vBooks PDF Voice Reader is an iOS app that will read PDF files aloud. Original formatting is retained, and text is highlighted by an ‘interactive cursor’ as it is read. The cursor looks a little like a magnifying lens as it tracks words being spoken. The cursor may be dragged back to re-read something. Or, it can be moved ahead if you wish to skip ahead.

The cursor enlarges with the text, when zooming in by pinching. Double-tapping a document with a single finger enlarges the document so that it fills the screen. This usually yields text that is reasonably large, especially on an iPad in landscape mode. On the other hand, using the three-finger zoom, iOS’s accessibility feature, makes it tricky to follow the cursor while reading.

Users can choose between high quality male or female voices. When opening a file for the first time, the user must choose between “English” and “English UK”. As well, there are 9 other languages to choose from, but each language costs an additional $4.99 as an in-app purchase. The additional languages include: Czech; Danish; Dutch; Finnish; French; German; Italian; Norwegian; Polish.

vBookz PDF Voice Reader has been available for Mac computers for some time. The short video below shows the app working on a computer, but it looks and behaves exactly the same on an iDevice.

It could hardly be easier to bring PDF files into vBookz PDF Voice Reader! Simply open a PDF email attachment, or a PDF file in your DropBox account. Then click on the forward icon to be given the option of opening the file in vBookz PDF Voice Reader. Once a PDF file has been opened, it remains on a book shelf in the “Library” for future reference.  The process seems to work well with both short files and those that are book-length. Files can also be brought into vBookz PDF Voice Reader from your computer, via iTunes.

It is noteworthy that there are two versions of vBookz PDF Reader–one for the US and Canada and another for the rest of the world. I don’t know if  there are difference. As a Canadian, I’ve only been able to test the version available to me here.

]]> http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/07/vbookz-pdf-voice-reader-finally-a-simple-text-to-speech-solution-for-pdfs-on-ipad-iphone-and-itouch/feed/ 0 http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/06/collect-share-videos-articles-and-websites-with-mentormob/ http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/06/collect-share-videos-articles-and-websites-with-mentormob/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:19:37 +0000 Paul Hamilton http://paulhami.edublogs.org/?p=5679 Continue reading →]]> It is essential that learners have information available to them in a variety of formats. Multiple means of representation is a fundamental principle of UDL. Here’s an emerging resource that facilitates this.

MentorMob offers a convenient way of organizing online content into playlists. Playlists may include articles, videos, images, and websites. These playlists can be embedded on any other website. Teachers may wish to use these playlists to organize information they present to learners on a particular subject. Or, learners might want to create playlists to help show what they are learning. I really like MentorMob’s tagline: ‘learn what you want, teach what you love’. This sounds like my kind of school!

MentorMob is seeking to create a community where members collaborate to create, edit, and refine playlists. There is also the opportunity to provide constructive feedback. I haven’t created a playlist yet, but I have checked out the user interface, and it doesn’t look at all difficult. It looks as though a playlist’s creator can set the desired level of privacy.

Rather than try to describe MentorMob in detail, I’ve embedded the introductory video as well as an example of a recently created playlist.

In my estimation, there are certain digital learning resources that offer something extra special. This is the fourth in my series about what I’m calling Extra Special Learning Resources. So far I’ve written about…

• Tar Heel Reader
• Qwiki
• Google Sketchup

Scratch is a program with tremendous potential to engage, while facilitating skill building and creative problem solving within a meaningful context. Scratch also offers learners multiple ways of showing what they know by putting together interactive multimedia projects. For example, I have seen Scratch used effectively by learners with autism to complete assigned social studies projects.

If you are involved in primary or secondary education, I believe you owe it to yourself and to the learners you support to be familiar with Scratch. Learners almost everywhere can use Scratch because it is truly cross-platform software, with downloads available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Scratch: overview from andresmh on Vimeo.

I first wrote about Scratch in September of 2007. Since then, the program hasn’t changed. The people at MIT who are behind Scratch, have just added some excellent tutorials and support material.

The Scratch website sums up the program well…

Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art — and share your creations on the web.

The online Scratch community enhances the engagement potential of the program hugely. Learners can not only share what they create, they can download and build upon what others have made with Scratch.

The screen shot below shows Scratch’s intuitive user interface. Blocks are dragged from the left into the center and locked together to create programs. Backgrounds (scenes) can be created within Scratch, or imported into it.Variables can be adjusted. Music, narration, and/or sound effects can be added. The music can even be created by using musical instruments built into Scratch. This is just ‘scratching’ the surface of what is possible.

]]> http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/05/scratch-extra-special-learning-resource-par-excellence/feed/ 0 http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/04/top-tools-for-tight-times-jim-luthers-assistive-technology-freeware-list/ http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/04/top-tools-for-tight-times-jim-luthers-assistive-technology-freeware-list/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:29:46 +0000 Paul Hamilton http://paulhami.edublogs.org/?p=5598 Continue reading →]]> This week I discovered a  helpful resource for anyone who uses assistive technology or who supports others who use it. This resource is very much in the original spirit of my blog. It is a well organized graphical listing of free assistive technology.

