Viewing Photo Stories on the Mac

If you have created Photo Stories and are having trouble with viewing the resulting video (.wmv) file on Macs, you should read this Blog post:

http://dgrice.blogspot.com/2007/11/not-so-simple-solution.html

Basically, the sub-type of .wmv file that Photo Story creates does not play nice on the Mac, even with special software to allow .wmv files to play. Just something to be aware of, especially if you want students to share their Photo Stories at home and they have a Mac/IPhone, etc.

Clicker5 - Open Grid and Document Together

If you want a Clicker5 writer document to open automatically with a Clicker5 grid, follow these steps:

1. "Edit" from top toolbar
   
2. select "Edit Mode"
3. select "Writer"
4. select "Starting Document"
5. Open the Clicker5 writer document (.HTML) you want to use.
6. "OK"

Now when you open the Clicker5 grid, that Clicker5 writer document will open with the grid.

Touchscreens and ActivInspire Annotation Tools

If you are using a touchscreen monitor (not a Promethean Board) with ActivInspire and are having trouble using the annotation tools (e.g. to have students write on a flipchart), you need to change a setting in ActivInspire to make this work well:

1. "File"
2. "Settings"
3. "Dual Mode ActivBoards"
4. Under "Touch Input Handling", change to "Full Touch Support"

Now when you use the touchscreen, you can select the annotation tools and they will work on the flip chart with the touchscreen or mouse.

ActivInspire - How To Expand Your Writing Space

original source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY8xHzjr5wc

Voice Recording in Office 2010

Oh no! You were using voice notes in Word documents, you just got updated to Office 2010 and now you can't find it.
Bad news is it is not easily available in Word anymore.
Good news is you have Microsoft OneNote 2010 that has even better ways to use voice recordings!
The following are a blog post instructions on how to use voice recording in OneNote and a video to demonstrate the steps. Post a comment if you have additional suggestions or questions!

1. Instructions from Microsoft's Blog
2. Video Tutorial

How to have the computer read books downloaded from the Accessible Book Collection

Question:

I downloaded a book from Accessible Book Collection, and got through the part where I saved it in a folder on my computer. However, when I open the html file, I don’t view the book in a read-to format. It just has the text of the book in ordinary print format. What else should I be doing?

Answer:

That’s right. The book you downloaded is in HTML format, which opens in Internet Explorer and basically looks like a web page. To have it read aloud, you need to use text reader software. You can use Natural Reader, WordQ, or Kurzweil. All of those programs are capable of reading web pages.

For Natural Reader and WordQ: 

• While you are viewing the book on your computer screen, open either Natural Reader or WordQ. 
• A floating tool bar will appear. 
• Select a chunk of text to read and then click the play or read button on the floating tool bar. 

For Kurzweil: 

• Open Kurzweil.
• Click “Open” to open a file.
• Navigate to where you have the book saved and open the HTML file of the book.
• Click the read button to read.

Using the ELMO with ActivInspire

You can insert images from the ELMO directly into an ActivInspire flipchart without having to use the Image Mate software.  To pull an image directly from a document camera:

1. Launch ActivInspire.
2. From the main menu, select "Insert" --> "From Scanner/ Camera."
3. If the document camera is set up correctly, a list of devices to use will appear; it should default to the correct device. 
4. Select "OK."  A live window of the document camera feed will appear. 
5. Position the object as necessary under the camera and then click on the camera icon.  This will import the image directly into the flipchart. 

Trouble Having a School Computer Recognize a USB Drive?

Sometimes school laptops, netbooks and PCs will not show/recognize a USB drive through the school menu under "My Computer". If this happens, open the program for the file you are trying to open first, open the USB drive through the program and then open the file (e.g. open PowerPoint, open the USB drive through PowerPoint, and then open the PowerPoint file). This is often an effective work-around for staff and students.

Speak on Dwell in WriteOnline

To have word read just when the mouse pointer hovers over a word (e.g. in a word bar) instead of using the right mouse click, follow these steps
1. Open the Options menu and select User Access
2. Under Access Method, choose Mouse Pointer
3. Check User Mouse Dwell
4. Click Edit Settings
5. Check Speak on Dwell
6. Click Close then OK

Additional info on WriteOnline available on the HIAT Quick Guide page.

Converting Bookshare to Kindle for eligible students

It's very simple to get books from Bookshare on the Kindle. At first I thought you had to do it through sending the file to kindle and having them convert the document, but it's MUCH easier than that...
 
