Add a Quick Access World Language Keyboard on an iPad

Do you have students in you classroom in which English is not his/her first language?

You can update the settings on an iPad to a variety of world languages, allowing students to type on the keyboard in his/her native language.

Follow this tutorial to Add a Quick Access World Language Keyboard on an iPad.

Enabling and Using Dictation

 Take a moment to consider your students. 

Think about the ones who struggle to get their ideas onto paper. How about the students who struggle with spelling or have fine motor control issues.  Do you have students in which English is not their first language?

Speech to Text is a tool that can help these students and many others. It is an Accessibility feature built into most devices today. Speech to Text is a tool that allows a writer to dictate their thoughts and ideas into a document. 

Speech to Text, also known as Dictation, is available on Chromebooks and iPads.  To enable and use dictation on these devices follow the instructions in the tutorials below.

Enabling and Using Dictation on a Chromebook (http://bit.ly/3GobetQ)

Enabling and Using Dictation on an iPad (http://bit.ly/3MntMLC)

Give it a try! Your students will love it (and so will you)!

Enabling and Using Text to Speech

Text to Speech is a tool that has multiple uses. It can be used to help with reading and writing.  It can be a useful tool for struggling readers, English language learners, and readers with dyslexia as well. It can be used by students and teachers. Text to Speech is an available accessibility feature on both iPads and Chromebooks. Attached below are tutorials on how to enable and use them on these devices.

Enabling and Using Select-to-Speak on a Chromebook 

(https://bit.ly/3tkSaEI)

Enable Speak Selection on an iPad   (https://bit.ly/iPadSpeakSelection)

Apple Live Listen

Have you ever had a hard time having a conversation in a noisy environment?

With Live Listen (https://apple.co/3Nnnj2U) by Apple, you can use your iPad and AirPods to magnify the sound of the person you are talking with.

Live Listen allows sound captured by an iPad to be magnified and sent wirelessly to AirPods or Beats headphones (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT2a09082). In a classroom setting, students can use this feature to hear a teacher louder from a distance. 

BigReveal

BigReveal is an iPad app that lets you create personalized scratch cards. You use the app to hide a picture under a silver coating, just like a scratch-off lottery ticket.
This app can be highly motivating to students. For teacher and staff, it can help evaluate how well students can swipe up, down, right or left and if they can access all areas of the screen, which can be helpful when trying out a new stylus or mouse.
This app is not free, but only cost $1.99. It might be a good investment for use with your students.

Siri for Personalization and Off-Line Supports

Did you know that you can use Siri to personalize your iDevice experience? With the release of iOS 15 you can now use Siri for advanced personalization and off-line supports.

Siri now learns the contacts you interact with most, new words you type, and topics you read about — all privately on your device. This allows for an improved understanding of speech recognition on the iPad.

Siri can also process a variety of requests offline, without an internet connection. Some of these options include:

• Timers & Alarms
• Sharing
• App Launch
• Control Audio Playback
• Settings

ModMath

ModMath is a free iPad app that helps kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia do math.

ModMath assists students who struggle with Mathematical notation. The app lets you write and solve math problems on the iPad using the custom keypad.  You can also print, email, or save to cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox.

ModMath lets you:

• Write and solve equations with a piece of virtual graph paper, greatly improving speed and legibility.
• Solve basic math problems and more complex algebraic equations, all without ever picking up a pencil.
• Print assignments, email them directly to the teacher or save to cloud storage.

You can visit http://www.modmath.com/ to see a short video of the app in action and to learn more about the app and the family that created it.

Otter Voice Meeting Notes

Technology is improving everyday and it seems like nothing is improving faster than speech to text.  AISence Inc. is a startup on a mission to make voice conversations more valuable for everyone.

AISence has created a program called Otter, that will now record and take meeting notes for you in real-time.  Otter helps you capture and manage verbal communication through meetings, video conferences, school lectures, and other important conversations.

There is a free version of Otter and a Premium version.  With the free version you get 600 minutes of transcription every month and the plan does not expire.  The Premium plan offers 6,000 minutes per month.

