THINK with Success!

Presented by: Erika J. Kluge Frake

Reading Technology: Grades 2-College

Technology Helping Individuals Navigate Knowledge with Success!

Please do not duplicate without permission from Erika Kluge Frake. Content is time sensitive.

Presentation Overview

Disclaimer: No endorsements & Mac/PC/iOS

Comprehend What Assistive Technology(AT) is

Gain knowledge on Alternative Print & Accessible Print

Gain knowledge on various technologies for Reading & Annotation Strategies

Comprehend the importance of matching AT to user & individualized AT training

Identify several resources

Assistive Technology Enhancing the Life of Individuals

with Reading Challenges

Definition of Assistive Technology

Legal Definition of AT Device:

Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether bought off the shelf, modified, or customized, used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities

Technology merging with AT (DNS)= A Tech

AT in K-12 & College

K-12 Public & Private:

IEP; 504

Team Identification

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College:

ADA

Student Initiation & Self-Advocacy

Accommodation & Modification

K-12 Public: IEP; 504 Plan

K-12 Private & HomeSchool: Learning Plan

College: ADA

Scribe- an individual who writes down what the student dictates (usually a para in K-12 settings)

Peer or teacher notes- class notes provided by teacher that were written by either a class peer or the teacher

College:

Must Read &

Take Notes

AT Success

Components of Student Success with AT:

The student must be correctly matched to AT

The student must be motivated to using AT

The student must be trained in how to use the AT & how to make it applicable to their specific needs and environments

The teacher and parents should be equally trained in the use of the AT and making it applicable to student needs and environments

AT is Not a magic wand!

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The student must have the pre-requisite skills

The materials paired with the AT must be at a student’s level

The student will be immediately independent

Definition of Alternative Print

Alternate Print can be digital or audio. It is not necessarily “accessible”

Accessible print can be navigated easily

Non- accessible print may be termed “commercial trade”

Definition of AIM

Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM)

Materials that are designed or converted in a way that makes them usable across the widest range of student variability regardless of format (print, digital, graphic, audio, video)

IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) specifically focuses on accessible formats of print instructional materials that have been transformed into the specialized formats of braille, large print, audio, or digital text.

http://aim.cast.org/learn

Reading

Why Would A Student Need AT for Reading?

Comprehension

Fluency

Memory

Study Tools

What is Digital Text

Electronic Text

E-Book

E-Text

Categories of Digital Text

Supported Reading Software (SRS) are products that read digital text aloud using computer-generated synthetic speech

(text-to-speech or TTS)

Digital Talking Books (DTBs) are digital text that conforms to the DAISY Standard (Digital Accessible Information System) which is a multimedia format that combines reading navigation with support for synthetic speech and/or recorded human voice

Commercial Digital Text (e-books) are commercial electronic book products from elementary and secondary curriculum publishers that may also offer embedded read-aloud functionality

NIMAS

National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)

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July 19, 2006, NIMAS was published in the Federal Register at the Library of Congress by the U.S. Office of Special Education (OSEP)

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NIMAS is a technical standard used by publishers to produce source files (in XML) that may be used to develop multiple specialized formats (such as Braille or audio books) for students with print disabilities

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Accessible instructional materials have now become part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

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NIMAC

National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC)

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A repository for storing NIMAS file compliant sets, purchased after 2006

!Only authorized NIMAS users can request NIMAS files

!Assigned by state NIMAC Coordinator

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NIMAC

Authorized Users in Minnesota: !

MN Department of Education

!Communications Center for the State Services for the Blind

!BookShare

!Learning Ally

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Legal Details:NIMAC

Section 121 (C)(3) of the Copyright Code (Chafee Amendment)HL14 identifies three formats eligible for use by students qualified to benefit from the Chafee exemption:

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Formats: Braille, audio, or digital text which is exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities (Copyright Law Amendment 1996, National Library Service Fact sheets, Washington, DC, 2006)

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IDEA 2004 in Section 306(2)(c)(3)(B)(4)(B) modifies this statute to include large print as an allowable, "specialized" format

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Legal Who of NIMAC

Under Public Law 89-522, only persons whose reading disabilities are physically based are eligible for the NLS talking-book program

