Technology Resources for Education's Assistive Technology Solutions

Weekly Resources for the Assistive Technology Service Provider Community

Volume 5, Issue #32 for Week of 8/9/04

Compiled by David Grapka (email: David@Trecenter.org)

Technology Resources for Education (T.R.E.) Center http://www.TRECenter.org

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Note: Some links are time-sensitive.  Access to some may require registration or free subscriptions.

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”  (Albert Einstein)

 

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING WEBSITES OF THE WEEK:

  • http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5218 Students with disabilities can anticipate faster access to curriculum materials now that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has formally endorsed a voluntary national publishing paradigm known as the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). NIMAS will make it easier to convert traditional textbooks into formats such as Braille or text-to-speech. For more info on NIMAS, go to: http://www.cast.org/NFF/NIMAS/###.
  • http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/accessibletech/index.cfm Accessible Technology: Ensuring that no child with a disability is left behind. This is a long article with current resources at the end.  Very useful if you haven’t quite figured out what the differences are among the definitions of AT, UDL and IT.
  • http://www.techlearning.com/palm a great collection of “how to” materials for palm users. Scroll down to “all students can learn” and click to download.  It begins with a reference to the the relationship of palm based education to brain based learning . . . then shows you how to make your own connections.
  • http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/resources.asp#ICDR This annotated bibliography provides a list of 62 articles on universal design, including annotations of 22 selected articles.
  • http://www.alltech-tsi.org/ ALLTech is a nationally recognized center that provides training, consultations, and technical assistance in the areas of assistive technology, specialized software, Web accessibility, and universal design in education.
  •  http://www.mediabrains.com/client/eschooln/bg1/search.asp Welcome to the School Technology Buyer's Guide! The School Technology Buyer's Guide is the most comprehensive online source of information about vendors, products, and services for the K-12 field. Click on one of the category links below or use the handy Search box below to locate information by company or keyword.
  • http://www.microsoft.com/enable/research More Research Findings on Accessible Technology. A new report entitled, "Accessible Technology in Computing - Examining Awareness, Use, and Future Potential," is the second report produced by Forrester Research and commissioned by Microsoft. This latest report presents findings about the use of computers among individuals with disabilities and functional impairments. It also discusses factors that influence the use of computers and accessible technology and includes data about the current awareness and use of accessible technology. (From RESNA’s Newsletter)

 

ADMINISTRATIVE SOLUTIONS:  

  • http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/stakeholders/index.cfm This is eschool News’ collection of stories and features about the best ways to review your own methods of communication and assess your needs in a more informed light.
  • https://secure.nsba.org/pubs/item_info.cfm?ID=714 "Technology for Students with Disabilities: A School Leader's Resource Guide." Designed to give school board members, superintendents, technology coordinators, and other educators authoritative and practical advice on a broad range of issues, including supporting teaching and learning with assistive technology; funding AT programs; and understanding the legal and regulatory context, the guide can be purchased here.  Extensive resources and appendices provide help for planning and implementation, and case studies describe effective AT programs in 10 school districts in NSBA's Technology Leadership Networks.

 

COMMUNICATION SOLUTIONS:

 

CONSULTING SOLUTIONS:

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SOLUTIONS:

 

FUNDING SOLUTIONS:

  • http://charitychannel.com/ CharityChannel is a resource that connects you to your nonprofit colleagues across town, across the country, and around the world.  Their Goal: To create a place where nonprofit professionals can connect, learn from each other, share information and work together to advance the cause of philanthropy. 

 

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

  • http://query.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?tntget=2004/07/30/education/30suit.html&tntemail1 federal judge has cleared the way for a class action lawsuit arguing that the New York City school system has improperly removed thousands of disabled and special education children from their classrooms, placing some of them for months at a time in settings that lack the services they need.
  • http://www.rascalinsurance.com Electric Mobility Corporation revolutionized mobility assistance for the less able-bodied. The design and development of Electric Mobility's user-friendly and life-changing products for people with mobility difficulties continues to this day and ensures its position as one of the world's leading manufacturers of mobility products.

