SEN Teacher “…provides cost-free teaching & learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities.” That’s how this major repository of special ed resources sums itself up. (SEN is the acronym from the UK that stands for Special Education Needs.)

SEN Teacher offers a substantial collection of “printable” downloads. There are links to websites that provide information about a wide range of disabilities. There is also significant list of websites that offer free online resources. Jane especially appreciated finding links to Tinsnips and Ispeek here.

Finally, there are numerous links to freeware download sites. The free software listed here includes programs to help develop basic mouse and other computer skills, programs to practice switch use, programs that support curriculum, and much more. There are even a few programs by SEN Teacher itself (eg. 1-5 Counting, 3D Shape Venn, Buried 3D Shape, Girl Face Matching)

The screenshots below show the free programs listed by SEN Teacher and the helpful way in which these are organized on the site.

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FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Learners of all ages and abilities need access to the internet! The number of reasons is growing exponentially as quality educational websites arrive on the scene. Here’s another incredible resource. This one is especially valuable for individuals who cannot use a mouse or keyboard.

Papunet Games is a website with an engaging set of activities designed specifically to work well for individuals who use switches to access a computer, including those who use two switches for step-scanning. The range of activities is extensive, and there are varying levels of challenge within many of the activities.

Among the numerous high quality puzzles and games on the site, what I found especially exciting was the set of “drawing activities”. These activities offer an opportunity for children who cannot hold a crayon or paint brush to paint or colour with their switches. The art work created on the computer can then be printed out, perhaps for Mom to put up on the kitchen wall.

The site is uncluttered and ad-free. It is also worth noting that the activities on Papunet are great for kids who can use a computer mouse. The site can therefore be used to facilitate inclusion.

I’ve recently discovered a couple of other sites with worthwhile online activities designed for switch-users. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to blog specifically about them, so I’ll just include links here: HelpKidzLearn from Inclusive Technologies and CBeebies from the BBC.

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The program I’m discussing today is a truly remarkable offering–a free talking word processor. Although it may not be quite as polished or refined as some commercial alternatives, EdWord is probably exactly what is needed for many individuals. The simplicity of EdWord’s interface, and the attention paid to accessibility make it worth a look.

EdWord (downloadable program) This free talking word processor is available from Deafblind Online. EdWord is part of a suite of programs from UMIST at the University of Manchester and Sense, “the UK’s leading organization for people who are deafblind or have associated disabilities.” Although the programs have been developed with the deafblind population in mind, they have the potential to be helpful to many others.

EdWord is intentionally a basic word processor, without the full range of features and options. It is nonetheless a fully functional word processor with all essential features. The developers have done a nice job of making menus and toolbars accessible. For individuals with low vision, the interface is clear, uncluttered and adjustable in terms of colour, contrast, size, etc. All menus, menu options, and toolbar icons speak their names as the cursor moves over them. Once EdWord is open, the talking tooltip feature extends to everything on the desktop.

EdWord can speak each character as it is typed or each word when the space bar is pressed. Once a word is typed, EdWord will speak it when clicked with the mouse. Unfortunately, Edword does not read sentences or selected text. To be fair, I found that if I positioned the cursor in exactly the right place immediately before a sentence, it would read the following sentence.

Amazingly, EdWord even provides symbol and picture support for writing. By using another associated free program entitled Symbol Set Maker, you can import and use commercially available symbol sets such as PCS, Rebus, or Bliss symbols. Alternatively, you can create your own symbols or even use photos.

In order to facilitate switch access, EdWord also offers a grid on the computer screen below the word processor, in the same manner as the Clicker programs from Crick. In combination with another companion program called Grid Editor, cells can be programmed in the grid to either send text to the word processor or input computer commands.

It should be noted that use of both Symbol Set Maker and Grid Maker require at least a modicum of tech savvy. Grid Maker also requires considerable time for ongoing programming. If, however, you are looking for a basic talking word processor with a significant range of accessiblity options EdWord is definitely worth a try. User manuals, in MS Word format, are available for EdWord and all associated programs. All associated programs and manuals are available from the same download page.

The two screenshots below show EdWord’s interface with and without a grid. (Click the thumbnail to enlarge and use your browser’s back arrow to return to this page.)

EdWord is available only for Windows, from Windows 98 on.

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PowerPoint has become ubiquitous in schools, but in my experience it remains under utilized by teachers. One of the biggest factors is that most teachers lack the time to create PowerPoint resources for use with their classes. Today’s featured resource offers some helpful shortcuts. Kudos to Jefferson County Schools for sharing this tremendous resource. This one’s filed on my Content & Curriculum page.

Jefferson County Schools–PowerPoint Collection This is an extensive repository of PowerPoint presentations that have been prepared by teachers, and made available for download by other educators. Quality varies, but almost all that I have looked at are quite good.

Presentations are organized by subject (The Arts, Language Arts, Library Science, Math, Science, Social Studies). Each subject area is divided into the two broad categories of K-5 and 6-12.

A disclaimer on the site states, “The content of these presentations are provided by teachers and are presumed to be in the public domain.” This means that the presentations may be used as they are or modified as required to suit specific circumstances.

