Technology Resources for Education's

Assistive Technology Solutions

Weekly Resources for the Assistive Technology Service Provider Community

Volume 5, Issue #47 for Weeks of 11/22/04

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

Technology Resources for Education (T.R.E.) Center 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: "The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said." - Peter F. Drucker

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING WEBSITES OF THE WEEK:

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/converge/?pg=magstory&id=91987 Online textbooks offer potential cost savings, the ability to be easily updated and rich, interactive environments that enhance student learning, says Michelle Gamble-Risley, executive editor for the Center for Digital Education. Converge (Nov 2004) from CEC Smart News Brief.
http://www.speegle.co.uk This is a search engine with text-to-speech capabilities. (from Skip DeRosier). What will they think of next?
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5361 CoSN profiles 'must-have' technologies. By Corey Murray, Assistant Editor, eSchool News. November 4, 2004. Your UDL toolkit is here! Just be prepared to wait and to spend more than you expect.
http://ms.kpcorp.com/msaccessxp/ Microsoft is offering a free CD set to show you how to make your computer easier to use by adjusting the accessibility options. (from Joel Turmo).
http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/resources.asp#NCDReport This report aims to educate designers and manufacturers about the way electronic and information technology (E&IT) intersects with the needs of individuals with disabilities, and how designing with access in mind can significantly increase the size of targeted markets for E&IT.
http://www.freelists.org/archives/accessibleimage An email list that some of you might be interested in is called Accessible Image. It's a list about all aspects of making graphics accessible to folks who are visually impaired (art, maps, diagrams, etc., most often called tactile graphics, but the list encompasses all aspects of accessible images. If you wish to subscribe, send email to accessibleimage-request@freelists.org with 'subscribe' in the Subject field, or Log into the Web interface link to the archive at the “freelists” link above.

ACCESSS SOLUTIONS:

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line2.htm#wd from Nancy Kunneman

ADMINISTRATIVE SOLUTIONS AND CONCERNS:

http://caret.iste.org/index.cfm CARET bridges education technology research to practice by offering research-based answers to critical questions. You can Browse Questions & Answers to learn what studies show about topics such as student learning, curriculum and instruction, and professional development; you can click on Search to find and read CARET reviews of articles and their implications, and you can Create your Profile to receive notice of new reviews and topics.

ADVOCACY SOLUTIONS:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/idea/idea04.index.htm In a series of five articles, the authors discuss substantive changes to these five statutes by section and subsection. Text deleted from the IDEA has been struck through. Text added to the IDEA is in italics.

BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED SOLUTIONS:

http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/Article12394.phtml Gates Stresses Value Of Digital Technology In Making Information More Accessible To People With Vision Or Print Disabilities Source: Microsoft. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates explored ideas for converting print and audio data to more accessible digital formats and distributing library resources over the Internet.

COMMUNICATION SOLUTIONS:

http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/whatsnew/ The University of Washington hosts a listserv specifically dedicated to Dragon Naturally Speaking used as assistive technology (as opposed to medical or productivity users). You can get more information about this list at https://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/natspeak (from Edward S. Rosenthal)
http://www.vard.org/pubs/pubs.htm This research article, “Usage, performance, and satisfaction outcomes for experienced users of automatic speech recognition” is on user performance with speech recognition.

CONSULTING SOLUTIONS:

http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.html This is the “front page” of a substantial action research site. The links below will take you to some of the other parts of the site, and some of its associated resources.

DEPARTMENT SOLUTIONS:

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005046 This report is the latest in a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. Estimates of rates in 2001, and time series data on high school dropout and completion rates for the period 1972 through 2001 are included.

FUNDING SOLUTIONS:

http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/rm/portfolio.asp?rid=2942 A great searchable website, the “Reinventing Education Grant Program” gives you all the information you need to locate your next funding source.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/science/23sens.html?oref=login&th New Tools to Help Patients Reclaim Damaged Senses By Sandra Blakeslee. An astonishing new technology allows one set of sensory information to substitute for another in the brain.

TEACHING SOLUTIONS:

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=470 (from Beth Goodrich bgoodrich@ESC4.NET The First Lego League is a robotic competition for students. This year the competition is focusing on finding an engineering solution or a robotics solution to make a school activity accessible. You can find out more about it here.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/read.what.works.lyon.htm What Works in Teaching Children to Read: Whole Language or or Phonics?
http://www.powerbullet.com For those of you who might have had experience creating hyperstudio stacks with youth, you can convert a simple hyperstudio stack to flash format on the web using this no-cost windows software called powerbullet presenter. You can view a stack that Phil converted at: http://www.writersforliteracy.org/brownisbrown.htm He used "wiretap" to capture the audio which you can find at: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/freebies/ He grabbed the screens from this stack using a regular mac os x screen grab. (apple-shift-4.)from Phil Shapiro.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/education/10103035.htm?1c Provocative report issued at dyslexia conference By Connie Langland, Inquirer Staff Writer All children are born dyslexic - it's just that "some are easy to cure." Whhaaat??

TEST TAKING SOLUTIONS:

http://www.sightconnection.com/ladica.html Jumbo calculator

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/ Reading: Access and Comprehension

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

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

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

* http://www.greatleaps.com/ Great Leaps Reading

* http://www.independentliving.com/departments.asp?dept=9

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

* http://www.inspiration.com/ Inspiration

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

* http://www.judylynn.com/prog_win.htm#P219 Judy Lynn Software

* http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products_k3000win_demo.asp Free copies of the Kurzweil 3000 trial CD are available through our web site.

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

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

* http://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 all students. 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: 518-464-6346.

Fax: 518-464-6353.

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