Category Archives: Motor difficulties

Technology is only part of the story when assessing ICT needs

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At one level, determining the technology necessary to improve curriculum access and communication for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) might seem fairly straightforward. Once you have an appreciation of what the learner finds challenging you simply find the technology that can help them meet that challenge.

For instance, if a learner is dyslexic they might benefit from a screen reader to help them decode, maybe a predictor to help with spelling, and possibly a dictation app so they don’t have to use a keyboard. However, each of these comes with a range of variables.

First of all there is the device – or even devices – the learner will be using. This might be determined by what is available in school, or perhaps provided from home, or even purchased by a charity, so might fall short of what would be ideal. Otherwise factors that come into consideration might include whether it needs to be carried around all day (wherein size becomes a factor), or if it needs a particular quality of screen or sound system due to sensory needs. It might also be that more than one machine is needed, perhaps an iPad as a communication aid, a laptop to connect to the school network for academic work, and a mobile phone to help with organisation.

And the device will have an operating system, Windows, Apple or Android. Each of which offer different built in options for improving accessibility. Then there are considerations of whether an app or program needs to be installed, or if it can be web-based and run online. Some schools like to tightly manage internet access, so resources that rely on the internet might not be viable. Whereas the most appropriate software might not be available for the operating system involved. Or even that it is not sufficiently up to date to run it. There are also times when a school will have an earlier version of a programme, or something similar that they have already invested in, so they may be reluctant to invest in anything new.

The age and capabilities of the learner is crucial. There are several resources that will support dyslexic learners, including those built in to operating systems, browser and apps, such as the dictate function in MSWord, or Voice Typing in Google Docs. However, some of these have layers of sophistication that are great for students taking qualifications, but unnecessary for primary pupils.

It is always valuable to get an understanding of how well the learner can navigate a keyboard, or operate a touch screen, and whether they have skills learnt from home use of devices that aren’t evident in school. Parents are similarly important for appreciating wider uses of technology, such as keeping in touch with family and friends, pursuing hobbies, or following particular interests. In school the learner might only exhibit a limited skill set and understanding compared to what they actually know.

Curriculum content, and individual learning objectives for pupils, also make a difference, guiding decisions around aspects like the degree of content that is available, such as differentiated resources, or subject specific vocabulary support. What is it that is going to be taught, and learnt, and what technology will best support this?

It is not only the child or young person’s capabilities with technology that need to be considered. For it to be effective there needs to be a number of elements of support including maintaining it, creating and loading materials, updating it, and operating it. Any technology is only effective if people know how to use it, and learners will often need to rely on the adults around them – both at school and at home – to help them make good use of it.

Even when we have a good grasp of what a child or young person’s learning needs are, and a wide knowledge of all the technological options, the factors we need to consider when making provision for them are much broader. We also need to remember that all of these aspects will change over time, so assessment is seldom a one-time event.

The last factor we should consider is cost. When it comes to a enabling a child or young person to learn there should not be a price tag attached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using iPads to make a podcast using GarageBand

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Make sure you have GarageBand on your iPad and it will help if you have a microphone that you can connect instead of using the built-in microphone on the iPad. (Maybe even some earbuds with a microphone that is nearer to your mouth.)

Open GarageBand on the iPad, click on the add song button (or the + sign) and select AUDIO RECORDER >  Voice. On the studio view select Narrator.
Right under the control bar (on the right) hit the + sign (Song Sections) and change it from eight bars to Automatic. Tap off the menu. In the control bar tap the wrench, tap “Metronome and Count-in“. Change it to No sound and tap off the menu. Adjust the input level (on the left side) to show as much green as possible and now you can record.

When you press Record, the ruler becomes red and moves along. Touch the stop button when you’re done recording that track.Tap the tracks view icon on the control bar to listen to your track.  Press play to preview and move the play head around to listen to different parts of your track if you need to.

(To add another track press the + on the bottom left of the screen. If you need to record your voice again choose “narrator” and check that the settings are as they were before.)

When editing you can move the tracks around by touching them and sliding them with one finger and if you want to zoom into the track you put two fingers on the screen and pinch them apart.

To see more options for different parts of the track you can double tap on the track and a menu option comes up which includes Split. If you swipe down somewhere on your timeline it will split the track. The yellow bars on the end of each region allow you to trim the ends of each of the recordings.

