Calculators - accesstext.gatech.edu

Assistive Technology for Transition to
Post Secondary Education
Joe Tedesco
Alternative Media Access Center
University System of Georgia
University of Georgia
Sally Kemph
Georgia Department of Education
Division for Special Education Supports
Georgia Project for Assistive Technology
Things to Consider
Considerations
• New Tools (AT) = new concepts in
learning & working
• Amount of Exposure and Use to
AT/Technology
• Realistic Expectations (Student, Parent,
Technologist, Educator, Counselor, etc.)
• Users’ Ability to Understand, Use and
Effect on Current Learning/Educational
Strategies
• Integration of New Technology
Skills/Concepts – effects on work flow
and processing.
Use of Technology
• Regular User
• Some Use
• Never Used
Expectations / Support
• Adding AT does not always
solve the issues related to
learning / educational
support
• Continued need for
Remediation
• Realistic expectations can
determine success and
decrease abandonment.
Expectations / Support
Process
Student Needs
•AT Goals
•Identify supports
•Assess Tech Ability
Use / Follow-up
Choose Technology
•Needs Change
•Technology Updates
•New Technology
•Skills increase
•What is being used?
•Demonstration
Trial
Targeted Training
•Real Life
•Time
•Practical
Tips for Successful
Integration of AT
• Start Early
• Use practical
application of the
technology when
possible.
• Focus on the needs
when training
• Check in / Follow-up
Resources
• Alliance For Technology Access
http://www.ataccess.org
• Low Cost No Cost Guide
http://www.ataccess.org/resources/lowcostno
cost.html
• Tools for Life http://www.gatfl.org/
• LD Guide http://www.gatfl.org/ldguide/
Reading Tools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Positioning Aids
• Allows for optimal positioning of text
– Book Stand (office supply)
– PortaBook Stand (Onion Mountain Technology)
– Slant Boards (Pocketful of Therapy)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Tracking Aids
• Enable students with visual tracking
difficulties to maintain their place in the text
– Reading Window (Teacher Made)
– Bar Magnifier (Independent Living Aids)
– EZC Reader/ Colored Reading Helper (Really Good
Stuff, Onion Mountain Technology)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Contrast Aids
• Alters the foregroundbackground contrast to
promote visual access to text
– Highlighters
– Highlighting Tape
– Acetate Report Covers
– Color Overlays (National Reading
Styles Institute or Onion Mountain
Technology)
– E.Z. Reader (Really Good Stuff)
www.dyslexiacure.com
www.irlen.com
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Color Contrast Examples
Common contrast aids include colored overlays/filters,
highlighter tape, colored light bulbs, and choosing appropriate
background and text colors when using the computer for
reading and writing tasks. Colored filters or overlays are
available in many different colors and sizes. Colored light bulbs
are also available commercially (they are sometime called
party lights). Some students use these lights in study
lamps. Most word processing programs, text reading software,
and other computer based reading aids provide the option of
changing font and background colors. Students are often
better able to focus and attend to text that is presented to
them on the computer by choosing background and font colors
that make their eyes ‘feel comfortable’.
Word Identification Aids
• Offers portable solution for reading difficult
words
– Electronic Dictionaries (Franklin Electronic
Publishers)
– Reading Pens (Wizcom)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Specialized Format Books
Audio Books
• Provide access to texts in audio format as
tape or digital file
• Use requires membership and possibly an adapted
player
– Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (www.rfbd.org)
– GLASS, National Library Service
(www.georgialibraries.org/public/glass/html)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Specialized Format Books
Electronic Books (e-books)
• Material is presented in primarily visual
format and depending upon the reading
device, some can have text to speech, bookmarking and annotation features
• Available both commercially and free
– Project Gutenberg (www.projectgutenberg.org)
– Bookshare (www.bookshare.org)
– Accessible Book Collection
(www.accessiblebookcollection.org)
– AMAC Alternative Media Access Center
(www.amac.uga.edu)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Text Readers
• A variety of programs that can be used to
read text on the computer display. They
convert text to speech via speech
synthesizer software.
