TLC Spotlight - Portable Fold Mini Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard

Portable Fold Mini Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard

Fold it and put it in your pocket!

Sleek and slim design, folding and ergonomic bluetooth design.  Built-in rechargeable li-ion battery. 
66 keys lay out.  Micro USB charging port and 2 LED indicator light.  Good touch feeling and quiet keystrokes.

This keyboard supports Apple iPad, iPad2, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and any others android tablet with bluetooth connection.

What do you think? Do you want to TRY IT before you BUY IT? Then join our Technology Lending Center. Click here to join today! 

Quick AT Round-Up

Thanks to those of you who stopped by and said “Hello” at the recent New York Metro Abilities Expo. It was great to meet so many of you. We showed off lots of technology and expanded a few horizons, I’m sure. Here are a few articles we’ve seen recently that we thought you’d enjoy.

An article published recently in the New York Times outlines some new audio-enhancing strategies for people who are hard of hearing.

This Technology blog at the Atlantic Monthly details how Apple’s commitment to accessibility coupled with a few ingenious apps have made the iPhone a useful tool for people who are blind or visually impaired.

A couple of college kids in Toronto have designed MyVoice, an app for iProducts which allows users to tag different locations with specific words and phrases and then uses GPS technology to allow users to generate vocabulary based on location. Pretty cool. Here’s the article from the CBCNews site.

For those of us who help K-12 students get accessible texts, it had been a real problem to help those same students as they entered college and didn't have the same laws and support system in place.  When the AccessText network came into being, and further expanded to provide free membership to colleges, it was a godsend.  From their website, www.AccessText.org:

"The AccessText Network helps college students with print disabilities by connecting their disability service offices directly with leading textbook publishers to obtain electronic files. These files are used to create accessible versions of the textbooks."


I've been using their new Accessible Textbook Finder, which allows you to search NOT ONLY their collection, but also Bookshare, Learning Ally, etc.  It's great!

And here's a secret!  You can use their search tool even without being a member!  You can be looking for a book for a k-12 student, it doesn't matter-- this tool just helps you search all sources.  

TIP- the ISBN search field only accepts up to 13 numbers, so get rid of dashes before cutting and pasting an ISBN nunber into the search.  And if the ISBN number doesn't show up, search by title.  

TLC Spotlight - Blue2 Bluetooth Switch

Blue2 Bluetooth Switch

With the Ablenet Blue2 Bluetooth Switch, you will have access to your favorite compatible iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch applications. You simply sync the Blue2 switch with your Apple® device and activate the switch scanning mode.

With two built-in switches, the Blue2 supports both single and dual switch access. Additional switches can be used with the Blue2 Switch by plugging them into the available ports.

Additionally, Ablenet's Blue2 Bluetooth Switch also comes with a USB Bluetooth dongle so you can use it for computer access.

Features:
Bluetooth wireless access up to 30 ft.
No-touch access to compatible iTunes AAC apps
Single or dual switch access
Long battery life
Computer access with the included Bluetooth dongle
Supports five modes of keyboard/mouse commands
Compatible with iPad, iPod Touch (3rd & 4th Generation), and iPhone (3GS & 4).

What do you think? Do you want to TRY IT before you BUY IT? Then join our Technology Lending Center. Click here to join today! 

Snap & Read from Don Johnston

Don Johnston Inc, the company that brought us the SOLO suite of tools recently announced their newest product, Snap & Read!

According to the company website:

Snap&Read is an accessible toolbar that reads any text on-screen as it floats over any application. The simple one-button interface reads both accessible and inaccessible text aloud from Flash websites, Word docs, PDFs, web-based tests, images, and even dialog boxes.

If it looks like text, Snap&Read will read it!

The tool can be loaded onto your computer (MAC or PC) or you can run it directly from a USB drive and have access to the tool anywhere!

Cost of the software starts at $79.99 per license or a special introductory price of $399 for an unlimited site license.

Visit the product page to check out the video of the tool in action. Click here!

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this software. Keep watching for a more in depth review.

TLC Spotlight - Big Keys Keyboard

Big Keys Keyboard


The BigKeys LX keyboard is for anyone who needs large keys in order to locate and operate the keys.

Keys are easy to see: 1-inch square, Keyboard comes in a QWERTY alpha key layout or ABC layout.
Easy-to-read key labels (large black printing on bright-white keys or White letters with black keys, or Black letters with Yellow keys)
No special software required! Just plug into your PC in place of the regular keyboard.  Each key press generates only 1 character, no matter how long the key is held down.

What do you think? Do you want to TRY IT before you BUY IT? Then join our Technology Lending Center. Click here to join today! 

TLC Spotlight - Apple iPad Keyboard Dock

iPad Keyboard Dock

The iPad Keyboard Dock combines a dock for charging your iPad with a full-size keyboard, which includes special keys that activate iPad features. The dock has a rear 30-pin connector, which lets you connect to an electrical outlet using the USB Power Adapter, sync to your computer, and use accessories like the iPad Camera Connection Kit. An audio jack lets you connect to a stereo or powered speakers.

