Disabilities becomes abilities with the iPad's Accessibility features

I attended the iPad feedback session from the Apple Accessibility Conference in Berlin, presented by Karen Hart at the iStore on Sandton Drive yesterday. I am struck that the word "disability" is not the choice word when discussing special needs . It is now only about "accessibility".

With three clicks the iPad changes into an accessible tool that changes learning for special needs' kids completely. The software has been built-in from the start and developed for 25 years.

It addresses vision, hearing, physical and motor skills, as well as learning and literacy.

The following quotes comes from a video about the use of iPads in special needs education: The link is here, and if you have seven minutes, it is really worth seeing: http://t.co/dVs54lRpmb

• iPad makes learning so much easier!
• When learning is fun, it has a bigger impact on the child!
• The focus is on the abilities rather than disabilities!
• The use of iPads open up new ways of looking at the world!
• Independence is very important to learning, and the iPad makes it possible.
• It motivates teaching!

A breakdown of the Accessibility features can be found here:
iOS. A wide range of features for a wide range of use 


The in-built features on the iOS devices:

I am only going to name them, because it can all be Googled to learn how to make use of it!

Vision

- VoiceOver
- Speak Screen
- Siri
- Dictation
- Zoom
- Font Adjustments
- Invert colours and grayscale
- Braille displays are also available

Hearing

- FaceTime video calling
- Unlimited texting
- Closed Captions to watch movies, television, and podcasts
- Mono Audio helps with adjusting stereo to mono, or diverting sound to one ear.
-Visibility and vibrating alerts
- Works with hearing aids

Karen Hart demonstrating her Picster Book apps that specifically addresses South African sign language for English and Afrikaans users. She also demonstrated this at the Berlin Conference. The Picsterbook apps are all available for free download on the iTunes Store.

Karen Heart with her Picster Books 

Physical and motor challenges

- Assistive Touch - the screen can be adapted to unique physical needs, such as not having functional arms.
- Siri
- Switch Control
- Dictation
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Predictive text
- Support for Third Party Keyboards

Karen Hart demonstration of using only head movements to
operate the iPad

Attention, Cognitive and Learning challenges (including autism)

- Guided access
- Speak Screen
- Dictionary
- Safari

Karen hart discussed a few presentations that caught her eye during the Conference, including the story of Srini Swaminathan who uses the iPad as teaching tool in the slums of India.

Earlier today Karen Hart @picsterbooks gave feedback about the Accessibility Summit in Berlin with reference to the passion of @srini091 who teach in the slums if India with his iPad #ipadlearningza

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Mar 23, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT

Responses on the Instagram photo:

@karentoittoit Thank you Karen Srini remains an inspiration for me. If we had more teachers like him we could change the face of education
— Karen Hart (@picsterbooks) March 24, 2015

I was inspired as always, and wish we can have this technology in every child's hand!


Related posts:

- iPad learning for special needs - Autism #iPadlearningZA

- iPad in Education at Sacred Heart College #iPadLearningZA

iPads in the Classroom: from consumption to creation - Tom Daccord #iPadEdSummitZA

Tom Daccord:
"Educators shouldn't think of iPads as repositories of apps but rather as
portable media creation devices."

I was extremely fortunate to be invited to attend the first South African iPad Summit this week at The Forum in Bryanston.

Core Group invited three international speakers, with over 400 educators from southern Africa attending. It is a buzz to see all the teachers with their iPads taking notes and photographs and discussing the practicalities of implementation of the iPad. It makes me very excited for our education in South Africa!

SA iPad Summit with international speakers #iPadedsummitZA > transforming and preparing all our learners! pic.twitter.com/SkKyKeUu0n
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) February 16, 2015

Tom Daccord, who is from Boston in the United States, has worked with schools, districts, colleges, and educational organisations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He was a history teacher for many years!

My head is still spinning from all the new information of the conference today, but here are
A few important pointers taken from the Keynote speech by Tom Daccord:

- Teachers should not focus on app teaching. It is the narrow vision of an iPad. It is not a passive instrument, but should be used creatively!
See the quote on top by Tom Daccord.

- Teachers should build a vision to work towards. What does awesome look like? (Free Teacher Activity Book for iPads in the Classroom available!) That is the starting point of great learning!

- Three commonalities are identified of great teachers using iPads:

1. Empower through creativity. Children should be empowered to demonstrate what they know in different modalities.

2. Connect. iPads connect globally and students have access to the global community and learning. Use social media!

3. Make learning last. Teachers help students to create opportunities to actively learn.
We were told the anecdote of Tom Daccord's step daughter who was in a classroom setting where the teacher told the children to learn Chinese vocabulary and left. The children came up with the idea to incorporate it with making cooking demonstration videos. She still remembers that vocabulary to this day!

3 Commonalities -great teachers using iPads: Empower through creativity, Connect, Make learning last #iPadedsummitZA pic.twitter.com/XIvgZmRRVt
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) February 16, 2015

- There are evergreen apps that can be used at any point of time with any subject, such as Book Creator, iBooks, iTunesU, Padlet, Notability, Camera.

- The first five days are crucial when introducing the iPad.
Tom Daccord suggests getting to know the students are the most important. It is being done by making use of apps on the iPad, such as the Socrative apps. The teacher will learn more about the children and their background, and the children will already begin to familiarize themselves with the iPad.

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I will be sharing some more about the Summit in the upcoming days. I have also seen some handy apps that I did not know about. I will probably encounter some more tomorrow!

I hope my daughter's school start their implementation sooner rather than later. I will be that parent phoning again...

(Today I wished again I was a teacher!)

Wordless Wednesday #244 - Clouds from above

Wordless Wednesday #243 - Cape Town Conference

I am going to miss them while I am in Cape Town

I am going to a conference in the Cape on Saturday! I can't wait!
We do not get these opportunities very often, and I am really feeling very VERY lucky!

I am passionate about attending conferences, and I love Cape Town.
We definitely don't go there as much as I would like. (Cape Town is on my bucket list - anything and anywhere that's Cape Town).

But I don't like leaving Little Missy and the eldest behind. (The ambivalence of being a working mother.)
I know that Hubby will be there to handle it, and he will do it very good! He also supports me all the way! (Thanks Hubby)
The eldest will be shadowing as well as part of her practicals, and an aunt will cover it! (Thanks to family!)

I am going to miss them!

Hair selfie - Sit still, Mom!

Hair selfie  with a very serious looking
Little Miss

Warning: Prepared to be spammed by Cape Town photos!

At a conference

I love going to conferences.

I love the new ideas, different thinking and perspectives, AND the broadening of my own horizons.

Most importantly, the conversations!

Quote from today: "The kind of conversation I'm interested in is one in which you start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person." - Theodore Zeldin

(David Gurteen at the Knowledge Cafe Workshop at the International Knowledge Management Conference 2012 today)

 

See you at a conference?

Posted with Blogsy

Keep calm and do not send the angry sms

The Significant Other is in Mauritius for the week.

He phoned me on Tuesday from a colleague's phone after they had arrived on that side.

Since then I haven't heard from him...

You would think that he would have send me a short sms/email/whatever...
You would think that he would make a plan to contact us...
(We have technology nowadays!)

But nothing!

I need one of those "Keep Calm" posters now!
I am very tempted to send an angry sms to the colleague's phone!


KEEP.CALM.AND.DO.NOT.SEND.THE.ANGRY.SMS.

He is coming back tomorrow!


Related post:
Partner at conferences and team-buildings