AfterShokz: Bone Conduction Headphones

AfterShokz are wireless headphones that use bone conduction to transmit sound through the bones of his skull and, unlike normal headphones do not cover the ear. Headphones Bone conduction can be used by people with certain types of hearing loss, such as those with Treacher-Collins, and are favored by some blind users because they did not cut the audio input from around the normal headphones way do.

[AfterShokz] using a pair of transducers to power your music in your head. With a transducer they rested on each side of the head, create sound vibrations passing out of the surface of your face. This point of contact allows sound headset for the bones of the head. These sound vibrations sent all the way from the cheek bone to the inner ear, allowing sound to reach the cochlea without even using your eardrum.

AfterShokz Bluez perform using Bluetooth technology. The headphones work well with many different devices, including iPod, iPad, Smartphone or MP3 player. You can charge the device with a USB connection. Comes with a 50-inch USB cable that easily plugs into the handset and any USB 2.0 port more than four feet away. It takes 3 hours to charge and the battery lasts about 6 hours. You can also communicate through the headphones with the integrated microphone.

The website and the most reviews discuss the use of AfterShokz an iDevice, but like almost all Bluetooth devices can also be used with a MacBook laptop or Mac desktop.

His name is Lance and he is 8 1/2. He has Treacher Collins syndrome and has no external ears. He used bone anchored hearing aids. I tried the AfterShokz about it and hooked to the iPad. He heard music like you've never heard !!!! I was so excited. He also attended a great interactive book on iPad. I begged to be allowed to keep AfterShokz

Speech-to-Text: Dictation Software for OS X

Speech to text software, sometimes known as dictation software, is something that allows you to talk to the team in any way and the computer properly reacts to what you are saying. This is totally different from the text to speech software, which is software can read the text is already in the computer.

In this article you will learn about the different types of text to speech software for Mac OS X, and what are your options if you want to use it to control your computer, dictate text, or both.

Command and Control Software

There are two types of voice to text software available. One type is called "command and control" and that allows you to speak commands to the computer to control it; hence the name. For example, a command that the team understands it could be, "go to the Apple website" or "tell me the time." Each command is pre-programmed and the computer will only recognize the commands that have been scheduled for; you can not use this software to write an email or use iChat for example.

Command and control software for Mac - known as "Speakable Items" (or, sometimes, confused, "voice commands") - is already built into every computer OS X and can be accessed through the Accessibility panel. Although this software is less capable than the dictation software is more useful for people with certain types of disabilities.





The other voice to text software is often called software "dictation". This is the kind that lets you use your voice to write an article like this, the kind of thing your friends on iChat, or write an email.

Not a dictation software built into OS X and is not a program developed by Nuance called Dragon Dictate for Mac. Dictation is the successor to a program called MacSpeech iListen that used to produce.

All-dictation products capable of converting text to speech work very well for some people and very bad for others. If it will work for you depends on many things, including: the amount of effort you are willing to put in their learning, how good your microphone is, age (text to speech usually works so well for children) the amount of your accent matches what the program expects that if your disability affects his speech, and if his voice changes a lot during the day.

These types of programs speech to text dictation have made great improvements in recent years, however, so even if you have used dictation software before and abandoned worth trying again.
Built in OS X Dictation

X Free OS built in dictation requires OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later and can be accessed through the "Dictation and Voice" panel of System Preferences.




Under Mountain Lion and default Mavericks work to listen to 30 seconds of voice and send the speech to Apple's servers for processing - in the same way that the dictation of Siri on the iPhone works because it is essentially the same thing . If you have a stable and reliable connection broadband this is fine, but those with slow connections or measured Internet may have problems. For users who want local speech processing under Mavericks can activate Dictation improved allowing continuous and offline processing speech.

Nuance Dragon Dictate for Mac version 4, the current version requires the hardware requires Intel-based Macintosh and requires Mac OS X 10.8.3 Mountain Lion or higher and a headset microphone with noise cancellation approved by Nuance. It cost about $ 200 plus the cost of a microphone.















Nuance Dragon is more complete than the OS X built in dictation product, allowing you to mix dictation and commands without using the keyboard or mouse. For those who find the keyboard or mouse use extremely difficult or impossible and want to do everything by voice, Dragon remains the only workable solution.

Dragon also allows transcription of recorded files, provided they contain only a single speaker and that person has already established recognition. There's an app for the iPhone / iPad called Dragon Recorder specifically for recording files for later transcription.

