HIAT Help Archive

Viewing Photo Stories on the Mac

2011-11-11T13:05:00.002-05:00

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

2011-10-02T16:56:00.004-04:00

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

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

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

Touchscreens and ActivInspire Annotation Tools

2011-09-27T16:24:00.013-04:00

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:

"File"
"Settings"
"Dual Mode ActivBoards"
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

2011-09-27T16:09:00.001-04:00

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

Voice Recording in Office 2010

2011-09-06T10:01:00.011-04:00

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!

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

2011-09-01T11:46:00.000-04:00

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

2011-08-24T16:06:00.000-04:00

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

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

Trouble Having a School Computer Recognize a USB Drive?

2011-05-12T16:02:00.000-04:00

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

2011-03-25T09:05:00.003-04:00

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

2011-03-17T08:16:00.003-04:00

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

2011-03-15T10:14:00.005-04:00

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

2011-03-02T18:51:00.014-05:00

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:

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.

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

2011-02-17T14:19:00.007-05:00

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

2011-02-16T16:40:00.005-05:00

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

2011-01-14T11:00:00.005-05:00

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

2011-01-11T09:40:00.002-05:00

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.

Audio to Use in Presentations

2010-12-08T18:25:00.001-05:00

For places to find digital audio to use in presentations, these are some we often recommend from the HIAT website: http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/hiat/websites/graphics.shtm

Some others from MS Media Specialists Diane Omans and Andrea Christman include:

Creative Commons Search - Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. Their portal provides access to search services to find media licensed under the creative commons license.

Discovery Education Streaming - MCPS has a subscription to this huge databank of graphics, video, and sound. All the media is aligned to content standards. MCPS staff can ask the media specialist for the login/password. You can attend an MCPS training (put "streaming" in the course title field of the PDO) or view the professional development resources within DE Streaming. Student can be provided their own accounts for home and school use as well.

Jamendo is a great place to find free music to use in your presentations. all music is free and legally usable. To find music that suits your needs, search descriptors of the tracks. From the "Music" menu, choose "Tags."

Soundsnap contains many sound effects and loops, organized in an attractive and easy to use interface. You can download 5 files a day with a free account.

Teacher's Domain - an extensive library of free digital resources from public television and other leading media producers, designed for classroom use and professional development. You can store and categorize materials that you find. You must complete a free registration process to download materials

Wikimedia Commons - This site is a repository of graphics, sound and video uploaded by the users. The vast majority of files are either in the public domain or under a liberal copyright license which allows you to use them as long as you give credit back to the authors.

What sites have others found useful for this purpose? Any better than others for students to interact with directly (e.g. only safer, controlled content)?

Kurzweil Implementation

2010-11-05T09:40:00.001-04:00

A group of MCPS teachers met yesterday to talk about how using Kurzweil is working in various schools across the county. Some of the major points that were discussed:

There are many different ways to make it work depending on administrative support, number of Kurzweil licenses that you have, and buy-in from the staff.
The critical piece is communication. One person said that although she is not tech-savvy, she is successfully coordinating the use of Kurzweil in her building because she has good communication skills and is able to connect different departments in her building: IT support, special ed teachers, general ed teachers, paraeducators, and administration.
It doesn't matter who you are. The people in our discussion group who were taking the lead in implementing Kurzweil usage were paraeducators, special ed teachers, and even speech/language pathologists!

Two issues that people were interested in networking and learning from each other about were:

How to increase the use of Kurzweil despite the fact that many classrooms only have one or two computers. We discussed several strategies:

using the LCD or Promethean board as a teaching tool to model strategies that you want students to be able to do later when they are using Kurzweil at the computer. In this way, their experience with Kurzweil is not limited to those few times that you can get the class into the computer lab.
making use of computer hubs in the back of a lab or in the media center. Setting up classroom routines so that students know when and how they are allowed to go to a computer in a different room.
Advocating for a more convenient distribution of computers around the building.
Making use of netbook or laptop carts that are available in your building.

How to manage testing situations better. There was a lot of confusion about what is permissible regarding storing tests on the school server, whether password protection of the digital file was sufficient for test security, what media you can copy a test to - flash drive or CD, and whether digital versions of tests should be sent to others by email. See the October 21 post about password protected documents for one tip on this topic.

What works well at your school? What more would you like to know about how others are implementing Kurzweil?