The technical and legal definition most often used for Assistive Technology is …

“…any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.”

I prefer a simpler and more general definition.

“…technology that improves the functional ability of anyone who needs it.” (from Ira Socol, if I’m not mistaken)

Anyone may benefit from the use of assistive technology, whether or not he or she has a diagnosed “disability”. For example, someone may  just not be a very good reader. Maybe he reads slowly or struggles to retain what is read. In fact, this describes my own lack of reading proficiency. Text-to-speech is extremely valuable for me when I really want to retain what I read. Technology that enlarges the font, widens the margins, or eliminates distracting clutter from a page can also improve my ‘functional ability’ to read.

In my view, assistive technology can be divided roughly into two categories. These are not mutually exclusive, but on one side is specialized assistive technology required by a relatively small number of individuals. This would include technology that makes speech possible for someone who cannot use his or her natural voice, or tools that enable someone who can’t use his or her hands to access a computer keyboard.

The second category of AT is technology that benefits a much larger proportion of the population. This larger category of AT would include such supports as text-to-speech, word prediction, speech recognition, or multimedia alternatives to text that can help anyone who struggles with reading and/or writing. There are countless learners in classrooms everywhere who may or may not have diagnosed “disabilities” who benefit greatly from access to what I refer to simply as “technology that helps”. I believe this is technology that should be made available to all learners. Much of this sort of technology has become ubiquitous, so there is no excuse for not introducing it to all learners.

Jim Luther’s list of ‘Top Tools for Tight Times’ lists free specialized assistive technology as well as technology that can be helpful for large numbers of learners.

Jim Luther has organized an extensive list of  AT Freeware into a beautifully organized “mind map” that enables the user to view available options at a glance. Software titles are not linked, but it is easy to enter the names as search terms into your preferred search engine. The screen shots below show how Jim’s list of AT has been organized.

BBC Bitesize is really 7 distinct sets of online learning activities organized around the UK’s National Curriculum. There are sets of activities for ‘Key Stage 1′ (Years 1-3), ‘Key Stage 2′ (Years 3-6), ‘Key Stage 3′ (Year 7), ‘GCSE’ (secondary students aged 14-16),  and ‘Higher’ (senior secondary). As well, there are two sets of activities–’Scottish 1st Level’ and ‘Standard Grade’–that specifically target Scottish learners, and another, ‘TGAU’ that appears to be entirely in Welsh for learners in Wales. The starting point of BBC Bitesize is shown below.

KS1, KS2, and KS3 activities are organized under the three headings of Literacy/English, Maths, and Science. Secondary activities are organized under an extensive  list of subject areas.

BBC Bitesize offers flash activities, videos, games, quizzes, and more. Sometimes information is presented with text, and this text works well with Speakit! in Google Chrome. Lesson plans, worksheets and other resources are available to teachers throughout the Bitesize site. As mentioned above, the quality of everything on BBC Bitesize is superb.

The secondary videos that I tried to open appear not to be available to viewers outside the UK. This is unfortunate, but it is even more unfortunate that the many excellent flash activities will not run on Apple’s iOS devices. Many of these activities would be ideally suited for use on an iPad. This serious deficiency in Apple’s product is one of a growing list of reasons that I believe schools should seriously consider choosing Android tablets over iPads.

It doesn’t matter whether the file is open in iBooks, GoodReader, or any other app I’ve tested, Speak Selection will not read a PDF file. I have invested a great deal of time in efforts to find a convenient solution. Nothing I’ve tried yet works perfectly, but I’m sharing one low-cost option that works well, as long as the original formatting of the PDF file is not required.

Voice Reader is a low cost ($1.99) app for iPad or iPhone that provides text-to-speech that reads PDF’ files aloud–in 21 languages, with 32 available voices. (Additional voices are $.0.99) Files, can be opened into Voice Reader from other apps, including DropBox. When open in Voice Reader, the text can be read aloud with a high quality voice. Or, if text can be copied, it can be pasted into Voice Reader. It is important to note that the original formatting of PDF files is lost when it is opened in Voice Reader.

Settings within Voice Reader offer some helpful adjustments, including reading rate, voice pitch, text font, and font-size. There is also a “Dark Mode”, which reverses the contrast to white text on a black background. Finally, Voice Reader not only reads text aloud, it can create an audio file in m4a format. The audio file can then be emailed from the device.

]]> http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/02/01/text-to-speech-for-pdf-on-ipad-or-iphone-with-voice-reader/feed/ 0 http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/01/30/google-sketchup-an-extra-special-tool-for-drawing-and-3d-modelling/ http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2012/01/30/google-sketchup-an-extra-special-tool-for-drawing-and-3d-modelling/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:59:01 +0000 Paul Hamilton http://paulhami.edublogs.org/?p=5407 Continue reading →]]> Extra Special Learning Resource

I met recently with a 16 year old 10th grader with autism. I wanted to know how he thought increased access to a computer might help him be more successful in school. He was quick to mention that he really needs a word processor to do any writing at all. He indicated that he usually gets pretty good grades on the assignments he hands in, but he doesn’t always get enough time on a computer to complete every assignment. This made perfect sense, and it’s not an uncommon situation.

