5 Educational iPad Apps

For more information, check out these 5 free educational iPad apps at the following website for teachers:

http://teacherswithapps.com/still-free-and-still-fabulous-5-educational-ipad-apps/

1. BrainPop Featured Movie

2.  Oh No! Fractions – Curious Hat Lab

3. The Hungry Fish

4.  Rover – The Browser for Education

5. Phonics Genius

5 FREE Programs for Educators:

Here are 5 really neat programs you can use in your classroom:

1. Popcorn Maker allows users to infuse Web content, video and pop-up into an image, creating dynamic, interactive images.

2. GoAnimate helps teachers create tutorials by writing scripts for animated characters.

3. Screenleap gives educators the ability to share a code with students so they can access a presentation on a teacher’s computer even if they are using a variety of devices in the classroom or at home.

4. Remind101 provides a means of communication with parents and students using text messages. After you register and create a class list, you’ll be able to send reminders to students from a program-generated number, and students and parents cannot text back.

5. InfuseLearning brings students into an interactive learning environment in which teachers can create quizzes to gauge students’ understanding in real time. Students can even respond to teacher prompts by drawing pictures. InfuseLearningalso has a built-in language translator.

For #2 "GoAnimate", I also created my own little animation for my AAC presentation. You can check it out here:


http://goanimate.com/videos/0WUv5H9HBVBM?utm_source=linkshare

Webinar #3

Webinar #3- Fine Motor Skills

Dexteria app is an app for occupational therapy. It includes three main features: Tap it, Pinch it and Write it. For a student with limited or impaired motor skills, this app is a very fun and interactive way for students to practice their fine motor skills or hand and eye coordination. These skills are also useful for young children developing their hand writing. The three areas that we looked at in the webinar included “Tap It” which works on fine motor skills, “Pinch it” which works on the ability to pinch grip or the functional grasp for writing and lastly, “Write It” which works on individual isolation of fingers and the ability to use a stylist to practice hand writing. I liked the idea that this program is progressive and you are able to use a stylist, which will help younger students develop their hand writing skills. On the Binary Labs website, which provides the Dexteria app, it was also interesting to see they offer other apps called “Letter Reflex” which helps students overcome letter reversals, and “P.O.V” to help students develop spatial reasoning skills.

Bugs And Buttons is an affordable app at only $2.99. It is aimed towards young children to develop patterns, counting, learning about bugs, and in particular fine motor skills.  The app comes with 18 educational and interactive games. Two of the games that were demonstrated in the webinar which I enjoyed the most were the “Pinch and Grab” game, focuses on developing fine motor skills and it is challenging for students as it gets more difficult. It was neat to see how they added in the feature for student to learn how to sort and recycle as well. The program can also work on student wrist extension with the adjustment of the angles. The other game I also enjoyed was called “Roach Racing” which is another feature that also works on fine motor skills by controlling the speed with the coordination of your finger(s)/thumb.  The “Bug And Buttons” website (provided by “Little Bit Studio”), also indicates it is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese.  

Here is a demo of the app found on YouTube:

 

Injini app- As Barb best said “you get what you pay for with this app”. I can agree with her after learning about all its features and the fact that it was designed by teachers. The website (injini.net) states it’s a useful app for students with “special needs, to improve fine motor skills, spatial awareness, memory & visual processing”. It also states it has been “field tested with families, early intervention centres, & preschools. When this program is used for assessment or practice, the visual motor and control skills, as well as fine motor skills are all important. In this program you are also able to use your fingers or stylist to develop pre-writing skills. Another highlight is that the levels are progressive and develop in the same sequence as the developmental writing skills. It comes with 9 games and 8 mini-games that include many levels to practice the following skills “fine motor, cause and effect understanding, spatial awareness, memory, differentiation, response inhibition, visual processing, sequencing and more” (injini.net).

Here is another demo of the app Injini found on YouTube:

 

 

More apps learned from the webinars...

The next webinar I decided to watch was on "Communication Disorders".

The three most useful apps I learned about were the following:

Proloquo2go- is an  that is $189, but worth the money. It is very user friendly by both teachers and students. I was glad to find out more information on this app as I missed our class where we were introduced to it and had the opportunity to use it hands on. It was actually one of the main AAC devices advertised at the Florida conference I attended, but I was still not able to use it there. However, I think it says something when it is being advertised and used in the United States as well. I was impressed by how there are 8000 built in features in Proloquo2go and how adapted you can make it based on the users functioning ability (mainly for students who are non-verbal and have communication disorders). Just from learning about the other AAC devices out there, I do not feel they are as adaptive as this one. The ability to create folders, its word prediction and the options to change the voices are all very impressive!

I found this interesting video on how much time and research actually goes into developping the speech to text in programs such as Proloquo2go:

 

MyVoice- it is an AAC app aimed towards non-verbal students where you can access support online after setting up an account (http://myvoiceaac.com/app/talkrocketgo/).  It seems to be very user friendly with many tutorials available on its website. You can change any photo by pressing on it and choosing photos from your own camera roll. I find the insertion of your own images makes this app very personal. You can download pre-made folders and change the cells around once you have saved it. What’s neat about this app, is since you have to create an account on the website, it allows you to open up the account on different devices and share the created folders. It is also good for users who need to rest their vocal cords but continue to communicate with others. I will remember this one next time I lose my voice in school and want a fun but educational way to communicate with me students! J  

Sign4me- I enjoyed this app for many reasons. One main reason is that it is very affordable at $9.99 and it is very user friendly. It’s like having a translator in your pocket, as you are also able to type in English words or phrases and the avatar will sign for you right away.  It is so neat that you can turn your avatar around to see different angles (I think my students would enjoy that part especially). You are also able to bank your words or phrases and if someone doesn’t know sign language they are also able to follow along and learn as the words are displayed below the avatar. I wish this would have been available to me as a kid, as I had two Deaf grandparents. It was very difficult for me to communicate with them at a young age. I feel a program like this would really interest kids and adults in learning sign language more quickly and in a fun way.