 

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS:

  • http://www.icdr.us/pubs.html Listed here are publications from various sources which may will be interesting to individuals seeking information related to disability and rehabilitation research.

 

TEACHING SOLUTIONS:

  • http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/ the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) gathers studies of the effectiveness of educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies). We review the studies that have the strongest design, and report on the strengths and weaknesses of those studies against the WWC Standards so that you know what the best scientific evidence has to say.
  • http://www.educationalpress.org  "Create free educational worksheets such as flashcards, game boards, and quizzes to print directly from your browser. Simply choose a word list and an output style." These activities are also in Spanish, French and German. (from Deb McGarvey)

 

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS:

·   http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=25600537 A stragith to the point practical article on how to maximize time on task for students in the computer lab – for IT (Technicians) and Teacher people!

 

VENDOR PARTNER WEBSITES AND NEWS:

         http://www.accessiblebookcollection.org    Accessible Books

         http://www.aacconnections.com           AAC connections

         http://www.ablenetinc.com                 Ablenet

         http:://www.alphasmart.com               Announces the Neo.”

*        http://www.closingthegap.com              Closing The Gap

*        http://www.colligo.us/                        Where your handwriting is read back to you!

*        http://www.cricksoft.com                    Crick Software

*        http://www.ea-software.com                Educational Activities Software

*        http://www.enkidu.net/                       Enkidu joins Dynavox.

*        http://www.infogrip.com                     Home of the “BIGtrack”

*        http://www.inspiration.com/                Inspiration NEW! INSPIRATION FOR PALM OS HANDS-ON WORKSHOP SCRIPT NOW AVAILABLE.  The Inspiration for Palm OS three-hour, hands-on workshop script is now available. The workshop provides a step-by-step walk-through of Inspiration for Palm OS with examples that cover the softwareís major

tools and features. Examples are included for administrators, teachers or students. You can customize the workshop by mixing and matching the examples to meet your specific training needs. The script can also be modified to accommodate a shorter or longer timeframe. This workshop script and additional Inspiration for Palm OS training scripts are available at http://www.inspiration.com/training.  Find out more about Inspiration for Palm OS and download a  FREE 30-day trial at: http://www.inspiration.com/palmos.

*        http://www.intellitools.com                  IntelliTools, Inc.,

*        http://www.laureatelearning.com          Laureate Learning Systems

*        http://www.magictouch.com/         The Leader in Touchscreen Technology.

*        www.madentec.com                    Madentec

*        http://www.nasdse.com                        RIATT at NASDSE

*        http://www.rjcooper.com/2+2             R. J. Cooper

*        http://www.sunburst-store.com            Sunburst Software

*        http://www.texthelp.com                     Makers of Read and Write Gold

*        http://words-plus.com                         Words Plus

 

 

Please forward T.R.E.A.T.S. to your friends and colleagues who want to learn Assistive Technology Issues and Solutions. Thanks!

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

 

This weekly email newsletter is free and provides information useful to the community of people interested in the use of technology as a tool to help "level the playing field" for students with disabilities. 

 

If you have information to share that would be of value to members of our learning community, including job notices, please write and let us know. We'll be happy to share it here or at our web site. Contact, reprint, and subscription information is at the end of this document.

 

As always, thank you for your interest in the TRE Center and our work.  We look forward to having you share your wisdom with the people on this list and with those you serve.

 

Sincerely,

David Grapka, ATP, ATS,

Project Coordinator, T.R.E. Center

NASDSE Certified Assistive Technology Specialist,

RESNA Certified Assistive Technology Practitioner

Maywood School, 1979 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12205

Phone: 518-456-9290.

Fax: 518-456-9289.  

Toll free in NY: 1-800-248-9873.  URL: www.trecenter.org

 

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