Blind persons whose visual acuity, as determined by competent authority, is 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, or whose widest diameter of visual field subtends an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees

Other physically handicapped persons are eligible as follows:

Persons whose visual disability, with correction and regardless of optical measurement, is certified by competent authority as preventing the reading of standard material

Persons certified by competent authority as unable to read or unable to use standard printed material as a result of physical limitations

Persons certified by competent authority as having a reading disability resulting from organic dysfunction and of sufficient severity to prevent their reading printed material in a normal manner

Legal Who of NIMAC

Students who have a 504 plan are not allowed to use materials from NIMAC

Only students with a qualifying disability and an IEP can use these materials

!School districts are responsible for providing Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) to students with disabilities who need them, regardless of whether the students are eligible for materials from NIMAC

Schools can purchase accessible materials directly from the publisher, make their own or use materials in the public domain

Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM)

The content of accessible materials is the same as conventional printed books

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The format and appearance of the delivery method is different than conventional printed books

Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM)

Fair Use Law: Law is vague

Resource: http://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/

Best Practice

NIMAS & AIM & the IEP

IEP Should Include:

!

Specific format(s) to be provided (Braille, audio, e-text, large print, etc.)

Services and/or assistive technology the student needs to use the specialized format

Individual or individuals responsible for providing the specialized format, and

Where the format is required to be used in order for the student to receive a free appropriate public education

American Printing House for the Blind (APH)

Federally Funded Accessible Media Producers

American Printing House for the Blind (APH): APH is the official supplier of educational materials for visually impaired students in the U.S. who are working at lower than college level

The primary distinction APH uses for student eligibility is whether a student is legally blind or visually impaired

http://www.aph.org/fedquotpgm/quickfed.htm

BookShare

Federally Funded Accessible Media Producers

Bookshare: Bookshare provides an online library of accessible reading materials for people with print disabilities. Individual or organizational memberships that serve individuals with print disabilities (schools, libraries, community centers, etc.)

http://www.bookshare.org/_/aboutUs/howBookshareWorks

6000 Text Books; over 3000 Unrestricted

Free conversion of any book/textbook (several month conversion)

Learning Ally

Subscription Accessible Media Producer Learning Ally (formally known as RFB&D): provides an extensive accessible audio book (human narrated) library for students with print disabilities

http://www.learningally.org/

Individual

School

Free book/textbook conversion (5 month conversion time)

College Level

The AccessText Network is a membership exchange network

http://www.accesstext.org/

Nationwide delivery of alternative files for students with diagnosed print-related disabilities

AccessText serves as the national repository for post-secondary distribution of approved alternative textbook file exchanges, training, and technical support

What if You Don’t Qualify?

Create it/ Scan it

Inquire about the “unlocked pdf text only” version from your text-book publisher sales rep.

Inquire about purchasing an accessible format when purchasing new text-books

Web search for copy-write free content

Comprehensive Assessable Instructional Materials (AIM) including alternative print at: http://aim.cast.org/

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What if You Don’t Qualify?

www.netlibrary.com

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What if You Don’t Qualify?

The most comprehensive, popular and independent site focused on Adobe Acrobat/PDF

http://www.planetpdf.com

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What if You Don’t Qualify?

Prizmo

is a revolutionary scanning application with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in over 40 languages with powerful editing capability, text-to-speech, and iCloud support. It can also generate audio versions of printed materials, such as MP3s, that can be played on most digital music players or computers

Video

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RoboBraille

RoboBraille is an e-mail and web-based service capable of automatically transforming documents into a variety of alternative formats for the visually and reading impaired.

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RoboBraille is available 24/7 as a self-service solution, it is free of charge to all individual, non-commercial users and users need not register in order to use the service.

http://www.robobraille.org/introduction-robobraille

Know Your Student’s Needs!

On an Individual Basis !

Know the diagnoses (if there is one)

Know the learning style preferences (auditory; visual)

Know the strengths and challenges (skill sets)

Know when and how alternative print formats will be used and assess the learning style preference and setting

Software

Text to Speech Programs:

Convert text into voice output using speech synthesis techniques

Scan & Read Programs:

Convert printed text into digital text and utilize text-to-speech and additional study aids

Computer Text Readers

A conversion of electronic text into synthesized voice

Programs may allow voice choice and rate alteration

Programs may highlight words being read aloud

Programs may convert into audio formats

Scan & Read

What to Consider with Electronic Text & Software Programs:

Does the user need visual and auditory support?