Copying Images from Inspiration

2010-10-22T16:27:00.002-04:00

You can copy images from the Inspiration image library to use in other programs.
Open Inspiration and pull the image onto your organizer from the Symbol Palette.
Right mouse click on the image and select "Copy".
Open the Paint program in Microsoft Windows (on all MCPS computers). Paste the image into the Paint program.
Resize the image or frame around the image if needed. Save the image where you want to access it later. When you save, choose ".jpg" or ".bmp".

Delivering Password Protected Documents to Students

2010-10-21T15:17:00.003-04:00

Are you struggling with how to deliver teacher created quizzes and assessments for students to access? One method is to: 1) make a password protected document for each class with its own unique password, 2) add the document into the appropriate folder (e.g. "McGrath" and "Period 2") on the school's "handout" folder. Provide the students that period's password and have them open the document. This can be done in Adobe PDFs (you will need to open the PDF in Adobe Professional, which is on the school network), Word docs and Kurzweil files. Click on the prior links to learn how.

Creating Accessible Worksheets from the Online Curriculum Archive

2010-10-19T10:26:00.002-04:00

Screen demo of how to get a worksheet out of the guide on the Online Curriculum Archive and make in an accesible format as a PDF or Word

Creating Comic Strips Online

2010-10-15T10:48:00.005-04:00

More and more options are out there for students to create comic strips online. Check out Adrian Bruce's website, The Teacher Toolbox, and the page for online tools for making comic strips. Another interesting option is xtranormal.com

Please share additional sites by commenting below!

Finding digital images you can use freely

2010-10-06T10:59:00.000-04:00

Creative Commons is a new copyright designation that is gaining popularity on the web. Media posted to the web under a Creative Commons license means that you can copy and use that media for your own creations under some conditions.

You can search Flickr for pictures that are licensed under Creative Commons. This video tells you how.

More resources for finding digital content is on the Graphics Websites page.
Help with using digital media is on the Graphics Quick Guides page.

What are your favorite sources for finding digital media?

Scanning a PDF

2010-09-15T09:53:00.004-04:00

How to scan paper handouts or worksheets into a PDF file to display with a projection device/interactive whiteboard or copy and paste text from the file into other programs (e.g Word, PowerPoint)

Clicker5-Writing from a Photo Prompt

2010-05-10T15:06:00.004-04:00

Teachers at Galway ES, have been working with students with whom they wanted to try writing with Clicker5 talking word banks from a photo prompt. Pairing word banks with a photo can be an effective way to help emergent writers have greater engagement with a high interest picture, make inferences from a picture, or creatively construct a narrative based on a photo.
Teachers created the Clicker5 grids below (click on the link to donwload a copy).

GirlCakeWordbanks.clkt

CatsFishingWordBanks.clkt

InferencesPictures.clkx (contributed by Ms. Jones)

PictureWritingQuestionTemplate.clkt

PictureWritingWordBankTemplate.clkt

A video on how to edit the "PictureWriting" templates can be found at the following location: video

How are you using pictures with technology to prompt writing experiences for your students?

Keyboarding Training and Fun for Home

2010-05-10T14:38:00.001-04:00

Looking for high interest online keyboarding activities for students to work on at home? Educators in MCPS and throughout the country have contributed an online list of online keyboarding activities: Keyboarding Resources Diigo Group.

The list includes links, comments on activities and tags/labels to help you see which activities may work for your students.

Be thinking what skills are appropriate for your students as you check the sites:
- just learning the basic location of keys?
- learning the 2-handed motor patterns of combining letters to make words?
- developing speed and accuracy when copying longer text?
- becoming proficient in home-row finger placement and touch-typing?

Also,
- which activities may be too frustrating (time constraints, too much negative feedback)?
- which may be too overstimulating or visually distracting?
- which have higher interest topics?

One size does not fit all. Luckily we have lots of options and new ones come around every week! Make sure you share good ones you find that aren't on the list.

Which strategies have been most successful in getting your students to be proficient keyboarders?

Kurzweil v10 Bubble Notes - Settings for Motor Access

2010-05-07T15:17:00.010-04:00

Many teachers use Bubble Notes in Kurzweil to set-up multiple choice questions to automatically pop-up as text is read. Students select the correct answer, select "OK" and the text continues to be read. All their answers are recorded and can be extracted as a separate document for a study guide or to hand-in as a comprehension check.

2 important settings to make this work well for students who use alternative input methods to the mouse (e.g. AAC device emulating the keyboard):

1) In order for the Bubble Notes to pull up automatically, make sure the reading mode is set to "Continuous" ("self-paced" will cause the note to not pop-up automatically)

2) If the student needs to make selections for answers in the Bubble Note using "tab" or arrow keys and "Enter" key to select, you need to make sure the type of Multiple Choice question is set to "Radio Button" and not "Checkbox".

