All Together We Can » Literacy http://www.alltogetherwecan.com AAC, AT, Families, Inclusion, Literacy, UDL, iOS, Mobile Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:36:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 iBooks Update 1.1.1 Allows Audio and Video http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2010/07/20/ibooks-update-1-1-1-allows-audio-and-video/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2010/07/20/ibooks-update-1-1-1-allows-audio-and-video/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:15:02 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/?p=1612
iBooks

iBooks


On July 19, 2010, Apple updated iBooks to version 1.1.1. This update adds a key feature, “the ability to experience books that include audio and video.” This is terrific for a wide variety of learners from individuals just learning to read to experienced readers. The key component is the expanded interactive nature of digital books. This is important because iBooks is a mainstream application, not just a special education focused tool. This certainly looks to be a step in the right direction towards the goal of more universally designed literacy resources. Researchers at Penn State will be pleased about this ability, as it will empower them to start to use more interactive books on the iPad. You can see some of the work they do on this terrific website, aacliteracy.psu.edu.

Here is what the update brings:
• The ability to double-tap an image within a book in order to view it in greater detail.
• The ability to experience books that include audio and video.
• Look up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language.
• An answer to an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete.
• The addition of many stability and performance improvements.

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2010/07/20/ibooks-update-1-1-1-allows-audio-and-video/feed/ 1 Digital Books http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/06/01/digitalbooks/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/06/01/digitalbooks/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:35:25 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/?p=1433 I believe in good teaching, good research, and combining it with finding innovative ways to accomplish our goals.  In this time of exponential possibility, getting back to basics and working from “good seed” so to speak, is always welcome.  Here are some books to check out and share.  Note:  this is easy and fun to do in PowerPoint or whatever authoring software you like, Intellitools Classroom Suite, Clicker 5, Boardmaker, etc…

Do you have enough books?  Would you like some more?  How about links out to over a thousand books?  Here is a books launcher that was presented as part of the ISAAC 2008 pre-conference presentation I collaborated on with Caroline Ramsey Musselwhite titled, Writing Books for Beginning Readers . . . and Using Them to Support Real Reading.

Download the accessible-books-launcher in PDF Format

Link to a Two Switch Step Scan Capable Online Version

If you enjoy this resource and have other book websites, please email them to me at samuel.sennott@gmail.com.

Also, it is good to consider Dr. David Koppenhaver’s feedback on this resource that it links out to a wide variety of levels and types of books from enrichment, to transitional, to conventional.  So use it appropriately.  Enjoy.

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/06/01/digitalbooks/feed/ 2 Professional Development DVDs! by Dr. Caroline Musselwhite http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/05/31/professional-development-dvds-by-dr-caroline-musselwhite/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/05/31/professional-development-dvds-by-dr-caroline-musselwhite/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 05:49:18 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/?p=1428 The professional development DVD series by Caroline Ramsey Musselwhite is a perfect way to provide training to educators, SLPs, and other people who support individuals with special needs.
These would be great for a professional development series in a school for the upcoming year or for learning over the summer.  You can see samples of the titles here:  http://www.youtube.com/user/CMusselwhite and you can order these from this website: www.aacintervention.com

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/05/31/professional-development-dvds-by-dr-caroline-musselwhite/feed/ 0 Penn State Literacy Website http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/04/09/penn-state-literacy-website/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/04/09/penn-state-literacy-website/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:12:33 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/?p=1343 http://aacliteracy.psu.edu

Jackson

Literacy Instruction
for Individuals with Autism,
Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome
and Other Disabilities

Janice Light & David McNaughton
The Pennsylvania State University

Run, don’t walk to checking out this awesome website full of exemplars of students with complex communication needs learning to read and write.  The website comes out of the longitudinal research of Dr. Janice Light and Dr. David McNaughton.  Additionally, through Dynavox, they have published a curriculum called the ALL Curriculum – Accessible Literacy Learning.

I feel very fortunate to be weekly attending the research meetings for this project at the Pennsylvania State University.  It is a terrific experience to learn from such fantastic researchers.  From my special education background, I feel so thankful to think about new and old teachers being able to easily acquire high quality accessible literacy learning materials to support their instruction.

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/04/09/penn-state-literacy-website/feed/ 0 Reading, Writing, and Playing: How Games Can Play a Key Role in the Classroom http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/26/reading-writing-and-playing-how-games-can-play-a-key-role-in-the-classroom/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/26/reading-writing-and-playing-how-games-can-play-a-key-role-in-the-classroom/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:41:40 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/?p=1123 To be Presented with Matthew Press at ATIA 2009 on Thursday, January 29th 2008 2:30 to 3:30 PM in the Room Bonaire 5/6
Download the Session PDF Handout:   Reading, Writing, and Playing: How Games Can Play a Key Role in the Classroom Handout (Sennott, Press 2009)

Primary Aim:  To help you improve your instructional design by connecting play with literacy, augmentative and alternative communication, and curriculum.
We know that children learn when they are connected.  By connecting play and learning, individuals can experience high motivation levels, build their AAC systems, work on access to technology, build curriculum connections, and meet their sensory needs.  The results are powerful.

For some reason the spreadsheet is not working.  I’ll work on it.

