has ceased trading – but still producing valuable assistive technology information
This looks interesting as well. A one stop shop for all things sen. And you can add your own resources there as well.
What a good idea! http://dyslexiadaily.com/learningdifficultiesdirectory/
Bing has made improvements over the last few months. Create a tab setting http://www.bing.com and sign in to your Microsoft account. I particularly like this screen where all your tools are easily accessed in one place on the screen. If you have organisational difficulties this could be useful to you. Also, the backgrounds are often animated gifs which make a video of the background – to see what your background could be you can cycle through using the forward and backward arrows . Very slick and cool! And in doing this I needed to know how to take a screen shot on a chromebook. Not obvious as their isn’t a key on the keyboard. Answer is CTRL and the multiple windows key above numeral 6 on my keyboard. Also just seeing the whole screen is possible ( like f11 on a windows pc) by pressing the full screen key above numeral 5 on my keyboard.
In its trial form I wasn’t too impressed with the edge but now that Windows 10 has been released that are many features that I like that would benefit pupils with special educational needs. The clear size and text is helpful and on a tablet the swipe and navigation becomes very intuitive.
Address Bar
Is wider and clearer text for those with visual needs making it easier to see what the address is. Bing has become more intuitive too and predicts what you most likely would be looking for.
Speed
It’s much faster than previous internet explorers. Less waiting and more instant would help pupils who become impatient or easily frustrated. It is now faster than Chrome which I rated one of the fastest browsers until recently.
Integration with OneNote
Really useful for users with a stylus but is possible with users on a touch screen. The Edge is billed as being the browser for research so being able to annotate pages and save then to one note easily would benefit settings using Classroom OneNote where work can be shared.
Classroom OneNote
Is a free app linked to a live account for Office365. It allows teachers to create resources where students can add and share their ideas to. Joint project research on any given topic would enable work to be collected and set jointly by pupils and staff. The integration with the browser will really make this possible I think. Less things to worry about and instantly available to everyone working on the same network. Ideal for secondary settings. This alone will help to innovate schools who want to make us of cloud based learning with their mobile technology.
Share button
This is intuitive to. As I write this article I am offered apps that would work with the writing of this blog. Meaning my work can be shared with more than one application and therefore more than one use. For instance I could share this article with my online storage so I keep a copy or I could create a unique QRcode that could refer to this article . All by clicking on the share. In fact to prove the point I will share this as a QRcode which I will include as a free link to a useful resource now. 
. I used Elecom QR code for Windows which allows me to save the QR code to a dedicated picture folder and then I upload directly into the article. This could work on any application I choose to use.
Bookmarks
Those websites you want to keep and use can be easily imported into the Edge via the hub favourites . Bookmarking a website is as you would expect using the star.
Settings
Also from the same hub that we found bookmarks you can also change the look and feel of the browser easily . There are light and dark skins and also you can have different size fonts for reading up to extra large. These globally change the browser on restarting the Edge. It doesn’t change the colour of the reading pane which might be a useful addition to aide pupils with dyslexia to make it easier to read .
Home button and Tabs
The home button can be set on the icon bar which I find useful to return to my preferred search engine which has been google but with this browser I will continue to try Bing which appears to improve all the time. You have to click on Advanced Settings to change the search engine. I do love the Bing search window which has some useful tools for me all in one place along the top with the tabs. And I love the animated gifs they use as backgrounds which makes it all look very cool!
All in all I think The Edge is a big improvement on previous Internet Explorer browsers and would recommend it as an access tool for those with special educational needs to use.
Digtal Focus Reading Card provides an overlay window that you can customise so that the learner can use the configuration that works for them. In order to evaluate this I would need to try with some pupils and get their reaction . It’s a very simple tool which is good as no pre-learning is required in using it.
I like the way you alter the way your window can be re-sized and made transparent to meet you specific needs. This makes it not get in the way with your way of working. Go to:-
http://www.teacherswithapps.com/research-based-literacy-tool-evolves-helpful-app-struggling-readers/
The authors have sent me this comment about tablets:-
“You may be interested to know that the innovative capabilities of the Reading Focus Cards application to “float on top” AND “stay on top” of nearly any underlying application cannot yet be supported by most mobile technologies (only portable laptops/notebooks at this time). However, we are monitoring hardware upgrades and potential capability (for iPads, iPhones, Android devices, etc.) for possible future versions.”
Take a look at our Google+ page. I will be putting some videos on there in the next week which may be of benefit to you!
I have long been an admirer of the potential of touchcast. This interactive video goes some way to proving how information can be communicated to us in the 21st century. Multi-level and meaningful context driven information!
Good article! Especially the questions at the end and the Alan November clip. For those with special needs – how can we create cultures in school that encourage the use of technology as from my perspective that if there is no ICT culture allied to personal learning then pupils with SEN become more conservative and less willing to innovate
AccessAbility Solutions 