This YouTube video gives a great summary using the app to sign its features:

 

Learning from the comfort of your own home!

The webinar I enjoyed the most was- “Top Free Apps in Special Education”. It touched on many apps in one would think a reasonable amount of time (an hour and a half) but it really was not long enough to go in depth with all of the apps. I enjoyed this webinar because it touched on apps that I am interested in using personal and also with a wide range of students in my classroom.

One of the most interesting things I liked right away from this webinar was learning about the “accessibility” feature under the settings app. Although I have an iPhone and feel I am quite comfortable in using it, I had no idea you could change the settings for vision, hearing, learning, physical & motor impairments. I am fortunate enough to not have to depend on any of these features, but it is very useful to know these things for our students who may need them. I really enjoyed the “speak-selection” feature, which I think will actually be very useful for one of my students.

"Bubble Popper" app made me remember what it was like to be a kid again. I had to download that one right away! :)

 

TOP 3 APPS:

Dragon Dictation- This app was actually just loaded onto my iPhone device with my last update. I had heard of it before watching this webinar, but wasn’t fully aware of what it was capable of doing. I like the idea of pairing it with a graphic organizer so they can pre-plan what they want to say. Even I have trouble sometimes knowing exactly what I want to say when using the voice search or voice texting.

For students with learning disabilities (i.e. dyslexia, dysgraphia, visual impairments, physical impairments, etc.) this app can be a useful tool in creating speech to text and is able to produce text for notes, lists, emails, etc. From many sources I read online, there is minimal training (if any) required, which makes it easy for its users. It will also recognize your voice and names over time. Language selection and the detection of the end of speech is a feature. Even my dad who does not own a cell-phone or how to turn on a computer can use it!

 TourWrist and Eyewitness- I thought these two apps would have been so useful to me last year as an art teacher! When I checked it out, I couldn’t believe the tours of places around the world you were able to view. “Tour of the day” is also a neat feature that gives a picture of the day in TourWrist. It is very cool with the panoramic view of pictures. I believe these two are powerful apps for visual learners and would create great classroom discussions for areas around the world and art pieces. Sometimes it is so hard as a classroom teacher to bring culture into the classroom. These apps are a great way for your students to see other parts of the world!

 

 Math App- As a math teacher for the junior high school level, I personally found this app quite interesting and will definitely be using it in my classroom. Although you only get the first 5 video lessons free, I think I will invest in the app to be able to show the videos in class. I believe it is good for any student in math. It could be useful to show to a student who struggles in math, good for students who miss the lesson in class due to absentees, or even for students who do not necessarily get the information the first time because of processing issues. I always believed it was important to teach students material in a number of ways and there are definitely different ways that they use in the video lessons that I wouldn’t have thought of. I also want to install the “Quick Graph” app on our class set of iPods at school so the students can use them as a graphing calculator.

Feb. 9th, 2013

I thought the online class using “Blackboard Collaborate” very useful and interactive! When I first entered the chat before our scheduled class started, I was worried I was not going to understand all its features, but after experiencing our session I felt it was a very useful way to hold a lesson. I can see this virtual classroom being the new way to classes. Soon, there will be no need for people to get out of bed for school, because everyone will be able to participate in class. This would avoid the limitations of not attending class due to a cold, travelling, having young children, etc. I’m not sure if my junior high school students could handle it yet, but I can see it being very useful to high school students and post secondary schools. I’m surprised Acadia University does not offer more classes through a virtual classroom. I guess, there would be some limitations with technology not functioning properly, but it is an amazing way for everyone to access an education and participate online through different modes of communication.
 

I really enjoyed all of the presentations today. Although all of the presentations were done using the virtual classroom, it was interesting that each presentation was still done using a different format (PowerPoint, blog, podcast). I was very interested and drawn to Tarah’s topic only because I grew up with two deaf grandparents that raised my father. They passed away when I was a child, but in my younger years I was able to learn some basic sign language. I have lost a lot of the language over the years, but it is something I have always wanted to learn again. I’m always amazed by those who are able to sign for hours and hours. It looks like it is something that can become exhausting after a while. During our conference in Florida, they actually had someone sign the keynote presentations to the audience and it was very nice to see them have this set up. I was also able to meet a specialist from the Institute for Disability Research and Training in one of my sessions at the conference who was able to show me some of the resources they have available to students who are deaf or blind. The website she directed me to that has many links and more information on how they are supporting students in their region is: www.idrt.com. As I mentioned in my last blog she also shared some apps available to support these students, such as Sign Story, Walking the Plank, Sign 4 Me, ASL Translate. Some of them do cost money, but they are very good prices for what you get from the technology.

