Drat!! I wrote a lengthy and witty piece and it hasn’t saved on my ipad. I still have a lot of time on my hands (still travelling back) it would be good to pull together themes and thoughts. NAACE and what other bodies that are left need to ‘team- up’ and be a voice for reason in an age of Gove , or should we say G.G. Gove after his wrap performance on the BBC school report. We are lagging behind in ICT compared to the rest of the British Isles. We have the talent and the skill to do this and God Willing if we continue to do what we love to do we shall overcome and Cinderella will go to the ball! Or should I say casino after last night. I struggled with sleep deprivation- self inflicted- due to a early morning breakfast and was humbled if not amazed that people came! But I loved the newaystolearn.com guy and his papershow and aurasma parent portal. What a simple idea and I saw minority report come to life. So it was worth the two days of sleep deprivation and 8 hr train round trip. Thank you NAACE!!!
Month: March 2014
The parent portal
At a breakout session by newwaystolearn.com and found this innovative use of Aurasma for schools to make a paper portal. Cuts costs, saves money and reaches parents with smartphones. If EE produce cheap smartphones, albeit on 4 G then the digital divide is being lessened.
At last ! Office on an iPad – but there is a catch !
Microsoft has released Word, Excel, Powerpoint on an Apple device but there is a catch you have to buy Office365. In other words the free app is not free
Eye-tracking system that interacts with a computer generated character for Autism
This is coming out of Heriott-Watt University and looks interesting. The aim is to develop social interaction using facial expression and a eye-tracking system. This is a link to a “taster” article and I am awaiting more details. Here is the link:
GoClever 7″ tablet for £59
This looks a good ,cheap , useful tablet
HelpKidzLearn – ILT Conference 2014 Virtual attendence
…but at a cost of £199(ex VAT) . Well at least it saves the air fare. A good event that publishes the assistive technology wares beyond our shores and incorporates a CPD experience you can benefit from hearing. Why not check this our at:-
Microsoft Office Online – Web apps
Yes, it is possible to access Microsoft Office online at :-
https://office.com/start/default.aspx
You will need a Microsoft Account which you can sign up for free if you don’t have one but it gives you – word, excel, powerpoint, onenote, outlook,onedrive ( online storage that was formerly “SkyDrive”.
Microsoft Office Online – Web apps
Yes, it is possible to access Microsoft Office online at :-
https://office.com/start/default.aspx
You will need a Microsoft Account which you can sign up for free if you don’t have one but it gives you – word, excel, powerpoint, onenote, outlook,onedrive ( online storage that was formerly “SkyDrive”.
InferCabulary Lite
A new communication app InferCabulary (£10.49) has just been released on the App Store – more than just teaching vocabulary each word has 5 associated pictures which the client has to determine the common thread through the five pictures. Each picture has a caption which is then read out to the user. There are also games associated with it. Should be a useful app for speech and language therapists. There is a lite version for you to try free – so why not go and have a try yourself!
bridging books
A colleague sent me the link to this novel way of combining traditional tools with new technologies. Called “bridging books,” this short clip will explain what it will do:-
http://www.engagelab.org/projects/bridgingbook
Enjoy!
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