We've had reports of Co:Writer 6 not working properly on netbook and laptop computers, particularly those running Windows 7. This seems to be a particular problem with the thousands of Toshiba NB250/300/500 machines bought through the Procurement Scotland arrangement.

Here's how to solve it for a Toshiba NB300 with Windows 7:

1. Start up the computer and run Co:Writer.
2. If you see this message either immediately, or when you try and open your word processor:
3. then hold down the FN key and press and release F10. 
4. Then do it again.
5. Co:writer should now work properly.

In our tests, we found that you only need to do this the first time you run Co:Writer. Once you've got it working the first time it seems to work properly from then on even if you log off and log on, put it to sleep, restart or shut down and start up.

Visit the Don Johnston web site if you want to find out more about this problem.

I had a call yesterday from a parent who was concerned about her 10 year old son who is dyslexic and dyspraxic. He has been receiving good support from the school staff, particularly with regard to his reading - his mum said that his reading age had been 1.5 years behind but that followed intensive work with staff, using Toe-by-Toe and other techniques, he was now reading at the same level as his peers.

However, she was concerned about his handwriting, which because of his dyspraxia, is difficult to read. He doesn’t like writing at all, finds it very hard to read his own writing, and is getting upset about it. The parent had raised the possibility of her son using ICT instead of handwriting with staff, and said that the school were not very enthusiastic.

Now, I don’t know the details and without meeting the pupil I wouldn’t be able to say whether he should  or should not use ICT instead of or as well as handwriting. But it does make me worried and so I thought I’d offer a few thoughts around this issue. Here’s what I think.

If someone in Primary 5 is dyspraxic and consequently has slow and illegible handwriting then it’s time to stop causing them grief and time to start helping them to access the curriculum. Forcing a pupil to continue writing by hand when there are easier, faster and more effective methods is not good practice. It risks disengagement, prevents them from accessing educational opportunities and creates low self-esteem. It’s not successful, not confident, not responsible, not effective and not what schools should be doing.

Here’s an example of a (different) pupil’s handwriting – he was in Primary 7 at the time:

Here’s a sample of his writing using a simple word processor (an AlphaSmart). Much easier to read, although the spelling is a bit of an issue.

befor you go you haf to make a traye. First get a peace of fishing line about 1  metre long.  Then get a reasnedul sised hook after you have got one big enuf and sharp enuf laiy it to your trais and then get a flote. put the end of the trais that does not have the hook thro the hole at the top of the flot then tiay a not.

And here’s a sample of his writing with a word predictor (Co:Writer). Readable and much better spelling:

First get a piece of fishing line about 1 metre long. Then get a reasonable sized hook.  After you have got one big enough and sharp enough tie it to your trace

No contest, really, is there?

It’s personal

ICT, in the form of a personal netbook, laptop, tablet or iPad is vital for pupils who have difficulties with reading or writing. It’s like an electronic jotter. You need to have a device on your desk, available at all time. Getting up from your desk to go to the back of the room to use the class computer is no good: you wouldn’t expect someone to get up and go to the back of the class every time they needed to use a pencil and write in a jotter, so why accept this with ICT?

It’s a skill that needs taught

We teach handwriting. We also need to teach keyboarding (ideally, touch typing, if possible) and ICT skills. We teach handwriting skills to develop speed, fluidity and automaticity – so that ideally, your thoughts flow direct from brain to page without having to think about the formation of letters. So too with keyboarding – the main reason for learning to touch typing, in my view, is not speed, but to develop the same automaticity.

Despite the notion of ‘digital learners’ young people are not born with innate ability to use a word processor or a word predictor. They have to be taught. By their teachers. This needs staff who know the technology, and time set aside for teaching.

Use it most or all of the time

It’s tempting to think that you only want to use the ICT for ‘extended’ writing, but there can be a few problems with this. It’s too easy to leave the device on the side and not have it ready and inevitably the battery goes flat and you get out of the habit and before you know where you are, the pupil is in S4 and about to use a scribe in his exams. Avoid this: make ICT the default tool, not the exceptional tool.

To do this we need to think digital: use ICT yourself to create resources and give the same resources to the pupil so they can access them on the device. Get digital versions of textbooks from the Books for All Database. Use digital reading books. Scan paper worksheets and other materials into the computer so that the pupil can complete them on the device. (Lots of programs can do this, from the free Foxit Reader, to for example Acrobat Pro, FineReader and more specialist software like ClaroRead, Read and Write Gold or Kurzweil.)

