settings (go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control).  This is a really nice feature for people who cannot access the iPad with their hands or their voice. It uses scanning technology, when the desired app or choice is highlighted you use your switch control settings to select the choice.  And it even works on some apps that are not "switch accessible".

You can set up switch control to choose from 4 switches - turning head left and turning head right (uses the internal camera), an external Bluetooth switch, or touching anywhere on the screen (for those who cannot isolate and target one spot).  Note: using the full screen makes it hard to turn off switch control with touch.  If this happens turn on Siri request it to activate assistive touch.  This turns off switch control. 

Each of these methods can be set up to do a variety of actions, such as select (tap), go to Home screen, increasing or decreasing volume, activating Siri, etc.  All of these options are listed under each switch set-up in the Settings app. 

Another feature is Point Scanning which is using cross hairs to pick a specific screen location. A popup menu appears at the pinpointed location for more choices.  One drawback, the iPad has to be positioned carefully to ensure the camera can see your face, or you will get a message at the top of the screen saying that it cannot.  Just adjust the angle a bit and it should work. Mounting or having a stand to keep it steady is recommended.

For more information go here.

OneNote for Classroom Notetaking: Amazing!

If you have Microsoft Office Suite, you already have OneNote.  I had not even looked at it until today, but I am glad I did.  This is an amazing tool that keeps notes (and more) in a format that looks like a 3 ring binder (similar to LiveBinders). You can save multiple notebooks, with tabbed sections and pages within the sections.  It allows you to share and collaborate on a notebook and color codes changes by user (like Google Drive).  But it has many features that these free products do not have.  

The most important feature (I think) for assisting students' note-taking, is the audio recording feature.  You can record a lecture while writing notes, and the audio syncs with the written notes, so the student can hear what the teacher was saying when the selected text was written, to verify what the notes mean. This is similar to the iPad app called Noteability, if you've seen that.  But, for me, the interface on OneNote is more intuitive. 

But wait, there's more!

You can type, or use a mouse, or a stylus or your finger on a touchscreen to handwrite notes and draw diagrams. The notes can be converted to digital text later.  Notes can be added anywhere on the page just by clicking and typing. It automatically creates a text box wherever you begin typing!

Image of the drawing function, where you can see the layout - Notebooks on the left, tabs on the top and pages on the right margin.  

Image credit: http://techyjunction.wordpress.com/category/install-office-2013/

You can also import video or images, and OneNote automatically adds a reference for the source of the image if imported from the web.  You can insert tables, Excel spreadsheets or almost any computer file.  You can draw diagrams as well. It even has a built in calculator. 

You can also share your notes with others and collaborate on a note or notebook together (like Google Drive or Wiki).

It is also available as an iPad app or Android app and on the web, so you can access your notes anywhere, even on a computer that does not have OneNote installed.  You need MS Skydrive for sharing and syncing.

Watch this quick video to see how to set up a notebook on OneNote.  This will link you to several other YouTube videos and tutorials for more info on how to use OneNote.




OneNote is a Microsoft application and comes bundled with Office, or can be purchased separately, but you can also get a free one month trial online at OneNote.com.   

OneNote has been available since Office 2003, with Service Pack 1, but may not have all the features noted here (I am reviewing OneNote 2010, there is a 2013 version as well)

CS Ed Week

I've been away from this blog for a while.  Actually, I have been working on another blog for my latest masters program technology integration class. Although that blog is for class assignments and discussions, there are a lot of good ideas and discussions from the class.  If you'd like to check it out, it's here. The blog roll on that one is a list of my classmate's blogs. 

But big happenings last week, in addition to finishing up my latest grad course, it was CS Ed Week  which coincided with the week of the birthday of former navy rear admiral and one of the first female programmers, Grace Hopper.  "Amazing Grace" was credited with coining the phrase "debugging a program" after having to literally remove a moth from a computer she was programming.  She worked on the original Cobol programming language release and is also credited with the quote, "It's easier to beg for forgiveness, than to ask for permission."  Computer science educators realize that girls shy away from technology fields, especially programming, and Grace could be an inspiration to them.  Here she is at 80 years old on Letterman:

Video of Grace Hopper on Letterman

Scratch Interactive Card 

Anyway, CS Ed Week, part of Code.org, sponsored the Hour of Code project.  It was their goal to get 1 billion kids to participate in an hour of coding tutorials.  The school I work in is strictly for special needs kids, some severely delayed, so a lot of them wouldn't be able to participate in the computer tutorials, although some did with assistance and alternative technology.  I do teach a programming class to a few of the students, currently using Scratch, but will be exploring some others later. But I wanted all of the students to at least have an understanding of how coding works and what makes their electronics work.  

Binary Mosaics

So I put together a "Programming Faire" which was held on December 13th (as part of our Fun {but educational} Friday program) which lasted for the 2 hours after lunch, with many activities for the kids to participate in. In addition to the Hour of Code tutorials, we did a lot of "unplugged" activities (some which were from csunplugged.org), as the pictures show.  I also have a Makey Makey which was used to demonstrate how we program the banana piano and the Playdough controller using Scratch.  

Nxt Robot

We also used our iPads to play games that walk them through the programming process, like LightBot, Daisy the Dinosaur and Fix the Factory and we created interactive Scratch holiday cards using the IWB.  In addition, I had a Lego Mindstorms NxT robot programming demonstration and we had a visit from the Nao Robots, which was probably the most attended activity, thanks to our communications disorders department, after they saw the video I shared with them, because of its asknao program for autistic kids.  

MakeyMakey Playdough
Controller

All in all it was very well attended and it was great that our kids could participate in a program that was worldwide.  I put it all together, but also had help from a few teachers, our library media specialist and a former technology integrator who volunteered her time to come help run the activities.  I am very grateful for their help.  It was a lot of work, but it was fun, and I hope we can do it again next year!

Secret Codes