www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107 1.2 experts in educational and assistive technologies
TRANSCRIPT
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
1.2
Experts in Educational and
Assistive Technologies
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
About Us
– Experts in Educational and Assistive Technology
– Professional team with extensive experience in the fields of Education, AAC and Technology
– Quality products– Professional
development founded on best practices
– Service in both English and French
– Dedicated to the principles of UDL and DI
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Vision
• To provide a wide offering of solutions to individuals with special needs that will facilitate their successful participation in all areas of their lives.
• To promote awareness of assistive technology and the impact that it has on individuals with special needs.
• To promote successful implementation of assistive technology through professional development programs (that increase knowledge, skill and application of assistive technology).
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•WRITING, READING
•NUMERACY
•PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
•COMMUNICATION
•ACCESS
•ACCESSIBLE CURRICULUM
•TOOLS FOR LIVING AND PLAY
•SKILL BUILDING
•RESOURCE MATERIALS
Our Products
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• Conferences• Workshops• Bridges Learning
Series• Individual or Small
Group Training• Coaching• Implementation
Professional Development
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National Technology in
Education Conference
May 2012University of Toronto
Erindale Campus, Mississauga, ON
Conference
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Assistive Technology for Information Technologists
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Common Software
• Boardmaker, Boardmaker Plus• Clicker• Write OutLoud & Co:Writer
(SOLO)• Intellitools Classroom Suite 4• Dragon Naturally Speaking• WordQ, SpeakQ• Kurzweil• Writing with Symbols 2000• Symwriter
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Common Problems
• New upgrades • Downloading readymade activities• Sound Output• Incompatible Hardware• CD’s required to run the software• Deep Freeze and other security
programs
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Text to Speech
• There are a number of voices available to choose from but not all are compatible with each piece of software:– Clicker Heather, Ryan– CS4 Kate, Paul– Kurzweil Kate, Paul, – Kurzweil 12 VW Paul, VW Julie– SOLO Aaron, Laura– SOLO 6 SAPI 5– Boardmaker + SAPI 4, SAPI 5– SDPro Realspeak, SAPI 4, SAPI 5 – Symwriter SAPI 5 – WordQ Heather
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Hardware
• Most software will run on Windows XP/2000/7
• Alternate mice and keyboards may require drivers
• Screen resolution is an issue for some programs
• Desks are never big enough to hold the equipment but are too big for the classroom
• 512 MB Ram meets the needs of most programs but more is always better.
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Kurzweil
• What is it? – Scanning program to input text to
the computer to be read aloud to the end user
– Powerful OCR software• Who would use it?
– Struggling readers and writers– Individuals that can not hold a
regular book
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Kurzweil
• Currently shipping version 12 released in Summer 2010
• Epson is the preferred brand of Scanner• Older HP scanners generally do not work
unless there is a TWAIN driver available.• Check Kurzweil web site for the most up to
date list of approved scanners www.kurzweiledu.com
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Kurzweil
• Common problems– Speech engines– KESI Virtual printer– Scanning
Tech Support web site covers many issues
http://helpspot.sopriswest.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=43
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Kurzweil
• The Kurzweil toolbar may not be available to students if the taskbar is locked out.
• Read the web (version 10 or lower) does not work in Explorer 7 or Firefox version 3
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Kurzweil
There are multiple types of KurzweilStandaloneNetworkWeb LicensedUSB Stick
Black & White or ColourWindows or MacintoshProfessional and Learn StationEnglish or French
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Kurzweil
• Web site has new training videos– Overview of Kurzweil 3000 Commands and Toolbars
– Reading in Kurzweil 3000 and Customized Reading Preferences
– Creating an Outline in Kurzweil 3000
– Study Skills Toolbars' Sticky and Text Note Creation
– Looking up Words in Kurzweil 3000
– Use of Highlighters in Studying
– Prepare a Multiple Choice Test Document
– Using Kurzweil 3000 to Answer Multiple Choice Tests
– Using Kurzweil 3000 to Answer Fill-in-the-Blanks Tests
– Learn How to Show or Hide Toolbars
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Kurzweil
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Clicker
• What is it?– Word processor with pictures and speech
feedback– Customizable onscreen keyboards
• Who would use it?– Struggling students benefit from the
speech output for independent writing– Struggling writers may benefit from the
whole word grids
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Clicker
• There are free activities available from the web site. www.learninggrids.com
• PCS metafiles must be purchased separately you can not link to the Boardmaker library.