The voice recognition engine that powers Nuance Dragon is the same as the power NaturallySpeaking, the voice recognition program for Windows premiere, and is continuously improving. Since 2008, when it was released, Dragon has made huge improvements in speech recognition and is much more forgiving and usable than it was then! I hope the improvements continue as fast in the future - is a great thing for all users.

8 great gardening tools for people with disabilities

The act of gardening offers many benefits to our planet and its vast population. It is an activity that connects us to Mother Earth gives us two prismatic environments and food goods, and is often a source of relaxation for most. In short, gardening positively affects our overall well being, both inside and out. However, the hobby, though very beneficial, requires a lot of bending, pulling and other very physical movements, so it is difficult for people with disabilities. So "I dug around" (haha!) Looking for some resources that may be useful for people with disabilities.
Here are 8 garden tools to help simplify gardening:

1 Deluxe Tractor Scoot:

This is ideal for people with back problems or struggle is exhausting. The Gardener's Supply Scoot by allowing people to work from a seated position thereby facilitating their back and knees. The newest luxury version is more comfortable and easier to use with a long handle that allows users to extract as a wagon. Once the handle is retracted, locked in a vertical position to serve as a sturdy handle. The Scoot includes heavy duty tires and a swivel seat height adjustable. It also has a basket to keep the plants and under the seat is a tray where the tools can be conveniently stored.



2 Ergonomic Pallet:

Gardening often strains' wrists and hands of an individual, ultimately causing fatigue and stress. Radio Hand Trowel has a comfortable, ergonomic grip to provide more influence; also includes a sheet of aluminum which is both strong and lightweight.



3 Ergonomic Cultivator:

The ergonomic tiller is similar to the flat above the latest ergonomic handle to reduce strain on the wrists of one. It is a precision tool that helps you work in tight areas. It is also very light and very strong so it is easier to push and pull as needed.

Garden folding spoon 4:

Garden Buckets are used for holding clippings while walking in the garden; also may be used to hold the hard drawn herbs soil, fertilizer, plant or tools. To make it easier gardening, garden buckets should be lightweight and durable. If you are an avid gardener, a collapsible cube can be ideal. It is lightweight, durable, and can be disassembled for easy storage.



5 Long Weed Grabber:

Pulling weeds is tedious and effort of individuals, both with and without disabilities. Fortunately, there are several useful features such as the Fiskars Uproot Weed Remover tools to simplify this task. Its 40 "long handle makes weeding easier for anyone who has trouble bending or kneeling. Has a lightweight aluminum shaft and an easy-eject mechanism on the handle, eliminating any need to bend





6 Rake adjustable tines:

The rakes are useful for all sorts of things like sorting seedlings and soil for planting, or heavy lifting and cleaning of grass clippings and more. The standard leaf rake has a perfect cleaning grass blades broadheads, but big fan of teeth does not help in smaller areas. A rake with adjustable tines can multitask lawn, raking leaves to level beds of smaller plants.

7 Extendable Lopper:

Yet another tedious task includes cutting branches. Often the branches are too high making them unattainable without the use of a ladder (which is obviously a bad idea for someone with a disability.) Extensible Loppers like Fiskars Extendable Handles Bypass Lopper, offer extension between 24.5 to 37 inches making these unattainable, attainable places. This particular lopper offers a twist-lock mechanism so it is easy to lock the blades while reaching. It also has padded handles so it is easier to hold, and a bumper that absorbs shocks for a more comfortable grip.




8 Bright Duct Tape:

Tape is an affordable tool with endless possibilities. In addition, the bright tape is especially useful for people with low vision who love to garden. Often gardening tools can be mixed into the soil making them difficult to find, making it a potential danger to the step by step and more. A simple solution to this problem is to wrap the handle of a tool with fluorescent tape.

Assistive Technology and 1: 1 Student

Much has been said about the iPad is a revolutionary device for education. There are even educational conferences that are dedicated to their use. About a year ago, after the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs, 60 Minutes ran a story about how you are using the iPad as an assistive technology with students with autism. This piece was eye opening for many - that showed the potential of this device as an assistive technology and how it can change the learning of students with disabilities or difficulties.

Meaghan Roper, a junior at Burlington High School, shares a similar story with the iPad. When Meaghan was six years old, he was diagnosed with a visual impairment. In eighth grade, he began to notice a decrease in vision. She sought to delay surgery to repair or vision impairment, while successful, the procedure was not maintained for long.

