has ceased trading – but still producing valuable assistive technology information
It irritated me to have an American voice on my google maps and my wife’s google maps had a British voice. I tried changing it in the settings on Google Maps and it just didn’t work. So here is how to do it. It’s done in your iPhone’s settings
1. Go to Settings
2. Then General
3. Language and Region
4. Set the region to United Kingdom
5. English should be the preferred language for your iPhone and your map should have an English voice!
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!
Soft published today at #nasenlive2023 a mini guide to help SENCOs and teachers use Assistive Technology effectively and strategically. Written by Julia Clouter of Scanning Pens and myself . Proud of what we have achieved. Get your free copy at https://nasen.org.uk/atminiguide. if you are not a nasen member you will need to joipn nasen for free first then download the guide
It looks as if I will be travelling throughout this summer outside of the UK.
In August I will be attending the A11y Accessibility Conference in North Idaho at the invitation of my good friend and colleague Jeremy Seda. If you want to join us please click on the conference link above. I will be speaking about the BATA project “The Power of Assistive Technology ” film series.
In September I have been invited to speak again at the ABLE Summit in Beirut, Lebanon. Same subject but different audience. I hope it will transfer to different cultures as the message is Assistive Technology transforms lives. Again if you are in the Middle East and want to join us click on the title link for further information.
I feel extremely fortunate to have these opportunities at the later end of my career and look forward to seeing old friends and make new ones too!
At home I have BATA’s AGM and nasen live to attend. At nasen live I am there with Juliua Clouter who is speaking on our joint collaboration the nasen mini guide for Assistive Technology. This work compliments The Power of Assistive Technology project and provides part of the strategy by helping SENCO’s to implement Assistive Technology into their settings.
The Power of Assistive Technology film series features pupil voices explaining how their journey with assistive technology has changed and transformed their lives. It’s a honest snap-shot of where we are in schools on the use of Assistive Technology. We hope to release this series in September but click on the title to see our teaser about the project on YouTube. Please share the link through your networks.
Dolphin have released a tool to enable the first steps of discovering what kind of technology would best help you. It is not diagnostic but a signposting tool to begin a journey of finding the right assistive technology to meet your needs in work, home and community. To find out more go to:-
I have published several posts on Artificial Intelligence but this article on LinkedIn shares my current thinking :-
I share a common goal with the above group in that working with ethnic minorities is something we should all be doing as they are , in my opinion, under represented in Assistive Technology. Take a look at :-
https://bamevision.org/news-and-events
And also this podcast
AccessAbility Solutions 