You can add music tunes as a background tracks. There are some built-in to GarageBand but it is possible to import your own tunes. Choose another track with the same settings then choose the Loops icon on the control bar and choose Audio Files, and drag in the audio file that you want.

To edit the music, slide the side bar (next to the track) over to the left to show the title of the track, the solo & mute buttons,  the metre and the volume.

Tap the microphone icon  and select Automation. On the top left of the screen slide the pencil over until the button is red. Click on the timeline to create automation points to create slight raises or decreases in the volume. When done slide the pencil to lock the automation points.

Listen to the entire episode to make sure you don’t need to do any more editing and then you can share your track. It will save into the “My Songs” folder. It saves as an .m4a file and so can be loaded onto Podcast Central on the London Grid for Learning.

 

Go Talk Now (lite) an easy start for AAC

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What is it?

One of the simplest electronic communication aids – so-called augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) – is the Go Talk. A physical device with a set number of squares in a grid that when pressed played a recorded message. They come in various sizes, and each can be loaded with a number of set ups which are then associated with an overlay to guide the user.

It is a system that has now been made into an iPad app which has retained much of that simplicity.

To get you started there is a no-cost ‘Lite’ version which is restricted to six pages, but within that these can include an on-screen keyboard, grids to build complete sentences, or single word responses. The grids can range in size from 1 to 36 cells, any and each of which can contain both text and images, or just either, and the option to speak either the words shown, or a recorded sentence, as well as switching to another page.

This flexibility means it can be used by those who can read, and by those who need images or symbols, and everyone in between.

Who is it for?

Anyone who needs a voice. This might be a child or young person with an autistic spectrum condition who is non-verbal, or else someone with a speech and language condition that makes their words indistinct, or even a learner with profound and multiple learning difficulties who is given two options to make a choice for what they want to drink.

It could be used by an individual, or shared and passed around a group, perhaps to build new vocabulary, or to rehearse language for social situations.

How do I use it?

The simplicity and flexibility of the set up mean that it can be used in myriad ways. It could be given to a learner to take everywhere to literally be their voice – whether that is in class, out in the playground, and even when they go home or go to the shops. It might also be a way for a pupil to join in a lesson. Grids with appropriate answers can be prepared so that he or she can answer teachers questions, or make choices about what is happening in the lesson, or maybe to give them options for what they want to do next.

For instance, a grid of numbers will allow them to join in  a mental maths lesson. Initial letters might help with phonics, and adjectives with descriptive writing. It is also a useful assessment tool, both for literacy itself to ascertain reading levels as they read words to complete activities, or to assess understanding of what has been learnt.

What else is there?

There are a number of great  communication apps on the  market, such as Proloquo2go, Grid Player, and Clicker Communicator, all offering similar features. What distinguishes Go Talk Now (Lite) is that it can be downloaded and installed for free, albeit limited to six pages, then quickly edited and expanded. Whilst Grid Player is also free, you need to invest in  Grid 2 to edit and create pages.

Because of its easy availability Go Talk Now is an easy point of entry into AAC.

Resources for teaching online safety to SEND pupils

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Regardless of age, ability or learning needs, the essentials of online safety remain consistent: look after your personal information; be sure you know who real ‘friends’ are; don’t meet anyone offline you first met online; and tell an adult if something concerns you. However, the media we use to convey these messages needs to be varied in order to put them across to audiences with the whole range of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

In some instances this can be straightforward. For example, Thinkuknow have produced a couple of videos specifically for older pupils – teenagers – whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL). These are well made, with age appropriate content, and using deaf, adolescent, actors that the intended audience can relate to. In fact, although there is no spoken dialogue, the use of sub-titles means that videos such as Sam’s Real Friends could be used inclusively with wider school groups. But this is a very specific cohort, with a clear learning need – materials in their first language, BSL.

Other groups will need different approaches. The STAR Toolkit was developed with learners with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC) in mind, although they could be useful for learners with a wider range of needs. They address several different concerns including ‘Safe sharing,’ ‘Trust,’ ‘Action,’ and ‘Respect,’ (hence the name).  However, the materials provided, PowerPoints and worksheets, will need adapting for the audience as some of the slides are quite busy, with a lot of text and some demanding language.