The following year, Meaghan entered Burlington High School as a freshman. It was decided that I would have a laptop with software programs for assistance to help with their visual disability. She read all your books on this laptop and was able to use various functions in Microsoft Word. She had her scanned and printed teaching documents in large fonts. Meaghan also used an audio book reader for some of their classes. In short, I had to be aware and competent in many technologies and applications to keep up with their studies in all classes. All this changed in the beginning of his second year - the year that Burlington High School launched its 1: iPad 1 initiative.
A transformative experience

Meaghan recalls his early days with the iPad and how she and her link discovered the variety of new opportunities that this device has. One of the first things she used was the ability to invert the colors of the screen. The iPad offers users the opportunity to read the predominantly black text on a lighter screen, or invert the colors and overlay white text on a black screen. This feature, Meaghan recalls, was "transformative" in learning what the iPad could offer their educational experience.

Besides color inversion, Meaghan uses the VoiceOver function that will read the selected text on the screen, and the zoom feature that requires a double tap three fingers.

Beyond the simple flip of a switch in the accessibility options, Meaghan soon found many new opportunities for learning in this device. In the past, she would have to get all your teachers expanded and reissued brochures. Obviously, this was a long time and took lots of paper. A typical one-page flyer on average would be four to five pages of large print before Meaghan could work with him. With the iPad, you can take a screenshot of the PDF file to their teachers embed in your web pages or shared via Google Drive or Dropbox, and simply pinch the screen to zoom. She also uses the camera app to take pictures of the notes or the duties of teachers on the board so you can pinch zoom to see clearly each letter. She says that this approach is not only more efficient, but also has helped organize their school work more effectively. In addition, their schoolwork is offline visible and accessible in a single device that is "much lighter than a laptop."
Apps for every need

In operation Meaghan everyday of the iPad, which uses several applications to manage their content. It does not take her too many apps to get through the school day. She is grateful that, along with the transition to iPad, Burlington also married suite Google Apps for Education with this device. She is easy to access Google Docs from multiple devices and knowing that their work will always be safe, secure and not dependent on the functionality of a machine.

Any photo or screenshot you take can be easily uploaded to the cloud through Google Drive app for iPad. This eliminates the process of having to email a Word document yourself, download it to a machine (which hopefully has a corresponding version of the Word), and then edit. . . and then repeat this process for each document. With Google Apps and Google Drive Suite application, Meaghan is able to move everything you need without problems throughout your day without the cumbersome process associated with Microsoft Office documents.

When Meaghan has to annotate a document and return the profit margin of a master, it will use the free app PaperPort Notes (Formerly Noterize). This application lets you easily access documents from their teachers, download this application, therefore organize, annotate and present for review. The whole process, he says, "has made me a more organized student" and she does not feel like you are falling behind in any of his classes because of his vision.

For texts that are required reading for class, Meaghan uses an application called Read 2 Go, which allows a single application download and access a wide variety of books through Bookshare. She can listen to these books, the control of visual enhancements, background colors and highlight options as you read along.

In Geometry, Meaghan is easily continue with a visual theme using Join.me. This application allows your Geometry teacher, Ms. Palmer, to share your computer screen projected directly on the iPad Meaghan. Meaghan can pinch and zoom in real time as Mrs. Palmer presents the material to the class SmartBoad. This application, Meaghan attests, "has really improved my experience in geometry class. Geometry is a very visual subject, and have this app on my iPad has given me the opportunity to keep up and see the geometry more clearly."

Overall, Meaghan refers to the iPad as a device of transformation in their learning experience. While many discussions which device is better, or if the technology is really necessary, I ask you to reflect on what you just read. Meaghan's story is by no means limited. Many students benefit from assistive technology on a daily basis; However, some people never get to experience iPad. I am not writing this as a step for Apple, but merely indicates that the incorporation of a thousand iPads at Burlington High School has transformed the learning experience Meaghan Roper. And that's enough to give thanks for this device in our school right.

Udio: A Technology-Rich Experience Literacy for students with reading disabilities

With 1: 1 computing initiatives occurring in school districts across the country, students never had such universal access to information. Educational innovations as "blended learning" and "flipped instruction" are changing the way teachers and students interact and learn. Even schools are becoming virtual - no physical buildings or classrooms. At the same time, millions of students can not fully benefit from these innovations, and who struggle with reading. Our national challenge is bridging the gap for struggling readers at all levels, especially among people with disabilities.
Reading challenges students with Disabilitites

With each new grade level literacy demands increase substantially - texts become longer, sentence complexity increases, content and vocabulary begins to expand exponentially. For students with disabilities, these challenges are particularly daunting.

