1. Productivity, Accessibility
& Free Enabling Technology Tools
Are the best things in life free?
A summary of free enabling technologies to support
learning differences.
Margaret McKay – Advisor: Inclusion
05/13/13 1
2. Outline for Today
• Free enabling technologies that can be
downloaded and run from a pen drive or
accessed via the college network.
• Web based and other downloadable enabling
technologies.
4. Alternative Interfaces
Recording Tools
Planning Tools
Communication Tools
Visualisation Tools
Writing Tools
Texthelp
Claro read
Kursweil 3000
Penfriend
CoWriter
Audio Notetakers
Dragon Naturally Speaking
ZoomText
Inspiration
Mindmanager
Reading/Writing Tools
Commercially available assistive technologies can
offer support to all
(but are often only available to those with disabilities)
5. Traditional models of supporting students
with barriers to learning
No, it’s not insured
not for you to use
in the public
library
No, it’s not insured
not for you to use
in the public
library
If you do not disclose
that you have dyslexia
we cannot give you
enabling technology –
you are not eligible!
If you do not disclose
that you have dyslexia
we cannot give you
enabling technology –
you are not eligible!
If you don’t have a
disability you are not
eligible to access any
assistive technology,
regardless if it would
make a difference or not.
If you don’t have a
disability you are not
eligible to access any
assistive technology,
regardless if it would
make a difference or not.
8. Inclusion for Everyone
..because things are not always as they seem..because things are not always as they seem
Assistive technology solutionsAssistive technology solutions
can make a significant difference to acan make a significant difference to a
much wider range of people.much wider range of people.
Especially free technologiesEspecially free technologies
that can help a widethat can help a wide
range of technology users.range of technology users.
9. A typical class of students on a
mainstream course highlighted the
following barriers to learning
• Blurred/fuzzy print.
• Headaches/discomfort if text too close together.
• Strong/bold print leaves a shadow.
• Lose place on line - Small print.
• If questions long/complicated – structure answer.
• Vocabulary difficult/unfamiliar.
• Not always know what is important/essential.
• Forget if sentences long.
• Missed/lost handouts.
• Time to read/take notes in class.
9
10. How They Learn
Reflect on knowledge or skill
Write
responses
Interact with
resources
Record
information
Plan responses
Reading Tools
Alternative Interfaces
Recording Tools
Planning Tools
Communication Tools
What They Do How To Help
Visualisation Tools
Writing Tools
Introduce new knowledge or skill
Exemplify new knowledge or skill
Test understanding of new
knowledge or skill by completing
specific assignments
Reflect on knowledge or skill
Technologies can support the learning process in
schools, colleges, universities and employment
11. Free and Portable Enabling Technologies
at www.eduapps.org
EduApps consists of four different collections of incredibly useful software:
• AccessApps provides a range of solutions to support writing, reading and
planning, as well as sensory, cognitive and physical difficulties.
• TeachApps is a collection of software specifically designed for teachers or
lecturers.
• LearnApps, as its name implies, is specifically designed for learners. All
learners or students can benefit from LearnApps.
• MyStudyBar provides a suite of apps to support disabled users, literacy
and support for those with English as a Second Language.
• MyVisBar is a floating toolbar which delivers a range of open source and
freeware applications to support learners with visual difficulties.
Currently containing 90 open source and freeware software applications
which can be entirely used from a USB stick on a Windows computer.
Created by JISC RSC Scotland N&E
13. A new way of doing things
• Do less work but create more accessible resources.
• Create alternative formats without being an accessibility
specialist.
• Make audio/ podcasts for a learner (without speaking or
installing software).
• Make mobile learning (without buying software).
• Give poor readers reading help (without being there).
• Give poor spellers prompts (without being there).
• Define vocabulary (without being there).
14. • MyStudyBar puts a whole range of individual and
essential tools at your fingertips. Together, these
have been designed to support the study skills and
other support needs.
• MyStudyBar has 6 sections; each has a drop down
menu offering personal choice, flexibility and
independent learning, particularly for those learners
who require additional strategies to support their
learning. With over 15 apps to choose from,
• MyStudyBar is a useful free study aid for a wide
range of people.
