July 11th Part 2

Well, there you go..this webinar addressed some of my questions from the last one!  This webinar - Exciting New Apps for LD - talked specifically about apps to support reading and writing in students with learning disabilities.  My key take-home from this webinar was that in fact many of the most useful "apps" are just features of the latest iPads themselves.  I can see that a great place to start would be to become very, very familiar with the device itself and use it to its full potential.  After that, a person could download apps as necessary to supplement what the device can do.

For example, the iOS6 can read aloud any text, and can highlight words.  Very important in the educational setting is the guided access feature, which allows a teacher to restrict the user to just one app.  I was going to ask about that...I could imagine problems with children wanting to go to their favourite apps or sites again and again and not getting their work done.  So that question has been answered!

Also on all the iPads is the Google app, which includes the very useful feature of being able to have material presented in simple English language.  This will revolutionize research projects for my students!  And, related to that, is the website Qwiki, which presents search results in a format that will be very usable for my students.

Top three apps:

1,  I know this has been mentioned in class already, but I would say Prizmo has to be my top app for its simplicity and usefulness.  To be able to scan any text and have it read aloud seems to be the easiest way to make the great books that are already in my classroom accessible to all.

2.  In terms of supporting writing, it would seem that Siri Dictation might be be useful.  This is a voice-to-text app that can be used with any other app that requires typing.  I understand that some training would be required first, but the whole process of having the students organize their thoughts first with a graphic organizer, and then have to speak clearly enough to be understood is a good exercise in itself.

3.  Again, this is not a "new" app in terms of this course, but I have to say that Book Creator stands out for its potential to really make research projects a reality for my students with reading, writing and executive function difficulties.   As I mentioned in my last blog, completing all the steps of a research project is really difficult for many of my students.  If they have the chance to use Book Creator, they can overcome reading difficulties by having results of their Google (or Qwiki, or Shmoop) searches read aloud.  They can overcome writing difficulties by dictating their thoughts and using the voice-to-text function.  They can overcome organizational difficulties simply by the fact the the book is like a big template.  I am really excited to use Book Creator next year with my research projects!