In 2013, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that 91 percent of eighth-grade students with disabilities performing at or below the basic reading, with 60 percent performed below basic. In addition, students with learning disabilities read 3.4 degrees below peers who are free of disabilities. By middle school, academic achievement in various content areas inevitably depend on the ability of students to learn independently from text and express what they know via text.

Fortunately, help is on the way.

In an attempt to exploit the technology that can help struggling readers, the Department's Office of Special Education Programs of the United States (OSEP) funded the Center for Emerging Technology, Disability and Reading Middle School. The objective of this center is to leverage emerging technology in the service of reading comprehension, developing skills and improving motivation to read, so that whenever students are reading can practice and develop their skills through of "just-right" reading challenges. The center, run by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, is a large system of alliances designed to leverage and connect the most current knowledge of science learning on the development of reading in students with disabilities, best practices in education and innovation at the forefront of educational technology.

The Center's work has focused on exploring how emerging technologies can be leveraged to:

Accelerating the development of reading skills
Improving student motivation, participation and self-efficacy in relation to literacy
Improve efficiency in the use of educational resources (eg, open educational resources that increase academic learning time through text)

Udio also help middle-grade readers

The Centre is researching and developing a learning environment rich in technology called "cais" that will enable schools to provide all students with appropriate reading independently across the curriculum literacy experiences. Cais goals are simple:

Promoting a passionate interest and investment in reading for students who have traditionally been uninterested in, or deprived of their rights, traditional literacy practices in the classroom.
Substantial improvement in reading comprehension skills of high school students who have experienced recurrent failure in reading proficiency.

Udio is a dynamic network of authentic, current and widely distributed universal for Learning (UDL) reading environments design.

Reading materials available through UDIO is supplied by a network of contributors whose online is already on the web and of great interest to readers with difficult adolescents and their teachers. Current partners UDIO that provide access to reading content include Scholastic, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the SERP Institute / Word Generation The Poses Family Foundation / History Sharing, Sports Illustrated for Kids, and Time Magazine for Kids. When completed, UDIO provide readers:

A space to explore content that provides students access to hundreds, and possibly many thousands of high-quality, high-interest items
A platform to read, discuss and gather media interest supporting the use of reading comprehension strategies, offers substantial opportunities for active and social experiences of text, and allows access to UDL support for the challenges of reading just to the right (including access to the text when the word -level reading ability is low)
A space with support for creating and sharing writing projects that leverage for development of reading comprehension skills
A system dashboard and analytics that supports students in developing an understanding of their interests and allows students to track the volume and pace of their reading experiences UDIO

Wireless HD Document Camera IPEVO iZiggi -Innovative New IPEVO product

Over the past year, I've been in love with the amount of unique products company IPEVO launched and in the last two weeks the Document Camera Wireless iZiggi HD for iOS, Mac and PC that adds considerable value to your product line is launched . The Document Camera Wireless iZiggi HD is the perfect marriage of iZiggi HD camera and the wireless station IPEVO had reviewed in the past






couple of months. When you connect the document camera in iZiggi Wireless HD wireless station IPEVO created an ad-hoc WiFi network that allows your iPad to connect through, which in turn would allow the output of the image in the document camera to your IPAD without requiring a physical connection. Access iZiggi HD Wireless Document Camera IPEVO wireless station and opened all sorts of possibilities in the classroom to have a truly portable device that could be moved around in the classroom. Teachers have access to a projector and an Apple TV can walk around the classroom where students work are presented and have come up on the screen. Similarly, it is possible to push out what is on the iPad and share it with other devices that are connected to the ad-hoc network using the IPEVO Blackboard on the iPad. This will allow students to interact and annotate content that is under the document camera iZiggi Wireless HD, which is ideal for small workgroups.