Let’s stop making life hard for ourselves and our learners.

Take a look at this video for some inspiration.

We have some more new maths textbooks on the Books for All Database.

TeeJay Maths Curriculum for Excellence titles

We are very grateful to TeeJay Publishers who have kindly provided PDFs of their six new Curriculum for Excellence textbooks: Books 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b. These cover Curriculum for Excellence First, Second and Third levels. We have added bookmarks to aid navigation, matched the page numbers to the paper books, and 'reader-enabled' the files so that learners can use the drawing, audio recording and highlighting tools in Adobe Reader to access the books. We have not yet added answer boxes, but learners can type answers in using the Adobe Reader 'Typewriter' tool. You can read and access the books on your iPad using the free Adobe Reader app, or preferably PDFaloud or iAnnotate. Click here to see these new books in the database.  

Thanks also to Caroline Jamieson in Moray for contributing a Large Print copy of the Curriculum for Excellence Book 1b. Caroline has created the first 10 chapters and is working on the rest. See it here. 

Nelson Thornes New Maths in Action

Marie Lawson in Shetland has uploaded an 18 point Large Print version of New Maths in Action S1/1, to add to the 24 point Large Print copy of the S1/2 book that's already there. 

We have also uploaded scanned PDF copies of New Maths in Action S1/3, S1/B and S2/3. These are really most suitable for learners with physical disabilities who need digital versions of books because they have difficulty handling the paper copies. The files are PDFs that have been created by scanning the paper copies, and while we have converted them to readable text, we don't have the resources to check every word and so there may be some text recognition errors. The books can be zoomed and magnified, and the text read out using text-to-speech, so they should be reasonably accessible to pupils with dyslexia or reading difficulties, or mild visual impairment. Again, the books are reader-enabled so that learners can type, draw, highlight and otherwise annotate the files.

Click here to see these new books.

Recently I met a learner in first year in secondary school with a physical disability . She doesn't have the strength to hold books and turn pages, and she gets very tired handwriting. After due assessment and consideration of various devices we all concluded that an iPad was most suitable device for her physically: it's small and light enough for her to handle, and she rests it on her knees and against a desk, so that her hands are in her lap, which reduces fatigue. The iPad on-screen keyboard is just the right size for her to type on without stretching, and since it's touch-sensitive, it seems to require less effort than a physical keyboard.

Essentially, she wants to use the iPad for everything: reading textbooks and resources; completing homework and assessments; taking notes in class; etc etc

So, next questions are:

• which apps should she use for different tasks and purposes in school?
• where can she get digital textbooks?
• how does she receive and send materials to and from teachers?

For general note-taking in class ('digital jotters'), I looked at quite a few note-taking apps including the built-in Notes, Daily Notes, EverNote and Note Taker HD, to name but a few, and I  liked the look of Notability, which lets you:

• Create notes that can contain formatted text, hand writing and drawings (with pencil and pen), sound recordings, photos (either from the camera roll, or taken and inserted directly), clippings from the web, and drawings.
• Organise your notes into categories and subjects. 
• Use different paper backgrounds (different colours, lined, square paper).
• Search your notes.
• Import and annotate PDFs.
• Save your notes in cloud service such as DropBox and Google Drive.
• Send your notes to other apps, and by email, as PDF or RTF. 

It looks ideal for taking notes in class, for gathering and sorting information for topic or research, and for writing short assignments. (In fact, I'm now using it myself for all my note-taking on the iPad.)

There are a few things which could be better with Notability:

• ‘Speak Selection’ does not work and so you can’t read your notes with text-to-speech.
• Text cannot be inserted directly on top of a PDF, so you can’t use it very easily to type answers into PDF exams, assessments or homework.
• It does not have ‘snap to grid’ for easily drawing straight lines. 
• You cannot easily edit your notes on a desktop or laptop computer: you can only save them as PDF, RTF or text. (For me, if it could share and sync notes with Microsoft OneNote, it would be perfect.)

But of the apps I looked at, and read about, it looks ideal for the secondary school context.