This well-spoken young man went on to say that he was keen to learn computer programming, and also to improve his 3 dimensional modelling skills. He asked if he could show me a program on a school computer that enabled him to create 3D models. With my encouragement, he opened Google Sketchup. While we continued our conversation, he proceeded to design a house and garage. He demonstrated considerable skill, and managed an impressive project in a very short span of time.

Google Sketchup is, without a doubt, an extra special learning resource, and this is the third in my ‘Extra Special Learning Resource‘ series. I first wrote about this program more than 5 years ago. Here’s what I had to say about the free version of  Google Sketchup then.

This is a remarkable program that enables anyone to do 3D modelling. You don’t have to be an artist or an engineer, and you don’t have to learn a complicated CAD program. The drawing tools in SketchUp are intuitive and easy to use. To make it even easier, Google has provided an excellent set of video tutorials. With a little practice, you could use SketchUp to create a 3D model of almost anything–from a skyscraper to a dog house, or from a giant space ship to a digital camera. You can apply a variety of textures and shadows to add a sense of reality.

Although Sketchup has been improved and refined to its current Version 8, what I said back in 2006 remains true. This is a program that offers great potential for all learners, especially those who have difficulty drawing with pencil and paper. It is well documented that many autistic learners find Google Sketchup extremely helpful. This was recently highlighted on the Official Google Sketchup Blog. The video below shares the experience of several autistic learners.

A priceless fringe benefit of my job is regular travel through incredibly scenic terrain. I spent most of the past week working on the magnificent north end of Vancouver Island, in the communities of Port Hardy, Port Alice, and Port McNeill. While working on the ‘North Island’, I always stay at a delightful waterfront B & B, aptly named ‘At Water’s Edge‘ in Port McNeill. This week, my hosts Chris and Karen Stewart made sure I was aware of an iPad app that shows off some of the area’s spectacular natural beauty.

The Nimmo Bay Helicopter Fishing and Wilderness Adventures app for iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch was produced by the proprietors of the Nimmo Bay Lodge, which is situated on the mainland BC coast, across the Broughton and Queen Charlotte straits from Port McNeill.

The app offers an interactive 360° helicopter’s-eye view of the region’s breath-taking natural beauty. By interactive, I mean that the user can zoom in or out to adjust the field of vision as the helicopter travels.  Or, the viewer can choose where to look–ahead, behind or to the side.  The video is made possible by technology developed by immersive media.

immersive media has developed a low-cost ($1.99) iOS app called im360  for showcasing and sharing its interactive video. After the initial purchase, a great deal of free content can be downloaded to the device from within the app. I believe the potential for engaging learners in classrooms with some of this content is tremendous. There are helicopter tours over cities and other landmarks, as well as land-based videos of museums, parks, wildlife, sports, arts, and more. It would work well to use a data projector to share some of these videos in classrooms.

I have embedded below the video version of Nimmo 360. You can interact with the video by clicking your cursor on the video and dragging.   At the conclusion of the video, if you click on ‘Find More Videos’, you will be directed to the free content that is available to be viewed within the im360 app.

On a side note, the delightful musical accompaniment for the video is Leonard Cohen’s ‘Halelujah‘, sung by the Canadian Tenors. It so happens that Clifton Murray of the Canadian Tenors is also part of the Murray family who are the proprietors of Nimmo Bay Lodge.

Quixey sums up the service they offer as follows…

Whether you’re searching for apps on your mobile device, browser, desktop or any other platform, we make sure you can always find the tools you need. We’ll find you apps for every activity and task imaginable. Just answer one question for us: What do you want to do?

As I’ve used Quixey, I have found it to do a pretty good job of accomplishing its intended purpose. It isn’t perfect, and you may need to cull through the listed apps to find something that will reaally work for you.  The image below shows the top four of more than one hundred search results that were returned when I entered the search term ‘text-to-speech for Android’. (If the image is too small for you to read, you can view an enlarged version by clicking on the image–at least if you are viewing this post on a computer.)

Hat-tip to Kerry Randle, SET-BC‘s provincial coordinator, for making me aware of Quixey.

I first wrote about Qwiki on February 15, 2011. It is such a powerful application that I think it’s time for another look. This is the second of my ‘Extra Special Learning Resource‘ series, and it profiles a resource of truly exceptional value.

Qwiki is an online search tool that is helpful for all learners, and it’s especially helpful for any who struggle with text. That’s because information is presented in multiple modes. The written text is read aloud by an effective text-to-speech engine; and the text is accompanied by related images and sometimes even video. I believe that all learners benefit from the opportunity of having information represented in multiple ways.

Revisiting Qwiki is timely because there is now a Qwiki app for the iPad. This means a Qwiki search can be done independently of the iPad’s browser. The user experience is exactly the same on the iPad as it is on a computer.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is probably worth millions, I’ve embedded a ‘Qwiki’ below for you to see for yourself exactly how it works. Here’s what you see, and hear, and can read, when you enter the search term ‘Himalayas’.

View Himalayas and over 3,000,000 other topics on Qwiki.