I was hoping to be able to present my information today using my blog or the PowerPoint I put together, but unfortunately I was limited in the fact that my computers is not high tech with a working microphone. AGAIN, this is another reason why I should make the big move on purchasing an iPad or Mac Pro. I know it’s going to happen soon, just need to be financially setup to do so. So for now I’ll make do with the old HP, but mentally I have been convinced to buy the iPad because of all of its useful features. I can’t wait until the school board decides to invest in this as well.

Getting back to the virtual classroom, I think it is going to be the new way we hold or offer many of our classes in the future. Not only because it’s so easy to use, but because it truly is accessible to everyone and it avoids much of the intimidation factor that students face when being resistant to participating in class. The camera feature is also beneficial in the sense that we won’t lose all of the importance of being able to communicate in person as well.

I almost hope we are able to have another class through the chat room setting, because although I learned a lot in our session, I’m sure there are many more features available on it that I can learn.     

Feb. 4th, 2013

Feb. 4^th, 2013

Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC)

I would have to say I really enjoyed the Florida Educational Technology Conference and I recommend for any teacher to take the opportunity to attend. The information given was overwhelming and I almost need a few more days on top of my conference to go through all of my information and sort out what I can use in my classroom.

I would like to start off by talking about the “Technology and Learning Connection Hands-On Lab” I attended. I felt it was the most relevant session I attended that related to our Assistive Technology (5173) Masters course. The session provided a wide range of assistive and instructional technologies. We were able to preview software that supported students in the areas of reading, writing, math and much more using differentiated instruction. There were technology specialists available around the room to provide information and answer questions based on the technology to support student needs. As I teacher I love receiving free resources and I was able to leave this session with a few free CDs that included many materials and resources for the classroom.

One of the specialists I was able to speak with was from the “Institute for Disability Research and Training” where she was providing information on blind and deaf assistive technology. She was very informative and directed me to their website: www.idrt.com. Here you can find lots of information on their services, as well as great ASL tools to use in your classroom (ex. ASL dictionary, sign generator, ASL games, etc.). She also showed me many different apps that are available to use on the iPad. A few of them include Sign Story, Walking the Plank, Sign 4 Me, ASL Translate, etc.

Another specialist I was able to speak with was there on behalf of the AAC Tech Connect group. In conversation with her, I was able to learn about some of the low to high Augmentative Communication Devices including the “Proloquo2go” app. She also provided me with their website where you can find further information on their services and resources to use in the classroom: www.AACtechconnect.com. This website also provides information on what apps are available out there for ACC and compares them to one another.  

She also gave me a CD titled “Visual Support Sampler” which provides me with free vocabulary sets, word walls, books with symbolated text, matching and bingo games, manipulatives and much more! Unfortunately, most of it is only available on Boardmaker software which I do not have on my computer from home.

Here are some of the links provided on the CD which will allow you to access some of the information as well:

fdlrsregion3curriculumvisuals.wikispaces.com

fdlrsregion3thematicvisuals.wikispaces.com

fdlrsregion3literacyvisuals.wikispaces.com

fdlrsregion3morevisuals.wikispaces.com

fdlrsregion3genedbehavior.wikispaces.com

fdlrsregion3dynamicdisplaypages.com

fdlrsregion3videotutorials.wikispaces.com

 

fdlrsregion3morevisuals.wikispaces.com

I was also able to take some photos of some of the AAC technologies she had on display:

 

I asked if I was able to share these resources with colleagues and they encouraged it, so here are some of the websites that were provided during this session on some of the CDs. As you can see there are many websites here and it is overwhelming, and therefore I have not had the chance to go through them all yet. However, hopefully you can find something that is applicable for you to use in your classroom. I also have an extra copy of one of the CDs up for grabs if anyone would like it.

Check out the resources below:

Assistive Technology (AT)

ATTO - http://atto.buffalo.edu/ . online resources and information on assistive technology for students with disabilities in elementary school settings.

AT Cycle Toolkit - http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms/output/page_site.php?
pageID=9514&siteID=1567 . an AT support toolkit from Johns Hopkins University

AT Continuum - by Judy Sweeney from Onion Mountain Tech - check out all of the low/simple technologies at http://www.onionmountaintech.com/index.php

Florida’s Assistive Technology Assessment Competencies Web Site - http://www.florida-ese.org/atcomp

ATEval2Go for the iPad - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ateval2go/id558203150?mt=8 . assistive technology evaluation tool

AT & UDL Loan Library - http://www.at-udl.net

Alternative Keyboards

1.   Intellikeys - http://www.intellitools.com/intellikeys.html . highly customizable keyboard

2.   Big Keys - http://www.bigkeys.com/ . large key keyboards in a variety of color schemes

3.   Half Keyboard - http://www.halfkeyboard.com/products/hkbinfo.html . great for one handed typing

4.   ILT Alternative Keyboards - http://www.iltsource.com/Assistive_Technology_Products_s/25.htm . a variety of alternative keyboards and keyguards

On-screen Keyboards

1.   Click n'Type (Win) - http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/ . a basic on screen keyboard with basic word prediction