For word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, and particularly for importing and exporting Microsoft Office files, we suggested Apple's own Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

For reading textbooks in PDF (e.g. Hodder Gibson books from us, or scanned books from the Books for All Database), we went for PDF Expert, which has good study and search facilities, and lots of tools for annotation and commenting. It's also good for completing assessments such as the SQA Digital Question Papers. (Why PDF Expert in particular rather than others? While you can read PDFs with iBooks on the iPad, you can't annotate them; the free Adobe Reader app does let you annotate, but PDF Expert has better file management; and I liked PDF Expert's text annotate tool better than iAnnotate's, because you can type directly on the PDF rather than into a separate text field. (iAnnotate has features that PDF Expert doesn't, though, such as voice comments so pupils and staff can record audio notes into the PDF.)

For sharing work with staff, the only practical method in the school at this time is use of email, which is better than nothing but not as good as a file transfer/sharing method such as Edmodo, Dropbox or Google Drive. (The school doesn't use Glow.)

Feedback from the learner about these apps is so far very positive, so we'll see how they work out over time.

How about you? Which apps and techniques have you found helpful in a mainstream secondary context?

Load2Learn is a database of downloadable accessible textbooks and images that has been set up by RNIB and Dyslexia Action with funding from the Department for Education. It's similar to the Books for All Database (we gave them some input and it's actually hosted by Scran, same as B4A) but when it was first set up, there was a membership subscription. Happily, it's now FREE! and so anyone who is working in schools with print-disabled pupils should join immediately and start getting access to more accessible titles.

To join, one member of staff in a school or service applies for membership to create a School group and then invites other staff to join the group. Then members of the group can search for and download books and images.

Since it's funded by the Department for Education, many of the secondary school books are the (English and Welsh) National Curriculum - AQA, GCSE etc - and so not relevant for most Scottish schools, but there are also many titles which are.

For example, Nelson Thornes have made a lot of their books available as PDFs - New Maths in Action; Scientifica, and there are many novels and primary textbooks available too.

Recently I was looking for accessible digital copies of Kes and Blood Brothers for a pupil and neither were available on B4A or Seeing Ear, but both are on Load2Learn.

The Load2Learn titles are offered in a range of different formats:

• PDFs, which look just like the paper book and so will suit some learners;
• Word files, which can be read on screen or converted into other formats such as Large print or Braille;
• ePUB, which can be read on iPads, tablets and smartphones;
• audio books. 

• The Books for All Database
• The Seeing Ear
• Load2Learn

plus of course commercial eBook venders such as Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith and the iBook Store.

New Guidance

SQA have published new guidance documents for schools who intend to use the SQA Digital Question Papers and Digital Answer Booklets in this year's exam diet. They have up to date advice on how to set up computers and software, and revised guidance for candidates:

• ‘Digital Question Papers: Guidance for Centres’ 
• ‘Digital Question Papers: Guidance for Candidates’.

and can be downloaded from the SQA web site.

There are also new versions of the Digital Answer Booklets. These are used by candidates answering 'question only' papers (i.e. papers that do not have the red answer boxes - mostly for Standard Grade Credit, Intermediate 2, Higher and Advanced Higher papers). Most of the Answer Booklets in Word format are now single pages that expand as the candidate writes (saving paper when they are printed, because there will be fewer blank pages at the end), and there are new booklets for maths and business management.

The Answer booklets are available in PDF and Word formats. Most candidates will probably be best to use the Word versions because:

• the Word formatting and editing tools are better;
• text flows from page to page;
• writing support tools such as word prediction and speech recognition are more reliable;
• learners can use equation editors such as Efofex to create scientific and mathematical formulae, and graphs.

Data Booklets

Digital Data Booklets in PDF are now available for Chemistry, Physics and TechnologicalStudies. The booklets have bookmarks (table of contents) so that candidates can easily find their way to the relevant tables. These should be particularly helpful for candidates with physical disabilities who may find it hard to handle the paper booklets, or those with visual impairment, who will be able to magnify the data on the screen.

Yesterday we hosted a course delivered by the great Ian Bean, on switches and switch-operated technology, and during lunch I gave a short demo of my latest favourite switch-operated toy: a Nerf Havock Fire dart gun.

I set this up for the CALL Family Day earlier this year, and it was pretty popular with the young people on the course. And the adults too. And me.

Ian seemed to like it and his tweet has apparently being doing the rounds, so I thought it was worth a blog.

Craig shot this video of it in action.....

Earlier this year eight schools in Scotland participated in a study which asked “How does the use of tablet devices (e.g. the iPad) impact on teaching and learning?”

