Parent Forms, CD Labels for Take-Home Rights and More: www.donjohnston.com/products/read_outloud/un_access.html

Read:Outloud Video: www.donjohnston.com/media/flash/product_demo/readoutloud/index.html

ALSO, on the PATINS Website, one of the new Video Tutorials is specifically on using Read:OutLoud to open/convert a NIMAS File Set.  View it here: www.patinsproject.com/videos.html

Remember that you can also contact the ICAM and your Regional PATINS Site Coordinator for more info on Read:Outloud and other text-to-speech and NIMAS related software as well.  Contact info here: www.patinsproject.com/contact.html

iPod Touch Apps: It seems like more people everyday are starting to use the iPod Touch or the iPhone.  I know of at least one UDL Pilot School planning to implement iPod touches in their classrooms.  The technology in these devices is exciting to me and the educational possibilities with this sort of technology is just beginning!   Looking in the iTunes App Store, I found several educational applications including, flash card apps, math apps, foreign language apps, study/review skills apps and more.   Some of these apps are free and others range from $2 up to $10 or slightly more.  If you haven’t done so already, go to the iTunes store from within iTunes, then click on Apps and browse the Education category a little bit:

Don’t miss the
PATINS State Conference-

Accessing the Curriculum, November 10th and 11th. The “Early Bird” price break on registration has been extended to October 17th. Details can be found here.

There have been a lot of great, free, regional PATINS workshops and trainings going on around the state that many of you have been taking advantage of.  Additional workshops/trainings can be scheduled as well: www.patinsproject.com/regional.html Please note that there has been a slight change in workshop registrations for the NE PATINS Site.  All registrations must now be completed online rather than by faxing a form or calling.  See here: www.patinsproject.com/ne.html This should simplify the process and help elliminate errors and confusion.  Contact the NE Site if you have problems or questions with the new registration procedure.

Next Week is Closing The Gap in Minnesota.  I’ll be out of the office, but will be returning email as possible. I’ll be gathering information all week and then presenting on Friday afternoon.  I can’t wait to share information on the blog!

Authored by danielgmcnulty. Hosted by Edublogs.]]> http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/10/10/1032008-proofing-tip-readoutloud-resources-itunes-apps-state-conference/feed/ http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/25/9262008-nimas-video-tutorials-giveaway-of-the-day-2-tools-for-webgraphics-classrooms/ http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/25/9262008-nimas-video-tutorials-giveaway-of-the-day-2-tools-for-webgraphics-classrooms/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:23:09 +0000 danielgmcnulty http://nepatins.edublogs.org/?p=129 Thursday??? I know, I’m a day early this week, but here’s why:Free PDF to HTML Converter: Found by Jim on the Giveaway of the Day Website, this one is good only for the rest of TODAY (Thursday), but go to the site even if you miss it because there will be something new tomorrow!  A good idea to make efficient use of this site is to subscribe to the RSS feed it offers you.  As I’ve mentioned many times before, I like to use either www.bloglines.com and/or Outlook to subscribe to my feeds.

NIMAS Video Tutorials: With more and more people becoming aware of NIMAS and the ICAM here in Indiana, we have been producing a set of NIMAS-specific video tutorials that are available (free, of course) on the PATINS website here: www.patinsproject.com/videos.html.

These are intended to be very short and to-the-point.  More videos will be added next week.

Topics so far include:

Firefox Color Picker: I’ve received a few calls/emails recently about students with special needs taking computer, graphics, web design classes, which I think is great.  Unfortunately, I don’t have an abundance of tools to recommend to these teachers yet, BUT here is one free tool that could be useful to anyone doing any design work.  It might be especially useful though, for teaching the concept of web-colors and hex values to students with disabilities as this tool will allow them to click anywhere on any website they visit and obtain the hex value for that color!  Pretty cool.  This is a free add-on to your Firefox browser: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/271

The Pencil Project: Another Firefox add-on that may help with design, graphics, web and computer classes for EVERYONE, including those with disabilities (UDL).  This free  add-on is designed for making diagrams and gui prototyping.  Check it out: http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/

PATINS State Conference! There is still time to register for the 2008 PATINS State Conference here: http://www.patinsproject.com/training.html Deadline is October 17, 2008

The Conference Booklet (including registration form) can be downloaded here:
www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

NEW UDL Pilot Site APPLICATIONS still being accepted until OCT. 6!!!
Info here:http://www.patinsproject.com/udl.html

Happy 50th! Yes, this is the 50th post to the PATINS Rapid Fire blog since I started casually posting free AT/UDL quick tips and tricks on September 11, 2007!