With the introduction of the document camera HD Wireless iZiggi, IPEVO has made it even easier to harness the power of this document camera through product design for the base of the document camera replaces the need for the IPEVO wireless station. The base of the iZiggi HD Document Camera Wireless WiFi radio and contains the rechargeable battery and thus eliminates one more piece of hardware that teachers have to be concerned. To use the document camera HD Wireless iZiggi just connect the USB tail at the base of the camera, turn it on and then connect the iPad to iZiggi WiFi network. Start IPEVO Blackboard application on your iPad and start seeing what's under the lens. The whiteboard application IPEVO gives you a wide range of tools to record what has been captured and has a great interface to focus and set the exposure of the camera from the iPad screen. While ease of use should certainly be an important consideration when making a purchase, for my part I am very impressed with the quality of the image the HD Wireless Document iZiggi
Chamber occurs. The Document Camera Wireless HD iZiggi can produce resolutions up to 1600 x 1200, when in wireless mode. The iZiggi HD Wireless Document Camera can also be used in conjunction with the IPEVO Blackboard application to capture audio and video on the iPad, which is ideal for creating online video content.




The Document Camera Wireless iZiggi HD comes with a USB extension cable so you can be connected to a Mac or PC and is used with its Presenter software. The Document Camera Wireless iZiggi HD is a cost effective and versatile classroom teachers that I know enjoy using tool. Access the iZiggi HD Wireless Document Camera will allow teachers to be more interactive in their instruction and provide teachers with better visual effects that can support teaching and learning. At a cost of $ 159 U.S. dollars this is a great value for a 5 megapixel camera. For more information about the Document Camera Click iZiggi Wireless HD here.

ScreenBeam Pro Edition Education Actiontec

As a professor of education, I'm always looking for new technologies that can encourage my class and me and my students given tools to share ideas. Surface When I bought my Dell Venue Pro 2 and 8 I heard Intel standard called Wi-Di (Wireless Display) which allows you to stream content from your tablet or computer to a HDMI device without cables or wires. Many educators often refer to Wi-Di to use the term to describe a screencasting Miracast standard wireless peer-to-peer formed through Wi-Fi Direct connections in a similar way to Bluetooth. Access Wi-Di would be great for the classroom because I would move around the classroom without being tethered to the projector. Since I had half of the solution in the Dell Venue Pro 2 and 8 surface with Windows 8.1, all I needed was a receiver I Miracast enabled to use this technology. Miracast receptor investigating what would be better, I found the Pro Education Edition ScreenBeam Actiontec which won rave reviews from many educators anywhere. ScreenBeam Education Pro sells for $ 99 and comes complete with everything needed to get started and also includes an HDMI to VGA converter is ideal as many classrooms still have older projectors without an HDMI port.




The ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition from Actiontec is a small 2 inch square receiver that plugs into a HDMI device. In my case I plugged the VGA cable from my classroom computer into the HDMI to VGA converter and plugged it into the Screenbeam Pro. Since VGA does not support wireless auaLa edición Pro Educación ScreenBeam de Actiontec es un pequeño receptor cuadrado de 2 pulgadas que se conecta a un dispositivo HDMI. En mi caso, he conectado el cable VGA de mi computadora en el aula en el HDMI al convertidor del VGA y lo conecté a la Screenbeam Pro. Desde VGA no soporta audio inalámbrico a cabo, yo era capaz de conectarlo al cable de audio RCA suministrado desde mi ordenador en el ScreenBeam Pro. Una vez que encendí el Pro Edition Educación ScreenBeam se visualiza la pantalla de aterrizaje de instrucción y me pide que introduzca el PIN. Una vez que entré en el PIN, tuve la oportunidad de pasar el dedo en el menú Charms clic en Dispositivos y seleccione Proyecto y seleccione Agregar una pantalla inalámbrica. Dentro de uno o dos segundos el dispositivo Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro viene y simplemente hace clic en eso y en cuestión de segundos la pantalla de mi Dell Venue Pro 8 se proyecta en la pantalla en mi salón de clases. Ahora me abrí OneNote y comencé a escribir notas de escritura que se exhibieron de forma automática en mi salón de clases. Era así de simple.

Uno de los beneficios de Miracast es que no requieren el uso de la red inalámbrica de la escuela para configurarlo. Desde ScreenBeam Pro Edition Educación crea una red ad hoc no requerirá soporte de TI para empezar. Yo estaba muy entusiasmado con la de la experiencia caja y todo funcionó exactamente como debería. Si usted tiene un 8.1 tablet o computadora Windows que soporta W-Di que realmente debería echar un vistazo a ScreenBeam Pro de la Educación como una solución para darle mayor flexibilidad cuando se enseña en el aula. No tuve la oportunidad de probarlo, pero utilizando el ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition en el aula permitirá a los estudiantes con Miracast dispositivos para proyectar el contenido de su pantalla para toda la clase admitida. La edición Pro Educación ScreenBeam permite a los profesores para asegurar el dispositivo y dar permiso a los estudiantes para proyectar su pantalla a la clase.