Given the huge interest in iPads, this is a good question to ask, and even  better to answer!

Researchers at the University of Hull have just published the project report here, and it makes interesting reading for anyone interested in iPads and tablet computers in schools. The Key Findings are reproduced below:

"1. Use of tablet devices such as the iPad was found to facilitate the achievement of many of the core elements required within the Curriculum for Excellence framework and could be further developed in order to achieve these aspirations.

2. The adoption of a personalised device such as an iPad significantly transforms access to and use of technology inside the classroom with many attendant benefits:

• Many teachers noted that ubiquitous access to the Internet and other knowledge tools associated with the iPad altered the dynamics of their classroom and enabled a wider range of learning activities to routinely occur than had been possible previously.
• The device also encouraged many teachers to explore alternative activities and forms of assessment for learning

Local authority and school ICT services are rightly concerned to protect their systems from abuse, hacking and from viruses, and to protect their users' privacy and security. 

In most Scottish schools, learners cannot use their own smartphones or mobile devices to access the internet in school, and social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are blocked.

Unfortunately, a side-effect of locking and blocking is that essential software to enable pupils to access the curriculum may not get installed or that simple adjustments to control panels cannot be made (which we think in many cases contravenes Equality legislation), and that useful internet sites are blocked so that staff and learners cannot access educational content.

But is all this locking and blocking really necessary? Not according to a report from the Nominet Trust.

The cloudlearn project looked at the experiences of five schools that have unlocked and de-blocked their ICT, and the results make interesting reading. Professor Stephen Heppell, and Carole Chapman, the authors of the report, argue that schools that have embraced social media and portable devices achieve greater engagement with learners, and that unblocking is actually less dangerous than restricting the use of social media and learners’ own portable devices.

In addition to the case studies, the report offers a set of policy guidelines for using smartphones and devices, and social media tools in school.

In our field, we have personal experience of working with young people with disabilities who need digital technologies to communicate and access the curriculum, yet who are prevented from using their devices to access school networks or the internet whilst in school. If school and local authority systems can be opened up while maintaining security and safety, it will have a real benefit for these learners.

Today I received a very positive evaluation back from a pupil and teacher who have been evaluating some equipment, and I thought I'd share it: seems like a nice way to end the term. (Mark is not his real name.)

Background

Mark is a Primary 6 pupil who attends his local primary school. Mark has cerebral palsy which affects his fine motor control, and although he has good ideas, he does tire easily when he writes by hand. He has support from staff to help him lay out his written work, and also on occasion for scribing, but this does mean he relies on staff and is not independent. Staff say that his reliance on others is also affecting his self-esteem. Mark has some difficulties with spelling and also with maths, organisation and spatial skills. Despite these barriers to learning, Mark is an enthusiastic member of the class.

Mark has tried specialist pencils and pencil grips, and writing adaptations. He was referred to CALL for advice on assistive technology to help him to learn and work more independently and productively.

Following an assessment, we loaned a Toshiba netbook computer with Co:Writer 6 and Inspiration software, plus an EasiSpeak microphone, for Mark and his teacher to evaluate. The assessment had shown that Co:Writer has the potential to help Mark write more independently, and with greater accuracy. Co:Writer should also reduce his fatigue and help him to produce higher quality work. (Click here to find out more about Co:Writer and word prediction).

Inspiration was suggested to help Mark organise his work. We loaned a headset microphone for Mark to record his ideas directly into Inspiration, and the portable Easi-Speak recorder, because his verbal output is currently better than his written output.

(Both Inspiration and Co:Writer 6 are available for reduced cost under a special licence for Scottish Schools, from Education Scotland.)

This is what Mark and his teacher thought of the technology.

Class teacher evaluation

1.    What impact has the netbook had on the pupil’s ability to access the curriculum?

There was an immediate impact on Mark’s enthusiasm and attitude to attempt and produce work.

Used for:

• Word processing: planning, drafting and publishing. Mark is more able and willing to work independently on these three steps without an adult scribe. Mark is eager, and able, to be involved in adding to his Co-writer word bank. 
• Typing answers to spelling activities – a task which Mark dislikes when he is writing by hand. He now produces work of a higher level.
• Spelling has improved.

An adult currently scaffolds Mark’s work by asking questions about his text, to encourage him to develop his answers/writing. It is planned that if the teacher is checking/marking Mark’s work in his absence, s/he will insert the questions into his text. This will enable Mark to develop his work in line with his peers, working in their jotters.