Does the user need additional study tools and which ones?

What text file format does the program require?

Does the user have voice preferences?

Does the user need scanning options?

What type of operating system and system requirements are there?

Scan & Read

Scan & Read Software Programs:

Kurzweil 3000: (Win/Mac)

http://www.kurzweiledu.com/

Read and Write Gold: (Win/Mac)

http://www.readwritegold.com/

Read:OutLoud: (Win/Mac)

http://www.donjohnston.com/products/read_outloud

Free Solutions

Preview (Mac OS X v10.5 and later)

Read Portable Document Files (PDFs) and open popular image files (including JPEG, TIFF, and PNG)

Offers essential editing capabilities, such as resizing, rotation and cropping, and even lets you add annotations to share your comments

Integrate with OS X built-in Text-to-Speech

Free Solutions

Mac Computers

Open System Preferences

Open Dictation & Speech

Open Text-to-Speech

Free Solutions

Adobe Reader

Viewing, printing, and annotating PDF documents

Text-to-Speech- will read text aloud

Windows; Mac; iPad/iPhone; Android

Additional Study Tools

NookStudy Organize course work in folders

Import documents (syllabus, handouts, etc.)

Dual view (lecture notes and textbook for example)

Highlight & Mark-up

Add notes

Tag notes for easy searching

Research online with Dictionary.com; Wikipedia; Google; Wolfram Alpha; and YouTube

Find & Search feature for books and notes

Print

www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy

Free Software for Mac & PC

eBooks & eTextBooks at

Barnes & Noble

Additional Study Tools

Snap&Read

Snap&Read is an accessible toolbar that reads any text on-screen as it floats over any application. The simple one-button interface reads both accessible and inaccessible text aloud from Flash websites, Word docs, PDFs, web-based tests, images, and even dialog boxes

Does not offer annotation tools

http://www.donjohnston.com/products/snap-read/index.html

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Mac & PC

iPhone; iPod Touch & iPad Enhancing the Life of Students

iOS

• Read2Go

• Voice Dream

• Learning Ally

• Prizmo

• ZoomReader

• Text Aloud

• Speak It

• Have your iOS read to you or Siri

Annotating with Writing AT

• Echo, Sky, LiveScribe3

• Speech Recognition (Dragon Naturally Speaking/ Dragon Dictate)

• Word Prediction (Co:Writer; WordQ)

• Graphic MindMapping (Inspiration; XMind)

Resources

THINK with Success!

AT Consultations

1:1 & group tutoring/training

workshops; presentations; in-services

All customized to meet the individual & organizations needs

Contact Erika J. Kluge Frake at:

www.thinkwithsuccess.com

763-923-4733

efrake@thinkwithsuccess.com

Delano & St. Paul, MN

Resources

Lee Baker Consulting

Parent Advocacy Education Specialist

Helping parents support their children with learning disabilities

Helping parents find information and resources, gain skills, and discover strategies that enable them to be effective advocates for their child’s academic years from Kindergarten to College with the goal of preparing students to be academically, socially and emotionally ready for successful collegiate careers.

Lee@leebakerconsulting.com

651-470-1317

www.leebakerconsulting.com

Resources

http://aim.cast.org/

ListServ

Resources!

Aim Navigator

Resources

MN Dept. of Education

MN AT Manual

AT Listserv

http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Learning_Support/Special_Education/Evaluation_Program_Planning_Supports/Assistive_Technology/AT_Resources/index.html

Resources

WrightsLaw

Accurate, reliable information about special education

law, education law, and advocacy for children with

disabilities

http://www.wrightslaw.com/

Resources

MN Computers for Schools

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http://mncfs.org/about/our-work/special-kids

Resources

Technology For Education

purchasing AT - A one-stop-shop for Assistive Technology for all ages.

Jim Rogers for quotes & information.

email: jrogers@tfeinc.com

phone: ( 651) 457-1917

Text

Presented by: Erika J. Kluge Frake

Questions?

THINK with Success!

www.thinkwithsuccess.com