Have you seen Learning Labs? A cloud based training resource that may help your pupils who have recording needs. Sections are clearly labelled and information is presented in a multimedia way using printed, audio and video materials. It also, by its organisation, sets a prime list of suggested tools that can help pupils and students access information. Take a look now at:-

Learning Labs

Yesterday I upgraded two of machines:-

a) Surface Pro 3

b) Acer Aspire V5 Laptop

This is how it went!

a) Surface Pro 3 – the install was a dream! – clicked on the link provided by the desktop item and within minutes I was downloaded Windows 10. 20 mins later my machine was running Windows 10 and I explored all the new tools and features. Cortana wasn’t that impressive on first try but using the speech setup in settings helped to improve a little. Maybe the surface on board microphone is not that good!

b) Acer Aspire V5 Laptop – as I didn’t have the update loaded onto the taskbar I had to manual search and find a way. A useful PCWorld article led me to the Media Creation Tool whihc requires a USB drive with 4 Gb spare. This I started to do. The process was long – VERY long!  Not only did the stick have to download the ISO file but also wanted updates! Also, it then proceeded to take over 6 hours to install on my laptop. On first look a few things needed tweaking but I am pleased to say that all my programs work and the data I have is secure as well.

Conclusion

1. By far the easiest is to use the windows update icon rather than the Media Creation Tool. The only advantage is downloading when you want to. I need to say that the 6 hours was on a 150Gb broadband connection!

2. Surface Pro 3 can make more use of Windows 10 features but the Cortana isn’t as good as I thought it was at the moment. This may improve as I keep using it . Using Tablet Mode is going to be the most useful for this device as the look and feel are quite intuitive and easy to use I have to say.

3. Acer Aspire V5 Laptop – took an excessive amount of time and a few hairy moments to see if was going to work! Just having the % scale and not time does not give you any indication how long the download will take. On first impressions the results are good. The taskbar doesn’t store programs in the same way , instead their is a 3-square icon that shows a desktop view of what is running on the machine instead. Press the Windows Key and you will see the icons listed and although I couldn’t see the new browser ” The Edge” and “Cortana” they are listed in the Tiled view. Of course its great to have the Start menu back and to be able to access the laptop in that way.

4. On the whole its looking good but let’s see what comes down the road! – How many updates! How seamless they are or do we still have the waiting for updates shutdown problem we had in Windows 7. I will feed back on that one in due course!

Don’t get too excited this is more of an admin procedure as I have created a domain that can be used that “points ” to my blog site. This is the original site I have used for the past three years! At this stage it is slow but for commercial reasons I can now use the address so its more in line with me being a business and not an organisation.

As part of a give-away from those nice people at Inclusive Technology they are offering 14 days free trial of their software for eye-gaze. There are free downloads on the literature for eye-gaze in pdf format so if you don’t have an eye gaze system you will have wonderful information on development of skills for access using their systems – but the information can be easily adapted to suit other types of eye-gaze system.

click here for information

HelpKidzLearn are offering free activities to use with their app Chooseit Maker 3. If you don’t have a subscription then please consider this as its a great resource. I have written article about Choose it Maker 3 on LinkedIn. If you have a subscription then please download the activities on this link
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=ef31c4d0-67d1-4828-bad7-74bcabf5fffd&c=6b12ad30-9fc4-11e4-a8fe-d4ae527b77f8&ch=6bee4020-9fc4-11e4-a970-d4ae527b77f8

British Assistive Technology Associatipon (BATA) has a news and events section that contains a useful list of events that you may find interesting to go to.

http://bataonline.org/events

Special !Apps have just announced they have released Android versions of their apps . For more information go to :-

https://www.specialiapps.org/blog/97

“The Grid” – not to be confused with Smartbox’s communication software – is an artificial intelligence  website creator. It sounded amazing when it was first mentioned but there have been delays and frustrations for those who have been waiting. And there looks like a further wait of between 3-6months. The Grid is currently in beta stage testing with 100 testers taken from founder members. Information with founder members have been sparse to say the least until the last couple of months. But if you have a spare 24 minutes this google hangout video describes in some detail how the grid will work. The concept is that content is taken by the AI and turned into different types of website and displays with a tonal colour feel and simple graphical layout. Looks interesting – just would love to see the product live!

Widigt have sent out a news bulletin containing resources that support learning. Out of the many useful resources I was attracted to the “Visual Timetable” this looks very useful for setting up and managing the difficult concept for learners with special needs to accept change by pre-warning of changes. Also there are resources on behaviour as well as the usual curriculum resources. If you are in a symbol-user setting then I am sure these resources would be of use. For more details continue reading below:-

The new academic year is just around the corner. Time to start planning for the new term? Have a look at our resources range – they are great for saving you from hours of creating your own, giving you more time to enjoy the summer holidays!

Save time and money with our resource bundles

Our resource bundles have been very popular with schools. They are ideal to use in all classrooms to support curriculum access for all children.

Current titles are:

• KS1 Science
• KS2 Science
• History
• Geography
• Primary

Save £140 on the Primary bundle, a collection of our most popular teaching resources, which provides a solid foundation for inclusive and personalised learning. With over 1,000 books and activities, you can easily differentiate the primary curriculum to meet pupils’ needs.

For more information:
www.widgit.com/resources/bundles

Behaviour Prompts

Setting expectations for behaviour is incredibly important at the beginning of a new term. Our Behaviour Prompts pack will help visualise the expectations, ensuring that the children understand what is expected of them.

These resources are incredibly useful for non-verbal communication so behaviour prompting does not interrupt your teaching.

Only £5 for the Communicate In Print version.

For more information:
www.widgit.com/resources/curriculum/school-environment/behavioural_prompts

Maths Pack

Creating visual resources for maths lessons can be time consuming.

Our maths pack contains all the vocabulary you will need to teach maths in the primary classroom.

Use the range of ready-made layouts to help visualise difficult mathematical concepts and support consistency of language and visuals throughout the school.

Only £39 (supplied on CD)

For more information:
http://www.widgit.com/resources/curriculum/maths/maths_pack

Visual timetables and other environment signs

Communication is an important element in any school or education establishment. Visual timetables, door signs and tray labels can be an easy way of communicating what is happening or where objects belong.

These ready-made symbol resources improve independence and reduce anxiety for a range of children.

Only £15 for the digital download or £25 for a CD version.

For more information:
www.widgit.com/CFE

Free Summer Resources

The summer holidays are nearly here – are you ready? Widgit have a range of free resources to help you plan for the summer.

Summer Planner
Weekly planner templates to help plan activities over the summer holidays:
www.widgit.com/resources/seasonal/summer-planner

Summer Weather
Activities, stories and worksheets relating to the weather in summer:
www.widgit.com/resources/seasonal/summer_weather

Holiday Vocabulary
A pack of flashcards for learning holiday vocabulary:
www.widgit.com/resources/seasonal/holiday_vocabulary

Widgit Software

26 Queen Street, Cubbington, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 7NA
tel: 01926 333680
email: info@widgit.com

www.widgit.com

@Widgit_Software

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