Since free PowerPoint viewers are available from Microsoft, it isn’t even necessary to have a full version of PowerPoint in order to make use of the presentations. There is great potential for making use of these presentations with students who have only single-switch access to a computer.

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We sometimes have incredibly helpful software to use with our students, but finding time to create activities for use with the computer programs is often a huge obstacle. Today’s resource has the potential to help with this challenge. curriculumSET is filed under Content & Curriculum.

curriculumSET (online resource) This is a new and emerging database of downloadable activities designed for students who use assistive technology to access the curriculum. At present, most activities are for Clicker 4, Clicker 5, or Classroom Suite. There are a handful of activities for Boardmaker, Kurzweil 3000 and Solo. The collection is searchable and well organized by subject area and school level, but there are presently some gaps in what is available.

The potential for using curriculumSET to share resources is tremendous. Too many people are wasting precious time as they repeat the efforts of others. In many instances, it works well to use an activity that has been created by someone else as a template for a new activity in another situation with modified or alternative content.

curriculumSET is offered by SET-BC, which happens to be where I hold down a day-job. If, after having a look at curriculumSET, you think we might like to add some of your activities, I would be interested in hearing from you at info4free.resources@gmail.com.

The screenshots below show how curriculumSET has been organized. (Click on a thumbnail to enlarge, and use your browser’s back button to return to this blog.)

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Here’s a practical resource for anyone who lives or works with children with autism, ADHD, or delayed speech. The activities can be used as soon as they are downloaded, but they may also inspire you to create activities in a similar vein. I’ve put this on my Content & Curriculum page.

Hiyah.net (downloadable programs) Hiyah fills a significant need by offering a growing set of downloadable activities designed to help develop basic language and communication skills in children with autism, ADHD, or delayed speech. Each activity is built around a nursery rhyme, a specific holiday/celebration, or other activity that might be stressful for a child. The activities are visually appealing, and it is evident that they are the result of careful thought and planning.

Since the activities have been created in PowerPoint, they can all be accessed by having the child simply hit the space bar. Alternatively, a switch may be used via an adapted mouse.

Each activity comes bundled with its own PowerPoint viewer. This means that when you double click on a shortcut for the activity, the activity will open in PowerPoint. Image and sound quality is high. Because of the rich media content, some of the files are rather large. This means that downloading can take some time even with a high speed connection.

For more information, and to download the activities, go to Hihah.net.

These activities run in Windows and Mac.

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If you, or someone you know, accesses the computer with a switch, here is a program that you may appreciate and/or enjoy. The author has put a great deal of thought into this game. I’ve put this program on the Content & Curriculum page.

Jetstream Trader (downloadable program) — a challenging and sophisticated free single switch game that has the potential to be powerfully motivating. This and other free single switch games can be found and downloaded from Brillsoft. If you, or someone you know, is looking for a single switch challenge, it will be worth your while to have a look at Jetstream Trader.

Jetstream Trader runs only on Windows.

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Here is a very helpful resource that I’ve put on the Content & Curriculum page.

SENSwitcher (online resource) is a suite of 132 activities designed to help teach computer skills to people with profound and multiple learning difficulties, especially those who need to develop skills with alternative input devices. These sequenced activities target skills sequentially, from purely experiential through cause and effect, switch building, timed activation, targeting and row scanning.

The activities have been developed by InclusiveTechnology and implementation strategies have been prepared by the folks at Priory Woods. This systematic set of activities have been designed to be used online or downloaded to be used offline. We have experienced difficulties in installing the programs after downloading them, but they work fine online. SENSwitcher, along with support material, can be found at Northern Grid.

SENSwitcher runs in both Windows and Mac.

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.Today’s offering is a little different. If you are at all like me, even if you don’t think you’ll make use of this program, you’ll enjoy the diversion of downloading it and trying it out. I’ve listed this one on the Content & Curriculum page.

Keyboard Pounder (downloadable program) Here’s a delightful program if you are looking for a single switch activity to reenforce cause and effect. Actually, this program was created for toddlers. It is designed so that by hitting any key, or by clicking the mouse, there is an immediate response on the screen. In one activity, with every click a tropical fish appears and swims away. In the other activity, a flower or butterfly appears. The activities are accompanied by gentle strains of classical music. Keyboard pounder can be downloaded from Little Bits Media. Several other interesting free programs are also available here.

Keyboard Pounder is available for Windows only.

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The online resource I’ve added to the Content & Curriculum page today is really a repository of hundreds of links to helpful resources for educators. If you were not already aware of this site, I’m certain you will be happy to make the discovery.

Internet4Classrooms This website offers a veritable catalogue of links to internet resources for educators, many of them of outstanding quality. The site is well organized and easy to navigate so that you can browse easily through the literally hundreds of suggested resources. Main categories include Links for K-12 Teachers, Assessment Assistance, On-Line Practice Modules (for learning computer applications), Daily Dose of the Web, and In-School Integration Support. Each category is also well organized for convenient browsing. In the Resources section, under Links for K-12 Teachers, there is a helpful page of Assistive Technology links.