2.   OnScreen (Win . Mac) - http://www.rjcooper.com/

3.   Keystrokes (Mac) - http://www.assistiveware.com/product/keystrokes

4.   Reach (Win) - http://newsite.ahf-net.com/reach/ . highly customizable onscreen keyboard

Alternative Mouse

1.   Joy Stick & Trackballs - http://www.traxsys.com/
AssistiveTechnology/tabid/1087/Default.aspx

2.   SAM Trackball - http://www.rjcooper.com/sam-trackball/index.html

3.   SAM Joystick - http://www.rjcooper.com/sam-joystick/

4.   Touch Windows - http://www.magictouch.com/addon.html

5.   Arm & Wrist Supports - http://ergo-items.com/armSupport.htm . don't forget to consider arm and wrist rests

Mouse Emulation for Switch Control

1.   CrossScanner (Win . Mac) - http://www.rjcooper.com/cross-scanner/

2.   ScanBuddy (Win) - http://newsite.ahf-net.com/scanbuddy/

3.   DiscoverPro (Win) & DiscoverEnvoy (Mac) - http://www.madentec.com/products/

Switch Systems

1.   Switch Systems from AbleNet - http://www.ablenetinc.com/Assistive-Technology/Switches . wide variety of switches

2.   Switch Selection Grid from AbleNet (PDF) - http://www.ablenetinc.com/Portals/0/KnowledgeBase/
Selection_Grids/Switch_Selection_Grid.pdf . pdf tool comparing the features of various switches

3.   Switch Accessories from AbleNet - http://www.ablenetinc.com/Assistive-Technology/Switches/Switch-Accessories

4.   Switch Interface Pro - http://www.donjohnston.com/products/
access_solutions/hardware/switch_interface_pro_5/index.html

5.   IntelliSwitch - http://www.intellitools.com/intelliswitch.html

6.   Switch Scanning Methods - http://www.bltt.org/switch/scanning.htm . basic explanation of switch scanning

Large Cursors

1.   Biggy - http://www.rjcooper.com/biggy/

2.   Philip's Large Color Cursors - http://www.philip-henderson.co.uk/cursor.shtml

Head Tracking

1.   TrackerPro - http://www.madentec.com/products/tracker-pro.php

2.   HeadMouse - http://www.orin.com/access/headmouse/

Screen Magnification

1.   MAGic (Win) - http://www.freedomscientific.com/default.asp

2.   ZoomText (Win) - http://www.aisquared.com/zoomtext/

3.   Magnifiers Web Site - http://www.magnifiers.org/

4.   Dragnifier (Win) - http://www.halley.cc/stuff/dragnifier.html . a simple and very handy free utility for magnifying small areas of a computer screen as needed

Screen Readers

1.   JAWS (Win) - http://www.freedomscientific.com/default.asp

2.   Window-Eyes (Win) - http://www.gwmicro.com/window-eyes/

3.   VoiceOver (Mac) - http://www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover/

Speech-to-Text

1.   Dragon (Win . Mac) - http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm

2.   Dragon Dictation iPad - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8

3.   SpeakQ (Win) - http://www.goqsoftware.com/#

Text-to-Speech

1.   Natural Reader (Win . Mac) - http://www.naturalreaders.com/

2.   Read:Outloud (Win . Mac) - http://www.donjohnston.com/products/read_outloud/

3.   WordQ (Win . Mac) - http://www.goqsoftware.com/#

4.   iWordQ for iPad - http://www.goqsoftware.com/#

5.   Read & Write - http://www.texthelp.com/UK/our-products/readwrite

6.   Kurzweil 3000 - http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products.html

Augmentative & Alternative Communication

1.   Boardmaker - http://www.mayer-johnson.com/boardmaker-software-family

2.   Pogo Boards - http://www.pogoboards.com/

3.   TICO - http://www.proyectotico.com/wiki-en/index.php/Home . a free symbol and communication board system

4.   Eye Gaze Boards - http://www.bridgeschool.org/
transition/multimodal/eye_gaze_boards.php

5.   AbleNet - http://www.ablenetinc.com/Assistive-Technology/Communication

6.   GoTalk - http://www.attainmentcompany.com/gotalks

7.   ZYGO - http://www.zygo-usa.com/usa/

8.   AMDi - http://www.amdi.net/

9.   Prentke Romich - http://www.prentrom.com/

10.     DynaVox - http://www.dynavoxtech.com/default.aspx

11.     ProxTalker - http://www.proxtalker.com/

12.     Saltillo - http://saltillo.com/

13.     Proloquo (Mac) - http://www.assistiveware.com/product/proloquo

14.     Proloquo2Go iPad - http://www.assistiveware.com/product/proloquo2go

15.     PODD - Pragmatic Organization of Dynamic Display - http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/product/pragmatic-organisation-dynamic-display-podd-communication-books-direct-access-templates

16.     PIXON - http://www.aacinstitute.org/Resources
/ProductsandServices/Pixons/index.html

Visual Strategies

1.   Using Visual Strategies - http://www.usevisualstrategies.com/

2.   Visual Aids for Learning - http://visualaidsforlearning.com/

3.   Polyxo - http://209.197.91.184/

4.   Fraser Eye Box Tools - http://www.fraser.org/Resources/Products/Fraser-Autism-Support-Products.aspx

5.   pictureSET - http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/

6.   Practical Autism Resources - http://www.practicalautismresources.com/printables

7.   preKindergarten Boardmaker Resources - http://prekese.dadeschools.net/BMD/activityspecific.html

8.   Thematic Visual Supports Wiki - http://fdlrsregion3thematicvisuals.wikispaces.com/ . lots of free Boardmaker classroom activities. you must have Boardmaker to open and print these files

9.   Curriculum Visual Supports Wiki - http://fdlrsregion3curriculumvisuals.wikispaces.com/ . lots of free Boardmaker classroom activities. you must have Boardmaker to open and print these files

10.     Literacy Visual Supports Wiki - http://fdlrsregion3literacyvisuals.wikispaces.com/ . lots of free Boardmaker classroom activities. you must have Boardmaker to open and print these files

Another session I attended and thoroughly enjoyed because of all the free resources that were given was called “21^st Century Learning: Beyond Gadgets”. In this session I was basically given a very quick summary of some of the free online resources that they provided to us after the session was over.

