Leeds BDA Parent Child Workshop

Doing a dynamic duo with the amazing Arran Smith. Might go off-world for a Virtual Exploration. Making the tech work for creative purposes.#morethantyping.

The day began with the trailer for “The Power of Assistive Technology.” Arran explained what Assistive Technology is and demonstrated some products. A new text to speech tool has been made called “Readable” which pretty much speaks everything even rich text. I think it can also be a screenreader.

Then I introduced a 360 virtual museum called “ThingLink” it’s a brilliant tool that allows Immersive Reader to read it back. We looked at Spoken Content in Settings-Accessiblity- Vision.

I took some notes in Google Keep. Mainly shortcut key combinations that Arran mentioned. Here they are:-

Microsoft Windows Shortcut keys

Windows Key + U

Global dictation
Windows +U

Emojis
Windows Key + . (Full stop)

Word.doc.new – produces an online version of Word

OneNote.com for using one note yourself

Apps featured ( free)
Poplet Lite – Simple mind mapping
Thinglink.com – creating hot spot links on images
What3words.com – mapping using 2 separate words – we didn’t actually look at this but I thought I would add here for interest.

VR and AR
Real MYST (£6.99) adventure game https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/realmyst/id524988885

In the afternoon I took people on a virtual explorer by using a mindmap to get them to think about different roles and use some apps that could enable them to create 3d mapping, augmented reality. Still loads to show and share that the computer can do that’s more that writing. We used an app that’s adventure-like called “realMyst.” Tim Ryland’s used this in Chew Magna Primary to improve pupil’s literacy skills by 3 levels. Impressive achievement. Getting the pupils to think about what they were seeing, the weather, even what it might smell like! Try this yourself. Other possible sources would be ” Epic Citadel, ” to explore. The idea is to use it for creative writing and problem solving. Not one for people who get frustrated easily.

If you would like my powerpoint slide set there is a link here:-

Getting the best out of the tech.pptx

List of iOS Apps and where to find them

Notability £free – note taking app –https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/notability/id360593530

Read&Write -£free – keyboard addition for spelling and word prediction

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/read-write-for-ipad/id934749270

ClaroSpeak+ £9.99 iOS & Android- wordprocessing, text to speech and word prediction ,

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/clarospeak-plus/id845128025

Claro PDF – £free – iOS & Android read out pdf files and annotate them

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/claropdf-image-to-pdf-reader/id666770153

Remember The Milk – £free – IOS and PC – for organisation – to do list reminders

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/remember-the-milk-to-do-list/id293561396

Widget Writer-£free – symbol processor for non-text readers

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/widgit-writer/id1142926801

Glean Notes – £free – iOS and PCsmart note taking involving active listening – subscription based

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/glean-notes/id1498045022

Claro ScanPen- £9.99 – iOS & Android -smart scanning of any printed text to speech.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/claro-scanpen/id994933713

Popplet Lite – £free – iOS and PC -simple mind mapping – also on PC

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/popplet-lite/id364738549

Speaking Email – iOS & Android – £free but subscription based for voice features – designed for use in cars when travelling but not something to encourage!

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/speaking-email-voice-reader/id991406423

Book Creator One – £free – create your own books really useful for making text easy and purposeful.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/book-creator-one/id661166101

Easy Dyslexia Aid – £2.99 – spelling aid

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-dyslexia-aid/id1088194043

Correct Spelling – £free but with a subscription – for spelling correction older pupils

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/correct-spelling-checker/id1481028375

Class Timetable – £free – two-week timetable and homework organiser

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/class-timetable/id425121147

All apps correct at time of publication

What was neat we used one log in for everyone so that all our explorers could write about what they have seen and experienced in realMyst. Really awesome.

If you would like a copy of the popplet we used with a bonus for finding out about people here is our link for that:-

https://app.popplet.com/#/p/7436717

So have fun trying out these things!

Testimonies

“1’d like to give a shout out to Myles Pilling, BA,M.Ed. and encourage anyone who needs training and support around assistive tech to reach out to him directly. was lucky enough to have several hours of training with Myles thanks to my Access to Work grant. Myles’ training though? Well, it was closer to coaching than training. He didn’t assume. He asked me to show him what I did so he could offer refinements and tweaks.

But the most important thing Myles did was question why I was doing what I was doing; what was the benefit, why was it needed, and if it was what was the most effective way of doing it? No more ‘stick a tech plaster on a Luddite broken leg’ – instead Myles helped me work most effectively with my tech, by helping me figure out when and how I needed it. The absolute best bit? Thanks to working with Myles, I never ever need to do filing again.

Seriously. Never.

Myles helped me set up a system that I would likely never have discovered without him, that allows my work to be recorded and autosaved without a single follow up step.” Leah , Consultant , Search for Serenity

“Accessibility Smyles continues to serve up timely information about the latest and best technology for individuals with unique needs. Always pleased to receive these helpful resources with related links. I share them with parents, educators and others who serve the many with reading and learning challenges. (Thank you, Myles!)” – Jean

“I’ve known Myles for many years, he’s my go-to expert for all this Accessibility, so much so that he’s our resident expert at Anderton Tiger Radio. Whenever we feature this topic he’s always there with excellent advice and guidance, in fact you can listen to him again here from our January radio show https://www.buzzsprout.com/695014/2586430-myles-pilling-talks-about-technologies-for-send-that-have-caught-his-eye-at-bett-2020 Highly recommended, Myles is most definitely one of the top 5 experts in his field in the UK” – Russell Prue, Anderson Tiger

“After one of your recent training sessions, I visited your Techsavvy session and discovered the virtual tour guides. A a result my husband and I enjoyed a splendid trip to Edinburgh. A city I have avoided for a number of years due to its challenges for a wheelchair user due to its very steep streets and cobbles. I think the sessions you have posted are really good and I hoped you would be happy if I suggested these to clients, I am assisting in my volunteering journey. I am also liaising with a local charity who are trying to encourage their older members and I think they too could benefit from your regular hints and tips so would like to suggest they pass on the Techsavvy links. You really are an inspiration.” –

Heather Sneddon

South West Scotland Coordinator , AbilityNet