Widgit have also produced resources intended for learners with a wide range of challenges who may have difficulty in decoding text with materials which use their symbol set to aid access to a number of straightforward online rules.

The Thinkuknow website also has some resources targeted at SEND learners, which can be searched for by age range in their resource library , although the results can be quite mixed. In the 4-7 age range the same videos are offered whether or not the SEND group is chosen. The content across all age groups can be quite demanding, although age appropriate for the audience, but requiring a level of understanding that those with cognitive challenges may find difficult to comprehend.  One suggestion might be to use materials for a younger age group with a simpler content level, but this raises issues of age appropriateness.

Other providers have also created materials that could, with the right level of support, be helpful, even for secondary students. Discovery Education’s video on Youtube has very direct messages using cartoon characters. Whilst these are intended for a primary audience the content is clear and the presentation is not patronising, nor talks down to its viewers. The characters whilst obviously children are not of a particular age group, so may be acceptable to older learners.

A similar way of offering content focused on young audiences offered in a way that older students might find engaging too, is to use the Disney Corporation’s Safety Smart with Timon and Pum ba video which can be found on Youtube here. The whole video is quite long for an SEND audience, and in the balance of entertainment to education tends to favour the former, so it may need to be watched several times, stopping and starting to pick up the teaching points. There is also a shorter version. Whilst the content might need unpacking, it can prove effective, as ever yone, regardless of age, loves the Lion King so won’t mind watching the antics of two of its stars.

With the range and complexity of SEND, and the added layer of online safety being a subject that needs to be revisited throughout a child or young person’s time in school, the task of finding appropriate materials to engage and educate can prove challenging. But if we want them to live and to learn independently, it is a task that benefits from  a bit of research.

Touch Typing and Keyboarding

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Typing programs

Many children can type more successfully and legibly than they can handwrite. When they have access to a device that they can type on, the publishing of their work can become much more efficient.

You will need to decide whether the child is focused enough to learn to touch type. With Touch Typing the typist should not look at the keyboard or hands, all the information is on the screen.

If they are not mature or focussed enough they can learn to speed up their keyboarding anyway. Just typing regularly will help them to find their way around the keyboard and may help with word patterns, spellings, upper- and lower-case knowledge.

Touch typing is a motor learning experience. This means not looking at the hands. The best way to ensure this is to cover the learner’s hands with a light cloth. Anyone learning to touch type acquires a skill that will last a lifetime, like riding a bike.

Most will benefit from following a series of exercises that, if practised regularly, can lead to a high rate of accuracy in typing and a good rate in terms of words per minute. In handwritten exams with a lot of writing involved writing at a rate of 20 words per minute is an arduous task. Rates of 40 -50 WPM should be easily managed by young learners.

If you have a subscription for PurpleMash you will find that 2Type has informative videos about posture and hand position, as well as an excellent series of timed exercises for teaching keyboarding skills. (Sit comfortably with your back up straight and your feet on the ground). Animated hands guide children to the correct finger for each key as they fight against the clock to set a high score. Users can adjust the speed and duration of each typing activity before they play, making 2Type good for all abilities.

The activities start with single keystrokes, including letters, numbers and punctuation, and progress to cover words, phrases, and whole paragraphs.

Every challenge can be set as a 2do in the normal way, and pupil speed and progress is easily tracked with a score report. (Using 2Do, teachers can set tasks, activities and games for their class or specific children to do.)

If you don’t have PurpleMash  an excellent website for teaching touch typing is http://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/typing/  where touch typing games will take learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences. Each activity has a range of accessibility options.

Doorway Text Type is a touch typing tutor which takes learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences. This should benefit all learners, but these activities are also designed to be as accessible as possible to visually impaired learners.

Typists will need to get into a comfortable position in which the hands fall naturally onto the keyboard. The surface on which the keyboard stands must not be too high. The wrists may rest on pads if you are typing for a long time.

A Touch Typing programme is a series of lessons starting with the home keys ( A S D F J K L 🙂  and leading to full mastery of the keyboard. It is quite important to master (a score of 90% or more accuracy) each stage before moving on to the next.  It is most beneficial to practice regularly and often (10 minutes a day maybe)

It is important to be accurate before building up speed. So learners should start slowly. If a pupil  can type at a regular pace, almost to a beat, it will help them to  achieve a high speed.