Comment below and let us know how you have used Bubble Notes!

Using a Fusion with a Flash Drive

2010-05-06T10:48:00.001-04:00

The new Fusion comes with a USB port for easy file saving to a flash drive and transfer to the computer.
If your have been unable to save files to a USB there are several helpful tips to consider.

First, not all flash drives will work!

The following is a list of compatible flash drives:
Emprex 2GB, HP 2GB, iLogic 1GB, Imation 4GB, Kingston Data Traveler 2GB (Newer white case), Kingston Data traveler 4GB, Lexar 2GB (Micro), Lexar 256 KB, PNY Attache GB, PNY Attache 4GB, SanDisk Cruzer 2GB, SanDisk Cruzer 1GB, Sony Microvault 2GB
The following is a list of NOT compatible flash drives:
Memorex traveler 2GB,Kingston Data Traveler 2GB (Older Black Case), Lexar 2GB (With memory Indicator), Patriot Memory 4GB, Staples Brand, TDK Trans-It 4GB, Office Depot Brand.

Second, try using a clean (previously unused) flash drive and dedicating it to files created on the Fusion.

Third, there are two ways to save using the flash drive on the fusion

1. On the desktop screen use the arrows to highlight the desired file (do not open the file),
Press the menu key and select “Save file to USB,” an information file should pop up to alert you that the file has been sent to the USB.

2. Highlight the desired file press the Menu key, scroll to “Save File to USB” and press ALT and SEND. You should get the same pop up alerting you that your file has been sent to the USB.

This link will take you to the Fusion operator manual if you need further details http://www.writerlearning.com/support.php

Let us know if you have any advice or tips using a fusion with a flash drive by adding a comment about your experiences!

Example of Using Kurzweil for Reading and Note Taking

2010-04-22T08:24:00.006-04:00

Looking for ideas for how to use Kurzweil to read and take notes for an outline, focus questions or study guide? This video provides an example of how a student used Kurzweil to read a book for their law class and extract key text to support the study guide questions.
How have you used Kurzweil to read and take notes? Share your experiences and ideas by commenting below!

Making Kurzweil USB version 10 and Windows Vista

2010-04-20T13:37:00.004-04:00

If you have a student who is using a portable Kurzweil USB (version 10) on a home computer that runs Windows Vista, you may need to follow these steps to make it work properly:
1. Open the Kurzweil 3000 USB contents.
2. Open the Kurzweil folder.
3. Right click on the icon for the "usbsentinel" and select "properties"
4. Set the options on in the "compatibility" tab to : a) Run in Windows XP mode, b) Disable visual themes, and c) Run as administrator
5. Click apply and ok.
6. Follow steps 3-5 for the "Kurzweil 3000" application file as well.
Lastly, may want to add those 2 files to any kind of virus scanner exception list. Please share any experiences you have with making the Kurzweil USB (version 10) work with Windows Vista operating system!

2010-04-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

Question:

With Natural Reader, is one able to highlight the text as it is being read aloud, similar to Kurzweil?

Answer:

When you use the Natural Reader mini bar then it does NOT highlight the words as they are spoken.

If you use the Natural Reader main window, then it DOES highlight the words as they are spoken.

How to switch from the miniboard to the main window:

Toggle from the main window to the minibar using this button

Use the minibar to select any text on the screen and click the play button to have it read.
This works from any place that allows you to select text, such as a Word Document, while browsing the web, or in a PDF file

Toggle from the minibar to the main window using this button

The main window is capable of opening txt files and rtf files.
You can also simply copy and paste any text into it.

Locked Worksheets in MS Word07

2010-04-09T10:53:00.005-04:00

Looking for a way to create a Word document for students to type directly into without reformatting your directions and questions?
To create a Word document with locked text and spaces, or form fields, for students to enter into using Word 07, see this video.

Discovery Streaming at home

2010-03-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

Did you know Students can access discovery streaming video clips from home?

There are two ways they can find video clips. They can browse for a clip of their choice or the teacher can drop video clips into the student content.

Here’s how…
1. Select my classrooms
2. Select create a classroom
3. Go through the “Set up Class” prompt
Name
Start date
End date
4. Save
5. Move to Select students
6. Enter student data – NOTE, you will have to create a login and password for each student and provide this information to the students for access from home.
7. Select Add
8. Select Save
9. If you are teaching the same content to several classes select duplicate class and enter the next class.
10. Select done.

