There's an App for That!

The first class on Assistive Technology: Access to Learning and Leisure was extremely informative. I have been on maternity leave and have been out of the ‘teaching’ scene for over a year now and it was the first class I have been to since being in my second Masters degree and so nice to be a part of a group of teachers wanting to share and learn. Barb shared her Assistive Technology presentation with us called “AT – The Past, the Present and the Future”. It was a powerful presentation where we were able to see how schools looked in the past, and how technology has allowed access for many learners who wouldn’t otherwise have access to information. One of the most powerful moment in the video for me was the boy with cerebral palsy who was able to be in an ‘IPad band’ without ability to move anything but his head. Using the IPad they were able to allow him to play a musical instrument. Interesting enough, he chose his tongue as the best body part to do this. It was amazing watching him play a long! The video made me begin to wonder about my brother Chris. Chris has a mental disability and is now a 30 year old man. He lives at home with my parents and he is who inspired me to be a learning center teacher. Over the past many years I have had numerous conversations with my mother about Chris and the history of his schooling. For the most part, Chris was given a lot of coloring sheets that he did in the back of a classroom. He was rarely involved in teaching within the classroom. I wondered throughout the presentation what would Chris be like had he had access to assistive technology in the classroom to help him.

We were introduced to iMovie and worked in groups to make up a video about ‘what is assistive technology?’ What a fun app! I downloaded it on to my iPad because I liked it so much. This allows students to make trailers or even movies with simple clicks of buttons. It is extremely engaging, and I found myself really motivated in the activity. The templates to choose from for trailers are extremely funny and real life like. When I got home, I showed the app to my brother Chris. He loves movies (especially scary movies) and was really excited to use the app with me. After one demonstration he was on his way and created his very own trailer. You can watch his trailer here. Keep in mind that he did this completely independently - he took the pictures, uploaded them, chose the template and made his movie all by himself. The only thing the movie doesn't do is show you his face when he watched it. He was all tears of joy - it was heart warming.  You may see a few of my family members.  Beware:  this is scary!!!

At the end of the day we talked a lot about the benefits of the iPad (and similar – iPod touch, etc.). Last time I took an assistive technology course (EDUC 5163) I learned a variety of programs that were really beneficial but extremely time consuming. It is amazing how in only two years the rapid pace with which things have changed. Kurzweil for instance was a fantastic program and I have used it with numerous students who struggle to read and write. It allows the student to scan any document and it will read it to him/her. The program is extremely time consuming involving scanning, having to have access to a computer or laptop (which is sometimes difficult in a classroom setting) and has numerous troubleshooting issues. It also costs thousands of dollars! The iPad (or iPad mini) is a fraction of the cost and there are apps that will do the exact same thing with a lot less effort. (ie/ Prizmo - you can take a picture of a document and it will read it to you – easier, less time, more affordable!) Boardmaker is another great program that is extremely time consuming. I have used it many times to make social stories for students with autism, picture exchange communication pictures and many other symbols to aid students. Barb told us about Proloquo2go. This app looks like a life saver! Where I used to use Boardmaker, with a quick click of a few buttons you can make the same thing. Where I used to use augmented communication devices with my younger students for communicating, this app allows students to communicate using their iPad mini or iPod touch. This is a much more social appropriate method and extremely easy to use. We played around with this app for a while and I was shocked at how easy it is.

On the apple website Proloquo2Go is described as the following:
"a full-featured augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) solution for people who have difficulty speaking. Proloquo2Go provides natural sounding Text to Speech voices (CURRENTLY ENGLISH ONLY), a high resolution library of over 14,000 symbols, powerful automatic conjugations, two researched-based vocabulary organizations, advanced word prediction, multiuser support, and the ability to fully customize vocabularies for users along a broad continuum of abilities, from beginning symbolic communication to full literacy."

Goes to show – there’s an app for everything! Check out this video! I love this!