Text type 3 is the latest version of this popular touch typing tutor, designed with visually impaired learners in mind. It is being updated to html5, in order to be compatible with all devices.

Text Type 2 The touch typing tutor that takes learners from the home keys to mastery of the whole keyboard and typing sentences.

Single Handed Typing This activity will guide a person who is effectively a single handed user through learning an efficient typing method. There are layout diagrams for both left handed and right handed schemes here: left hand layout, right hand layout.

Younger children might like the BBC Dance Mat typing pages. https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/z3c6tfr  with  four levels to play, each divided into three stages. They will need headphones or speakers to enjoy the song and dance in each game.

 

Why learn to touch type?

When you can do it well, touch typing is the fastest way to write. Many people quickly learn to touch type faster than they can write with a pen. The important things to remember are:

■  Use the correct fingers

■  There’s no need to rush!

■  Always rest your wrists on the desk.

You should take a rest and shake your hands and arms to relax your muscles if you get tired.

Try not to look at your hands when you are learning to type.

Bett 2019 – What’s in it for you?

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The Bett Show is back at Excel from 23rd to 26th January, as big and as daunting as ever when it comes to finding what you want. The organisers have created an app to help you get organised which you can find here  https://www.bettshow.com/download-the-official-bett-2019-mobile-app . But to help you get started I’ve had a trawl through the exhibitors and to identify  a few that might help develop inclusive practice in schools.

If you want to see where technology can take us then some of the stands have examples of how it can provide multi-sensory experiences that would be difficult to create through other means. Immersive interactive (Stand H 361 www.immersive.co.uk) build multi-sensory environments with all round projection, surround sound and interactive floors and walls. Whereas a more personal, all-encompassing environment is provided by Avantis with their ClassVR system (Stand C205 www.advantiseducation.com) . You might also want to look at iSandbox (Stand F86 www.isandbox.co.uk) with their promise of a system involving both real sand and virtual reality. Whilst there remain questions over how far VR suppliers have thought about the actual needs of learners with SEND, the potential should be great.

Something else which so far has showed greater promise in the potential than in the practice  is artificial-intellingence (AI). Century (Stand E192 www.century.tech) are offering a learning platform that, ‘uses learning science, artificial intelligence and neuroscience, to create constantly adapting pathways for students.’ Although it may be too much to hope that this extends to SEND.

Another futuristic offering comes from Connect Training (Stand A20 www.connecttotraining.co.uk) who provide real-time avatars to practise difficult conversations in a safe environment. These are intended to help improve performance in everyday job roles. I’m not sure whether this extends to teaching.

Avatars are also the basis for Mind Rocket’s approach (Stand 254 www.mindrocketsinc.com), only here they are used to teach sign language. It is a product developed in Jordan, so it may have a regional accent, but it could be helpful for children and young people, and the adults around them, to learn these skills.

We will also want to keep a record of what has been learnt in school, to provide evidence and to monitor progress. Both Bsquared (Stand C134 www.connectingsteps.com ) and Tapestry (Stand F62 www.tapestryjournal.com ) will be present, and talking about how their products support a post-Rochford approach to assessment.

You might also want resources to help them make progress in the subjects you are monitoring. In numeracy DoodleMaths (Stand E100 https://doodlemaths.com) continues to grow in popularity, particularly for use on tablets and touchscreens, whereas Numberfit (Stand G188 www.numberfit.com) eschews such a sedentary approach for one with lots of movement and activity. Also present will be Jellyjames (Stand A400 www.jellyjames.co.uk) with their Dynamo Maths, specifically targeted at pupils with dyscalculia.

In the field of literacy a couple of stalwarts will be present, including Crick (POD1 www.cricksoft.com) creators of the ever useful Clicker range of products, and Texthelp (Stand C141 www.texthelp.com) with their add on toolbar of resources to support literacy, including dictation, prediction and a screen-reader.

More specific support is on offer for both reading and spelling. For the former Yap (Stand C40 www.yapbooks.com) is offering voice controlled books to help develop reading skills, whilst Lexplore (Stand B303 www.lexplore.co.uk ) uses eye tracking to ‘to quickly and objectively determine a child’s exact reading attainment.’ Which sounds like a novel approach. It will be interesting to see how that copes with reading comprehension.

