We're gearing up for the Family Fun Day which will be held here in CALL this Saturday March 24th. The Fun Day is a day of general mayhem where children and their families have a chance to try out lots of different technology and activities in an informal way. The day is staffed by CALL, FACCT, KeyComm, SCTCI, TASSCC and their friends, families, relatives, mates and anyone else who happens to be passing. There appear to be 184 children and young people and their families coming (eek!) to play with toys, switches, computers, video games, smart wheelchairs etc and to make art, music, cakes, and a most satisfying all round mess. Take a look at this video that Craig made last year to see the sort of thing that is going to be happening......

We've been looking for an alternative to the Voice Notes / Voice Comment feature of Microsoft Word / Windows XP, as a tool for allowing a pupil to use their voice to record a spoken answer to a question in a Word document. Unfortunately, this feature cannot be used adequately in later versions of the Windows operating system. Note that this is NOT speech recognition - voice notes / comments allowed a recording to be embedded in a Word Document so that a teacher could listen to it later.

Vocaroo is an online digital recorder, storing the voice file on the web and allowing a link to the file to be embedded in a Word document (or any other electronic document).  The computer obviously has to be online for recording the answer and playing it back. Vocaroo is not the perfect solution to the Voice Notes / Comments problem, but it is certainly worth a look.

Using Vocaroo

To use Vocaroo, alongside a worksheet in Word, make sure that the computer has an internet connection and a microphone, and go to the Vocaroo web site. Vocaroo will tell you if it does not see a microphone. The Vocaroo web site is very simple to use - just click where it says 'Click to Record' and agree to allow Vocaroo to access your microphone.

You will be given a chance to listen to your recording and re-record it if you are not happy with it. Once you are happy with the quality of the recording, click on 'Click Here to Save'. You will be given a link to your recording, which you can copy to Word and paste into the document as your 'answer'.

To answer a second question, go back to the Vocaroo web site and re-load the page - otherwise you could accidentally record your second answer on top of the first one. Then just record your new answer and copy and paste the web link for your answer the way you did before. When you finish, save and close the document.

A teacher could then check the answers by moving the mouse to each link and pressing CTRL-Click to open the web link. The recorded answer will be played automatically and can be replayed, if necessary.

Vocaroo isn't just useful for recording answers to questions in a worksheet - it could be a valuable tool for recording notes on, say, information on a web site. Vocaroo also integrates well with social media sites such as Facebook, allowing you to add voice recordings to your Facebook Page, etc.

 

 

 

iPad Accessibility Options

iPads have a range of built-in Accessibility options such as text-to-speech (VoiceOver) and screen magnification (Zoom) which are particularly useful for learners with a visual difficulty. For example VoiceOver will read information on the iPad's screen including icons, settings and text-based apps such as email, word processing and web pages. These options will allow a pupil who is blind or has a visual impairment to independently access, use and enjoy an iPad in the same way as a sighted user. 

Capacitive touchscreen

However for those pupils who have fine motor difficulties the iPad’s touch screen can be difficult or impossible to use. The iPad has a capacitive touchscreen and requires finger and hand gestures such as ‘Pinching’, ‘Swiping’ and ‘Tapping’ to move between and open and close Apps. Increasingly there are Apps which support fine motor skills and contain 'tap' and 'hold' or 'delay' settings but these only work from within the App. This means that a pupil with a motor difficulty can use certain Apps with these features but would be unable to access other areas of the screen independently. Companies such as BeyondAdaptive offer keyguards which can be placed over the screen but as there are so many varied touch and tap positions between Apps, this option is impracticable and expensive. 

Another option is to connect a USB keyboard (with a keyguard) to an iPad using a USB Camera Connection Kit but again this would only allow access to text input based Apps such as Notes or Pages.

Switch Access

Switch access is another option but developments in this area are still in the early stages. Currently the conventional way of setting up a switch to an iPad is by pairing a Bluetooth device using the Bluetooth option in the Settings menu (Settings – General – Bluetooth).

Bluetooth examples include RJ Cooper's Bluetooth Super-Switch; the Switchbox by Therapy-Box and AbleNet’s Blue2 Bluetooth Switch. Another option is the ‘it-iClick - iPad Switch Interface’ by Inclusive Technology which plugs directly into the iPad but still requires to be ‘paired’ before it can be used. Pairing devices is not an exact science particularly if there are other Bluetooth devices active in a small area. Setting up Bluetooth switch access can be challenging and time consuming. 