– Some can be downloaded from the Internet
• ReadPlease 2003 (www.readplease.com)
• Natural Reader (www.naturalreaders.com)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Specially Formatted Readers
• Programs that will display specially formatted
text on the computer – both are free and
have free converters.
– eReader – presents book visually on computer, giving the
user the ability to change the font and background. Does
not provide text-to-speech.
– Microsoft Reader – presents book both visually and with
text-to-speech. Does not give the user the ability to
change the font and background other than size.
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
PDF Readers
• PDF Reading Software - Visual and auditory provide speech access to unlocked PDFs
– Adobe Reader (Adobe)
– PDF Aloud (TextHelp)
– E-Text Reader (Premier AT)
– PDF Equalizer (Premier AT)
– ClaroRead (Claro Software)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Electronic Word Identification Aids
• Provides pronunciation of word. Definition,
synonyms, and the Wikipedia for the word are
also available without auditory feedback.
Works in any program. To activate, hold down
the control key and right-click on the desired
word.
– WordWeb Dictionary Thesaurus (WordWeb Software)
• Icon resides in System Tray
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Standard Word Processing Software
• Allows students to enter, edit and store text
– Microsoft Word: a powerful standard word processor
with built-in study support features
• Visual accommodation - font, background, line
spacing
• Text-to-speech - WordTalk
• Auto-summarize, Readability Statistics, Word Count
• Highlight text and colored fonts
• Outlining feature
• Dictionary and Thesaurus
• Comment
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Writing Tools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Adapted Writing Aids
• Writing utensils that
assist with proper grip
– Ring pen
– Evo pen
– Pen Again
• Adapted paper for
students that have
physical, visual, or
processing difficulties
– Bold lined paper
– Raised lined paper
Department of Education
– Writing guides KathyGeorgia
Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Personal Vocabulary, Spelling Dictionary
and Handheld Spellchecker
• Lists of commonly misspelled
words
– SpellWell Bookmarks (Curriculum
Associates)
• Franklin Electronic Dictionary
Thesaurus
– Small portable speaking spell checking
devices and/or dictionaries which
provide information about spelling and
word usage/definitions
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Recorders and Handheld Scanner
• Devices for recording notes and answers to
tests
Digital recorder (office
supply store)
Notetaker (Don Johnston)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Portable Word Processor
• Stand alone keyboards - small in size, easy to
use, portable and durable
– Neo (AlphaSmart Inc)
– Laser PC6 (Perfect Solutions)
– Fusion (The Writer Learning System)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Standard Word Processing Software
• Allows students to enter, edit and store text
– Microsoft Word: a powerful standard word processor
with built-in study support features
• Visual accommodation - font, background, line
spacing
• Text-to-speech - WordTalk
• Word Count
• Highlight text and colored fonts
• Outlining feature
• Dictionary and Thesaurus
• Comment
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Concept / Webbing Applications
• Organizational support for students with
difficulty brainstorming and organizing
thoughts
– Inspiration
(Inspiration)
– Draft:Builder SOLO
(Don Johnston)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Electronic Worksheets
• Form filling software and scanner to scan
worksheets into the computer
– PaperPort 11 (Nuance)
– Omniform (Nuance)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Advanced Reading and Writing Aids
• Provides auditory reading support as well as visual
enhancement features. Some have OCR software.
• Offer note-taking and study support as well as
writing support.
