More Online Accessibility

Again, I am indebted to Ira David Socol. His article "The Unhappy Place: What Libraries Can Do to Welcome Kids Who Struggle with Print" in the May 2010 issue of School Library Journal has many ideas for making libraries and computers more accessible to students with learning difficulties. You can read his article online at http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6727276.html

Microsoft Word can be customized for students who need help with spelling and grammar. In the Word program, click on help (or the little question mark in the top right hand side of the screen). Type"spell check" in the search box, and click search. Look for the following heading: "Choose how spelling and grammar checking work". Click on the link and follow the instructions. For help writing math equations, click on the insert tab, and then on equation (right next to symbol).

You can add the WordTalk plug-in to Word for free! WordTalk is software that will speak and highlight text as the student writes in Microsoft Word. It is customizable and has a talking dictionary. You can convert text to speech and then save it as a .wav or .mp3 file so you can replay it on your iPod or mp3 player. The web address is http://www.wordtalk.org.uk.

Users of Windows Vista or Windows 7 can install free voice recognition software. Windows Speech Recognition enables users to dictate documents and emails and to use voice controls. The web address is: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windowsvista/speech.aspx.
Other Windows accessibility plug-ins, including onscreen keyboards and magnifiers, are available on the Windows accessibility page or http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/accessibility.

Here are some other free tools identified by Mr. Socol:

A Graphing Calculator, indispensable to anyone taking Algebra II, Trigonometry, or Calculus, available from GraphCalc (http://www.graphcalc.com/index.shtml).

A talking calculator is available from myZIPS (http://www.myzips.com/software/Talking-Calculator.phtml).

NaturalReader (http://www.naturalreaders.com/), free text-to-speech with natural sounding voices. Can read any text and convert it into audiofiles, and you have a choice of voices!

PowerTalk (http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk/) speaks the text on PowerPoint slides.

Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard (http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/) is an onscreen keyboard. Type using your mouse!

Here's one my kids like to use: Create A Graph (http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx). Enter your data and make a pie, bar, or line graph.

More Accessibility: Free Audiobooks Available Online

To follow-up on my last entry about making the Internet more accessible to people with visual or reading difficulties, I thought I would highlight online sources of free audiobooks. Most of these are included on the libraries page of my website: The School and Home Library: The Online Library for Home Schoolers.

LibriVox Free audiobooks from the public domain (public domain works are creative works that are not protected by copyright and may be freely used by anyone. In the U.S., this includes books published before 1923, works for which the copyright has expired, books for which the author failed to establish a copyright, and works by the U.S. government). You can receive books in thrice-weekly podcasts, download complete books from the catalog, or subscribe through iTunes.

Bookshare Free accessible books and periodicals for individuals with print impairments (loss of sight, visual impairment, physical disability, learning disability, developmental disability and ESL). Free reading software and Braille options. Others may join; however, registration and annual fees apply.

Project Gutenberg Over 32,000 free books to download to your computer, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, or other portable device. Human-read and computer generated audiobooks. Sheet music. All materials are in the public domain.

Accessible Book Collection High interest, low-reading level digital texts (formatted for individuals with visual disabilities) for qualified people with disabilities. The html text can be used with text-to-speech software. Subscription required.

Internet Archive A free digital library of Internet sites (active and archived), downloadable software, movies, audio, live music, ebooks, and texts including children's books, fiction, historical texts, and academic books. Software is available to convert text-to-speech for users who have blindness, low vision, or learning disabilities.

For text-to-speech software, see the last entry in this blog or consider:

• vozMe Install a speech synthesis bookmarklet into your browser. Then, just click the vozMe button to listen to the text. Free!
• Humanware Hardware and software for individuals with blindness, low vision, and learning disabilities.
• Don Johnston Software for a variety of learning disabilities or impairments including autism.

Members of Bookshare (see above) may obtain Humanware VictorReader Soft Bookshare edition or Don Johnston READ:OutLoud software free with their membership.

Making the Web Accessible with Firefox

Mozilla Firefox has many free, easy to install, add-ons and extensions that make the Internet more accessible to users with disabilities, particularly visual disabilities and print impairments. To find them, visit the Firefox Accessibility Extensions page. Here are just a few of the many useful tools available:

• CLiCk Speak With the click of a button, CLiCk Speak will read any text you have highlighted or can automatically read the contents of any web page.
• Fire Vox A text-to-speech talking browser extension that reads web pages and the Firefox user interface including menus and sub-menus. Keyboard shortcuts are customizable.
• FoxVox reads highlighted text. It can also be used to create audiobooks in mp3, ogg, and wav formats and can turn blogs and articles into podcasts.
• Quick Dictionary Lookup Press shift + right click on any word; get a pop-up with definition, usage, and audio pronunciation.
• Readability Remove unnecessary page elements to reduce clutter and make the page more readable (reduces distractions).