Please add resources below:
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Watch the list grow:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pI6DqL-VA3kV_jpUmGNRpAQ

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/26/reading-writing-and-playing-how-games-can-play-a-key-role-in-the-classroom/feed/ 0 Barack Obama is Inaugurated Read/Write/ Engage Kit http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/21/barak-obama-is-inaugurated-readwrite-discuss-kit/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/21/barak-obama-is-inaugurated-readwrite-discuss-kit/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:38:42 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/?p=1020 by Samuel Sennott
Here are some curriculum components to be used to design lessons based on considering the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America on Tuesday January 20th, 2008.

Video of the Inauguration Speech (With Captions)

Part One

Part Two

Use http://mediaconverter.net to download the video, if YouTube is blocked at your school.

Barak Obama Bookshelf from the Tar Heel Reader

Other Readings and Resources

Slater Software Symbol Resources: http://slatersoftware.com/document.html#jan

Weekly Reader Resources (Note they are Flash Intensive(Trouble with screen reading): http://www.weeklyreader.com/election/

Kate Ahern’s blog post: How to Watch the Inauguration Live (via the web) Link to AAC Boards

PBS Front Line: Dreams of Obama:  Tons of resources, including a reading list for older readers, interviews, and the link to watch the full program. This is a truly excellent resource.

PBS Kids President for a Day

PBS Kids Send an EPostcard

http://superobamaworld.com (The video game is questionable content, yet it may be just the thing to hook in that one student.  Use with caution)

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/21/barak-obama-is-inaugurated-readwrite-discuss-kit/feed/ 6 Bookshelves Please Handout http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/20/bookshelves-please-handout/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/20/bookshelves-please-handout/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:54:29 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://alltogether.wordpress.com/?p=685 by Samuel Sennott

Saturday’s workshop was outright terrific.  The participants excitement about the curriculum project, Bookshelves Please was tangible.  I look forward to sharing about the prototyping and more about the project.  For now, a few participants did not recieve the handout.  Here it is:  bookshelves-please-handout

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/20/bookshelves-please-handout/feed/ 0 myWebspiration Public Beta http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/06/mywebspiration-public-beta/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/06/mywebspiration-public-beta/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:48:34 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://alltogether.wordpress.com/?p=652 by Samuel Sennott

mywebspiration logo

mywebspiration logo

Are you participating in the public beta test of myWebspiration. (www.mywebspiration.com)  From the makers of the graphic organizing softwares Inspiration, Kidspiration, and Inspiredata, comes the web 2.0 version of the software.  In my intial trials of using myWebspiration, my impression is that for the basics it works just like Inspiration, my graphic organizing software of choice.  Yet, gosh do I miss being able to do (contro/ command e).  That resizes your graphic.  There a few other usability features that will also be upgraded, such as undo, super small cell color fill buttons, and other problems related to overriding the browser function keys. Hey, that’s why its a beta right?  I just started a collaborative project using the sharing feature and will report on how it goes.  Overall, I think this software has great potential to give students access to the software at home, which assumes that the company continues its aggressively priced bulk liscensing options for schools.

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/06/mywebspiration-public-beta/feed/ 8 Closing the Gap Article October/November 2008 http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/05/closing-the-gap-article-octobernovember-2008/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/05/closing-the-gap-article-octobernovember-2008/#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:33:03 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://alltogether.wordpress.com/?p=647 by Samuel Sennott

Just wanted to share that my team from this summer and I had some work published in the Closing the Gap Newspaper turned magazine in the current issue, which is October/November 2008.  We are thrilled to be able to share some of the insight from our work focusing on users of AAC and writing.

A Writer, a Pencil, a Reason and a Teacher (Actually no pencil required)

By Samuel Sennott, Christina Cahill, Shelly Major, Nicole Nordal, Charity Smith-Engelin, Cassie Rubenstein and Joslyn Silverman

Preview:
After six intense weeks of Nova Southeastern University’s TLC Summer Writing Camp for users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), one of our team members said about the students, “They love writing now! Look at them, they just can’t wait to do it.” The six-week camp was designed with the goal of helping users of AAC, ages 8 to 12, become better writers. The primary intent of the camp was to develop and implement systems, curriculum and materials that would help the students grow in the writing process, both now and into their next school year. A secondary goal was to look for potential research questions to be studied related to users of AAC and the writing process.

[View Full Article]

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]]> http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/05/closing-the-gap-article-octobernovember-2008/feed/ 0 One to One Thousand Proof of Concept http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/05/one-to-one-thousand-proof-of-concept/ http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2008/10/05/one-to-one-thousand-proof-of-concept/#comments Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:51:53 +0000 Samuel Sennott http://alltogether.wordpress.com/?p=645 by Samuel Sennott

The Tar Heel Reader just reached the one thousand books mark this past week.  This is so exciting for students and teachers alike.  So much thanks for the work of the UNC Center for Literacy and Disability Studies and for the Computer Science work of Gary Bishop and now his class.  I think that the Tar Heel Reader offers some initial proof of concept that we can create solutions to questions and challenges that we have by working together.  In this case, everyone submitting a book or two truly makes a difference.  See how it becomes even more powerful when you get a teaming of literacy specialists with computer scientists.  The internet and low cost computing really does offer an unprecedented platform for collaboration.  I look forward to seeing this idea grow and blosom.  Also, it is exciting to consider the next steps and the refining of initial goals.

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