Si usted está buscando una manera barata de emitir su pantalla de su tableta de Windows 8.1 o computadora, entonces usted necesita tomar un vistazo a la Pro ScreenBeam de Educación. ScreenBeam Pro Edition Educación ofrece a los educadores una gran manera de compartir el contenido de la pantalla utilizando la tecnología Miracast. Si usted está tratando a la fuente el Pro Edition Educación ScreenBeam o está buscando implementar ScreenBeam Pro Edition Educación en su aula envíeme un correo electrónico para los detalles.io out, I was able to plug it into the supplied RCA audio cable from my computer into the ScreenBeam Pro. Once I powered the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition the instructional landing screen was displayed and prompted me to enter the PIN. Once I entered the PIN, I was able to swipe in from the Charms menu click on Devices and select Project and select Add a Wireless Display. Within a second or two the Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro device comes up and I simply clicked on that and within seconds my Dell Venue 8 Pro screen was projected on the screen in my classroom. I now opened OneNote and began writing write notes which were automatically displayed in my classroom. It was that simple.

One of the benefits of Miracast is that it does not require you to use the school's wireless network to set it up. Since ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition creates an ad hoc network it will not require IT support to get started. I was really excited with the out of the box experience and everything worked exactly as it should. If you have a Windows 8.1 tablet or computer that supports W-Di you really should take a look at ScreenBeam Pro for Education as a solution for giving you more flexibility when teaching in the classroom. I didn't have a chance to test it out but using the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition in the classroom will enable students with Miracast supported devices to project the contents of their screen to the entire class. The ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition enables teachers to secure the device and give permission to students to project their screen to the class.

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to cast your screen from your Windows 8.1 tablet or computer then you need to take a look at the ScreenBeam Pro for Education. ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition offers educators a great way to share the contents of the screen using Miracast technology. If you are trying to source the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition or are looking to implement ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition in your classroom email me for the details.

Belkin Tablet Notebook Stage-Right for any tablet

It was great to have the opportunity to visit with many vendors while I attended ISTE 2014 Conference a couple of weeks ago. Walking through the Exhibitors Hall, I noticed how much "stuff" is out there that educators need to vet. While walking the Exhibit Hall I found some unique products that I know finds its place in the classroom. One of the new favorite products is Belkin and is the scene of laptop tablet, a lightweight and portable stand for your tablet that can turn on a big stage presentation. When you pair the Tablet Notebook with Free Belkin Belkin Stage Stage application (available on Apple App Store and Google Play) you have a wonderful tool for making the classroom come alive. I had reviewed the Belkin
Implementation stage earlier this year and provides a comprehensive set of tools for teachers to convert an iOS or Android device into a great teaching tool. With your tablet fixed on the stage Belkin laptop tablet can use the tablet camera and turn it into a document camera which you can then annotate the top. Stage Stage Belkin Laptop Tablet and have their application accompanies tablet arena interactive whiteboard at a fraction of the cost. You can add tags, audio, draw and interact with the images right on your tablet using the application scenario. If desired, you can record your sessions and email them to students for later use. The Stage Belkin tablet laptop is a portable solution for teachers who discover they are moving from one classroom to another and need a platform to deliver their content. The Stage Belkin laptop tablet folds into a small package and must be stored easily in a backpack or briefcase. At around $ 99.99 this is a great value and a gadget that I know I'm going to use in my classroom this fall. For more information about purchasing this product please contact me.

SnapType For Occupational Therapy: For students who have difficulty with handwriting

A little compassion, zeal for problem solving, and a sketch on a napkin can do wonders to bring real-world solutions to some people! Today's post is written by Amberlynn Gifford, a student in occupational therapy, which helped a student diagnosed with dysgraphia keep up with their peers by developing an iPad app for it.