15. • Planning - Xmind mind map, sunbird portable calendar and HottNotes
• Reading - T-Bar, RapidSet, ssOverlay (screen tints) Vu-Bar screen ruler,
Orato text reader.
• Writing - LetMe Type - word prediction, Lingoes talking dictionary,
Balabolka text to speech/mp3, stamina touch typing.
• Vision - Magnifier, Sonar cursor ring, NVDA – screen reader.
16. Planning & Organisational Tools
Xmind
• XMind is mind
mapping program,
similar to
Inspiration, Mind
Manager and Mind
Genius.
Who would benefit?
XMind can help
individuals who
think, plan and learn
visually.
19. Dyslexia
Many dyslexic people experience visual stress if reading black
text on a white background
Issues for Dyslexic People?
Simultations of Different Disabilities
23. RapidSet
RapidSet gives readers the
chance to change the colour of
font and background on any
MS Office environment
Helpful for people with poor vision,
dyslexic people and those who need help reading text.
25. Orato
Orato is a straight forward
text to speech application.
Simply highlight some
text, press speak and
Orato will read back words
highlighting them as you.
Helpful for people with poor vision,
dyslexic people and those who need help reading text.
29. Watch the tutorial
Balabolka is a very good free
Windows text-to-speech tool.
It includes magnification
(2X to 16X) and spell checking.
It is also keyboard accessible.
This software will create audio files
from text–MP3, WAV, OGG, WMA to
be saved and listened to on an iPod
or other mobile device.
30. Dspeech and Balabolka text to speech
and save as MP3
Dspeech willDspeech will
hook into the speechhook into the speech
engine on anyengine on any
windows PC youwindows PC you
use and will eitheruse and will either
read out text orread out text or
convert to MP3convert to MP3
http://tinyurl.com/br8fsqq
31. Download Heather the Free
Scottish Voice for your College
• The Scottish Government has funded
CALL Scotland to provide a Scotland-wide
schools licence for 'Heather' - a high quality
Scottish computer voice.
• www.thescottishvoice.org.uk/Home/
36. Visual Support
Listen to the creators of Thunder Screen Reader
http://tinyurl.com/3yat47o
Thunder Screen Reader- http://bit.ly/g3UiSH
37. Help Icon
• This will take you to the animated online
tutorials and to the EduApps website.
38. Case Studies
• South Lanarkshire College offers MyStudyBar across the college -
http://bit.ly/p2tBlh
• Free applications assist dyslexic media student at Stratford-upon- Avon
College - http://tinyurl.com/ycbv4hy
• Mind-mapping supports visual learners - http://tinyurl.com/39s7q2f
• Visually impaired student achieves fantastic results through the benefit of
accessible resources - http://tinyurl.com/vison
• Integrating interactivity to enrich study skills - http://tinyurl.com/24hchdo
• Coatbridge College students identify which resources meet their learning
needs - http://tinyurl.com/395xe9h
• A lecturer at Dumfries and Galloway College explains how he uses free
tools to enhance the deliver of his teaching - http://tinyurl.com/3ynk3ew
40. Cam Studio
• Cam Studio Camstudio.org
• Jing – www.techsmith.com/jing watch a video
both record all screen and audio activity to
create multimedia learning resources
41. Other web based text to speech
converters
RoboBraille
http://www.robobraille.org/Conversion
Watch a video about RoboBraille
http://bit.ly/abkbz6 *
Learn now to convert pictures to words and
text to sound using RoboBraille
http://bit.ly/p9nqZc
43. http://www.howjsay.com/
Are you an English learner willing to improve
pronunciation? Do you want to know how to
pronounce words in English? In that case, you
might be interested in this website.
Howjsay.com is free online pronunciation
dictionary where you can learn how to
pronounce words in English.
Read more:
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/howj
45. FRS Talking Calculator
http://fastrabbitsoftware.com/talking
An onscreen talking
calculator with large keys
and sums seen vertically.
This software may be helpful
for those with dyslexia or
dyscalculia and for those
who appreciate hearing the
calculations as well as
seeing them on the screen.
48. DeeperWeb
www.deeperweb.com
• A search engine or rather augmentation that
allows navigation by employing a more visual
way of finding results.
• Uses Tag Cloud techniques
• Searchers can refine by date of material to be
sourced and view results in different ways.