Download Otter Voice Meeting Notes for:

Android  (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aisense.otter)

iOS  (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/otter-ai/id1276437113?ls=1)

Or, create an account in your Google Chrome browser at otter.ai.

To learn more about Otter go to otter.ai.

Sticky

Who doesn't like sticky notes?
Did you know that there is a sticky notes app for the iPad?

Sticky - simple notebooks  (https://tinyurl.com/tafnmya)

Sticky notes, both high tech and low tech, are great for on the fly visuals, phonics lessons and solving quick math problems.  
With Sticky - simple notebooks you can arrange your thoughts, ideas, todos or assignments with different colors, sizes, and layouts.  You can even use voice dictation to write without typing. 

Sticky - simple notebooks is a versatile tool that can be helpful in all aspects of your life.

Office Lens

Microsoft has another new tool I would like to share this week, Office Lens.
According to the website "Office Lens is the new camera built into OneNote for iPad or iPhone that lets you take pictures of whiteboards or printed documents, then enhances your photo by cropping, sharpening, and straightening it, so it looks almost like a scanned image. Your picture is added to your note so you can retrieve it later."

From within OneNote you can use Office Lens by following the simple instructions here
https://tinyurl.com/uwrldwr.

Office Lens is also available as a stand alone PDF scanning app for Android and iOS.

Classroom Noise Monitor Apps

If you don't already follow We Are Teachers (https://www.weareteachers.com/) you might want to consider it.  They have a TON of classroom ideas and free printables available.  I do follow We Are Teachers and I get an email from them weekly.  

This weeks email included a short list of Classroom Noise Monitor Apps that I thought would be helpful in a number of situations.  Most of the "apps" are actually websites, with one Google app thrown in.  The websites work on all computers, Chromebooks and tablets (iPad and Android).  These apps could be used by you, as the teacher, for the whole class or by individual students to help him/her monitor his/her own noise level. 
Please take the time to read the article and try one out with your classroom today.

5 Classroom Noise Monitor Apps to Help Calm the Chaos (https://tinyurl.com/y6p8aoa2) 
by Jill Staake 

Claro MagX

Claro MagX is a FREE app that turns your wireless device into a powerful high-definition visual magnifier. It is available for iOS, Android and for Chromebook.

There are NO in-app purchases and NO in-app advertising.

Claro MagX offers a wide range of magnification (maximum 16x times zoom), high contrast and color viewing options to make the text easier to read.

It is easy to use, simply pinch to zoom in and out. You can also take a photo, freeze the image and choose which mode you prefer for viewing. Claro MagX offers four options for viewing: normal, invert, two-color and greyscale.

Check out Claro MagX for yourself and learn about all of the viewing options through exploration.

Claro MagX for Android(https://tinyurl.com/yy3tkvv2)

Claro MagX for iOS

(https://tinyurl.com/yxzrmtxl)

Claro MagX for Chrome

(https://tinyurl.com/y458qdaj)

Restrictions, Guided Access, Time Limits, Oh My!

Every year I get questions about restricting the iPads used in the classroom. The use of restrictions on the iPad is a classroom management decision that teachers can make but that is not done at a district level. Below I will be attaching some links to quick tutorials for the use of enabling restrictions, using guided access and setting time limits on an iPad, running iOS 12 or newer.


Guided Access (https://tinyurl.com/y4uy596e)


Enabling Restrictions (https://tinyurl.com/y2tfrnx5)


Setting a Time Limit (https://tinyurl.com/y2svrxzr)

Free Audiobooks for Teens is back, again!

Overdrive has paired with SYNC to offer 14 weeks of Free Audiobooks for Teens for the third year in a row!

Individuals will have the opportunity to download 2 FREE audiobooks each week, starting April 25th and running through August 1st!
 

You can register and sign up for e-mail reminders or text reminders at http://www.audiobooksync.com/.

Listen to the books by downloading the Overdrive app (https://rebrand.ly/overdrive).  The app is available for iPhone®, iPad®, Android, Chromebook, Windows 8 & 10 and Kindle Fire HD.

Check out the SUMMER 2019 SYNC TITLE PAIRINGS (https://www.audiobooksync.com/2019-sync-titles/) page for the list of available books this summer.