For spelling both The  Spelling Shed (Stand FS141 www.spellingshed.com)  and Magic Spell (Stand FS33 www.brainbox.games) promise fun ways to learn spellings whilst allowing adults to control the focus of the work.

And if science is what you are after then the Wellcome Trust’s Explorify Science (Stand G306 https://wellcome.ac.uk) is said to be ‘inclusive and accessible to all pupils.’

Finally, for older pupils,  there is the all encompassing offering from Your Favourite Teacher (Stand C48 www.yourfavouriteteacher.com) which is an online classroom  aimed at GCSE with ‘a focus on pupil premium, alternative education and targeted intervention groups.’ Which would be a welcome resource if it does what it says on the tin. The content includes videos, podcasts and animations with  interactive activities and quizzes.

Whatever your area of interest there is bound to be something at Bett that’s useful. The challenge is in tracking it down.

 

 

 

Person Centred Planning? What’s that?

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Person Centred Planning? What’s that?

It’s a way of approaching planning and reviews that puts the learner at the centre of the process. The 2015 Code of Practice for SEND   talks of it focusing on, “the child or young person as an individual,” and of involving them and their parents in decision-making (Paragraphs 9:22 and 9:23). It is a more holistic approach to viewing pupils than simply focusing on academic achievements and learning needs.

Tower Hamlets has taken a lead on putting it into practice. A good overview and guidance for putting it into practice can be found here.

How can ICT help?

With person centred planning (PCP) putting children and young people at the centre of deliberations there are many ways that ICT can help.

The use of collaborative tools, such as Google Docs or Office365 can allow professionals and parents to share information prior to the meeting. A Google form could be used to ask for reviews and reports.

Another obvious way it can play a role in this process is in recording and evidence gathering. It has become common practice for staff to capture achievements through the use of photos and videos, including those taken outside of school and at home. An easy way to prepare these for use in a review is to create a Photo Album in PowerPoint. This is very straightforward. Start a new presentation, then choose Insert, and Photo Album. This will direct you to go to the folder where the images are. You select those you want, click ‘Done,’ and they will automatically be placed on one slide each. From there you, or better still the learner, can add captions or record a commentary.

Are there particular resources that will help?

A useful model for appreciating how far a learner could expect to be involved in the PCP process is the Ladder of Participation. This suggests eight levels of engagement.

The bottom rung is ‘Absent,’ where the learner isn’t in the meeting and their voice, their views and wishes, are not considered. Here technology might help the adults present to consider evidence from photos and videos and come to their own conclusions

Next up is ‘Informed,’ where the child or young person is told that a meeting is happening, and about the outcomes, but they are not asked to become involved.

A pupil may be ‘Considered’ when the adults take account of what they think their views are. The absence may be because they are unwilling or unable to participate, but the outcomes should be considered as available for amendment, should the child or young person decide to make their views known at some point. Here technology can help to share the outcomes and be a means for commenting on and changing them if need be.

The child or young person is ‘Represented’ when their views are shared with the meeting either by being quoted, or as a report on choices they have made. For some pupils with more challenging SEND this could be through the use of approaches such as Talking Mats, with its associated app, where questions are based on previous responses and become more granular as information is added. Alternatively a video, perhaps using iMovie on an iPad, or a PowerPoint presentation, could be used where the learner is reluctant to come into the room, so that even in their absence their  voice can be heard.

When they are ‘Consulted’ a child or young person is present at the meeting and is able to answer questions put to them, or they can respond to decisions being made. They might start the meeting with a film or presentation, giving others present a chance to find out more. If they are reluctant to participate in the meeting they might be able to join in through a video-link such as Skype, Facetime, or Google Hangouts.

As a ‘Participant’ in the meeting the learner asks their own questions of the adults present, and contribute to the decision-making. One useful resource for this could be the Rixwiki . This is a secure, online, space for them to post information, not just from school but  from any aspect of their lives, and share it with others. This can just be used as a presentational tool, and it provides a solid scaffold for that, but it also allows for others to contribute and for farther reaching information to be included than might not ordinarily be the case at a review.