• Tutorial
51. • MyStudyBar puts a whole range of individual and
essential tools at your fingertips. Together, these
have been designed to support the study skills and
other support needs.
• MyStudyBar has 6 sections; each has a drop down
menu offering personal choice, flexibility and
independent learning, particularly for those learners
who require additional strategies to support their
learning. With over 15 apps to choose from,
• MyStudyBar is a useful free study aid for a wide
range of people.
52. Voice
Voice recognition is in Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Windows Speech
Recognition
• Watch a tutorial
• Learn more about Vista Voic
53. Visual Support
NVDA (non visual desktop access)
General Features of NVDA:
Browsing the web (with Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) Reading and writing
documents with programs such as Wordpad or Microsoft Word Sending and
receiving email with Outlook. Producing basic spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel
General computer management through My Computer / Windows Explorer, Control
Panel applets, and other generic Windows tasks.
Listen to a blind student talking about NVDA
Watch an NVDA tutorial
Notes de l'éditeur
The alien ’s view of learning support paradigms: 4.Alternatively we may loan students an expensive laptop with expensive software installed – but if they don’t choose to disclose their disability they get no help, and the laptop can only be used for their studies and it can only be used in their home or on their course since it’s not insured for anything or anywhere else…. 13/05/13
Initially regarded by many as being useful only for people with disabilities. Recognition of their benefit to a wider audience in personalising what people access on their computers. Increases productivity for everyone. Growing range of free and more recently portable resources. Increasing number of web based assistive technologies also.
In many organisations accessibility is associated with a particular group of people (disabled learners) and a particular group of staff (learner support or disability officers). This perception is unhelpful for two reasons: It may fail to recognise the spectrum of accessibility needs which goes beyond learners with declared disabilities. It may fail to recognise the very significant role that well informed teaching and learning staff e.g. lecturers, trainer, tutors, librarians or technicians, can bring to the learner ’ s experience.
In many organisations accessibility is associated with a particular group of people (disabled learners) and a particular group of staff (learner support or disability officers). This perception is unhelpful for two reasons: It may fail to recognise the spectrum of accessibility needs which goes beyond learners with declared disabilities. It may fail to recognise the very significant role that well informed teaching and learning staff e.g. lecturers, trainer, tutors, librarians or technicians, can bring to the learner ’ s experience.
13/05/13 There are a number of ways of categorising assistive technologies but the one that has most direct relevance for teaching and learning is that developed by TechDis which maps the process of learning to the tasks needed to engage in the process to the tools needed to complete the tasks. When a student engages in learning a new subject they generally go through a learning process in which they first reflect on their current knowledge or skill, they then introduce and exemplify their new knowledge and skills. Students then test their new understanding by completing specific assignments. In order to go through this process of learning a student would have to interact with resources, record information and plan and write responses. Using this approach to learning we are able to identify seven genres of ‘ Assistive Technology ’ which may be used by the learner at any stage of the process. These genres include assistive technology ranging from traditional ‘ Assistive Technologies ’ such as alternative interfaces (tracker balls, adapted keyboards, screen readers) to less widely recognised (but much more widespread) assistive technologies such as visualisation tools – videos and animations. The full list includes reading tools, alternative interfaces, visualisation tools, recording tools, planning tools, communication tools and writing tools. The benefits of this approach are threefold: The focus is on learning not technology, disability or medical condition. A single category (for example read assist tools) may contain a wide range of alternative solutions ranging from high tech to low tech and even pedagogical solutions. A single technology may provide a solution for more than one accessibility need – for example the use of styles and outline in Microsoft Word can provide both a reading tool and a planning tool. Note the distinction between the traditional screen reader which we regard as an alternative interface, and text to speech which we regard as a reading aid. The former makes information on the monitor (including navigation, structural layout and text etc) accessible to a blind user. The latter makes the meaning of text more accessible to a print disabled user who can see the text but not make sense of the meaning. Note also that the same tool (for example alternative interfaces) may be used at more than one stage of the learning cycle.