* Steven is a 5th grader I met during my fieldwork occupational therapy in the spring. He is diagnosed with dysgraphia yet his mind is sharp, but his writing is so dirty you can not even read their own writing. His OT tried countless ways to help you improve your writing, but nothing seemed to work. Caring OT went so far as to analyze their worksheets on a computer but consumed too much time in class was quite complicated. Worse, Steven was very frustrated and falling behind in class because I could not complete the worksheets with their classmates






I thought there had to be a better way to help keep pace with Steven the other kids in his class. Then I had an idea, what if Steven could take a photo of your spreadsheet using an iPad and write your answers directly on the screen? I searched all over the app store, but there was nothing that did what I wanted. Well, there were some applications, but they were designed for business people and too complex for a child to use.

So I sketched out my idea on a napkin and shared with OT, Steven. She loved the idea. So I gathered a detailed model of the application and worked with a developer to build it. A few weeks and a few dollars later, I had a job application!

OT and teacher Steven are delighted. However, the real joy comes from seeing Steven use the application. Easy for him to take a picture of a spreadsheet and use the iPad keyboard to write the answers. Not far behind in class and is now safer than ever! While still working on his handwriting, which is now able to keep up with their peers.

Students create reactive showing Paraplegic Suit athletes when they are injured

The one thing athletes with disabilities struggle with is assessing the severity of the injuries obtained while playing sports. It becomes especially problematic for people who are paralyzed from the waist down and play sports like basketball wheelchair, sit skiing, car racing and several others that come in contact with other players or objects, resulting in a physical trauma or internal injuries. Internal injuries often give no visible warning, and if the athlete can not feel the impact because of pain or paralysis, do not even know they are injured. This can be dangerous because it can bleed to death or have other serious life-threatening consequences if his injury is not treated during or immediately after the game.

To combat this problem, a team of students from Imperial College London has developed a prototype suit reactive allowing people paralyzed from the waist down to identify impact / physical injuries immediately and assess the severity of those injuries are. The pants include pockets of different areas that have a removable film strip reactive pressure. Each time the impact occurs to the area where the strip is placed, impact is recorded in the form of a patch of magenta. Superior impact, the greater the intensity of the color of the stain. This does two things - firstly, the athlete immediately that have a lesion is reported, and second, the intensity and color can help design experts analyze the type of injury is the athlete. (Different types of injuries have different patterns / bloom on the strip)

At the end of the day, this game gives comfort to the athletes, coaches and support staff.

Hearing aid with Smartness Built In: Intelligent Hearing System Soundhawk

Hearing aids have traditionally been known to amplify the sound around the person wearing them. Of course, this works very well in all cases, however, one thing that's missing is hearing traditional aesthetics - when it comes to looks and design, the headset has not been given much love by the manufacturers. This is not really a big deal, except that only the size and aesthetically unappealing that have discouraged some people use appearance.

   Soundhawk, a company with a mission to transform the experience of hearing, has introduced a new "headset" that is not only visually pleasing but comes with a lot of features that normal hearing is usually delivered. Soundhawk comes with a "Scoop" - the part of the headset that sits comfortably in the ear (and works as a Bluetooth headset that syncs with your phone and allows you to speak and listen to audio). It has a small microphone that amplifies sound around the user. If they are in a stronger setting (think restaurant), you can use the microphone (accessory not included) and place it in the direction the sound is coming, and picks it up and do it directly to the ear. Soundhawk also accompanied by an application that allows you to set the scoop to the environment in which it is - outdoor indoor dining or driving. Once selected, the user moves their finger on a touch interface for adjusting the volume of the scoop.
Pre-order today for this device starts at $ 280 and the price will go up to $ 300 after its release. On average, a decent headset costs about $ 1,500. Go to the website for more information and to pre-order

Neurobridge: technology to help paralyzed people move limbs With His Thought

Spinal cord injuries / paralysis are fatal because they cut the communication between the brain and extremities - damaged nerves can not transfer signals from the brain to the limbs, making them unusable. However, recently, a team of scientists from Ohio State University and Battelle partnered to use an innovative technology called Neurobridge (created by Battelle) that helps quadriplegics move their limbs with just their thoughts!





Ivan spotted wearing Neurobridge technologyAs mentioned above, the nerves are crucial to the movement of the limbs and fatal accidents that cause injury to the
spine and nerve damage drastically affect limb movement. This is where Neurobridge comes to rescue. A small chip (smaller than a pea) is implanted in the part of the brain that controls movement of the arm and hand. This chip reads and interprets brain signals, sends them to a computer that sends them to recode and a sleeve that the patient is using, and simulates the appropriate muscles, allowing them to move the desired end. A total of one tenth of a second of thought in limb movement is needed. So essentially, it fails completely (damaged) nerves responsible for transmitting signals from the brain to the limb and sent directly to the muscles instead.