Mark enjoys paired work with the netbook.  Previously, being left handed the mouse was cumbersome and this was awkward when he was working with a partner.

2. How has it impacted on his/ her written work (quantity and quality), in comparison with what s/he was able to produce without it?

Mark has immediate success which encourages him to keep on task. He is willing to expand and build on his work after further class discussion or  with an adult. 

Previously Mark found typing laborious but Co-writer is changing his attitude and he is very willing and able to type for a much longer period. He finds the netbook keyboard easier to manipulate. It is anticipated that this will be helped further with touch typing lessons.

Mark now copes with thinking up his answers/ideas, typing and spelling. This has resulted in better and lengthier pieces of work produced quicker. Previously these tasks were done separately.

Mark’s work is legible. He willingly shares it with peers, allowing them to read it independently of Mark.

3. Has it helped him/her to develop the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence?

1. Successful learner.Mark is able to show and do the best he can.  He thinks of new ideas and is more interested in tackling writing activities by himself.
2. Confident individualMark is happier and more confident. His  self-esteem has been raised.
3. Effective contributorMark is no longer excluded by the position of the computer system. Previously he had to sit with his back to the class because of the location of the computer.Peers are more ready to allow Mark to tale a role in ‘scribing’ .Mark is able to type his ideas and share with peers, who previously found his handwriting very difficult to read.
4. Responsible citizen.Mark is much more confident about working as part of a group during tasks that require planning/writing. Mark takes the responsibility of looking after the netbook seriously, and making sure it is switched on/off when needed.

4. Any further comments....

The netbook and software have much more potential for enabling Mark to be included more into the class and to access literacy activities.  As I, and assisting adults, become more familiar with it, and Mark learns to touch type, I foresee that we will be able to take full advantage of the equipment.

Mark’s evaluation

This form is to help you think about the use and effectiveness of the writing tools you have tried out and to compare the technology with handwriting and jotters.  Fill in the evaluation form when you feel you have a good idea about what it is like to use the devices(s). Please send a copy of the form to CALL.

Use a scale of 1 to 10. Score 1 if that factor is so bad that you would not dream of ever considering it. Score 10 if it is so brilliant that you could not do without it.

Please write any other comments here:

1. Makes me feel I can keep up when working with the rest of the class.

2. I am really missing being able to use Inspiration to plan my writing and make a summary of what I read. [This was because Mark had been using a school netbook without Inspiration for a short time.]

3. Co-writer and inspiration really help me to get on with my work. I am looking forward to using it again in Primary 7. 

4. I don’t mind sorting mistakes and making my ideas bigger and better.

Thanks Mark and his teacher for these positive and helpful comments!

Paul

2012 Digital Question Papers Candidate Survey

We are researching candidate’s views and opinions on the SQA Digital Question Papers and a survey is now available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DigitalPapersCandidateSurvey2012. 

If you are a candidate who used digital question papers, we would be grateful if you could complete the survey. If you are a member of staff, could you forward this survey link on so that candidates who used Digital Question Papers in the 2012 diet can complete the survey. The survey will be available until the end of June 2012.

The survey should only be completed by candidates with additional support needs who used Digital Question Papers in their 2012 examinations. 

We hope that the feedback from candidates will help us, and SQA, to develop and improve the digital papers and associated procedures.

Thanks for your help!

Paul

Quite a few people have been asking if candidates can use iPads to complete the SQA Digital Question Papers. Previously, the answer was 'no' partly because SQA prohibited use of iPads in the same way they do not allow mobile phones in the exam room. However, this policy has now changed and some pupils at Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock did use their iPads to access the digital papers this year. 

PDF Expert

The SQA Digital Question Papers are PDF files which can be read using many different apps including, for example, iBooks and Adobe Reader, but for digital exams we suggest PDF Expert which is the only app we have found that actually lets you type your answers into the digital paper answer boxes. PDF Expert lets you open the digital paper, type into the answer boxes, highlight and underline text, and add drawings and notes to the exam paper. Completed papers can be printed, saved and emailed. Cedars used PDF Expert on their iPads for the 2012 exams.

The digital papers work very well for question and answer exam papers which require short text answers. The screen shot shows how text can be typed into the answer boxes on an Intermediate 1 Computing Paper. To 'tick' the answer box, you tap with your finger.