Unfortunately not all Apps are switch accessible and the range of options between switch enabled Apps vary from a range of comprehensive settings such as Step-scan, Row/column, Auditory scanning to very basic settings such as ‘Turn Scan On/Off. Jane Farrall’s Blog provides an excellent guide to ‘How do I use a switch with an iPad’ and a comprehensive list of switch accessible Apps (in PDF format).

However a more recent development is the exciting work by Komodo OpenLab and the Inclusive Design Research Centre who have developed a full switch access solution to iOS devices  and claim that it is “the first-ever single-switch solution providing access to the entire iDevice, not just a few apps!”

The following video provides a preview of the switch access system in action.

There are just a few days left before the Consultation of the Doran Review closes (Friday 16th March).  Please - Scotland only - all parents of children with complex additional support needs, and all professionals who work with such children  -   send in a response to have your say! 

Your input could have a huge effect on the kind of changes to be made to educational provision for children with complex additional support needs in Scotland, for the future.

There is a form to fill in here or you can send in your own letter or email, with your answers and comments on the 4 key questions:

* How satisfied you are with the processes to identify your child’s care, health and learning needs.* How well informed you feel about schools and services that could help their child.* How well nurseries or schools and other services such as Health and Social Work are meeting your child's needs.* How well supported you and your child feel when he or she is preparing to leave and settling into a new school, or leaving school to go on to adult services.

Children and young people with complex additional support needs face multiple barriers to their learning and development.  These factors may relate to the learning environment, family circumstances, disability or health needs or a combination of these.  To make progress and achieve their potential, the children and young people with complex additional support needs require assistance from specialist professionals in addition to parents/carers and staff in schools and education authorities.

The Doran Review is currently looking at how best to provide for the needs of Scottish children and young people with the most complex learning needs.  Children and young people with additional support needs may attend a mainstream nursery or school in their local education authority or a specialist nursery, day or residential school, within or outside their home area.  Children and young people with complex additional support needs require individualised programmes of support from educational services and other services such as health, social work and voluntary organisations.  The Review will consider how well the assessment, support, funding and decision making processes that already exist locally and nationally are working. The Review Group will use their findings to make recommendations to the Scottish Government by Summer 2012 as to how these aspects could be improved or changed.  

With so much information available these days it can be difficult and time-consuming trying to keep track of all your favourite and useful resources. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if you could find everything in one place? Social Bookmarking websites such as Delicious help you to organise and store web pages and web links in one place. Resources can be categorised and tagged so they are easy to find.

CALL Scotland now feature their own Delicious social bookmarking site which offers a one-stop-shop to a wealth of resources including free resources, accessible information and some great iPad apps and accessories to support learners with communication and literacy difficulties.

To visit the CALL Delicious resources select this link

 

Scottish Government is reviewing how education will be provided for children and young people with complex support needs. Peter Doran is chairing that review, often referred to as the Doran Review. 

As part of the review, consultation events will be taking place with parents. The intention is to find out the views of families and parent support groups on a number of important questions. The results of that consultation exercise will contribute to the review.

Views are being sought from parents on:

• How satisfied you are with the processes to identify your child’s care, health and learning needs.
• How well informed you feel about schools and services that could help their child.
• How well nurseries or schools and other services such as Health and Social Work are meeting your child's needs.
• How well supported you and your child feel when he or she is preparing to leave and settling into a new school, or leaving school to go on to adult services.

The events will take place at: 

22nd March 12 noon to 3pm Aberdeen, Thistle Altens Hotel

27th March 9.30am to 1pm Edinburgh Hilton  Grosvenor Hotel

29th March 9.30am to 1pm Glasgow Hilton Grosvenor Hotel

A booking form can be downloaded and returned to Children in Scotland. Or you can also book online at www.childreninscotland.org.uk/doran

Or, Email training@childreninscotland.org.uk

Or, Telephone 0131 222 2446 Fax 0131 228 8585

Or, Post Children in Scotland, Princes House, 5 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RG

 

The eBook revolution continues apace in all sorts of ways, and more Scottish public libraries are joining in by lending eBooks and downloadable audiobooks, for us to borrow and read or listen to on our computers, iPhone or iPad, and Android devices. So far, five local authorities offer eBooks and downloadable audiobooks:

• Aberdeenshire
• Dundee
• East Renfrewshire
• Edinburgh
• South Ayrshire.