I would still like to see more comments made on the blog from all of you who read it.  Hopefully, you are finding some of the tips here useful in your work with students… share your experiences via comments on the blog!

Two Important Deadlines are quickly approaching.  Don’t forget to register for the PATINS 2008 State Conference at the Crowne Plaze Hotel in Indianapolis on November 10,11.  Registration closes October 17! Registration info and session descriptions can be found here: www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

New UDL Pilot Site Applications due October 6! See here or check with your PATINS Site Coordinator for more info on the Universal Design for Learning Pilot Program in Indiana: www.patinsproject.com/udl.html

ICAM Offers Local Educational Agencies Free Text-To-Speech Software!!!

The Indiana Center for Accessible Materials (ICAM) is pleased to announce that the Indiana Center for Exceptional Learners’ PATINS Project has entered into an agreement with Don Johnston, Inc. to provide Read:OutLoud Universal Access, a digital text reader software program, to local educational agencies in Indiana. This statewide, unlimited license, agreement is available through the ICAM at no cost to Indiana local educational agencies.  Read all the details about this exciting opportunity here: www.patinsproject.com/NIMAS/rol.pdf

NIMAS Help?

A series of new Video Training Tutorials are being produced in the next couple of weeks.  These very condensed videos will address 5-6 of the most pressing concerns schools seem to be having with regard to NIMAS.  Of course, these videos will all be free and are all very short and to-the-point!  One video has been posted already, another should be be done later today and then several more will be posted next week!  Keep an eye here for them:  www.patinsproject.com/videos.html

Remember that these videos along with many additional NIMAS tools and resources can always be found on the ICAM website as well: www.icam.k12.in.us

Authored by danielgmcnulty. Hosted by Edublogs.]]> http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/19/9192008-free-software-for-the-state-50th-blog-posting-new-nimas-video-tutorials-important-deadlines/feed/ http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/11/9122008-circle-docking-ishowu-accessible-ipod-and-itunes-ipod-parts/ http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/11/9122008-circle-docking-ishowu-accessible-ipod-and-itunes-ipod-parts/#comments Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:05:26 +0000 danielgmcnulty http://nepatins.edublogs.org/?p=122

CircleDock:This is sort of a free version of something like CoolTabs, but the author does accept and encourage donations towards further development.  It’s simply a place to put icons (shortcuts) for your files, hyperlinks, applications etc.  It’s only for the PC.  It’s a nice way of organizing the portions of a student’s computer that is important to his/her daily work.  The added organization of something simple like this could very well save time and frustration!

iShowU: Many of you are probably familiar with Camtasia and/or Jing.  Both are wonderful programs and so useful to many of the things we try to accomplish as educators and trainers.  However, Camtasia doesn’t work on the Mac and Jing (although free), doesn’t quite have the capabilities I need in a screen capture software.  iShowU is one option I found this week specifically for the Mac OS.  You can download a trial here and then if you like it the full version ranges in price from $20 up to $60 for the pro HD version.  https://www.shinywhitebox.com

Replacement iPod Parts: Sooner or later, if you use your iPod, something will happen and you’ll need to make repairs.  Bookmark this place and re-visit when that time comes!   http://www.kokopellimusic.us/

Accessibility improved in iTunes/New Nano: With the release of iTunes version 8 and the new iPod NANO, a few much needed accessibility features are finally here, including spoken menus and volume, large font and high contrast and functionality with screen readers inclucing Apple’s Voiceover.  http://www.apple.com/accessibility/itunes/vision.html

Podcast Listener? If you use iTunes to subscribe and listen to podcasts there is a minor change in iTunes 8 that you should be aware of.  You can no longer change the settings for Podcasts in iTunes by going into the iTunes preferences.  Now you have to click on Podcasts along the left and then click Settings at the bottom left of that screen as shown here:

PATINS State Conference! Don’t forget to register for the 2008 PATINS State Conference here: http://www.patinsproject.com/training.html Deadline is October 17, 2008

The Conference Booklet (including registration form) can be downloaded here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

NEW UDL Pilot Site APPLICATIONS being accepted!  Info here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/udl.html Deadline is October 6, 2008