Again, there are many resources so it is overwhelming, but hopefully you can find some things that interest you and use them in your classroom:

Reading

1.   freereading - http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Main_Page . free opensource reading intervention program

2.   Earobics : Step 1 & 2 (Win . Mac) - http://www.earobics.com . intervention software with a focus on auditory perception and phonemes within words

3.   Teaching Reading - http://www.readingresource.net/teachingreading.html . free online materials and resources for teaching the basics of reading

4.   Common Core Reading Lessons - http://www.commoncorereadinglessons.com/ . reading lessons for all grades

5.   SpellCity - http://www.spellingcity.com/ . free online tool where teachers and students can enter spelling words and then play a variety of games to reinforce the spelling skills

6.   Start-to-Finish Series (Win . Mac) - http://www.donjohnston.com . middle and high school subject matter written at the 1.5 to 5.5 grade level. available in printed, computer-based, and auditory formats

7.   ClozePro (Win . Mac) - http://www.cricksoft.com . create fill-in-the-gap activities with visual and auditory supports

8.   Cloze Test - http://l.georges.online.fr/tools/cloze.html . super simple free online cloze activity creator

9.   Bloom's Cards for Rings - http://www.scribd.com/doc/63781863/Blooms-Cards-for-Rings . reading comprehension cues that can be put on cards

10.     Teach Your Monster to Read - http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/ . students create a monster and take it on a game while they teach the monster to read

11.     My Friend (Win . Mac9) - free adjective software for young readers

12.     Textivate - http://www.textivate.com/ . online tool to create interactive text activities

Online/Digital Books & Reading Support

1.   StarFall - http://www.starfall.com/ . the ABC’s of getting ready to read. extensive materials and resources for early literacy development

2.   BookBox - http://www.bookbox.com/ . inexpensive digital books in a wide variety of languages. many of the books can be read in one language with subtitles in a different language

3.   TumbleBooks - http://www.tumblebooks.com/ . online library of books and reading resources

4.   Region 2 Digital Library - http://region2library.org/ . great collection of reading supports, powerpoint books, Boardmaker activities, and much more

5.   24 Reading & Writing Apps for iPads - http://imaginationsoup.net/2012/05/favorite-educational-ipad-apps-for-kids-reading-writing/

6.   UDL Editions by CAST - http://udleditions.cast.org/ . online books with flexible supports for ages 10 up

7.   Reading Strategies & the New York Times - http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/the-times-and-the-common-core-standards-reading-strategies-for-informational-text/ . ideas on using the New York Times to address informational text and the Common Core State Standards

8.   Travel the World with Timmy - basic "make-a-book" software for young readers. each version includes English and another language

1.   Timmy in Argentina (Win . Mac9)

2.   Timmy in Japan (Win . Mac9)

3.   Timmy in Kenya (Win)

Graphic Organizers / Cognitive Support

1.   Graphic Organizers - http://www.teachervision.fen.com/graphic-organizers/printable/6293.html?s2 . free online source of printable graphic organizers in a wide variety of cognitive supports

2.   Kidspiration & Inspiration (Win . Mac) - http://www.inspiration.com . graphic organizers with templates to support reading comprehension

3.   Read:OutLoud (Win . Mac) - http://www.donjohnston.com/resources/readoutloud_index.html . digital text tools with extensive reading strategies/guides and cognitive supports for fiction and non fiction

4.   Active Reading Strategies - http://www.savvyknowledge.com/
products/great_teacher/greatteacher.html . excellent resource of strategies for students to use to visually organize text

5.   Use QR Codes to Create Interactive Books - http://www.technologybitsbytesnibbles.info/archives/5066 . add QR codes to books to provide just-in-time audio and video enhancement to printed text

6.   ReadWriteThink - http://www.readwritethink.org/ . extensive online set of reading and writing support activities. examples include:

1.   Comparison and Contrast Guide

2.   Summarizing Cube Creator

3.   Story Map

7.   50 Apps for Students with Learning Disabilities - http://edudemic.com/2012/09/the-50-best-ipad-apps-for-students-with-reading-disabilities/ . apps that can help with reading, writing, and spelling

Digital Text (scaffolding tools for struggling readers)

1.   Readability - http://www.readability.com/ . clean up web pages and remove clutter to help make them easier to read

2.   Natural Reader (Win . Mac ) - www.naturalreaders.com . a free text-to-speech utility. add to Adobe Reader and your computer can read PDF files aloud . use with a web browser and the Internet "talks"

3.   Read and Write (Win . Mac) - http://www.texthelp.com . suite of software tools that are available in most programs being used on a computer. includes scanning printed text, reading and writing supports, and study tools

4.   Kurzweil 3000 (Win . Mac) - http://www.kurzweiledu.com . software designed for scanning printed text to digital formats. includes reading, writing, and study supports