If you want to assign a file to a student’s content here’s how…..
1. Select “My content”
2. Select “Assign”
3. You will be prompted to select specific students or the whole class.

The student’s account looks different than the teachers – it has a blue background.

Flexible Websites for Math group - connecting each other to relevant resources

2010-02-26T14:41:00.012-05:00

We are working to move our lists of websites (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/hiat/websites/) to Diigo for easier searching and organizing.The Flexible Websites for Math group has just been created:
http://groups.diigo.com/group/flexible-math-websites

We will use the following tags on ALL links in these groups, and then add other tags as appropriate for the subject area. Here are the tags you can expect to see:

For all Flexible Websites groups:

whether the website is free: "free", "trial", "$$", "subscription_required"
what grade level the website supports: "PK-2" "3-5" "MS" "HS"
whether the website has a search function: "searchable"

For the Flexible Websites for Math group:

if the website has text to speech functions built in: "TTS" "speaks"
designate what types of supports the website has for students: "video", "pictures", "background_information", "supported_practice", study_guides",
what types of supports the website has for teachers: "lesson_plans"
which MCPS course and teaching unit the website supports: "Math6", "fractions_decimals_percents", "probability", "geometry"

Teachers who are interested in earning E-TIPS hours for adding links to the group with appropriate tags are encouraged to contact William McGrath on Outlook, or click "Apply to Join this Group" from the Diigo group website.

After you apply to join and are accepted by the moderator, you can view a breif video on how to contribute websites to the group and provide descriptions/tags to help others find them: video

Let us know what you think and any problems you experience!

Flexible Websites listed on Diigo

2010-02-23T12:22:00.005-05:00

We are working to move our lists of websites (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/hiat/websites/) to Diigo for easier searching and organizing.

The Flexible Language Arts Websites group has just been created

Flexible Language Arts Websites
We will use the following tags on ALL links in these groups, and then add other tags as appropriate for the subject area. Here are the tags you can expect to see:

Tags for all Flexible Websites groups:

whether the website is free: "free", "trial", "$$", "subscription_required"
what grade level the website supports: "PK-2" "3-5" "MS" "HS"
whether the website has a search function: "searchable"

For the Flexible Language Arts Websites group:

if the website has something for kids to read: "digital_text"
if the website has text to speech functions built in: "TTS" "speaks"
designate what types of supports the website has for students: "video", "pictures", "background_information", "reference", study_guides",
what types of supports the website has for teachers: "lesson_plans"
which MCPS teaching unit the website supports: "folktales", "persuasive_writing", "heros"

Teachers who are interested in earning E-TIPS hours for adding links to the group with appropriate tags are encouraged to contact Linda Wilson on Outlook, or click "Apply to Join this Group" from the Diigo group website.

Online Textbooks: Options for Reading Aloud

2010-02-05T10:40:00.010-05:00

Many editions of textbooks you use in class have a free online edition that students can view on the internet with an access code (typically provided by the teacher or media specialist). Some of the newer online editions have text to speech embedded so the text can be read aloud to support struggling readers. However, most editions teachers are using do not. These are frequently Adobe PDF versions that cannot be formatted easily in most text readers (e.g. Kurzweil).

A simple solution is to use a text reader tool that allows you to select text with the mouse on the online edition and have it read aloud. NaturalReader (HIAT guides and videos available) is an example of such a text-reading tool that is available in all MCPS schools and free for students and families to download at home. WordQ (HIAT guides and videos available) is another example of such a tool that is available in many schools with higher quality voices but not free for home use. Adobe Reader (what everyone has for free to open PDFs at home and school) can actually read the page aloud as well – see the Adobe Reading HIAT Quick Guide and Video.

Some other potential benefits of this approach:
· online editions typically retain the rich visual presentations - a significant benefit to students who need a variety of content presentation (unlike many editions currently available through resources like Bookshare.org)
· hyperlinks in the text are often active so students can more easily link to this content on-demand (e.g. maps, multimedia).
· righting clicking with the mouse on a word in a PDF document often allows you to look up the word in an online dictionary (and use the text reader to read the definition aloud).

You can also save units from many of these online PDF textbooks onto you school network or home computer:

1) When you open the online copy of the text book (after entering the access code - your media specialist may have it or it is with your teacher copy), it will open as a PDF in Adobe Reader. Students and parents can also follow this process at home with the access code.
2) Go the unit you want to download using the navigation pane to the left
3) Once you are on the unit you want, choose the Save icon from the top menu
4) Save the PDF to the location on your computer or network where other staff can locate the text – note that you are saving just the unit you are viewing from the Step #2
5) When you open the book , you have a few options for reading:
a. Screen reader tools that float over other applications like WordQ at school and Natural Reader at home/school
b. Adobe Reader (what everyone has for free to open PDFs at home and school) can actually read the page aloud as well – see the Quick Guide and Video at the following link: http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/hiat/tech_quick_guides/adobe_QG.shtm

What creative ways have you found to make online textbook editions more accessible to struggling readers at school and home? Let us know!