The answer boxes can only accept text and so maths and science, where the learner has to produce equations and formulae, can be tricky to do digitally. 

With a stylus, it is possible to draw diagrams, graphs and maths and science expressions on the digital paper although I still don't find it as easy as using a pencil and paper, personally (must be an age thing?). Note that candidates have the option of writing their drawings and equations on the digital paper, or on a paper copy.

The second screen shot shows my scrawled attempt to draw a graph and work through an equation with the stylus. 

Security

1.  
2. Back up the iPad. 
3. Delete all the apps on the iPad that are not required in the assessment. This leaves the apps required for the assessment (e.g. PDF Expert, maybe Pages etc,) plus the built-in Apps on the device. 
4. Delete all photos, music files, videos, contacts, reminders and other documents. Clear the browser history.
5. Go into Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and delete all the accounts. This prevents access to Mail, Contacts and Calendar.
6. Remove any 3G SIM card.
7. Prevent access to the school Wi-Fi using the school network settings. Check that there are no other wi-fi internet access points available.  
8. Turn off Bluetooth: Settings > General > Bluetooth > Off.
9. Now you need to prevent access to the built-in Apps, which are Newsstand, iMessages, Mail, Safari, iBooks, FaceTime, PhotoBooth, Reminders, Photos, Music, Videos
10. Go to Settings > General > Restrictions.
11. Click on Enable Restrictions and enter a passcode
1. Turn off any apps that you don’t want the candidate to be able to access (i.e. all of them). This will remove the following apps from the iPad screen: Safari, YouTube, Camera, FaceTime, iTunes, Ping and installing and deleting apps. Note this still leaves Mail, iMessage, Calendar and Contacts that the pupil could access the internet to find previously hidden answers, which is why you need to prevent access to wi-fi or the internet.
12. Allow Changes: 
1. in Location, Don’t Allow Changes (this stops the iPad connecting to Wi-fi hotspots or devices)
2. In Accounts, Don’t Allow Changes (this prevents anyone adding a new mail or other account)
13. Turn off Auto-Correction and spellchecking (unless you have permission to use them):
1. Settings > General > Keyboard > Turn off Auto-Correction and Check Spelling
2. (Note that the candidate can easily turn them back on – we haven’t found a way to prevent this.)
14. You should now have an iPad with:
1. no stored files, emails, photos, videos, sound recordings or other documents;
2. only the apps which are required for the assessment;
3. no spellchecking or auto-correct;
4. no access to the internet or wi-fi;

and so the iPad should be secure.

If you have an iPad why not download some past papers from SQA's web site, try them out, and let us know what you think.

I've been meaning to blog about this for ages and have finally got round to it!

The Oxford Owl web site has over 250 free Oxford Reading Tree eBooks for teachers, children and parents to read online. The books have a recorded narration (i.e. human, not computer speech) and you can zoom in and out to make the text and pictures bigger or smaller. Turning the pages is done with a click of a mouse - you can't use the keyboard or switches directly.  You could however point the mouse over the 'next page' button and then use a switch to click, to turn the page.

The books are ideal for using on a whiteboard or for individuals to read on their own computer (but not iPad - the books are Adobe Flash format which don't play on iOS).

There are also some activities for each book (although they didn't work on my computer - no doubt got the wrong version of Java / Flash / other plug in) and the 'Kids Barn' has a lot of information and games about Biff, Chip, Kipper and Floppy and the other characters. 

109 new books have just been added to the Books for All Database. They are all Large Print PDFs which have been created by the VTSS team in Edinburgh, and we are grateful to them for sharing these accessible copies via the Database. 

The books can be downloaded and printed out for pupils with visual difficulties, and they can also be read on screen, which can be helpful to learners with dyslexia and reading difficulties, pupils with physical disabilities who have difficulty holding the paper book and turning pages. 

Learners can read the books on computer using free Adobe Reader software, which lets you zoom in and out to change the size, and adjust the text and page colours. With most of the books, the text can be read out using either the free built-in Adobe Read Out Loud, or other text readers such as Ivona MiniReader, ClaroRead, Co:Writer, Penfriend or PDFaloud.  Pupils can use the Adobe Reader commenting and markup tools to highlight key passages and add their own typed or recorded audio notes. To find out more, take a look at our Video Guides and Quick Guides.

You can find the new books on the Database here. (Note you have to log in to the database see the new books).