When a child or young person becomes a ‘Partner’ they will be helping to set the agenda, to determine outcomes and targets, and even to take a lead on achieving them. Technology can be a useful resource for planning and structuring this participation.

Once they become a ‘Planner’ the learner is able to provide feedback to the adults involved with them on what works, and what doesn’t work, for them, and how  services could be improved. Here technology might help to present evidence, and be used to share information, and provide feedback.

Is there anything else?

Technology helps in many ways. It can;

  • Provide tools for gathering, and sharing, information. Gsuite, Office365, Rixwikis, Typeform, and even Surveymonkey can do this.
  • Give them a voice. For some this might be through a communication app, such as Clicker Communicate, Proloquo2go, GoTalk or The Grid. For others it could mean recording a video or working through a Talking Mats exercise.
  • Demonstrate their achievements and present a fuller picture of their lives. Whilst videos and photos will help here, putting them into a framework such as a Rixwiki will help to structure their thoughts.
  • Presenting their idea and views. Here PowerPoint can be very useful, but there are many apps that can be simple to use, even independently, such as Our Story, Story Creator, Clicker Books, Book Creator, and 2createastory.
  • Let’s others contribute. For instance, people who can’t attend, or fellow classmates, can record a video to share at the meeting.
  • Making information more accessible. Here Widgit’s Communicate InPrint, or Widgit Online can help, or something such as Commtap’s symboliser for PowerPoint. This is a toolbar that will help to add symbols to presentations.

Technology also makes it easier to see progress over time, and to reflect back on previous meetings, not just through the record of the meeting, but also by reviewing the evidence, the photos, videos, work and comments from last time to see what has changed.

Cosmo from Fillisia-Interfaces – fun and games with serious intent

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What is it?

 

This is  a set of up to six large, white, plastic, buttons linked, via Bluetooth, to an iPad app. The buttons are switches, when pressed they make something happen. They can change colour and are touch sensitive, so the amount of pressure needed to trigger a response can be varied. Put together they provide myriad ways of working with pupils with SEND, whilst offering lots of fun to those without any learning needs, too.

Using the app, these switches can be programmed to become musical, each playing a note, or a sample of music when pressed. Perhaps each press plays the next part of a known song, or they light up in sequence to show the next note. As they are Bluetooth they can be positioned anywhere. That might be on the tray of a wheelchair, or dotted around a room to encourage movement.

 

They can also be used for other activities, such as memory games where players follow a sequence, team or individual challenges to find the next colour or note. All sorts of games and activities are possible. And beyond that, they are available to be used simply as switches, connected to laptops and computers to control what’s happening on screen.

Who is it for?

Initially they were intended for pupils with more complex SEND to join in with music lessons, however, they could be used by those with a very wide range of learning needs, and none. They can improve curriculum access for some, but also provide hours of fun for all, with children and young people working and playing side by side regardless of needs or abilities.

How do I use it?

The buttons, Cosmoids, come with a free iPad app. The simplest thing to do is to scroll through the games and activities, select the one you want, and play it. The settings will automatically be loaded onto the switches. However, you can also configure each one separately, adjusting colour, sensitivity, and response. It is very easy to get started, but with options to make that make usage almost unlimited.

What else is there?

Very little. In the area of music and disability there is Skoog http://skoogmusic.com a polyutherane cube that triggers midi files when squeezed. Also a clever device and one  that is proving useful for access in all sorts of settings.

There are also Bluetooth and wireless switches available from companies such as Inclusive Technology http://www.inclusive.co.uk . Although some can be a bit flaky in operation, dropping their connections and needing re-configuring. Cosmo is pretty stable.

More information can be found at, https://www.filisia.com/cosmo .

Choose-It Maker – flexibility through simplicity

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What is it?

Choose-It Maker is package which you can use to make simple activities for use online, or download onto an iPad or other tablet. Essentially it is a flexible template used to make exercises based on choice, within which there are a number of options. It is designed to be highly flexible in use, so pupils can use a mouse, touch-screen, switches or eye-gaze to work with them.

You select the content you want to use, then work through a set of steps to create an activity. For instance, if you were working on initial letter sounds you might make a set that matched pictures with sounds. On the first slide you could pose the question, “Which one begins with ‘c’?” then have an image of a cat or a dog to choose from. The next might be for the letter ‘d’, then ‘e,’ and so on.