1. Open the Bookshare book (which usually opens in a web browser)
2. Copy and paste the text you want into Microsoft Word
3. Save the document as nameofbook.txt (not as a .doc. ALSO if this is in the newest version of Word 07, it's going to save the document as a docx by default. THIS WILL NOT OPEN ON THE KINDLE.)
4. Once you have saved the document as a .txt, plug in the kindle. You'll see the kindle icon on the desktop, or in My Computer.
5. Open the kindle icon and open the documents folder
6. Copy and paste the book (the .txt version) into the documents folder of the kindle
7. Eject the kindle and it should be on there when you turn it on!

Formatting Text Fields in Adobe PDF Forms

If you are using Adobe Professional to create fields that students can type into, you have probably been frustrated by the formatting. Specifically, you may not like it that as students' writing fills the provided width of the text field, the font size begins to get really small. You can change this by:

1) Open the PDF in Adobe Pro (*not* Adobe Reader)

2) Select "Forms" and "Add or Edit Fields"

3) RIGHT click on a Text box you have added and select "Properties"

4) Choose "Options" tab

5) Uncheck "Scroll Long Text" and check "Multi-line" - this stops the font from decreasing and allows the writing to fill the size of the box you create.

6) You can now re-size the Text box by clicking and draging the corners of the Text box to the width and height that you want to accommodate the potential answer.

Digital Worksheets in MS Word - Self-paced Training

The following is an organization of resources that can give you an introduction to features in MS Word 07 that can be used to create more flexible worksheets for students.


Steps:

1. Download the following example worksheet. This is the example you will use to add the features to that are demonsrtated in the following videos. Click to open the page and then download the file to your computer: SunWorksheet.doc - click the Back Arrow to come back to this page after you download the document.




2. Choose which introductory features you would like to explore. Click on a video link below to have tasks demonstrated to you on the screen and then try for yourself on the SunWorksheet.doc worksheet. Replay videos if needed. Click the Back Arrow on your internet browser to come back to this page after you are done with each video.

• Introduction and Using Highlights


• Text to Speech Support to Read Text Aloud


• Images to Support Comprehension and Higher Level Thinking


• Hyperlinks to Create On-demand Supports


• Recorded Voice Comments for Teacher Prompts and Student Response (this feature not for schools with Windows7 or TM11 schools)


• Guide to Locating More Resources on Flexible Digital Worksheets

Some Helpful Links to Resources for MS Word and Adobe Worksheets:

Graphics, Videos and Sounds HIAT Quick Guides
MS Word HIAT Quick Guides
MS Word HIAT Help Blog Posts
Adobe Reader HIAT Quick Guide and Video on Read Aloud Feature
Adobe PDF HIAT Help Blog Posts

Recognizing Text (OCR) in PDFs with Adobe Professional

Having trouble highlighting and having NaturalReader or WordQ read text aloud in a PDF?

Tech Mod 10 or later schools have Adobe Professional which allows you to recognize the text in something you scanned. Follow these steps and then re-save the document:

1) "Document" from top toolbar

2) "OCR Text Recognition"

3) "Recognize Text Using OCR"

Adding Comments in PDFs

How to create PDFs with supported stickey notes for prompts and student responses.

Text description of this process is available at this link.

E-Reader Physical Access: Kindle vs. Nook

When considering the use of an E-Reader for a student with a disability, it is important to know that each device may have a combination of features that can simultaneously present barriers and supports for a specific type of challenge. This appears to be the case for physical access for two of the leading E-readers at this time: Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook.

I don't have first hand experience with the Nook and have obtained the information below from the user guide. Look forward to other people's comments who have first hand experience.

One key difference is that the Nook has touchscreen navigation and keyboard that must be accessed with finger touch and not stylus/pen/adapted pointer touch. I would assume this requires less pressure to select than the Kindle mechanical buttons for navigation/keyboard. It may be more intuitive in that more of your visual and motor points of interaction are the same vs. the Kindle with buttons on the bottom to move through screen on the top for everything but "Home" and page turn.

I am not sure about the size of the Nook touchscreen buttons but assume the size cannot be adjusted. The touchscreen keyboard size for the Nook is also fit within a 3.5x1.5"(approx.) space which would present issues. Considerations for kinesthetic keyboard input need to be made with the Nook (touchscreen) vs. Kindle (mechanical buttons). Page turning options with the Nook include mechanical buttons or finger swipe on the touchscreen but no finger swipe option exist with the Kindle. However, some have reported the finger swipe can be motorically complicated.

What have other people found in terms of motor access for these two devices?

Speak Q Purchasing

Speak Q and Word Q have now been updated to version 3. There are no more free upgrades to Word Q when you purchase Speak Q. If you buy Speak Q licenses you will also have to buy Word Q licenses. For example, if you buy 6 licenses of Speak Q 3.0 then you will have to purchased 6 upgrade licenses of Word Q 3.0.

Speak Q and Word Q must be the same version. Please contact Speri Silverman at 301-657-4959 if you have any questions.