Authored by danielgmcnulty. Hosted by Edublogs.]]> http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/11/9122008-circle-docking-ishowu-accessible-ipod-and-itunes-ipod-parts/feed/ http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/05/952008-turning-your-mp3s-into-ipod-audiobooks-and-more-digital-story-tellingdst/ http://nepatins.edublogs.org/2008/09/05/952008-turning-your-mp3s-into-ipod-audiobooks-and-more-digital-story-tellingdst/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:52:52 +0000 danielgmcnulty http://nepatins.edublogs.org/?p=121 Converting to mp3’s to iPod “Audiobooks” You probably have lots of mp3 files by now and if not, your students probably do!  However, what you may not realize is that an mp3 audio file is not the same thing as an iPod “Audiobook” file.  Audiobooks tend to be very large files such that you aren’t likely to listen to an entire book in one sitting.  If you’re listening to an mp3, you’d have to spend valuable time searching for the spot you left off at when returning to a book you previously had listened to in part.  With an “Audiobook” or iPod m4b format, your iPod remembers exactly where you stopped listening during your previous session, even if you had listened to other content in between sessions!  This could be extremely valuable to you and your students as you create accessible materials, including audiobook conversions from NIMAS File Sets!

So, here’s a couple of free and easy ways you can do it:

For PC:  Download and install this free mp3 to m4b converter: http://www.freeipodsoftware.com/index.php

For Mac: Audiobook Builder is nice little application, but is $9.95.  Alternatively for the Mac is Make Bookmarkable v.2.5, which is free and works quite well!  It’s also nice, because it works right within iTunes, where your iPod Audiobooks are going to end up anyway. Donations are accepted if you like and use Bookmarkable however.  http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=makebookmarkable

To me, it makes a lot of sense to convert your NIMAS File Sets, Text To Audio Conversions, etc to iPod Audiobook format rather than a simple mp3 or wav file for the primary purpose of improving efficiency with students who may already have some difficulty with time constraints.

A couple more Digital Story Telling Tool I wanted to make sure Indiana teachers know about this week.

#1 Slideoo: This is SOOO easy to use.  It works with your flickr account photos and honestly creates a slideshow from your flickr photo set/s in about 3 clicks and then makes it 1-click easy to post it to other places on the web and/or to share it.  Downside is that there isn’t any text, voice-over or music.  http://www.slideoo.com/

#2 VoiceThread: This one is unique because it almost allows a dialogue to happen.  Multiple voices along with your images and text can all be utilized to create a very interesting experience for the viewer and an incredibly engaging interaction for those creating the digital story.  http://voicethread.com

~REMINDERS~

PATINS Regional Site Trainings: Don’t forget that you can always see the workshops and trainings that are scheduled at each of the PATINS Regional Sites here: http://www.patinsproject.com/regional.html. Many workshops have already been scheduled and posted!

PATINS State Conference! …and don’t forget to register for the 2008 PATINS State Conference here: http://www.patinsproject.com/training.html Deadline is October 17, 2008

The Conference Booklet (including registration form) can be downloaded here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

Register for the Free PATINS Assistive Tech Online Overview Course here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/overview.htm Deadline is September 12, 2008

NEW UDL Pilot Site APPLICATIONS being accepted!  Info here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/udl.html Deadline is October 6, 2008

From Wikipedia; “Digital Storytelling” is an emerging term, one that arises from a grassroots movement that uses new digital tools to help ordinary people tell their own ‘true stories’ in a compelling and emotionally engaging form. These stories usually take the form of a relatively short story (less than 8 minutes) and can involve interactivity.

Digital Story Telling has become very popular among innovative and exciting educators, both in the general and special education settings in the last 2-3 years.  It is something that has me really excited!

On my recent trip to Australia with my family, I created a blog for our friends and family back home to keep up with our adventures down under.  I found fascinating the idea of telling a story, conveying a message and sharing an adventure through mixed digital media.   People of many different ages, cultures and geographic locations were quite engaged in the process.  So, the Digital Story Telling concept is a little different than just blogging, but the general idea is the same.  I think it really has potential to ignite struggling students as both writers and readers!

I have workshops scheduled for this school year already that will target Digital Story Telling and in preparation for that I thought I’d post a few options for educators to start looking at.

Slide: Slide is just one of the MANY, MANY free online options available for creating a Digital Story with your students.  http://www.slide.com

Joggle: Joggle is another one of my early favorites.  This one allows you to upload images OR use your flickr or google images by image-tag, which is really cool!  One really nice feature is that you can use voice-over AND text along with your images to tell your story.  I really like this ability.