• Version 5 has higher quality voices that may be incompatible with other speech output programs.
• Switch access with the Crick switch interface or an interface that can be programmed with the F7 and F8 keys
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Write Out:Loud
• What is it?– Simple to use word processor
with speech feedback– Easy to use on-line dictionary
• Who would use it?– Struggling writers
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Co:Writer
• What is it?– Rate enhancement/word prediction
software• Who would use it?
– Struggling writers benefit from the whole words
– Individuals with physical challenges that make typing slow
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Don Johnston
• Co:Writer & Write OutLoud have a new version of SOLO ver 6 Canadian Edition.
• The full version of SOLO includes Draftbuilder, Read OutLoud, Co:Writer and Write OutLoud.
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Don Johnston
There is a monthly tech newsletter that is available from DJ that addresses issues that have come from the software.
http://www.donjohnston.com/support/tech_news/index.html
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Boardmaker
• What is it?– A collection of symbols for
communication– Easy to use graphics program
• Who would use it?– Teachers to create classroom material
for non-verbal individuals, visual schedules, communication boards
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Boardmaker
• The CD must be in the drive to run the program therefore the license follows the CD. A burnt copy of the disk does not work it must be the original.
• The only file format that is supported for importing graphics is BMP in versions prior to 5.2.
• 5.3.5 or higher will support BMP, JPEG, GIF, EMF, WMF
• The addendum libraries that are purchased for Boardmaker may be installed into Writing with Symbols
• There are multiple languages the symbols can be displayed with as well as changing the search language.
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Boardmaker Ver. 6
• Released Nov of 06• You can not use a version 5 CD on 6
install or a version 6 CD on a 5 install• You can not have both versions
installed on the same computer• There is a patch to update 6.0 to ver
6.1.3 this will make it VISTA compatible.
• Current version is 6.14
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Boardmaker Family
• Boardmaker – Used to create print materials– No Voices
• Boardmaker Plus– Used to create print materials– Used to create dynamic activities for student
use– Uses SAPI 4 or SAPI 5 voices
• Boardmaker with Speaking Dynamically Pro– Used for a face to face communication– Uses RealSpeak voices
• Boardmaker StudioNew application to create interactive activities
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Boardmaker Studio
• Studio does not require the CD but is limited to 2 installs
• The addendums need to be imported into the program not installed from a disk unless you are downloading the ThinLine Addendums
• Uses a new speech engine or SAPI 5 voices
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Writing with Symbols
• What is it?– A word processor with pictures and
speech feedback– A word processor with on screen
grids for writing• Who would use it?
– Teachers to create classroom materials
– Students to write journals, stories
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Writing with Symbols 2000
• The CD must be in the drive to run the program therefore the license follows the CD
• The WWS folder in the My Documents folder must be available to all users.
• WWS is very picky about where files are saved on the computer. You can not open activities from any other location. They must be in the appropriate folder in the WWS folder in My Documents
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Symwriter
• New Canadian Edition support both English and French
• Auto update feature from the web• Does not require the CD to run• The default symbol set is WLS • PCS addendum library can be
purchased separately
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Speech Recognition
• Dragon Naturally Speaking– Current version, 11 – Require 1 GIG Ram and high
quality microphone for successful use
– Requires 1 GIG hard drive space.
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Speech Recognition
• WordQ 2, Speak Q– Word Q is the word prediction program– Speak Q is the speech recognition
program– Speak Q is an add on to Word Q– Min 512 Ram, 1 GIG preferred– High quality microphone
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Classroom Suite 4
• What is it?– A multimedia authoring tool create
activities– A word processor with multiple
features– A math manipulative program
• Who would use it?– Teachers to create classroom
materials– Students to write, read stories, run
activities
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Classroom Suite 4
• The demo for CS4 is for 30 days• CS 4 works with Boardmaker 6• Activities are available from the
intellitools activity exchange and SETBC• The resolution needs to be set at 1024 X
768, to be able to view the navigation screen
• New patch fixes a Quick time issue and 64 Bit computers
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Intellitools Balanced Literacy
• The CD is required to run the program.• This program is available with 2
alternate access methods which may need to be set up
• There have been some Quicktime issues, the latest version comes on the Balanced Literacy CD
• Additional activities are on a second CD and need to be installed separately
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Intellitools Math
• Number Concepts 1 & 2 require the CD to be in the drive to run.