What do you think? Do you want to TRY IT before you BUY IT? Then join our Technology Lending Center. Click here to join today! 

TLC Spotlight - Switch Activated Teddy Bear

Look who joined the TLC... 

Buzz, buzz! Activate your capability switch or squeeze Teddy Bear's paw and he will rock out. His eyes roll and a bee buzzes while he sings “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic”.

What do you think? Do you want to TRY IT before you BUY IT? Then join our Technology Lending Center. Click here to join today! 

TLC Spotlight - Wow-Pen Joy Optical Mouse

Do you realize that with a conventional mouse your hand is flat on the desk?  So to move the mouse, you must move your wrist sideways.  While doing this, your wrist is restricted in its motion.

The Wow-Pen JOY Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse combines break-through comfort with a host of productivity enhancing features unlike any mouse on the market today. The Wow-Pen isn't just another mouse, it's a revolutionary jump forward in computer input devices.  Wow-Pen JOY second right click button for this five button, fully functional mouse. 



See below diagram of the Wow-Pen Joy

What do you think? Do you want to TRY IT before you BUY IT? Then join our Technology Lending Center. Click here to join today! 

APP Attack! College Prep Apps

Today's APP Attack focuses on Apps for college prep. This list was originally published in the TL Advisor Blog at the Tech & Learning website.

Essay Apps
Essay Writing Guide $1.99 holiday sale- By arranging the elements of writing graphically around three wheels (Content, Style, and Organization), teachers and students are better able to visualize how the elements of writing develop style, coherence, and meaning.

SAT and ACT PREP
Complete SAT Free for iPhone or iPad. For complete course $24.99. Free app includes mini diagnostic test and topic videos.

SAT Math Pro Test $1.99 - 80% discount. This app covers 50 topics including detailed videos. 100s of original SAT math practice problems, nine SAT math tests and detailed reports.

Flash of Genius SAT Vocab Free. Use with iPod, iPhone or Ipad Written by Harvard and MIT Professors, this app adjusts the order of the flashcards to suit each user. It also inserts mini-lessons, so users learn the word roots, the connections between the words, as well as the words themselves.

SAT-ACT vocabulary builder $4.99 Phone, iPod touch, and iPad. 500 of the most commonly tested vocabulary words on the SAT® and ACT® exams. 1000 illustrative sentences, spaced repetition feature, automatic statistics, search features, quiz mode and more.

College Guides
College Search Guide Handbook $2.99 Includes over 3000. Information about each college includes:

• Degrees Offered
• Campus Setting (rural, suburb, large city, etc)
• Campus Housing Availability Information
• Student population with charts on diversity
• Religious Affiliation
• Credit Accepted
• Estimated Student Expenses for three years
• Financial Aid Information
• Enrollment Information
• Freshman Retention Rate
• Programs and Majors (students in each major)
• Varsity Athletic Teams
• Accreditation
• Campus Security Information for three years
• Federal Loan Default Rates
• User Reviews

Peterson's College Guide Free. Includes over 60 official data points on over 4,000 two- and four-year colleges in the United States. Search for the perfect college by any combination of state, size, tuition, sports majors offered or selectivity.

Budget and Financial Aid
Ace Budget $.99 For iPod, iPhone and iPad. A personal finance app. Users create daily, weekly, monthly, semimonthly, quarterly, and yearly budgets and schedule recurring transactions, set reminders, view graphs, compare historical data, and more.

College Fafsa Finder Free. Provides the most essential information for US college applicants around the world:

• Freshmen class academic profiles and estimated cost of attendance
• College contact information, including admission office information and website link
• Each college’s FAFSA code (public institution) or CSS code (private institution)
• Three ways to search colleges: by name, by FAFSA code or by CSS code.

College Tools
College Survival Kit $1.99- Programs in the app help ease the stress of applying to schools. Users touch the control panel, choose the "Brain Wave" desired to improve their mental state. Also included are a personal alarm and memo pad.

iStudiez-Pro - $2.99 I have recommended this app before as a back-to-school app. Helps users organize their schedule, follow up with homework, and summarize what has to be done.

Complete Class Organizer $4.99 Take notes while recording lectures and the audio syncs to the text. Manage homework and exam dates, store and calculate grades, and organize info for every class.

To see the original post, plus two extra apps that cost more that $10, visit the post HERE.

Do you know of other college prep apps? Leave a comment below and share your resource.

Do you want to learn more about APPS?

Do you want to learn how to implement iPads in your school?

Contact us - we can help! We will work collaboratively with your team to determine an effective course of action for your specific situation.

Email Mike Marotta, Assistant Director, ATS Dept. at mmarotta@advopps.org