Using iPads to Support Students Struggling with the Literacy Requirements of Schools and Beyond
Presentation Handout
Greg O’Connor – email: grego@spectronics.com.au Twitter: @gregoconnor
Greg’s Literacy Support Apps YouTube Playlist
Presentation Resources
Reading and access to learning content
The presentation explored the built in accessibility features and other settings that provide accommodations for students to access text. As well, a range of additional reading support apps were demonstrated and highlighted. Of course, content can be provided to our students in more ways than just via text. The use of audio and video apps to support student learning, and the creation of content for our students via e-book apps, was explored.
Reading apps
http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/apps-for-literacy-support#Reading-Support
Reading resources
Readability web sites:
- The Readability Test Tool
- Readability Score
- Checking Readability in Microsoft Word: Test your document’s readability
- Checking reading levels in Google Search
- Lexile Analyzer http://www.lexile.com/analyzer/
- Text Content Analysis Tool – http://www.usingenglish.com/resources/text-statistics.php
Rewordify – a web based option to help students understand what they read by supporting understanding and vocabulary.
URL shortening at bit.ly
Over – annotating photos on your iPad
VDownload Plus – Video Downloader
An option to share YouTube videos without the distractions of the stuff that happens on the side and below the video window – Nicertube
QR Codes in the classroom
http://www.spectronics.com.au/blog/apps-and-mobile-learning/qr-codes-what-are-they-and-how-can-i-use-them-in-my-classroom
Explain Everything iBook Manual https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/explain-everything/id591601596?mt=11
Explain Everything Video Tutorials http://www.morriscooke.com/?p=1045
Book Creator Blog http://www.redjumper.net/blog/
Spectronics Blog http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/apps-and-mobile-learning/teaching-and-learning/improvements-to-book-creator-is-it-possible/
Creative Book Builder Blog http://getcreativebookbuilder.blogspot.com.au/
Creating Accessible iBook Textbooks with iBooks Author https://itunes.apple.com/nz/book/creating-accessible-ibooks/id569179589?ls=1
Understanding eBooks – Doug Loader blog post
Ebook Readers on devices other than an iPad:
- Calibre – support for Mac, Linux and Windows
- FBReader – support for Mac and Windows, plus Android/iOS apps
- Firefox EPUBReader Add-On – Expansion for the Firefox internet browser on Mac and Windows
- Readium – ebook reader for Chrome
Organisation and other executive functions
Many students experience difficulty being organised and planning their study and workloads. The presentation touched on the range of apps available for these and the other executive functions many of our students struggle with including time management, note taking and task completion. Helping our students understand workflows on their iPad is important, as often it is more than just one app that will be required to meet their own learning needs.
Organisation and other executive functions apps
- http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/apps-for-literacy-support#Organisational
- http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/apps-for-literacy-support#Mind-Mapping
- http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/apps-for-literacy-support#Reference
Organisation and other executive functions resources
Using iPads and Other Devices for Executive Functioning by Gerry Kennedy
Best iPad Audio Recording Apps http://www.appolicious.com/curated-apps/7909-best-ipad-audio-recording-apps-jan-2013
The 7 Best ADHD Organisation Tools You Can Start With Today by Rob Hanley
Writing and the new literacies
The iPad can support students struggling with writing, so they can communicate and tell us what they know, what they have learnt and what they feel. Not only using ‘traditional writing’ frameworks that incorporate tools such as word prediction, spelling and vocabulary support, but also via the use of audio and video apps, the use of ‘cloud’ based apps, and the use of alternative formats including epub.
Writing apps
http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/apps-for-literacy-support#Writing-and-Notetaking-Support
Writing resources
- Katie Lyon takes you through the features Co:Writer app and provides a short video demonstration:http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/apps-and-mobile-learning/teaching-and-learning/cowriter-now-available-for-ios/
- Word Prediction iOS Apps: Features Comparison Chart by Darla Ashton
- ThoughtQ website – a tool for thought prediction and research http://www.thoughtq.com/
- 8 Useful Note Taking Apps for iPad – http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/09/8-useful-note-taking-apps-for-ipad.html
Apps
Resources
- Google apps
- How to get the most out of Google’s apps and services when using an iPad by Geoffrey Goetz
- 7 Google Search Tips Worth Learning – Texthelp Blog
Literacy Support Resources
- Greg’s Pinterest
- Call Scotland – iPad Apps for Learners with Dyslexia / Reading and Writing Difficulties App Wheel
- National Center for Learning Disabilities:Apps to Help Students With Dyslexia and Reading DifficultiesApps to Help Students With Dysgraphia and Writing DifficultiesApps for Students With LD: Organization and Study
- Strategies to support struggling learners through technology – Systems of Support Blog by Jason Carroll and Jason Gibson
- Unlocking Literacy with iPad A teacher research project by Jim Harmon, Euclid City Schools, Ohio
General Resources
- 2014 NMC Horizon Report – Higher Education Edition
- 2013 NMC Horizon Report – K-12 Edition
- Teacher confidence in using technology – http://ictevangelist.com/teacher-confidence-using-technology/
- The Myth of Average: Todd Rose at TEDxSonomaCounty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBmyttcfU4 - The Gutenberg Parenthesis: oral tradition and digital technologies
http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums/gutenberg_parenthesis.html - The End of Books
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/27/specials/coover-end.html - Literacy Skill levels – http://www.schrockguide.net/literacy-in-the-digital-age.html
- Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011-2012
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4228.0main+features992011-2012 - Literacy in the Digital AgeBrain Gain: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom (2012)
- http://marcprensky.com/brain-gain-technology-and-the-quest-for-digital-wisdom/
Literacy Support and Technology: Research and Good Practice
- The challenge of ebooks in academic institutions – David Hopkins
http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/ebook/the-challenge-of-ebooks-in-academic-institutions/ - Failure is not an option – Dave Edyburn
https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/edyburn/www/L&L2006.pdf - Universal design for Learning
http://www.cast.org/udl/ - Massive online education: Daphne Koller at TEDGlobal 2012
http://blog.ted.com/2012/06/26/massive-online-education-daphne-koller-at-tedglobal2012/ - The Professor’s Lecture Notes Go Straight to the Students’ Lecture Notes
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/17/lecture-minds/ - Educational Leadership Journal – Reading: The Core Skill Issue
- Fabian, K., & MacLean, D. (2014) Keep taking the tablets? Assessing the use of tablet devices in learning and teaching activities in the Further Education sector, Research in Learning Technology 2014, 22: 22648 – http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.22648
- Schneps, M. H., Thomson, J. M., Chen, C., Sonnert, G., & Pomplun, M. (2013). E-Readers Are More Effective than Paper for Some with Dyslexia. PLoS ONE 8(9): e75634. Available from http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0075634
- Edyburn, D.L. (2013). Inclusive technologies: Tools for helping diverse learners achieve academic success. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
- Datchuk, S. M., & Kubina, R. M. (2013). A Review of Teaching Sentence-Level Writing Skills to Students With Writing Difficulties and Learning Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 34(3), 180-192.
- Boyle, J. R. (2013). Strategic Note-Taking for Inclusive Middle School Science Classrooms. Remedial and Special Education, 34(2), 78-90.
- Straub, C., & Alias, A. (2013). Next Generation Writing at the Secondary Level for Students With Learning Disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 46(1), 16-24.
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