This remains a clinical study (approved by the FDA) which is working with five patients. Currently, the study focuses on the arms and hands, but the future possibilities are endless. To begin brushing, flossing, using their hands to eat with a spoon or fork, etc can be a big boost to the morale and confidence of a paralyzed person.

What scientists have achieved so far is a big step forward, and only going to continue doing this kind of progress in the future.

Parrot Speak to Call: Hands free phone software

As we saw in the previous post, spinal cord injuries or paralysis may render useless arms. Anyone with not so good motor skills also have difficulty using their fingers and hands to perform daily operations, making them dependent on others around them to do things. One of those things may be getting help to make and receive phone calls - a process that seems simple enough, but without the use of weapons, can be a bit challenging. It is quite possible that someone may not be all the time, and waiting for a friend or caregiver to come check on them may be the only option for a lot of people.

To alleviate this problem, Loro "Speak to Call" provides a very convenient solution. A software that runs on Windows PC with Dragon Naturally Speaking and Microsoft Speech (comes with Windows), Loro helps make and receive phone calls using only speech. The interface is very simple and minimalist with only the essential items displayed. The software comes with some "lists" of their own (family, friends, professionals and business and labor), to which you can add contact information and phone numbers. Of course, it gives you the ability to add more if the four lists also it comes with are not enough. With only one word commands, parrot can making and receiving calls a breeze. Check out the quick video below to see Loro "Speak to Call" in action.

Installation is very simple (make sure you know how to activate its voice recognition software). The best part is you do not need a phone line or the need to connect it to your existing phone line. It works by itself and does not depend on other hardware accessories (except the USB headset to be used to make calls) that normally complicated setup and use, and make things difficult to fix if they break. When you register, you get a phone number as well.

A very good solution for people who do not have good motor skills or can not use their arms to cause paralysis and other injuries of the spinal cord. This software can also be used by bedridden or those who can not move much because of sickness or old age to call your caregiver to let them know if you need anything.

Registration only requires a $ 99 fee and a monthly fee of $ 39 for unlimited calling within the United States and Canada (month to month, no contract). $ 10 from each sale goes to charity too!

Google Glass for Prosthetics and Blind Athletes

We have heard much of this in the recent past, and we will keep hearing about them and things are progressing very well in each of these tracks! Today, we have two different stories about Google Glass - one that will help people get the cheapest prosthesis, and two, one blind Paralympian Glass using Google to show the children their view and increase your confidence.

Prosthesis With Google Glass


Traditionally, to achieve prosthesis requires travel to a clinic, where a large machine with a robot arm measurement determines the specifications of the brace or leg prosthesis necessary. Of course, this process is not cheap because the machine itself costs thousands of dollars tense, and usually, the clinic would like to pass on costs to customers.












This will hopefully change soon. A research team from the University of Delaware is exploring more affordable and convenient ways to do exactly the same thing, but without the exorbitant costs of obtaining additional prosthesis of a traditional clinic.

The team is using Google Glass to capture all the information of the foot and leg in the videos. These videos are then stitched together to obtain a 3D model and then cast instantly transformed into a template for a 3D printer. This method, first, reduce costs for patients and the second of all, it is convenient to go through this process at home without having to go to the clinic for the measures taken. The patient can print the brace at home if they have a 3D printer or sent to a laboratory 3D printing or study.

The team soon funding is requested to expand in prosthetics as well.

A combination of technology as Google and Glass 3D printing helps bring manufacturing to everyday consumers who are not engineers or manufacturers.

Google Glass And A Blind Paralympic

Disability advocates are always looking for different ways to show the abilities, not disabilities for people with disabilities. Google Glass will be used for that purpose.

Lex is a blind Paralympic Gilette started to lose his sight when he was seven. He has won three silver medals and holds the world record long jump F11 for qualified athletes. Being blind, he has to depend on someone to direct you around the track and make calls for him on the fly.

"No need to view when you have a vision."

The plan is to use Google Lex Glass and show your viewpoint to high school kids so they could see what all that entails, and how a blind Paralympic ago. The idea is to show kids that anything is possible, and how not to be able to body does not cause hindrance to their goals. Through Google Glass, Lex aims to get kids from high school with more confidence.