ATSTART is an online curriculum for educators to learn more about Assistive Technology: Strategies, Tools, Accommodations and Resources, made with the help of many of the good people I know through QIAT.ATSTAR is an online curriculum designed to improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities by helping teachers learn to use assistive technology in the classroom. Our core program is a series of online teacher training modules with...
I've started a new blog especially designed to record the best educational web sites I find for kids, called The Web Catcher. Check it out! Then don't hesitate to leave a comment about YOUR favorite web sites!
I have been a list serve fan for several years now, thanks to Joy Zabala and her good work at QIAT. I feel like I've got a whole world of experts at the click of an email send button. But often all that good insight and discussion gets lost in the archives, and I've longed for a 'better way.' I keep thinking a wiki or two might do...
Okay, so now I'm blending Google Doc's new online presentation software with Plasq's cool and easy screenshot/annotating/uploading tool called Skitch. I think this has potential. The image is everything, because you write your step-by-step instructions right on it. Both students and teachers could use Skitch to create, snap or import images, then write and draw on them to give instructions, create maps or diagrams, indicate key features of...
Karen Janowski does it again... an extensive blog post on free technology tools for universal design in the classroom. Karen is one of the most down-to-earth and get-it-done people I know and she has a great way of communicating. Bookmark her post and keep coming back for updates. Now, what I'd really like to see is a wiki on the same topic, so we could all add in...
This is what I've been looking for (and still am, since it's PC only, and I'm a Mac, as they say...). The Oregon Digital Library Consortium Library2Go lets you check out audio library materials by digital download, from home (or anywhere), just as you would check out a book from the library - for FREE, with the same usage rights you'd have with any checked out material. Very...
Just in from the MadATer... Make your own comic at makebeliefcomix.com. What a great way for kids (or adults) to dip into creating comic strips - for fun, for social stories, and more. I especially like the tips that pop up on the bottom.
Steve Jacobs has created One Stop for Free Assistive Technology, a clearing house of free assistive technology tools available for a variety of needs. It is organized alphabetically, but if you choose a few handy keywords, you can usually jump to the products that would be of interest to you. Steve is also open to submissions of additional resources not yet on the site.
Check out the Q-Charm customizable bracelet for a down-to-earth, convenient low-tech communication and cuing system. Q-Charms are silicone...
Joy Zabala, wise leader of QIAT and key developer of the SETT framework, recently described the distinction between modifications and accommodations this way: An ACCOMMODATION does not change the essential outcome of the task (for example, an essay or some sort of written product). It is essentially completing the same task in a different way...the accommodation is HOW the task is accomplished... an essay is an essay whether...
