Show Host: Deb Truskey (@slpdeb)

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

This show is about the sites that support reviews for apps designed to be used with children. Some of these sites are specifically for special education while others include apps for a wider population. These are the sites that we feel comfortable sharing with our listeners because they are our favorites.

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Join us for our last podcast of 2012, a special holiday episode. Patrick & Anne talk about the 2012 Edublog Awards, shopping for persons with disabilities and what we’d like to see under our Christmas Tree (or Hanukkah Bush)!

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Voting for the Edublog Awards runs until December 9, 2012, and you can vote one time per day in each category.  There are tons of other great nominees, so make sure to check them all out when you visit the site when you vote – 2012 Edublog Awards voting.  Please take a moment and vote for Edceptional!

This week’s contributors: Anne Truger, Deb Truskey, Tricia Lazzaro, Helen Lazzaro

The complete show notes can be found at the EdReach-EdCeptional Wiki

Check out the entire show and listen to our podcast at http://edreach.us/edceptionalshow

This week’s contributors: Anne Truger, Deb Truskey, Tricia Lazzaro, Helen Lazzaro

The complete show notes can be found at the EdReach-EdCeptional Wiki

Check out the entire show and listen to our podcast at http://edreach.us/edceptionalshow

Anne, Tricia, and Deb are joined Helen Lazzaro to discuss ePub format and implications for the special ed classroom. Helen is a retired Technology Teacher turned technology integration consultant and a huge advocate for digital texts in the classroom.

You can view the entire podcast on Youtube – EdCeptional #039

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

This week’s contributors: Anne Truger, Mark Coppin & Patrick Black.

The complete show notes can be found at the EdReach-EdCeptional Wiki

Check out the entire show and listen to our podcast at http://edreach.us/edceptionalshow

This week’s contributors: Anne Truger, Mark Coppin & Patrick Black.

The complete show notes can be found at the EdReach-EdCeptional Wiki

Check out the entire show and listen to our podcast at http://edreach.us/edceptionalshow

This week’s contributors: Anne Truger, Mark Coppin & Patrick Black.

The complete show notes can be found at the EdReach-EdCeptional Wiki

Check out the entire show and listen to our podcast at http://edreach.us/edceptionalshow

iOS 6 was released on Wednesday and we’ve had a chance to check it out. Join us and our guest Mark Coppin – @mcopp – as we check out the new features and share what we like about this update to the iOS software. You can view the video of this episode on the EdReach Youtube channel, as we had the opportunity to show off a few of the new features like Guided Access.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Tonight we start with a new format – Live Video! And to kick it off we share some of our favorite apps for education, productivity and fun. Using a Google Hangout we shared the apps as well as talked about them. You are welcome to view the video on Youtube. Listen and see our new favorite apps and maybe share a few of your own!

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

It’s back to school time in the United States, and teachers everywhere are making bulletin boards, taping down name tags, and laminating away! It’s also a time to start anew, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to try some new things. It doesn’t have to be big, but you never know what might make the most impact with your learners.

ClassDojo - If you don’t know what ClassDojo is, make sure to check out this interview with the founders on EdGamer – Episode 63:  ClassDojo Part 1.  It’s a great way to flip the behavior game on it’s ear.  The focus of the site is on positive interactions with your students, and it provides an easy way to track those interactions across a class period or entire day.  I have  feeling that it will become a very integral part of my classroom this year!

Video Chat – There are so many cool ways to communicate these days, Google Hangouts and Skype are just a couple.  Why not try and chat with a class in another part of the country or world.  You can even call friends in other parts of your school.  My kids love to use Facetime across the classroom on our iOS devices.

Project By Jen:  After chatting with Jen during our latest EdCeptional Podcast (#36) I really suggest you take a look at the projects she has planned for this year!  I know for certain I’ll be trying the O.R.E.O stacking project with my kids!

Learn more about UDL – I’ll admit, Universal Design for Learning is not really something you can try, it’s more of a change in the way we think about our lessons.  I wrote a post that explains is more earlier this year for EdReach – What is UDL?.  That will give you some background, but the real question is why isn’t this just the way we do things.  We’ve spent years doing RTI, DI, and so many other acronyms, when we could reach so many more learners by adopting these principles into our classrooms.  Please take a few minutes to learn more at Cast.org.

These are just a few small things you can try this year, if you aren’t interested in any of these, just try something new!  Have a great year!

