TLC Spotlight -Jensen JiPs-250i Speaker and Dock/Stand

Jensen JiPs-250i Speaker and Dock/Stand

Play and charge your iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPhone, and iPod (5th generation) with this Jensen docking station. An auxiliary input jack allows you to connect your iPod shuffle, MP3,or other digital audio players as well. Free APP download for enhanced clock alarm, voice message, calendar, EQ setting, music player, nature sound, photo album, internet radio, play anywhere ready, Facebook connect and Twitter integration. Rotating dock for landscape video viewing on iPad. Video line-out for playing videos from your device on a TV. Digital volume control, two built-in high fidelity speakers, and remote control.



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!



Web 2.0 Wednesday! LinkPocket

Are you looking for an easy way to collect URLs while you are on line? Do you want to share those links with someone else? Then you should try LinkPocket

Simply create an account and now you have the ability to copy/paste any link into the website. Now, you are able to see your links and click on them.

Looking for a way to make this more interactive? Give your user name to classmates, colleagues, etc and they will all be able to see the links you have collected. They can click on them to visit the websites, but will not be able to edit them.

Try it out and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Activity from Inclusion Conference 2011

Last week, we attended the annual Inclusion Conference, hosted by the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education. It was a good conference with many ideas and strategies shared to help support students with special needs in general education.

I attended a session called "Literacy Success for All: A Balanced Approach" with Tara DiBattista and David Smith from Cherry Hill School district. They do an activity on the first day of school called "The Band Aid activity". It is taken from Toby Karten's book Facilitator's Guide to More Inclusion Strategies That Work!

Here's how it works:

Each student gets a card with a different ailment written on it (broken arm, bloody nose, cut, ect.). The teachers pretend to be doctors who will be taking care of the students. For each ailment, everyone receives the SAME fix, a band aide. The purpose of this activity is to start a discussion about how the same thing doesn't work for everyone, everyone learns in different ways and some students will need different supports to be successful in the classroom. This activity sets the tone for the rest of the school year to promote acceptance and tolerance.

I thought it was very cute and clever and wanted to pass it on. Do you use this activity in your classroom or something similar? Share it!

APP Attack! Reading that responds to touch

For this week's entry - I wanted to point you towards an article from the NY Times titled, " For the iPad, Books the Respond to a Child's Touch"

This article talks about the new breed of interactive books designed to engage children in the reading process - by providing a very interactive experience.

Included in the article is a discussion about the book " The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore" (see left) where pages of the book actually become mini-movie scenes.


Do you know of any interactive books that would engage a struggling reader? Leave a comment below and share your experiences.


Happy 4th of July!


Do you want to learn more about APPS?

Then sign up for our APP Attack workshop on July 12th at our Ewing NJ office.

This is a new date because the first two sessions sold out! We are limiting the registration to the first 20 people, so sign up today!

For more info, click HERE.

Power Up What Works - Reading Initiative

PowerUp What Works-Reading

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, funds the Center for Technology Implementation’s PowerUp What Works-Reading initiative. This online resource is designed to improve teaching and learning for students with disabilities and their classmates using evidence-based and technology-enhanced practices.

District and school partners are needed to field test PowerUp What Works-Reading in elementary schools. Selected partner schools will receive ongoing implementation support along with a financial award.

If your school would like to become a field test partner, please complete and submit the application by July 8, 2011. The application and additional information about PowerUp What Works-Reading can be found at www.PowerUpWhatWorks.org. If you have any questions, contact Cynthia Overton at cti@air.org or 202-403-5058.

Cynthia Overton, Ph.D.
Senior Research Analyst
American Institutes for Research

Education, Human Development, Workforce
1000 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007-3835
www.AIR.org
Tel (202) 403-5058
Fax (202) 403-5001

Bookshare and HumanWare Simplify Access to Bookshare Books

Direct Connection to Bookshare Facilitates Transfer of Books to Devices
Palo Alto/Longueuil June 30, 2011 – HumanWare and Bookshare are pleased to announce a new version of the FREE HumanWare Companion Software that simplifies the process of finding, downloading, and transferring Bookshare books to the Victor Reader Stream digital talking book player. “Many of our customers appreciate the free HumanWare Companion software with its simple intuitive interface to transfer books and files from their computer to the Stream.” Says Gerry Chevalier, Victor Reader Brand Manager at HumanWare. “It seemed only logical to work with Bookshare to add the access to their web service. Now, our Companion users can not only transfer their Bookshare book to their Stream but they can go online to find and download the book as well.” “We developed an interface that connects to Bookshare from within devices and applications precisely for uses such as this – making it easier to find and read books,” says Betsy Beaumon, Vice President and General Manager of the Literacy Program at Benetech. “Bookshare members who use the Companion software with their Stream have direct access to our online book repository of more than 114,000 DAISY digital talking books.” With the latest version, 3.4, of the free HumanWare Companion software, VR Stream users can now select the Bookshare Web Service from the Online Books menu, log into their Bookshare account, and search by title, author or ISBN. Simply select the desired title from the search results list and the Companion will download it, and transfer the book to the Stream. It couldn’t be easier! Victor Reader Stream users can obtain the HumanWare Companion version 3.4 from: www.humanware.com/stream_software Or, users who already have Companion version 3.3 can just use the Check for Updates item of the Help Menu. To learn more about the popular Victor Reader Stream DAISY MP3 player and recorder visit: www.humanware.com/stream For more about Bookshare books and membership visit: www.bookshare.org About Bookshare Bookshare is the largest online accessible library of copyrighted content for people with print disabilities. Through its technology initiatives and partnerships, Bookshare seeks to raise the floor on accessibility issues so that individuals with print disabilities have the same ease of access to print materials as people without disabilities. In 2007, Bookshare received a five-year award from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), to provide free access for all U.S. students with a qualifying print disability. Bookshare serves more than 145,000 members and is an initiative of Benetech, a nonprofit which creates sustainable technology to solve pressing social needs. About HumanWare HumanWare (www.humanware.com) is the global leader in assistive technologies for the print disabled. HumanWare provides products to people who are blind or have low vision and students with learning disabilities. HumanWare offers a collection of innovative products, including BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for the blind in education, business and for personal use; the Victor Reader product line, the world's leading digital audiobook players; the SmartView family of handheld and desktop electronic magnifiers; and myReader2, HumanWare's unique "auto-reader.” Bookshare Media Contact: Valerie Chernek- 410-960-4060 valerie.c@bookshare.org HumanWare Media Contact: Nicolas Lagace - 450-461-1717 nicolas.lagace@humanware.com

Panera Bread doin' Good - Feel Good Friday

I live in a part of the state that doesn't have a lot of big box stores or chain restaurants. Over the last two years we joined the ranks of the rest of the state with new commercial development that led to BJ's, Costco, Olive Garden, IHOP and Target. Before this we had to travel about 30 minutes either north or south to shop at one of these stores or eat at one of these restaurants. This did not bother me, as I hate shopping, and would rather cook 9 times out of 10 than go out.

However, when I read this article, it made me wish I had access to this specific Panera Bread (St. Louis Bread Company).

Basically, this store a community cafe and their business model is designed to help people in need. It works like this. You order your sandwich. You are told what the "suggested funding" is (regular price) and you can pay that price or you can pay whatever you want or can, less or more. All additional proceeds beyond overhead and expenses are donated. They offer vouchers for volunteers to work for an hour and recieve a free meal. It looks to be a vibrant community gathering space.

You can see a video of it below:



I hope they are able to implement this model in their stores around the country; maybe even in my corner of the state.

Enjoy and Happy Friday!