Can I use Natural Reader at home?

2010-01-29T11:38:00.001-05:00

Question:
Does Natural Reader have teacher take home rights so that teachers can use it at home?

Answer:
Natural Reader is free. Download it from http://www.naturalreaders.com/

Natural Reader is text reader software. It enables the computer to read any text on the screen by simply selecting the text and clicking the read button on the floating toolbar
More help with Natural Reader is here

Learn Skills-Feed Hungry..with flexible support

2010-01-26T12:25:00.006-05:00

Looking for a way to help feed the hungry, develop academic skills and introduce students to free accessible technology all at once? Probably not unless you have run across FreeRice.com and thought to pair it with a free text reader as was done by teacher Keir Lewis at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School.

FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. FreeRice has two goals: 1) provide education to everyone for free and 2) help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.
Students answer multiple choice questions for a variety of topic areas (see below) that may have applications for elementary to high school students. For every correct answer, FreeRice.com donates 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program (“Though 10 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time.” – www.FreeRice.com).

A text reader like NaturalReader allows words to be read aloud for those who struggle with reading, a particular benefit with some of the grammar and vocabulary sections. NaturalReader is a free text reader program that is available in MCPS schools and for download at home - allowing teachers to model this at school and have students extend the benefit to home. A number of quick guides and instructional videos on NaturalReader are available on the HIAT website.

Freerice.com topic areas (as of 1/26/10):

ART: Famous Paintings CHEMISTRY: Chemical Symbols (Basic), Chemical Symbols (Full List) ENGLISH: English Grammar, English Vocabulary GEOGRAPHY: Identify Countries on the Map, World Capitals LANGUAGE LEARNING: French, German, Italian, Spanish MATH: Basic Math (Pre-Algebra), Multiplication Table

How have you used these resources to support learning and service? Do you know of other good websites providing similar benefits?

Handwriting Recognition with Inspiration and a Promethean Board

2010-01-22T15:45:00.006-05:00

Inspiration can be an effective tool to model pre-writing, brainstorming and thinking with a group using the Promethean board. Inspiration has a handwriting recognition area that works with the Promethean board ACTIVstudio software, allowing a teacher to write on the board with the stylus and have it transferred into an Inspiration diagram.

To use this feature:
1. Start ACTIVstudio (or ACTIVprimary) and click the handwriting button on the tools palette to display the handwriting control palette.
2. Start Inspiration and open a diagram.
3. On the Utility menu, choose Preferences.
4. Click behaviors.
5. Select the Stylus Mode checkbox, then click OK.
6. On the Formatting toolbar, click the Handwriting Area button.

Now when you write in the handwriting area with the stylus, it will enter text into the organizer (provided you have trained the handwriting recognition tool in ACTIVstudio!)

Let us know different ways you or others have successfully used these tools!

K-Grade1 Clicker5 Word Banks

2010-01-19T10:02:00.009-05:00

Do you work with emergent writers who struggle with incorporating kindergarten and first grade word wall words into their writing?

This grid with talking word banks may provide a ready-made resource to support students who struggle with handwriting (click on the word in place of handwriting/typing) and reading/spelling (can have word read aloud before selecting).

The main grid has all the kindergarten word wall words from the MCPS curriculum guide. The pop-up word bank has a more expansive word bank with the grade 1 word wall words highlighted in tan. For all words, students can preview the word read loud by clicking on the word with the RIGHT mouse button and then the LEFT mouse button sends the word to the document.

Click here to download the file: K-Grade1WordWallGrid.clkt

See this short video on how to use this resource.

Printable Quick Guides and video tutorials on how to use Clicker5 are available on the HIAT web-site.
This Clicker5 grid is also available in the K and 1st grade English LA folders on the UDL Share space as well (only MCPS staff can access).

Please post a response if you end up using this resource with students. How did it go? What improvements can be made to the Clicker5 grid?

Making MS Word a Talking Word Processor - for Free!