Patrick

photo credit: Funky64 (www.lucarossato.com) via photo pin cc

It’s time to kick off a new school year, and what better way then by trying some new things. Tonight we chat with Jen Wagner about Projects By Jen, International Dot Day, Flat Stanley, and ClassDojo. We also introduce our new #Eduwin segment!

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

The Crew here at EdCeptional is in full summertime mode! Some of us are off enjoying time in other countries, and some even had a chance to check out ISTE 2012 in San Diego this year! Luckily, Deb and I had a chance to catch up and talk about some of the new interesting apps that have come out this summer, but we can’t wait to talk again with the full EdCeptional Crew!

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

It’s been quite a while since we’ve been able to get together, and apparently we’ve forgotten how to count, we seem to have missed a few episode numbers. Anyway, as a way to combat our own “summer slide” we discussed some of the finer points of summer – ESY vs. summer camp, or should we have year round school. Just some of our opinions! Thanks for listening!

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Tonight we focus on Professional Development. As many of us are preparing to head off into summer shortly we decided to take a look at how we can personally keep up with our own professional/personal development. I fully believe that if you are involved in education that you should be a lifelong learner and willing to learn even on “your own” time

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

So in an effort to help fellow special educators with this process, here are some resources, tools, or just plain fun things to help during this hectic time.

Sean Sweeney’s post in the AHSA Leader is a great place to start – App-titude:  Tech to Ease IEP pain.  Sean talks about several great tools like Doodle – set up a free account and schedule meetings by having all your attendees fill in their free time!  Beside those mentioned in the article, another great app is the Common Core Standards app (iOS or Android), which gives all the standards in a handy little app.

An effective way to share information between IEP team members or parents is Goalbook.  This website allows you to add IEP goals for individual students, collect data, share the data, and much more.  Information can be shared via the website or a mobile app!  You can share progress with team members or parents as it is happening!

Another way to keep down the stress is to use Google Docs.  Create agenda’s, documents for meetings and so much more.  No more emailing off a report and have it be included in the IEP only to find a typo!  Now your entire team can have the most up-to-date version, and anyone can suggest changes right in the doc!  It’s a great way to have parents provide information for meetings to you.  Create a document for parent input and share it with them!  No more waiting for the form to come back in the backpack.

As long as we are talking about stress relief, let’s take a look at some great ways to blow off some steam!  Obviously, there are tons of iOS games for you to check out but here are a few the EdCeptional Crew use to relax:

Draw Something

Words with Friends

Zombie Gunship

Temple Run

Where’s my Water?

If you are interested in some of the other apps we enjoy, check out the latest episode of EdCeptional – #032 - Surviving the IEP Blues.

Patrick

It’s all about surviving the push to the end of the year, also known as IEP season for most special educators. First, we talk about some of the great recommendations for keeping organized from Sean Sweeney’s post in ASHA. Then, we have some fun discussing our favorite stress relievers! Make sure to check out the show notes for links to all our suggestions.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Tonight we have some fun and discuss games in the classroom. There are some great blogs about gaming for kids with disabilities, as well as some great apps to do it too. It’s not all about technology though, as we discuss some of our favorite games growing up. Make sure to check out all the information from the show by clicking the show notes!

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Tonight we discuss UDL (Universal Design for Learning) with our special guest Dr. Joy Zabala. Joy works with the CAST Center to promote UDL and increase the availability of accessible materials. Check out all the great resources we discuss by clicking on the Show Notes link below.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Show Guest: Joy Zabala (@joyzabala)

It’s a been a long time since we have all had time to chat! There have been several exciting events that have taken place during this time. Three things that we will chat about today are the Illinois ICE Conference, MACUL, and the big Apple announcement.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Tonight we discuss Google Docs and it’s use in the classroom. We spend some time talking about the different versions (personal vs. apps for education), ways to collaborate, and some of the privacy settings.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Universal Access is a goal for all students in school.  While the majority of students have no problem using a trackpad or mouse, there is a small segment of students who may require additional help in becoming independent in computer use.  We are fortunate to have quite a few options, most of them readily available on any operating system to help those students.

Current Accessibility Options:

Both Windows and Mac operating systems have a ton of features available to help everyone access the computer.  Some of the more common ones:

• cursor size or speed (faster for those with limited movement)
• display adjustment – larger font size, contrast, black on white or grayscale, and screen magnification
• Sticky Keys – when turned on it will hold keys so you can do keyboard commands, for example with Sticky Keys on I can easily press (without holding) ctrl-alt-del and it will execute that command.
• Filter Keys – will ignore brief or repeated keystrokes for individuals who may have motor difficulties
• Text-To-Speech – will read items on screen, selected text or menu items to help a visually impaired student access the computer.
• On-Screen Keyboard – for students who can use a trackpad/mouse but have difficulty with a keyboard, they may prefer to use an On-Screen keyboard.