5.   Firefly - http://www.kurzweiledu.com/kurzweil-3000-firefly.html . web based cloud version of of Kurzweil 3000 reading support tools

6.   Firefly iPad - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/firefly-k3000/id535277727?mt=8 . very basic version of Kurzweil's Firefly for the iPad

Writing

Handwriting Tools

1.   Pencil Grips - http://www.thepencilgrip.com/index.phtml

2.   StartWrite (Win . Mac) - http://www.drawyourworld.com/strtwrt.html . inexpensive program for creating a variety of visually lined papers and writing guides. excellent program

3.   Stationery Studio (Win . Mac) - http://www.fablevision.com/stationerystudio/index.php . software for creating a variety of visually lined papers and writing guides. includes an extensive graphics library. highly engaging

4.   Free Online Graph Paper - http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/ . online tool for creating an amazing assortment of different types of graph papers

Graphic Enhanced Writing

1.   Clicker 5 (Win . Mac) - http://www.cricksoft.com/uk/products/clicker/ . write with words, phrases, or pictures. correlates pictures to words and includes text-to-speech

2.   PixWriter (Win . Mac) - http://www.suncastletech.com/ . write with words, phrases, or pictures. correlates pictures to words and includes text-to-speech

Writing Tools & Scaffolding

1.   Write Online - http://www.cricksoft.com/us/writeonline/ . online writing software with text-to-speech, word prediction, vocabulary wordbars, and document analysis tools

2.   Classroom Suite (Win. Mac) - http://www.intellitools.com . provides word prediction, speech feedback, and extensive writing support tools

3.   Co:Writer (Win. Mac) - http://www.donjohnston.com/products/cowriter/index.html . adds quality linguistic word prediction to any software program or word processor a student is using. use with a talking word processor to get full audio feedback

4.   WordQ (Win) - http://www.goqsoftware.com/ . provides word prediction and text-to-speech to any writing software program. the company also has a plug-in called SpeakQ for voice-to-text

5.   Rationale (Win) - http://www.austhink.com . guided reasoning and argument thinking diagramming software for Windows. requires .net2 which may be on current XP machines. 7 day trial

6.   Inspiration (Win . Mac) - http://www.inspiration.com . great concept and mindmapping software that supports writing across the curriculum

7.   Inspiration Maps (iPad) - http://www.inspiration.com/ipad . mindmapping on the iPad

8.   OmniOutliner (Mac) - http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnioutliner/ . one of the best outline based writing tools available

9.   Bubbl.us - https://bubbl.us/ . online mindmapping tool

10.     MindMeister - http://www.mindmeister.com/ . an online mindmapping tool with collaboration features. available for mobile devices

11.     Thinking Tools - http://www.intel.com/about/
corporateresponsibility/education/k12/tools.htm . free online tools for reasoning and analysis

12.     ReadWriteThink - http://www.readwritethink.org/ . extensive online set of reading and writing support activities. examples include:

1.   Essay Map

2.   Persuasion Map

3.   Note Taker

13.     Science Writer - http://sciencewriter.cast.org . great online tool to support students in writing science papers

14.     LetterPop - http://letterpop.com/ . online tool for creating great looking newsletters, brochures, and simple publications

15.     Storybird - http://storybird.com/ . interactive and collaborative online writing and sharing tools

16.     You Are Your Own Words - http://www.youareyourwords.com/ . write a story and use the words to create a personalized picture

17.     Bean (Mac) - http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html . basic free word processor with a simple interface

18.     Write 2 (Mac) - http://writetheapp.com/ . inexpensive word processor with a simple interface. demo available for download

19.     30 Poster Images with Writing Tips - http://ebookfriendly.com/2012/09/15/writing-tips-from-famous-authors/ . posters of authors with inspirational writing tips

Math

1.   Classroom Suite (IntelliMathics) – http://www.intellitools.com . includes animation, manipulatives, text-to-speech, and multimedia to demonstrate basic math concepts with multiple access options

2.   FASTT Math – http://www.tomsnyder.com . software that targets the development of fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

3.   Go Solve – http://www.tomsnyder.com . uses graphic organizers to help students plan for solving word problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

4.   Algebra Support Tools - http://algebrasupporttools.wikispaces.com/ . correlation of a variety of online math tools to algebraic concepts and activities

5.   Math TV - http://mathtv.com/ . online math instruction videos

Virtual Manipulatives/Simulations

1.   InspireData – http://www.inspiration.com . applies proven strategies of visual learning to data literacy

2.   ChartGo - http://www.chartgo.com/ . easy online tool for making data charts

3.   Visual Fractions - http://www.visualfractions.com/ . includes online tools for learning fractions

4.   Conceptua Math - http://www.conceptuamath.com/ . great free and pay online tools to help students master fractions

5.   Illuminations - http://illuminations.nctm.org/ . a collection of online, standard-based virtual manipulatives and lessons

6.   NLVM – http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html . collection of online manipulatives and visualizations for all grade levels

7.   Explore Learning – http://www.explorelearning.com . extensive online set of mathematic simulations and visualizations

8.   Geoboard (Win . Mac9) . free digital geoboard with area and perimeter tools

Science

1.   LearningScience - http://www.learningscience.org/ . online K-12 resource of free web interactives

2.   Discover Simulations - http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsc/content/simulation/ . collection of animations on a variety of science topics for grades K-6 from Houghton Mifflin