2010-01-15T13:20:00.006-05:00

Does your child or student benefit from using a talking word processor (speak and highlight text), talking spell check, and talking dictionary to help support their composition and self-editing? Wordtalk is a free tool that provide these support at home:
http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home/

For people with reading and writing difficulties, having text reinforced by hearing it read aloud can be very useful.
WordTalk is a free text-to-speech plugin developed for use with all versions of Microsoft Word (from Word 97 upwards). It will speak the text of the document and will highlight it as it goes. It contains a talking dictionary to help decide which word spelling is most appropriate.
Sitting neatly in your toolbar it is highly configurable, allowing you to:
- Adjust the highlight colors
- Change the voice and the speed of the speech
- Convert text to speech and save as a .wav or .mp3 file so that it can be played back on an iPod or mp3 player.

Another free resource to make a word processor into a talking word processor is Natural Reader - see the HIAT Quick Guides and Videos on this topic.

What other free or low cost resources have you found to provide talking word processing at home?

Coverting PDF files to Word

2010-01-13T13:49:00.006-05:00

Have a worksheet in locked PDF format that you want students to type into?
Found a great reading passage in PDF format you want to read aloud with text reader software(e.g. Kurzweil, Natural Reader)?

In most cases, you will need to covert it to a MS Word file that can be used for these purposes.

www.zamzar.com is a free tool that allows you to upload a PDF file, have it converted to a Word document, and e-mailed back to you (usually the same day)

You can find printable quick guides and videos on text reader software and flexible features of MS Word on the HIAT web-site Quick Guides page.

What other tools do you use to convert PDF files to make them more usable?

Reading Bubble Notes Automatically in Kurzweil

2010-01-13T11:19:00.006-05:00

Trying to set-up Bubble Notes in Kurzweil so they pop-up automatically when it reaches a certain point in the text?

Not able to make it work even though you have tried all the settings and options related to notes?

Make sure the reading mode (in yellow tool bar) is set to "Continuous" and not "Self-paced" - this is the most common solution to what can be frustrating problem! The notes popping up can have the effect of self-pacing the reading if inserted at predictable intervals but may need to decide which feature is more essential on a case by case basis.

How are you using bubble notes to support reading comprehension in Kurzweil (e.g. provide information, refocus the reader, support comprehension)?

Word Pronunciation Settings in Clicker 5 Grids and Documents

2010-01-13T10:50:00.004-05:00

If a teacher creates a grid and edits the pronunciation of a word – does that save with the computer login, the grid, or the specific computer?
The edited pronunciation of a word will always save to the computer only and not within the Clicker 5 file.

What if the student is simply using Clicker writer (e.g. writer document) and edits a pronunciation? Where will that be saved?
The edited pronunciation of a word will always save to the computer only regardless of using the Clicker Writer or the Clicker Grid.

Once a user has changed the pronunciation of a word, this setting will always be saved on the computer only, therefore the user will have to make the same changes if they wish to change the pronunciation of a word on a different computer.

Sharing Multimedia Files Home

2010-01-13T10:30:00.009-05:00

Have you created some materials in Word or PowerPoint with multimedia supports (e.g. voice notes recorded in document as prompts/feedback, great images in a PowerPoint to explain a topic)?
Want students to use these documents at home?
Middle and High School staff can use Edline to post these larger files and have students or parents open them at home. Students can also use multimedia supports to respond if needed (e.g. recording their own voice notes for answers), and e-mail to the teacher (usually if under 10 MB in size) and bring to school on a portable USB drive. (see prior posts on adding voice notes for teacher prompts and student responses)

For Elementary School staff who may not have access to Edline, you can use a tool like http://www.schoolnotes.com/ to share instructional web-links and smaller files with parents and students at home. To share larger files with multimedia, you can use a file and folder sharing tool like http://www.box.net/ - a video is available to describe some ways to use this for educators.

How have you used Edline to share multimedia files with home? What has worked? What challenges have you encountered?

Why are there so many files created when I download a book from Bookshare.org and what do I do with them?

2010-01-11T10:25:00.001-05:00

Question:
When I download a book from Bookshare and unzip it, a bunch of files appear in a folder. Why?

Answer:
The downloaded book is in a couple of formats so that you can access it with a variety of software programs. The rest of the files are "helper files" and are needed by the book files in order to open and view properly.

Question:
What do I do with them?

Answer:
The easiest thing to do is just leave them there. Or, if you'd like to learn about more options for dealing with the files, see the quick guide on using Bookshare files with a text reader.

Locked Boxes in Inspiration

2010-01-08T14:24:00.002-05:00

Many people ask how to create a "locked" box in Inspiration so you could use it as a frame for a word or image bank - allowing students to drag words/images out of the frame/box and into the correct place in the diagram.

