Using Makey Makey to Creative Assistive Technology - Webinar Recording

Yesterday afternoon Art Spencer gave an engaging presentation about some interesting Makey Makey projects that he's done with elementary school and middle school students. In the presentation Art does a great job of explaining what Makey Makey is and how his students have used it to create assistive technology devices for other students who have special needs. Watch Art's presentation here.

On a related note, Amazon has Makey Makey Invention Kits on sale right now at 29% off the regular price.

Three Free Webinars About Assistive Technology

At the beginning of this year I made a decision to spend more time and effort getting to know all of the free tools that Microsoft provides to teachers and students. I am glad that I made that choice because I have been impressed by many of the programs that Microsoft offers in the area of assistive technology. Some of those include Immersive Reader (a part of the Learning Tools suite), dictation options in Office products, and presentation translator. All of those tools will be featured in three free webinars that Microsoft is hosting on May 9th, 14th, and 15th.

On May 9th Mike Tholfsen will be giving a presentation about Microsoft's Learning Tools which includes Immersive Reader. Register here.

On May 14th Jiaxin Zheng will give a presentation about Windows 10 access settings including Narrator, Magnifier, Color Filters, Eye Control, Read Aloud and Dictation. Register here.

On May 15th join Malavika Rewari for a presentation that will include how to add automatic live captions using the Microsoft Garage Presentation Translator add-in, embeding audio/video with closed captions in PowerPoint and Sway, and adding alternative text descriptions to visual objects in Office 365. Register here.

October: Dyslexia Awareness Month

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. Perhaps you have a student with dyslexia and want to find out more about it. This post contains informational articles as well as links to different apps that have helped students with dyslexia.

• International Dyslexia Association- information about everything you need to know to help you understand dyslexia. 
• Understanding Dyslexia- resources explaining dyslexia as well as a section dedicated to how schools can help. 
• Assistive Technology for Dyslexia-  
• Beeline Reader- helps guide your eyes from the end of one line of text to the beginning of the next using a colored gradient. 
• OpenDyslexic- Chrome extension which changes the font on all webpages to increase readability. 
• Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings- numerous ideas for ways you can help students with dyslexia succeed in your classroom. 

Read&Write Assistive Technology App

Read and Write is an extension from texthelp that is designed to help students feel more confident with reading and writing. Teachers can get free access by installing the extension then filling out a request on this page. Once you complete this step, your trial account will be converted to a premium account for one full year.

This assistive technology app makes text more accessible for students. One of the features of this app is that it include the both text and picture dictionaries. Students highlight a word and then they can either view the definition of the word or view an image that represents the word. Students can also use the FactFinder button to access a Google search that contains a highlighted word. There is another feature that allows students to highlight text and collect it in a new Google Doc or opt to have the words turned into a vocabulary list. If they choose the vocabulary option, a Google Doc is automatically generated which contains a table and has a column for the word, its meaning, a symbol for the word, and a blank column where students can write notes or use the word in a sentence.

One of the most useful aspects of Read&Write is the read back feature. This feature allows the students to select text on a Google Docs, website and common file types to be selected and read back to them.

Applications for Education
Students of all ages could benefit from some or all of the features found in this app. Students who are learning how to read or who struggle with reading can use Read&Write to have text read to them at their own pace. Students could use this app to create their own customized vocabulary lists.