3.   National Science Foundation's Multimedia Gallery . http://nsf.gov/news/mmg/index.cfm?s=2 . collection of images, video, audio, and more

4.   Interactives - http://www.learner.org/interactives/ . provides educators and students with strategies, content, and activities that can enhance and improve students’ skills in a variety of curricular areas

5.   Steps of the Scientific Method - http://www.sciencebuddies.org/
mentoring/project_scientific_method.shtml . basic overview of the scientific method with a nice visual diagram of the process

6.   Try Science - http://www.tryscience.org/ . science fair project ideas

7.   Windows to the Universe - http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ . content lessons on our planet, solar system, and the universe. each lesson is available in 3 different reading levels and in English or Spanish

8.   Earth & Moon Viewer - http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html . view a map of the Earth showing the day and night regions at any time or view the Earth from the Sun or Moon

9.   Starry Night (Win . Mac) - http://store.simulationcurriculum.com/ . extremely realistic astronomy simulation software with activities for K-12

10.     Stellarium (Win . Mac) - http://www.stellarium.org/ . free open source planetarium. be sure to check out the User's Guide

11.     Star Walk - (iPad) - http://vitotechnology.com/star-walk.html . discover what is in the sky with your iPad

12.     Scratch - http://scratch.mit.edu/ . interactive programming language for kids

Virtual Labs / Simulations

1.   OE-Cake (Win . Mac) - http://oecake.wikia.com/wiki/OE-Cake_Wiki . a 2.5D physics-based paint program where users can insert objects and see them interact under the laws of physics

2.   Lego Digital Designer (Win . Mac) - http://ldd.lego.com/ . free virtual lego software

3.   Crayon Physics Deluxe (Win) - http://www.crayonphysics.com/ . inexpensive 2D physics puzzle game with a very simple interface. download the demo

4.   World of Goo (Win . Mac . iPad)- http://www.worldofgoo.com/ . physics based puzzle construction game

5.   ExploreLearning - http://www.explorelearning.com . extensive online set of science simulations and visualizations . each simulation can be used for free for up to 5 minutes per session

6.   Froguts - http://dissect.froguts.com/welcome.html . virtual frog dissection software

7.   Virtual Labs from Riverdeep . free virtual labs that are a part of larger software programs available from Riverdeep

1.   Electricity Lab (Win . Mac9)

2.   Kinetics Lab (Win . Mac9)

3.   Toy Workshop (Win . Mac9)

8.   EcoMUVE - http://ecomuve.gse.harvard.edu/standalone_EcoMUVE.php . a curriculum project from Harvard that uses immersive virtual environments to teach middle school students about ecosystems and causal patterns

9.   PowerUp - http://www.powerupthegame.org/home.html . 3D science game students can download with a teacher’s guide for support for earth science

10.     Edheads - http://www.edheads.org/ . great online collection of interactive science activities

11.     PhET - http://phet.colorado.edu/ . interactive science simulations from the University of Colorado

12.     NASA Simulations - http://www.knowitall.org/nasa/simulations/science.html

13.     RoboMind - http://www.robomind.net/en/index.html . software simulation where students program the actions of a rover

Technology Tools

1.   Mindstorms - http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx . build and program robots, from LEGO

2.   Science Writer - http://sciencewriter.cast.org . great online tool that supports students in writing lab and class science reports

3.   ProScope - http://www.bodelin.com/proscopehr/ . high resolution hand held USB microscope

4.   Digital QX7 Computer Microscope - http://www.digiblue.com/digital-blue-qx7-digital-computer-microscope/ . USB microscope for viewing microscopic organisms on a computer screen or projected on a large screen

5.   Bionic Eye & Bionicam - http://www.amazon.com/EyeClops-Bionic-Eye-Multizoom-Green/dp/B000PGRBGA . the bionic eye is a magnifier you plug into a TV. the bionicam is a hand-held microscope you can carry around and capture images with

6.   Science Probes for iPads - http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/2012/04/science-probes-for-ipad.html . probes for iPads and iPhones

7.   Timelapse Garden Camera - http://www.hammacher.com/Product/76551?source=FROOGLE

8.   Flix - http://www.nimisis.com/projects/flix.php . software that will turn a web cam into a time lapse camera

Art and Music

Painting & Drawing

1.   Color Wheel Color Calculator - http://www.sessions.edu/Design-Career-Center/Design-Tools/Color-Calculator.asp . free online tool for creating a variety of HTML, RGB, or CMYK color palettes

2.   Art Rage (Win . Mac) - http://www.artrage.com . excellent natural media painting software that includes various “paper” types. the version (2.6) included on the CD has a limited set of tools. check out the website for the full version

3.   Animation-ish (Win . Mac) – http://www.animationish.com/ . amazing drawing and animation program for young and old students

4.   Painter Essentials 4 (Win . Mac) - http://www.corel.com/servlet/
Satellite/us/en/Product/1190317151777#tabview=tab0 . feature rich natural media paint program

5.   Wizard Brush (Win) - http://paint.eusoftware.com/ . another great natural media paint program. download the demo

6.   Flickr Toys - http://bighugelabs.com/ . an amazing collection of online apps for creating personalized magazine covers, posters, movie posters, jigsaws, etc.