First, add the box or shape you want to use as the frame for the word/image bank. Next, click on the box/shape and choose "Effect" from the top toolbar and then choose "Send to BacK" (* click on the image above to enlarge it*).

Now you can add words in symbols/images to the framed "bank" that students can drag into place. Please post and let us know if this works for you!

Discovery Education Videos and Inspiration

2010-01-08T14:10:00.003-05:00

*Before* downloading videos you want to use in Inspiration from DE, you need to first change the download type to "Quick Time" format so they play in Inspiration (see image above). If you just want to hyperlink to the video (i.e. have it play outside of Inspiration) and not have it play inside your Inspiration diagram, you do not need to change the download format in DE.
Also, do not forget the printable quick guide and video tutorials on how to use embedded video and many other features of Inspiration on the HIAT website.

What creative ways have you used video to support learning with Inspiration?

Using WordQ to Read Promethean Flipchart Text Aloud

2010-01-08T12:37:00.006-05:00

click here is you want a larger display of this video

Save your voice! Recording prompts and directions into students’ worksheets and writing.

2010-01-08T12:27:00.007-05:00

Recording your voice into worksheets or to provide feedback for students' writing can have benefits for those who struggle with:

reading - permanent feedback can be provided for students who can't easily read your comments
focus and memory - students can have on-demand directions of feedback read aloud as many times as they need them
engagement - students often respond differently to their teacher's voice than written prompts

In order to do this, you have to add the "insert sound object" button to your tool bar. You can use these templates to open a document with the button already positioned in the tool bar for you.

Here's a video on how to use them.

This strategy can also be applied to:

Inspiration graphic organizers (Quick Guide and Video)
PowerPoint (Quick Guide)
Clicker5 (Quick Guide)

Have you recorded you voice to support student writing? How did it go?

ScreenToaster.com: Quick, Easy and Free Video Tutorials from Any Computer

2009-12-15T14:53:00.010-05:00

Ever need to demonstrate software or how to do different things on the computer? You should consider using ScreenToaster.com to create a more permanent and "on-demand" online video demonstration.
Find yourself repeating directions and demonstrations over and over to staff, students or parents for tasks using the computer? You need to stop what you are doing right now and spend 10 minutes to learn how to use ScreenToaster.com.
ScreenToaster.com allows you to record activity on your computer screen from any computer with an Internet connection, add voice narration (either as you record or after you finish) and quickly upload it to the Internet to share with staff, students or parents.
This ScreenToaster.com video tutorial will get you up and running with this incredibly flexible and free tool.

Ever use ScreenToaster or another web-based screen capture tool to teach technology skills? Post a comment and let us know!

2009-11-18T13:40:00.005-05:00

Viewing two screens at the same time in Word 07
When writing an assignment in Microsoft Word it can be useful to have two windows visible at the same time, for example a screen with and outline and a working screen. This jing demonstrates how to use the "view side by side" function in Word 07. http://www.screencast.com/users/elliseit/folders/Jing/media/6e55898d-8027-413f-9ca3-8d28b49dcfc8

UDL Share Space - How to be alerted when someone adds something of interest

2009-11-07T13:21:00.000-05:00

If you would like an email notification when someone adds something to a folder that interests you on the UDL Share Space, you can set up an alert. Just go to the folder of interest and click on Actions-->Alert Me.

MSWord Clip art for school projects and assignments

2009-11-05T15:57:00.001-05:00

Want a source for graphics that you are allowed to use freely as an educator for instructional purposes?

MicroSoft Clip Art

The MSWord Clip art gallery can be used for "school assignments and projects" . There are thousands of pictures built into MSWord or online. In MS Word, just click on the "Insert" ribbon tab, then click on Clip Art. Search by typing in a word, even verbs. I typed in "worried" and got lots of good pics. Right click on the picture, copy and paste into a graphics folder in your My Documents folder. Here's a quote from their website.

"Clip Art
The Microsoft Clip Art Gallery provides a compilation of artwork for your personal use. The following guidelines apply to your personal use of clip art:

You may use clip art in your school assignments and projects"

Converting a page in the curriculum guide to Kurzweil

2009-10-22T15:55:00.004-04:00

Now that the curriculum guides are in a digital form in the MCPS curriculum archives, it's easy to convert a page from the digital .pdf of the instructional guide to Kurzweil. Students can then use Kurzweil to read text selections from the instructional guide or fill in worksheet from the instructional guide. ( If you want to convert multiple pages, indicate the "print range" on the "print" window.)