This is a great opportunity to provide some fun summer reading for our students!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For younger students, check out the audio book options I discussed in a previous blog post,
Audio books (https://at-udl.blogspot.com/2016/12/audio-books.html)

Apps for Complex Needs: Emergent Numeracy

The Learners with Complex App Wheel (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/common-assets/cm-files/posters/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs.pdf) from CALL Scotland (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/) is divided into 6 large sections, each of which may have smaller sections as well.  The 6 larger sections are:

• Cognition
• Self-Regulation
• Creativity
• Communication
• Emergent Literacy
• Emergent Numeracy

Each section has a minimum of one app that is free.  This week I am going to briefly talk about the free apps in the Emergent Numeracy section.

Under the Emergent Numeracy section of the App Wheel, seven of the apps are free.

Create a Series  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/create-a-series-arrange-items-in-a-sequence/id1135867219?mt=8): Arrange items in a sequence.  Help students develop visual perception skills, and primary math concepts. Full version, no in-app purchases, no ads.  

RelationShapes (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/relationshapes/id1143015542): Strengthen visual-spatial reasoning and creative expression.

Same Same  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/same-same-match-identical-items/id1135853830?mt=8): Match identical items.  Children can learn to match identical items while developing visual perception skills, language skills, and fine motor skills. Full version, no in-app purchases, no ads.

Cash Machine ATM  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/cash-machine-atm/id1234617785?mt=8): A simple cause and effect activity with simple clear graphics designed to provide an opportunity for discussion and the development of everyday day vocabulary associated with using an ATM.

Self Service Checkout  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/self-service-checkout/id1234619083?mt=8): A simple cause and effect activity with simple clear graphics to provide a great opportunity for discussion and the development of everyday day vocabulary associated with using a self-service checkout.

Mosaics  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mosaics-arrange-colorful-pieces-to-form-a-mosaic/id1186205878?mt=8): Arrange colorful pieces to form a mosaic. Children can learn to copy patterns while working to develop hand eye coordination, perseverance and accuracy. Full version, no in-app purchases, no ads.

Stack Up  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/stack-up-stack-items-bottom-up-to-build-a-tower/id1135865797?mt=8): Stack items bottom-up to build a tower.  Children can learn to arrange items bottom-up according to their width while developing visual perception skills, and primary math concepts. Full version, no in-app purchases, no ads.

Apps for Complex Needs: Cognition

The Learners with Complex App Wheel (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/common-assets/cm-files/posters/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs.pdf) from CALL Scotland (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/) is divided into 6 large sections, each of which may have smaller sections as well.  The 6 larger sections are:

• Cognition
• Self-Regulation
• Creativity
• Communication
• Emergent Literacy
• Emergent Numeracy

Each section has a minimum of one app that is free.  This week I am going to briefly talk about the free apps in the Cognition section.

Under the Cognition section of the App Wheel, two of the apps are free.

Toca Kitchen Monsters  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/toca-kitchen-monsters/id510301841?mt=8):  The Toca Kitchen app lets you cook and play with food.  You can pick any ingredient and prepare it in your own way! Slice, boil, fry, cook, microwave or mix!

Gravitarium  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gravitarium/id741646894?mt=8): An extraordinary journey into a world of particle animation.  Guide the particle flow with your fingers for up to 10 different formations (subject to the number of fingers you have available ;-).

Apps for Complex Needs: Emergent Literacy

The Learners with Complex App Wheel (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/common-assets/cm-files/posters/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs.pdf) from CALL Scotland (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/) is divided into 6 large sections, each of which may have smaller sections as well.  The 6 larger sections are:

• Cognition
• Self-Regulation
• Creativity
• Communication
• Emergent Literacy
• Emergent Numeracy

Each section has a minimum of one app that is free.  This week I am going to briefly talk about the free apps in the Emergent Literacy section.

Under the Emergent Literacy section of the App Wheel, two of the apps are free.

Bitsboard Flashcards & Games  (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bitsboard-flashcards-games/id516842210?mt=8): Choose from tens of thousands of gorgeous flashcards and carefully curated lessons covering hundreds of topics.  Customize cards to meet the specific learning needs of your students. Bitsboard even keeps track of every answer for every game, user, and board.

