Day 3: Performance Enhancing Apps

After seeing (and later buying!) a few of Barbara's new "favourites' this morning (I really need a VGA cord for school), small groups got together to view past webinars, so that we could access a wider variety of apps available.
First, the apps of the day really stood out for their video/graphic abilities and can definitely contribute to sustained engagement for pretty much any learner.  We were able to virtually dissect frogs (Frog Dissection), interact with a timeline of evolution and history (Back in Time), engage in physics concepts (Simple Physics), view aspects of geography and culture through World Atlas, and learn about the rainforest through Encyclopedia Brittanica for kids- which also does speech selection.  Now back to the webinars (all available for purchase through the South Shore AT site):

The first group demonstrated a few apps from the category: Alternate Access for Physical Disabilities:  Write Pad (using a stylus or finger) allows you to write on a screen which the app then converts to text, which would be very helpful for students not keyboarding and just developing the motor control to print.  Dragon Dictation is a speech to text app that allows you to talk into your device and have the text sent back to edit, email, etc.  Even with a strong internet connection this app is challenging to use as students have to be able to initiate, plan, hold in memory, and speak.  Touch Trainer is an app designed to teach users how to interact with a touch screen by varying the size and location of targets to touch.

The next group viewed Executive Functioning:  Sock Puppets look like so much fun, you could use this for constructing social stories with students as well.  Shredder allows you to type in your negative/ bad thoughts which are dropped into a virtual shredder.  I've already shown this to my SLP and she has taken it out to use across her entire circuit!  Let Panic Go helps to distract your thinking by giving your eyes and mind a calming task.

Early Learning:  Kiddie Questions helps to teach early language and problem solving skills.  Bugs and Buttons allows students to practice pinching and grabbing skills.  Jib Jab is a fun app similar to the website that has been entertaining for years: take a screen shot for a keepsake or to use in a portfolio or keep as a writing prompt!

Communication: Sign4Me shows you a 3D image of a man (who you can turn and view at different angles) where you type in a single word or phrase and the avatar signs it.  You can bank phrases in the history, change his speed, and share over 11 500 words!  Speech Tutor gives specific instructions and video demonstrations of how to articulate.

Math:  Money Count gives students different platforms for counting Canadian money.  Symmetry Shuffle allows you to practice flips, turns, etc.  Number Line is a continuous line you drag across the screen.  Math (teacher plus) is a series of video lessons.

Free Apps in Special Education:  Fish Pond is a beautiful interactive pond used for: calming, sensory regulation, or transitions.  Science 360 is available for iPad only, and allows you to access both videos & pictures.  TourWrist shows panoramic views from around the world.  

Unfortunately I missed much of the work/ discussion on video modelling and social stories.  I have downloaded iBook Creator on my devices and experimented with developing a social story for students with autism.  I chose one very near and dear to my heart (and stomach), and you can see a screenshot of most of the individual pages in the image on the left.  This app is VERY easy to use and can be exported to iBook as an epub or pdf document.  I need better graphics (not one to take my own photos for), but at least got the experience.  Unfortunately you can't record voices/reading in iBook Creator (for iPhone/Pod), but it will upload video.  Some of my students are now learning to use this as well as a diary for their bean plants' growth:-)