7.   Hieroglyphic Typewriter - http://www.eyelid.co.uk/hieroglyphic-typewriter.html . design your name in hieroglyphs

8.   Tagxedo - http://www.tagxedo.com/ . word clouds with styles. turns word clouds into art

9.   You Are Your Own Words - http://www.youareyourwords.com/ . write a story and use the words to create a personalized picture

iPad / iPod Touch Paint & Drawing Apps

1.   iEasyColor - http://appshopper.com/photography/ieasycolor . very simple coloring app with stamps

2.   ePaint - http://appshopper.com/photography/epaint . very simple painting program

3.   ArtRage - http://www.artrage.com/artrage-ipad-main.html . natural media paint and drawing program for the iPad

4.   Sketchbook PRO - http://appshopper.com/entertainment/sketchbook-pro . feature rich painting app

5.   Penultimate - http://www.cocoabox.com/ . handwriting and drawing app

6.   TouchDraw - http://appshopper.com/productivity/touchdraw . vector drawing app

7.   Frames & FX for Photos - http://appshopper.com/photography/imikimi-remix-pics . add special effects and frames to photos

Crafts

1.   3D Train - dog . engine . clown . caboose . elf . cat_bear . lion . horses

2.   Notebook Covers - popopo . stylin . beebug . cool . spaceblastoff . spaceexplore . flutterbug

3.   Picture Frames - dream . create . aspire . circus . stars . hearts . flowers . birthday

4.   Dioramas- dinosaur . undersea . outerspace

Photography/Video

1.   Flickr Toys – http://bighugelabs.com . incredible things to do with photos. great fun

2.   Photosynth - http://photosynth.net/default.aspx . create incredible photo based vistas and interactive environments with this online tool and your photos

3.   Cinema - http://www.learner.org/interactives/
cinema/index.html . learn about the process of filmmaking

4.   Xtra normal - http://www.xtranormal.com/ . online text-to-movie tool where students can create characters, add clothing and type in a script then watch the characters “act” out the script.

Audio Capture/Editing

1.   Audio Hijack Pro (Mac) - http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/ . captures any audio on the computer

2.   Total Recorder (Win) - http://www.highcriteria.com/ . captures any audio on the computer

3.   Audacity (Win . Mac) - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ . free audio editing software

4.   Reason & Reason Essentials (Win . Mac) - http://www.propellerheads.se/education/ . full featured music recording studio

Music Creation

1.   Dot Mixer - http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/exhibits/
dotmixer/index.html . online easy stereo music creation activity with preset sounds. try this on an interactive whiteboard with stereo speakers on each side

2.   JamStudio - http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm . online loop-based music creation program

3.   Nodal - http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~cema/nodal/ . generative music composition software

4.   NotePad (Win . Mac) - http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/ . music notation program that supports the creation of complex musical arrangements that can be printed or played by the computer

5.   GarageBand (Mac) - http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/ . a great loop-based audio program that also includes the ability to record voice and other instruments as well as interfacing with a keyboard to control digital synthesizers, making it a full digital studio

6.   Reason & Reason Essentials (Win . Mac) - http://www.propellerheads.se/education/ . full featured music recording studio

iPad / iPod Touch Music Apps

1.   FourTrack - http://www.sonomawireworks.com/
iphone/fourtrack/

2.   Drums! - http://appshopper.com/music/vdrummer . highly realistic drum synth

3.   Figure - http://www.propellerheads.se/products/figure/ . iOS synth and drum machine

4.   BeatMaker 2- http://www.intua.net/products/beatmaker2

5.   Rebirth - http://www.propellerheads.se/products/rebirth/ . drum and synth sequencing

6.   Bebot – http://www.normalware.com/ - very cool and simple synth

7.   miniSynth PRO - http://www.yonac.com/software/miniSynthPRO/index.html . analog synth app

8.   AniMoog - http://www.moogmusic.com/products/apps/animoog-0 . professional Moog synth for the iPad

9.   iShred - http://frontierdesign.com/iShred/ (also look for Guitar, Piano Studio, and others from this company)

10.     VoiceJam - http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicejam/ . vocal music looping app
 

Lastly, here is a session I attend called : "Games That Are Good to the Core". The presenters basically demonstrated free game templates that teachers can modify and use in the classroom. They provided us with examples and a hand out which I have typed up some of the links to my blog for you to check out for more information:

Link to Jeff’s Free Template Based Games and Utilities:

www.uncw.edu/Edgames

1- Game Creation Software

Squeak - http://www.squeakland.org/
Scratch – http://scratch.mit.edu
Gamemaker – http://yoyogames.com
Second Life – http://secondlife.com/
RPG Maker - http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/
Visionaire - http://www.visionaire2d.net/
Lassie Adventure Studio - http://lassie.gmacwill.com/lower.php?section=about&page=index
Stagecast - http://www.stagecast.com/
Sploder - http://www.sploder.com/
Thinking Worlds - http://www.thinkingworlds.com

2- Educational Game Studies
Quest Atlantis – http://crlt.indiana.edu/research/qa.html
River City - http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/index.html

Overall, I had an amazing experience at this conference and would recommend

it to any teacher to attend. What’s amazing about this conference is not only do you learn about the new and available technologies at the conference itself, but you are also able to go home and explore more. Also, because technology is changing so fast, even if you attended this conference again next year it would most likely provide you with all new information. Therefore, I hope to be able to have the opportunity to attend this conference again in the near future!