Slideflikr: You can use this one to create slideshows from your flikr account photos and then embed the slideshows easily in other places, like your own website, the schools website, student blogs, classroom blogs, etc!  AND… you can use your flikr account login/password, so there’s no need to set up a new account.  This is certainly a favorite as it makes embedding a slideshow by tag, user or description VERY easy.  However, it doesn’t allow for text, audio or voice-over.   http://slideflickr.com/

…more on Digital Story Telling next week

Taste Kid: This is something I came across when thinking about what I consider to be the most difficult of the 3 main Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles, Multiple/Flexible Means Of Engagement.  Our students come to class from such a diverse background with such diverse interests that when we find something that truly engages them we should make every effort to ride that wave for as long as possible.  So, this website is a search engine of sorts where you can type in the name of a movie, music, or book that your student likes and Taste Kid will suggest other movies, music and books that are along the same lines with previews of each!  How great for teachers who may not be familiar enough with the books or movies a student is currently engaged in to suggest further reading, etc!   I’ve tried it with a few of my favorite movies and have learned about several more movies that I never even knew existed!  Give it a shot.

~REMINDERS~

PATINS Regional Site Trainings: Don’t forget that you can always see the workshops and trainings that are scheduled at each of the PATINS Regional Sites here: http://www.patinsproject.com/regional.html. Many workshops have already been scheduled and posted!

PATINS State Conference! …and don’t forget to register for the 2008 PATINS State Conference here: http://www.patinsproject.com/training.html Deadline is October 17, 2008

The Conference Booklet (including registration form) can be downloaded here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

Register for the Free PATINS Assistive Tech Online Overview Course here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/overview.htm Deadline is September 12, 2008

More info on the AT Overview Course here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/onlinefaq.pdf

NEW UDL Pilot Site APPLICATIONS being accepted!  Info here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/udl.html Deadline is October 6, 2008

Good-Bye Browser Sync

So, here are a few alternatives that should serve the same purpose.  I’m already getting Browser Sync off of my systems and trying out the first one in this list.

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer [addons.mozilla.org]—Synchronizes your bookmarks across all computers where it is installed.

Mozilla Weave [labs.mozilla.com] from Mozilla Labs—Offers bookmark and history synchronization across computers.

Google Toolbar for Firefox [toolbar.google.com]—Store your bookmarks online and access them from any computer online.

Instructions on how to remove/uninstall Google Browser Sync can be found here:
http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/browsersync/

Jumpcut: During my search for a good OpenSource  basic video editor that will work on both Mac And PC for creating self-operated video prompting on iPods, I came across this very basic, but effective online/Free video editor worthy of bookmarking for those times when you need to quickly edit/share some video clips, but maybe aren’t at your own computer with your own video software. This is very intuitive and quick to use.  Check out Jumpcut: http://www.jumpcut.com

REMINDERS

PATINS Regional Site Trainings: Don’t forget that you can always see the workshops and trainings that are scheduled at each of the PATINS Regional Sites here: http://www.patinsproject.com/regional.html. Many workshops have already been scheduled and posted!

PATINS State Conference! …and don’t forget to register for the 2008 PATINS State Conference here: http://www.patinsproject.com/training.html Deadline is October 17, 2008

The Conference Booklet (including registration form) can be downloaded here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

Register for the Free PATINS Assistive Tech Online Overview Course here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/overview.htm Deadline is September 12, 2008

More info on the AT Overview Course here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/onlinefaq.pdf

NEW UDL Pilot Site APPLICATIONS being accepted!  Info here:
http://www.patinsproject.com/udl.html Deadline is October 6, 2008

By now, most of you have probably already started back to school or will start in the next week or so. Welcome Back! As budgeting for professional development seems to become more and more pressing each year, I want to let you know about the PATINS 2008 State Conference as early as possible.

PATINS 2008 State Conference:

Accessing the Curriculum

November 10th & 11th, 2008

Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Indianapolis

Keynote Speakers will be Jim Fruchterman and Donald J. Leu! Read more about them HERE.

Download the full conference Registration Booklet and listing of sessions/presentations HERE: http://www.patinsproject.com/Conference/ConferenceBooklet.pdf

Registrations Must Be Received By OCTOBER 17, 2008

NEW UDL PILOT TEAM APPLICATIONS!  It’s that time again!  There will be 8 new UDL Pilot Teams Selected this October.  Pilot Team Applications are due October 6, 2008.  You can find out more and download application materials here: http://www.patinsproject.com/udl.html
-Click here for the guidelines on the application process.  Click here for the application page-

Mac Fixes: Once of the things that kept me from using a Mac computer for a long time was my understanding that it was difficult to replace parts and work on the hardware components yourself. While this may have been the case for many years, I do believe that it is slowly changing. I’ve started to see more and more parts and pieces for Mac computers in the typical electronics stores. This is also one website intended to not only provide you with a place to purchase parts for your Mac and iPods, but also provide you with great examples, often including photos of how to do repairs/replacements yourself. Thanks Chris for letting me know about this great resource! http://www.ifixit.com/

iTunes U: …is actually part of the iTunes Store. Many people I talk to still think that iTunes and especially the iTunes Store is only for music and videos. Two of the most beneficial parts of the iTunes Store to educators should be the Podcast Section and the Education Section however. Additionally, ALL CONTENT on iTunes U is FREE!!! This includes lectures, audiobooks, language learning, and LOTS more! Of course, if it is in iTunes, it can be used on the computer or made mobile by putting it onto iPods and works great on Macs or PCs.  Here is a great introductory video on  iTunesU: http://www.apple.com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/landing.html .