• Number Concepts will not run an a machine that has more that 1 GB of RAM
• Math Pad & Math Pad Plus do not require the CD to run
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Network Versions
• The following have network versions available to make it easier for tech support– Clicker– Classroom Suite– Kurzweil– Writing with Symbols 2000 – SOLO
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Web Based Web Managed
• There are a number of applications that are web based and web managed.Write OnLine Web DeliveredClassroom Suite License managed Kurzweil
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Intellikeys
• Classic, grey uses PS/2 connection – Won’t work on XP
• USB, teal uses USB WIN 98 and aboverequires separate driver current driver is 3.1 and works with
the IntelliSwitchNew driver to support 64 bit computers is
avaialble
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Intellitools Intellikeys
• The driver must be loaded before plugging in the keyboard.
• The second half of the install will need to be completed for each USB port that the keyboard may be plugged into.
• USB Control Panel has a reset to factory default
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Intellitools Overlay Maker
• This program is required for making custom overlays for the Intellikeys
• Need to run updater if Boardmaker 6 is installed
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Word Processors
• Neo, DANA– Co:Writer Smart Applet use the US
install NOT the UK – Can connect to computer or limited
number of printers– Students are rough on cables, USB
lasts longer and easy to replace
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Word Processor Applications
• DANA– Write OutLoud to Go
• Has a separate speech card, need to sync to transfer files to a dedicated folder in the users desktop
• Neo – Co:Writer – word prediction software
– Additional topic dictionaries may be loaded
– KeyWiz – typing program
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Alternate Mice
• Penny & Giles rollerballs and joysticks do not require addition drivers
• Touch Windows USB Windows XP and above may not need drivers, PS2 on WIN 98 may require drivers that should come with the hardware
• You can have more than 1 mouse attached to a computer. This will allow for a regular mouse and an adapted access method
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Switch Interfaces
• DJ Switch Interface Pro• 4 ports, not programmable
• Intelliswitch• 5 ports, programmable
• CricK Switch Interface• 4 ports programmable
• Joy Box• 8 ports, programmable, 4 ports directional
• Joy Cable• 2 ports, programmable
• Switch Adapted Mouse• 1-2 ports, not programmable
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VOCA/SGD
• Voice Output Communiaction Aid• Speech Generating Device
– Used as a persons voice– May be used as an access method to the
computer – Digitized version (recorded voice) – Synthesized version (computer voice)– Laptops can be used – Wide range of access methods
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Macintosh Software
• ICS, OM3, Balanced Literacy,IKeys, all run in OS X, all other Itools software needs to run in OS 9
• Kurzweil OS X both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, specifically OS 9.2.2 and OS X 10.2.4 or higher. However, the new Network edition’s Administrator only supports OS X 10.2.4 or higher and the Network Server must run on OS X 10.3 or higher.
• SOLO requires OS 10.2– Don Johston has a detailed list of their
software and requirements at http://www.donjohnston.com/support/index.htm
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Macintosh Software
• 10.5 issues– SOLO needs a patch but not yet
available– Clicker 5 not stable– Kurzweil needs latest patch– Boardmaker appears to be fine– Classroom Suite 4 appears to be fine
www.bridges-canada.com 1-800-353-1107
Macintosh Software
• Boardmaker 6 has a OS X version, • Clicker requires OS X, v10.3 • Clicker Paint OS X, v10.3 • Cloze Pro OS X, v10.1.5
• WWS and Symwriter do not have a Mac versions
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Macintosh Hardware
• Touchwindows require ver 1.5 driver
• Intellikeys, Intelliswitch require ver 3.0 driver
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Updates
• Classroom Suite ver 4.3• OverlayMaker 3 ver 3.1.1.1 • Intellikeys ver 3.4• Kurzweil ver 12.01 Windows• Kurzweil ver 4.0 Macintosh• SOLO ver 6.01• Clicker 5.2• Boardmaker 6.1.4• Word Q 2.4, Speak Q 1.4• Dragon Naturally Speaking
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Contact Information
• www.bridges-canada.com• http://bridgesatforit.pbwiki.com• [email protected]• 1-800-353-1107
• Thanks The Bridges Team