13/05/13 This was the main slide of the presentation and the delegates chose the demos they felt were most relevant to them: Do less work but create more accessible resources. Make a podcast for a learner (without speaking). Make a podcast with a learner (without installing software). Make a learner make a podcast (without using a computer). Make a video (without a video camera) . Make mobile learning (without buying software). Make a highly accessible learning object (without technical know how). Make a VLE (without a technician). Give poor readers reading help (without being there). Give poor spellers prompts (without being there). Define vocabulary (without being there).
Xmind mind map, sunbird portable calendar and HottNotes T-Bar, RapidSet, ssOverlay (screen tints) Vu-Bar screen ruler, Orato text reader. LetMe Type - word predictin, Lingoes talking dictionary, Balabolka text to speech/mp3, stamina touch typing Magnifier, Sonar cursor ring, NVDA – screen reader.
Open Writer ‘Save As’ Microsoft Word It is possible to make Microsoft Word the default ‘Save As’ in Open Writer. This means that users don’t need to save to Word each time they use Open Writer, for example, between home and college etc. It also provides for a seamless interoperable ‘Save As’ feature between Open Writer to Word and vice versa. In Open Writer: § Select ‘Tools’ then ‘Options’ § In the ‘Options dialouge box’ on the left-hand pane select ‘Load/Save’ then ‘General’ § In the right hand pane under ‘Default File Format and ODF Settings’ and under ‘Always Save As’ – select Microsoft Word (and the version of your choice) Export mind maps in Xmind to Word One of the most popular features of mind mapping programs such as Mind Manager etc is the facility for learners to export their mind maps to Word. Although Xmind currently doesn ’t have this feature it is possible to export it to Word. In Xmind: § Go to ‘File’ and then ‘Export’ § Select the ‘Export to HTML’ option and save to a location of your choice (this offers a range of options, eg, headings, include image etc. § Open the saved HTML file in Microsoft Word (if it opens in web view simply change to normal view)
Planning & Organisational Tools - helpful for people who find memory or organisational skills a problem worked with a young man with head injuries and he found some of these portable tools very helpful People with dyslexia are often very visual learners and mind maps can really help Mind map which can export to word
Impossible to cover every potential learning difficulty – highlight some of the more common issues Dyslexia – one of the more common barriers to learning.10 % of population (or more) show some signs of dyslexia More common in males than females As common as being left handed
A straight forward text to speech application. All text input is carried out through the clipboard. Settings allow Orato to read either on demand or automatically when new text is added to the clipboard. Other options will display the text if required, with highlighting of the word or sentence being spoken. Orato can either be installed to the hard disk or copied onto a pen drive for portable use. RapidSet gives readers the chance to change the colour of font and background on any MS Office environment
LetMe Type – starts as an empty dialogue box but lexicons can be added by copying Learn words copy and past in to untitled let me type pane Change colour – settings Decrease number of letters before the prediction starts to work
Lingoes Talking Dictionary Lingoes is an easy-to-use talking dictionary. Who would benefit? Lingoes can help individuals with literacy or language support needs. Main features: Easy-to-use powerful word search. Customise colour and font settings. Text-to-speech. Works with web applications such as Google, Wikipedia, and Wiktionary etc.
Balabolka is a Russian word that means “ chatterer ” . Balabolka is also very good free text-to-speech software for the PC, running in all versions of Windows–from Windows 2000 through Windows 7. There are two versions of the program, one that is installed on a host computer, and a portable version that will run from a USB flash drive. Balabolka is available in the following 15 languages: English; Bulgarian; Chinese, Czech; Dutch; French; German; Hungarian; Italian; Polish; Brazilian Portuguese; Romanian; Russian; Spanish; Ukrainian.
Visual Support Vu Bar – read text one line at a time Sonar Mouse Ring EnorMouse (works best with windows vista)
Non Visual Desktop Access is another free screen reading software available to download. Comparison of NVDA and Thunder August 2011 Issue Volume 12 Number 8 http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw120803
FRS Talking Calculator is an easy to use calculator with several features that make it ideal for use in situations where assistive software technologies are desirable. Big buttons are easy targets for students with limited motor skills. Large type on buttons and displays makes reading the calculator easier for students with vision impairment. Voice feedback aides students with vision impairment and benefits students with some types of reading difficulties.
Visual Support Vu Bar – read text one line at a time Sonar Mouse Ring EnorMouse (works best with windows vista)