There are so many more options for users, please take a look at the guides below for the operating system you are using:

• Windows 7
• Windows XP
• Mac OS X

Other Accessibility Options:

While these options are sufficient for the majority of users, there are still some students who need further modifications to be successful.  Many of these are inexpensive.

Touch Screens:

While touch screen monitors are available as add-ons or built into the monitor, when I think of touch screens these days my mind immediately goes to mobile devices, like iPod Touches, iPads and Android Tablets.  At this time there are any number of apps that allow the user to control the mouse on a computer using your device.  The extreme sensitivity of these mobile devices make it perfect for some users.

Mobile Mouse (Lite or Pro) is one such app.  After installing a small helper program on your computer of choice – Mobile Mouse Server - you are ready to go.  Taking a step further and installing an app like Splashtop ($4.99) or Air Display ($9.99), and their corresponding server program – Splashtop or Air Display and now you are mirroring your computer display on your iPad.  The touch screen allows students to interact with the computer and you can project it so all students can see what is happening!

Alternative Input Options:

Other students may require even more modifications to access the computer.  Here’s a great blog post (from our recent EdCeptional guest) Jeannette Van Houten about turning a PS3 controller into a mouse for a student with limited arm movement.  Or how about checking out the Orbitouch Keyless Keyboard, which requires no wrist or arm movement to use this unique device.

If you have a webcam you could try a head mouse.  By using a small reflective dot on your forehead or facial feature, the camera tracks your movement and moves the cursor across the screen.  You “click” on an item by dwelling on it for a preset amount of time.  You can get a free head mouse here at Camera Mouse (Windows only).  You can even look at Eye Gaze for some students, but there a quite a few physical implications like fatigue.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to access the computer, I hope it offers a few ideas for helping those students who need a little extra help.

Patrick

Tonight we were joined by Jeannette Van Houten a Assistive Technology/Curriculum consultant from New Jersey and a blogger at My Point of View…. We talked about all the myriad ways to access the computer, both built in features and those that are extra. Even how an iDevice can be used to access and interact with a computer.

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

We are excited to be back for our first podcast of 2012 and talking about QR Codes. There are so many exciting, fun and free ways to create and use QR codes in the classroom, and we spend a few minutes discussing and trying them out. Make sure you check out the show notes for links to all the ideas and tools.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Tonight we are joined by Kevin Honeycutt of http://kevinhoneycutt.org to talk Internet safety for kids.  Kevin shared his wonderful site for kids – http://www.mysafesurf.org and entertained us with the Online Safety Song.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Show Guest:  Kevin Honeycutt (@kevinhoneycutt)

Show contributors:

Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Tricia Lazzaro (@tlazzaro11)

Deb Truskey (@debtruskey)

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Contact us with any questions or comments- edceptional@edreach.us

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Show Guest:  Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo)

Show contributors:

Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Deb Truskey (@debtruskey)

Subscribe to The EdCeptional Podcast on iTunes

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The complete show notes are now on the EdCeptional Wiki.

Show Host:  Anne Truger (@atruger)

Show contributors:
Deb Truskey (@debtruskey)
Tricia Lazzaro (@tlazzaro11)

Subscribe to The EdCeptional Podcast on iTunes

Subscribe to the EdReach Podcast Feed

The complete show notes are now on the EdCeptional Wiki.

Show Host: Tricia Lazarro (@tlazzaro11)

Show contributors:

Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Deb Truskey (@debtruskey)

Subscribe to The EdCeptional Podcast on iTunes

Subscribe to the EdReach Podcast Feed

The complete show notes are now on the EdCeptional Wiki.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Show Guest:  Tricia Lazzaro (@tlazzaro11)

Show contributors:

Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

Deb Truskey (@debtruskey)

Subscribe to The EdCeptional Podcast on iTunes

Subscribe to the EdReach Podcast Feed

The complete show notes are now on the EdCeptional Wiki.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

Show Guest:  Tricia Lazarro (@tlazzaro11)

Show contributors:  Deb Truskey (@debtruskey)

Subscribe to The EdCeptional Podcast on iTunes

Subscribe to the EdReach Podcast Feed

The complete show notes are now on the EdCeptional Wiki.