Click on the link below to view the short video which demonstrates how to convert a page in the curriculum guide to Kurzweil.

video

SOLO passwords

2009-10-22T13:55:00.001-04:00

Question:
What are the passwords for SOLO?

Answer:
See this quick guide

New rules for passwords on Bookshare.org

2009-09-29T16:15:00.001-04:00

Bookshare now requires that you have a download password that is different from your account password. When you log in, you will use your account password, which is kept secret. When you download a book, you will be prompted to set up a download password if you do not already have one that is distinct from your account password. The download password may be given to students so that they can extract books on their own.

You may be asked to set up a download password if:

You have never set one up in the past.
You previously set up a download password that was the same as your account password. This is no longer allowed.

If you are unable to unzip a file that you previously downloaded from Bookshare, then it might be becuase your download password was different at the time that you downloaded the book. Make sure you have a current download password and then download the book again.

For more help, see the Quick Guide: Downloading Books from Bookshare.org

Using MS Word 2007 Smart Shapes to create prewriting graphic organizers

2009-09-24T09:56:00.004-04:00

Often students need additional, customized support to help them organize their ideas prior to beginning a writing assignment.

Here's a video link that will step you through making prewriting graphic organizers using Smart Shapes in MSWord 2007.
Video

If you want a paper handout, here is a HIAT Quick Guide
QuickGuide

Adding students to Bookshare

2009-09-18T14:27:00.002-04:00

Question:
I finallly registered teachers as sponsors in Bookshare. Do I add the members (students) or let the teachers add them?

Answer:
You can do this either way, but if the teachers are going to add them, then you have to explain to all the teachers how to add the kids online. That might take up the same amount of time as adding them yourself!

Another thing to consider is that you have to notify the ITSS of all the kids who are added so they can have access to the Copyrighted Text folder on your network. Decide on a way that works best logistically in your school. The ITSS needs the kids names, grades, and login ids.

How do you handle this at your school?

Adding members and sponsors to Bookshare

2009-08-31T15:05:00.007-04:00

Question:
I want to add new members and sponsors. Just give me a quick review. Do I use the template I received when I took the Bookshare class and upload it?

Answer:
I saw that Bookshare now has a simpler way to add kids and teachers. You can just click to get a popup window and add them one at a time. If you have a longer list to add, you can still use the spreadsheet if you prefer, but you might try the pop-up window way for one or two additions, just to make sure your account is active and working.

Log into your Bookshare account at http://bookshare.org/
Click on My Organization
Click on either Members or Sponsors
Then click the orange “Add a …” button and fill in the requested information

Using PDF files with Kurzweil 3000

2009-08-28T11:30:00.003-04:00

Question:
Can you please tell me how to put Adobe PDF files into Kurzweil 3000?

Answer:

Go to the computer that has the professional scan version of Kurzweil installed.
Open the Adobe file in Adobe Reader.
Print the file – choose the printer “Kesi virtual printer” (if the file is many pages, just print the pages that you need)
It will take a few seconds for the document to process, so wait and watch for Kurzweil to open with the file loaded
Save the file as a KESI file
You will probably have to clean up the file for it to read correctly, depending on how complicated the layout was. See the section “Editing Your Document After Scanning” in this Quick Guide

Bookshare's Free Daisy Readers

2009-07-15T16:37:00.000-04:00

Question:
Do the students who have access to Bookshare need to be visually impaired to get the Daisy Reader free or can any of our qualified Sp. Ed. Students download the Daisy Reader so they can read books at home?

Answer:
Any member of Bookshare can download either of the two readers. One is Read:Outloud and the other is Victor Reader. They can both read DAISY files. Read:Outloud is better suited for kids with learning disabilities and Victor is better suited for kids with vision issues. (To be a member of Bookshare, students must qualify as having a print disability. Read more at http://bookshare.org/about/membershipQualifications).

Opening Files Downloaded From Bookshare

2009-07-15T16:32:00.000-04:00

Question:
I downloaded a book from Bookshare. I unzipped the file I downloaded, but I can't open the book.

Answer:
Double check that you actually unzipped the file you downloaded. If you just double-clicked on the zip file, you are viewing the contents, but you have not actually completed the step to uncompress them yet.

Go back to the zip file
Right-click on the zip file and choose "Extract All" from the pop-up menu
NOW you can open the .xml file or the .opf file in your text reader

Welcome to the HIAT Help Archive

2009-06-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

People ask us questions all the time. Wouldn't it be nice to see the questions that other people asked and have a place you could go to find all those answers when you actually need them? That is the purpose of this blog.

We welcome your comments.