– SOLO (Don Johnston)
– Kurzweil 3000 (Kurzweil Educational Systems)
– WYNN (Freedom Scientific)
– Read & Write Gold (Text Help)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Voice Recognition Software
• Software that allows speech that is spoken
into a microphone to be converted into text
displayed on the monitor
− Office Speech Recognition (Microsoft)
– Dragon Naturally Speaking (ScanSoft)
– MacSpeech Dictate (MacSpeech)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Access Tools for Math
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Adapted Paper
• Improves spacing and alignment of student
work
– Raised line paper (Sammons
Preston Rolyan, Onion Mountain
Technology)
– Bold line paper (Sammons Preston
Rolyan, Onion Mountain
Technology)
– Highlighted Paper (Onion
Mountain)
– Graph Paper (Office Supply)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Numpads
• Assists with math processing input
– Standard keyboard numpad (Windows or Macintosh)
– Standalone Numpad (InfoGrip)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Electronic Worksheets and Tests
• Provides a way for worksheets and tests to
be scanned into electronic format
– Paper Port (Nuance)
– OmniForm (Nuance)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Voice Input
• Allows the student to complete math tasks on
the computer through voice dictation
– MathTalk (MetroPlex Voice Computing) adds math
vocabulary set to Dragon Naturally Speaking
• Can be used with basic operations, using MathPad,
up to graduate level math, using Scientific Notebook.
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Calculation and
Problem Solving Tools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Virtual Manipulatives
• Allows for access to electronic manipulatives
– National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
(http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Charts and Study Guides
•Booklets provide sample problems and
references for solving common math
problems
– Flip charts, Quick Study guides (Google
search for Flipper Study Guides)
– CliffNotes (www.cliffnotes.com, bookstores)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Electronic Charts and Study Guides
• Applications provide sample problems and
references for solving common math problems
– Microsoft Math (Microsoft)
– Scientific Notebook (MacKichen Software)
• Online Resources provide sample problems
and references for solving common math
problems
− Ask Dr Math, Algebrahelp.com, Webmath.com
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Calculators
• Large Button - Provide large buttons
and/or large display for physical access
– Jumbo Display Folding Calculator
(Independent Living Aids)
• Talking Calculator – Provide speech
feedback of numbers entered and
numbers on display
– Desktop Talking Calculator (Maxi-Aids)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Fraction and Graphing Calculators
• Provides calculation
assistance for solving
fraction problems
– TI-15 Explorer
Calculator (Onion
Mountain Technology)
• Provides assistance in
completing math tasks
that require graphing
− TI-84 Plus Silver
Edition (Texas
Instruments, office
supply and discount
stores)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Talking Scientific Calculators
• Provides speech feedback for
solving higher level math
equations
– Talking Scientific Calculator
(Independent Living Aids)
– Orion T136X Talking Scientific
Calculator (MaxiAids)
– TI-36X Solar (Independent Living
Aids)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
On-screen Calculators
• Provide on-screen calculation assistance
– Windows based Calculators - standard and scientific
– MoffSoft FreeCalc with tape (www.moffsoft.com)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
On-screen Calculators
• Provide on-screen calculation assistance
– GraphCalc – free on-screen graphing calculator
(www.graphcalc.com)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Graphing Software
Software for Graphs and Charts
•Allows students to create graphs on the
computer
– Microsoft Word (Microsoft)
– Microsoft Excel (Microsoft)
– TI Interactive (Texas Instruments)
– Geometer Sketchpad (Key Curriculum Press)
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Portable Math Processor
• Provides a portable electric solution for
solving math problems and practicing math
skills
– Palm OS with Math Software (Handango,
ImagiWorks)
Missile Math 1.8
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Electronic Math Processing Software
• Allows for completion of higher level math
functions in an electronic format
– Equation Editor (free download from MS Office CD)
– Scientific Notebook (MacKichen Software)
– Bag of Tricks
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools
For additional information, contact:
[email protected]
Alternative Media Access Center
University System of Georgia
University of Georgia
272 West Hancock Avenue, Suite 200
Athens, Georgia 30602-5151
[email protected]
Georgia Department of Education
Division for Special Education Supports
Georgia Project for Assistive Technology
1870 Twin Towers East
Atlanta, Georgia 30334