Reflection
November 7,
2012
Tonight was
a night of “newness”!
Barb shared
her new iPad Mini! Cool!!
Tonight, we
were introduced to iTunes University.
What a great place to go for Professional Development! I can see myself using this resource on Professional
Development days to work with the staff or as part of our Professional Learning
Communities. What a wonderful source for
information in the area of Universal Design for Learning, (UDL). The best part about the sight, besides the
information available, is that it is simple to access and it is free!!!
The night of
“newness” continued when Barb had us bring a handout from school and determine
its accessibility or inaccessibility for all learners. She then introduced us to the applications
below and sent us off on a quest, a challenge to use these applications and
adapt the handout so it is accessible for everyone!
Scan
to PDF lets you take a
picture of something and converts it to a PDF document that we can than
manipulate. Once you have the item in a
PDF format you can then send it out, open Type to PDF and
presto… you can now write on the scanned document.
Prizmo
is also another app we
took a peak at. Once again, you just
take a picture and it operates like Kurzwell.
Now you are able to edit, scan and have it read aloud.
Pages
is a word processing app
that allows me to take my Prizmo scan and paste it into a word processing application
called Pages. It will read aloud, increase
the size and define words.
Pic
Collage is a free app
that allows you to add a photo from a camera or the photo library. With a little manipulation you can add text through
dictation and email it off to your teacher or publish to your library.
After
fiddling with the applications, I have to say I was amazed at how these simple
programs can make learning easier for students with learning difficulties. We, as educators, are headed in the direction
of “paperless” classrooms and complete inclusion for all. All we have to do is put the tools in the
hands of educators and students. Once
teachers see the benefits of this type of assistive technology they will be
converts for life. I know I am excited
to take my learning back to CAMS and share the success of these applications
with everyone.
I agree that it is amazing how these apps can make such an impact on a student's day. I am excited to see how we begin to transition into the "paperless" classrooms and how more information becomes accessible to students.
ReplyDeleteThanks Janet! Can't wait til you open your new iPad! Have fun
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that iTunes University is a great place to go for Professional Development. I love that it provides a range of courses with access to free videos, audio lectures, presentations and books that are just a tap or click away!!
ReplyDelete