I am deeply indebted to Ira Socol whose article "The Unhappy Place: What Libraries Can Do to Welcome Kids Who Struggle with Print" in the May 2010 issue of School Library Journal brought the Firefox accessibility add-ons to my attention.

Virtual Choir

Here is the penultimate example of the power of Internet for collaboration and creation, and for pushing the boundaries on the possible. Eric Whitaker created a choral piece with 185 singers from 12 countries, each singing their part to musical accompaniment while he conducted, and then combining their video and audio. Amazing!



Here is the link to Eric Whitaker's blog where he explains how the recording was made. This is the potential we offer our children when we teach them how to use technology to explore their own interests, to connect with others, and to participate in the creation of new knowledge!

Rich Curriculum Resource from the Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Media, created by the same people who work in partnership with public television to produce high-quality educational programming, have free online curriculum for high school, college, and adult learning. Teacher education courses are available for curriculum topics in grades k-8. Go to Learner.org to take a look.

Curriculum is available for the Arts, Foreign Languages (Spanish and French), Literature and Language Arts, Science, Mathematics, Social Studies and History.Most courses includes free video streaming which can be used on its own, with purchased printed materials (textbooks, etc), or in conjunction with another curriculum. Courses which do not include video streaming (and those that do) have DVDs or Videos available for purchase. Teacher guides and continuing education courses for educators are also available.

I viewed the introduction to Algebra, the first of 26 half-hour algebra lessons, which explained the importance and relevance of algebra. The video was high quality, kept my interest, and I actually learned something. I also viewed the first Spanish lesson of Destinos, An Introduction to High School and College Level Spanish. The 52 half-hour video lessons use a telenovela to immerse "students in everyday situations with native speakers and introduces the cultures, accents, and dialects of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Puerto Rico" (quoted from the web site).
Lessons include speaking, listening and comprehension skills.

The material for grades k-8 are aimed at helping teachers to better understand student learning, facilitate classroom activities, and increase the understanding of curriculum concepts. The videos are not meant to be viewed by the students, but parents may be able to use portions of some to illustrate important concepts or ideas.

Soomo and Too Late to Apologize

This satirical video Too Late to Apologize:A Declaration was created by the guys at Soomo publishing, the creators of online educational resources for high school and college. Lessons are created by college professors and include primary sources, videos, interviews, and assessments (multiple choice and short answer), all available online! I took a test drive of their Americans Governing course with my 12 year-old daughter who urged me to make an account immediately so she could start using it!

Unfortunately, I was unable to create an account because I am not a professor affiliated with a college. I called Soomo's corporate office and shared my frustration that I was unable to use this fine resource as a home schooler. The representative I spoke to assured me that there was a way for home schoolers to use it-- A home school association in Pennsylvania is using it. She took my name and number, and promised me that me area sales rep would call me. I sure hope so, because I would definitely like to use their materials!

Soomo also has web resources for: International Relations, Comparative Governments,
and is developing classes for writing, political science, Spanish, biology, business, and history.

Take a look at these Soomo and let me know what you think! I would love to be able to tell Soomo that home schoolers are interested. Better yet, if you like what you see, contact them yourselves, and let them know that home schoolers are a potential market for their products.

The Olympics and Science

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be coming to us live from Vancouver next Friday night (February 12), and what a great opportunity for all of us to learn, regardless of our interest in sports.

Visit NBC Learn for videos and lessons related to the games. From the NBC Learn web site:

"NBC Learn interviews athletes, coaches, and scientists in this original 16-part series, and unravels the physics, biology, chemistry, and materials engineering behind the Olympic Winter Games. The Science of the Olympic Winter Games is made possible through a partnership with the National Science Foundation." (NBC Universal. 2010. NBC Learn. Retrieved February 5, 2010, from http://www.nbclearn.com/olympics)

The National Science Digital Library

Ever get stuck trying to explain a science concept to your 12 year-old? I do, all the time, but now I've discovered The National Science Digital Library. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) provides organized access to high-quality Web sites and digital resources in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Advanced searches can be fine-tuned by grade level, subject, and format (e.g. audio, video, interactive, text). Resources are available for students preK through college. Professional and research collections are also available.

Why is NSDL better than google? Well, when NSDL identifies an online resource, you don't have to worry about whether the science is accurate. Also, none of the web sites are .coms, which means that you won't have to pay to use a resource. NSDL enables you to do a more targeted search, so you won't have to wade through pages and pages of irrelevant hits. And you don't have to worry about accidentally stumbling on inappropriate content.