Some of the content may be too advanced for many K-12 students, but don’t forget that Universal Design for Learning (UDL) includes those students who might need some extra challenges or additional content in order to remain engaged in the curriculum.  

SIDENOTE: iTunes Problems on Vista Machines: Sometimes, iTunes has trouble accessing the iTunes Store on some PC’s running Windows Vista.  Mine happened to be one of them!  There are several potential solutions I found, but none of them worked except for THIS ONE: 

The “hosts” file may be blocking the iTunes Store

Find and rename your hosts file to “backup-hosts.” Restart the computer to generate a new file. The hosts file is normally found in the following locations:

Windows Vista: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC

You might try that if you can’t connect to the iTunes store.  

Some great apps for the Mac:

• 
  Today 1.2.1:
  This one is $15. It’s a nice, small little app that is easy to use. It would allow you or your students who might have some difficulty staying organized and on schedule by letting them quickly view what’s on the agenda and what items might be coming up later in the week.
• 
  Corkboard 1.01:
  A nice little app for anyone who either struggles with working memory or who tries to do too many things at once… ehhemm, teachers! Corkboard is shareware and costs $12.99. It uses the clipboard that you’d typically use for your copy/paste, but allows you to do SO much more!
  
• 
  Calcboard:
  This one IS FREE. This is a widget for your Mac Dashboard that allows your students to edit and re-execute previous calculations line by line. Could be a nice little tool for students struggling in math.

Monday I’ll be leaving Indianapolis for Sydney, Australia. I plan to keep blogging the next 3 Fridays while down-under. Then, when I return, the 2008-2009 school year will be in full swing for many districts and the PATINS-Project offices will again be busy. Let us know how we can help you in your classrooms. Don’t forget that you should plan now to attend the 2008 PATINS-Project State Conference in November!

AudibleKids: So, it’s still summer time and my 6 year old still has a broken arm slowing her down and I’m still looking for ideas for alternative activities for her. Last week, Vicki Hershman emailed me this link to AudibleKids. AudibleKids is a website where you can search for audiobooks by age, category or grade. Children can have their own account and indicate within their account, which audiobooks they’d like to put into their cue. Parents, teachers, guardians can then purchase books from the child’s cue or give the child an allowance to make their own purchases. I really like the child/student choice aspect of this website…empowering. Something else that I really like about this audiobooks website is that the process doesn’t end with your child/student listening to the audiobook. Children can share their favorites, their thoughts and reflections on the audiobooks, reviews, lists, and can search others’ reflective input as well. Additionally, the website is simple and clean, uses large colorful icons, is easy to navigate and also offers a selected number of enhanced audiobooks! Enhanced audiobooks allow users to watch illustrations and photographs on a capable ipod or other device, while listening to the audio content. Very Cool! http://kids.audible.com

Creative Commons (cont.): Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to digest last week’s info on Creative Commons, have visited the www.creativecommons.org website and have started thinking about not only licensing your own digital creations with a “some rights reserved” attitude, but also about how you might present this concept to your students repeatedly during the upcoming school year. You’ve probably noticed that everything about the CC website is free, including their software.

Using CC is pretty straight-forward, but there are a few things I’d like to point out.

Case Studies: First, you may be wondering how you’ll actually use CC even if you recognize the benefit of CC. Check out these Case Studies on the CC website to see how some people are using it on a daily basis. If you are a user and have something to share, you can also contribute your story to this wiki! http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Casestudies

Videos: Here are several videos you can watch right in your browser on using CC. http://support.creativecommons.org/videos/

Flickr: If you’re into digital photography at all, you’ve likely at least heard about www.flickr.com by now. If not, check into it. I may post about Flickr again in the future, but for now, I just wanted to point out that many websites and “Web 2.0″ sorts of interactive places online are now fully integrated with the CC concept. Flickr is a great example of this. See HERE for Flickr’s page on Creative Commons. I found this page quite helpful when trying to wrap my head around what Creative Commons is and how it might apply to my life. You can also search Flickr photos by the CC attributes they have and apply CC licensing to your own work right there within Flickr!