Fairytale Play Theatre  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/fairytale-play-theatre/id1076993415): This app lets you set the stage, choose your characters, and create and record your own story!

Apps for Complex Needs: Communication

The Learners with Complex App Wheel (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/common-assets/cm-files/posters/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs.pdf) from CALL Scotland (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/) is divided into 6 large sections, each of which may have smaller sections as well. The 6 larger sections are:
Cognition
Self-Regulation
Creativity
Communication
Emergent Literacy
Emergent Numeracy

Each section has a minimum of one app that is free. This week I am going to briefly talk about the free apps in the Communication section.

Under the Communication section of the App Wheel, four of the apps are free.

SoundingBoard (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/soundingboard/id390532167?mt=8): You can create custom boards using AbleNet symbols or your own words.

Sensory Speak Up - Vocalize (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sensory-speak-up-speech-therapy/id655636902?mt=8): A visually stimulating simple game style app that responds to sounds. It can be used to encourage children to vocalize and make sounds.

Sensory CineVox - speech therapy for vocalizing (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id673958511): A visually stimulating, simple and fun app that improves vocalization and speech.

Bla | Bla | Bla (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bla-bla-bla/id430815432?mt=8): A sound reactive application derived from an exercise called “Parametric Mask”.

Apps for Complex Needs: Creativity

The Learners with Complex App Wheel (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/common-assets/cm-files/posters/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs.pdf) from CALL Scotland (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/) is divided into 6 large sections, each of which may have smaller sections as well.  The 6 larger sections are:

• Cognition
• Self-Regulation
• Creativity
• Communication
• Emergent Literacy
• Emergent Numeracy

Each section has a minimum of one app that is free.  This week I am going to briefly talk about the free apps in the Creativity section.

Under the Creativity section of the App Wheel, six of the apps are completely free.

     Puppet Pals HD  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/puppet-pals-hd/id342076546?mt=8): Simply pick out your actors and backdrops, drag them on to the stage, and tap record. Your movements and audio will be recorded in real time for playback later.
     Sock Puppets  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sock-puppets/id394504903?mt=8): Create your own lip-synched videos and share them. Add Puppets, props, scenery, and backgrounds and start creating. Hit the record button and the puppets automatically lip-synch to your voice.
     Clips  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/clips/id1212699939?mt=8): Lets you make fun videos to share with friends and family.
     Finger Paint with Sounds  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/finger-paint-with-sounds/id586598528?mt=8): Explore touch with color, sounds or music. Finger Paint with Sounds offers a fun alternative to help children with special needs and others to practice their first interactions with a touch screen. Simply choose a colour and draw with music, fun sound effects or no sound at all.
     Quiver - 3D Coloring  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/quiver-3d-coloring-app/id650645305?mt=8): Combines physical coloring with state of the art augmented reality technology.  Print pictures from the app to color and then use the app to watch them come to life.
     Keezy Drummer  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/keezy-drummer/id933630069?mt=8): Simple to use programmable drum machine. The app includes 12 percussion sounds, up to 9 layers of sound at a time, and one or two bars per layer.

Apps for Complex Needs: Self-Regulation

The Learners with Complex App Wheel (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/common-assets/cm-files/posters/ipad-apps-for-learners-with-complex-additional-support-needs.pdf) from CALL Scotland (https://www.callscotland.org.uk/home/) is divided into 6 large sections, each of which may have smaller sections as well.  The 6 larger sections are:

• Cognition
• Self-Regulation
• Creativity
• Communication
• Emergent Literacy
• Emergent Numeracy

Each section has a minimum of one app that is free.  This week I am going to briefly talk about the free apps in the Self-Regulation section.

Under the Self-Regulation section of the App Wheel, three of the apps are completely free. 

Under the Relaxation section:
     Relax Meditation  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/relax-meditation-mindfulness-sleep-sounds-noise/id367506176?mt=8): Promoting your wellbeing through mindful meditation.
     Super Stretch Yoga  (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/super-stretch-yoga/id456113661?mt=8):  A fun, interactive yoga app created for kids!
     Breathe In  (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/breathe-in/id1242508538?mt=8): Provides simple exercises to help you breathe consciously.