Complexity and challenge is achieved in a number of ways. The question can be posed as text, audio or image, or all three. Similarly the choices can be offered in all three ways. You can also vary the number of choices with up to six options on a screen. In this way questions can be asked in a variety of ways, and progression can be built in. A scoring system lets you keep track of how your pupils are doing. There are also optional rewards, with short animations and music.

There are a number of ‘Ready Mades’ available which can be installed or used online. These include literacy, numeracy and science multiple choice sets with between 20-40 activities in each topic. These will work for pupils working up to early years levels, on topics such as the most common words and number bonds to ten. They are a good way to get started.

Who is it for?

This software was originally designed for pupils with more challenging and complex SEND, thought of as working at ‘P Levels.’ However, as they are essentially a blank template they could be adapted for any on-screen, multiple choice, activity, using text, images and/or sounds. At the end of each activity pupils can print a certificate, so a record is created of how they got on.

How do I use it?

With the ‘Ready-Mades’ it is a matter of selecting a subject area – numeracy, literacy, or science – then finding a suitable topic. Other options include whether to have sound or not, whether to use rewards, and the type of access. This latter includes eye-gaze, and one or two switch scanning. Otherwise learners just use a mouse or touch screen.

If you make your own you give your set a title, then follow through the workflow to make as many slides as you want, each time posing a question and providing answers, one of which you mark as correct. In operation these can be jumbled on the screen so each time it is used answers are in a different place.

What else is there?

You can do very similar things with presentation software, such as PowerPoint or Smart Notebook, however, this could be quite time consuming and fiddly, using functions such as hyperlinks, and turning off the automatic progression of slides. With Choose-It Maker all this is built-in already.

Then there are online resources such as Kahoots, which will create quizzes that can be shared with learners for them to answer on their own machines, however, these are usually done as group activities rather than as standalone ones.

With the built in rewards and recording Choose-It Maker is worth the investment, offering simplicity, creativity, and time saving.

 

 

 

 

How to…… Use Windows Access Options

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What is it?

Windows has a number of features built into to make using a computer easier for people with disabilities. The Ease of Access Centre (shortcut Windows key + U)  is way to get to these quickly, and to have some guidance on what to use.

Who is it for?

Users with a broad range of difficulties including:-

  • blind and visual impairments,
  • physical disabilities,
  • cognitive difficulties,
  • difficulties with text.

The options make the computer behave slightly differently to how it normally would. The options all have shortcuts to enable them, and include:-

Sticky keys (press shift 5 times) – a facility that lets you use the keyboard one handed. Any function that requires holding down two or more keys – such as Ctrl/Alt/Del can be done one key at a time. Useful for those who have restricted mobility in one hand.

Filter keys (hold shift down for 8 seconds) – a way to limit repeated key strokes for users who have a tremor. Ordinarily you can hit a key to repeat a letter and it will immediately appear. With filter keys you can set a delay for the second key press.

Narrator (Windows key + enter) – a screen reader that reads the on-screen text including the dialogue boxes and warnings that appear.

Speech to text  (no shortcut) – a function that lets you dictate to your computer.

High Contrast (Ctrl + left shift + PrtScreen) – to make the screen easier to read by using yellow text on a black background and enlarging the icons.

Magnifier (Windows + + to turn on, Windows Key + Esc to turn off) – enlarges sections of the screen as you pass the mouse over them.

On-screen keyboard (no shortcut) – for users using a touch screen, switches, or eye-gaze.

Mouse options include – changing the size and colour of the cursor, adding a trail to make it easier to see, showing its position when you press Ctrl, and changing the thickness of the cursor.

How do I use it?

These options make Windows computers for people with a range of difficulties, whether they are physical in operating the keyboard, visual in working with the screen, or with literacy and both reading and writing text.

As with most things on a computer you can often get to them in different ways. The easiest is probably to hold down the Windows key and press U.

What else is there?

Some of these options, such as Narrator and  Speech to Text are not very sophisticated and there are commercial products that do it all better, but the Ease of Access Centre can get you started.

You can find out more at either of these links.

To find out more visit either   www.microsoft.com/enable

Or – https://mcmw.abilitynet.org.uk/ 

You can also add on toolbars such as those from WordqSpeakq, or Texthelp. (See later posts.)