Always on the look out for new and innovative products, I came across the Naked Flex Mount from a company in Florida called Seasucker. By Naked, the company means that you don't need a special bracket to mount the iPad with. The Naked Flex Mount utilizes two special 4 1/2 inch vacuum mounts that adhere to any flat surface. The  Naked Flex Mount Kit includes 2 - 4 1/2 inch mounts and a flexible arm that allows you to position your iPad in just about any position. The Naked Flex Mount System is easy to use and because of the way it works, there is no reason to worry if Apple changes the design to the iPad that it will make it unusable.  So how does it work- very simply set one of the  4 1/2 inch vacuum mounts on a clean surface like a desk and press the finger pump a couple of times to create an incredibly strong vacuum seal. Next screw in the flexible shaft provided and attach the other 4 1/2 inch vacuum mount and attach it to the back of the iPad and press the finger pump. That's all you need to do. The  Naked Flex Mount gives you tremendous flexibility and is ideal for mounting on wheelchair trays, desks, and other surfaces. The  Naked Flex Mount comes with easy to use directions and a carrying case. If you are interested in learning more about the Naked Flex Mount let me know and I would be glad to do a webinar with you over the web. Seeing is believing. AssistiveTek, LLC is an authorized reseller of the Naked Flex Mount and Purchase Orders are accepted. The Naked Flex Mount/With Travel Case is $104.95 plus S/H. AssistiveTek, LLC carries the full line of iPad Mounting kits from  Seasucker. 

I would like to thank the folks at Satarri, Inc for sending me the Swivl to review, which arrived this past week. The Swivl is an innovative product for the iPhone 4, 4S and iPod Touch 4th generation that lets you capture video without the need for a camera-person. The Swivl is comprised of two different units-the Swivl base and the Marker. The Swivl base is a motorized turret that houses your iPhone and allows the base to communicate with the Marker which can follow your movements as you record. Set up was a breeze at the company provided a Quick Start Guide that got you up and running quickly. To get started I downloaded the free Swivl app to my iPhone 4S, placed the provided batteries (nice touch) into the Swivl base and Marker and then seated the iPhone on the Swivl base and plugged in the connector. I powered up the Swivl base and the Marker, opened the Swivl app and hit the record button to start the video recording. As I moved around the Swivl followed me which made recording a snap. The actuators in the Swivl base are very quiet and barely perceptible. I should note that the Marker in addition to being used as a way to track your movements, includes a high quality digital microphone that is used in the recording process. Once you have finished recording you can quickly upload your video to YouTube directly from the Swivl app which makes this a great tool for bloggers, educators, or anyone that wants to incorporate more video into the work that they do. Having the freedom to move around while doing your videos and not be constrained is really a fantastic feature. The Swivl is easy to use and I know that I will be doing more video blogging with it in the future. So if you find yourself wanting to do more video work and you usually work on your own, this is the perfect gift for you. You can purchase the Swivl on the Swivl website or on Amazon.com. Below is the video that was captured using the iPhone and Swivl with Medium Video size setting in the Swivl app. The Notes for this video were captured using Quartet Kapture, a digital flip chart capturing tool. For more information about Quartet Kapture click here. Please let me know how you might use Swivl?

I am excited to announce a new feature on my blog today called "The AssistiveTek Minute." Each week, I will highlight a piece of assistive or educational technology that I have found to be innovative and useful in the classroom. This week in the "The AssistiveTek Minute," I highlight the Franklin AnyBook Reader an easy to use reading tool to engage students in the reading process.  If your company is interested in sponsoring the "The AssistiveTek Minute then please get in touch with me- it is a great way to get the word out about your company and products. The video was produced using an Apple iPhone 4S and the Swivl

It's hard to believe just how quickly the school year has flown by and I am once again getting ready to travel to the ISTE 2012 Conference in San Diego, CA. This promises to be a great conference with the buzz about mobile learning and the flipped classroom. I for one am looking forward to meeting up with friends and colleagues and sharing ideas about how technology can enhance the lives of the students we work with. Of course there is always the Exhibit Hall which is packed with new and exciting gadgets and gizmo's which is always a blast to go through. I'm sure we will be seeing lots of iPad apps and accessories being hawked in the Exhibitor Hall along with interactive technologies that can help engage the students in our classroom. While I'm at ISTE please follow my blog for my thoughts about the conference and some new an exciting products that will be launched. You can also follow me on Twitter at #assistivetek If you are attending ISTE 2012 Conference look me up- it would be great to meet and get a chance to talk!

There was a lot of buzz at ISTE 2012 with regards to  the "flipped classroom" and how it can be implemented in the classroom. Many educators who were talking about the change in how instruction is being delivered were excited by what they see happening in their classrooms. For those of you who may not be familiar with the term "flipped classroom" -it is when the instruction takes place outside the classroom thereby giving teachers ample time to differentiate instruction and have students apply their skills during classroom time. Many teachers who have moved to the "flipped classroom" model are creating short instructional videos in a number of creative ways using a host of different hardware and software solutions. While at ISTE 2012, I had the opportunity to meet with Shane Lovellette, Product Manager for Camtasia Studio 8 who walked me through some of the new features that is found in their recent release of Camtasia Studio 8. Camtasia Studio is one of the leading screencasting applications in the marketplace and provides teachers with a rich set of tools to create instructional videos that can be played back on all platforms. Camtasia Studio 8 was rewritten from the ground up to take advantage of multiple platform play back and now with the new Quizzing feature it is a great way for teachers to assess students as they are watching the videos. All of the results of the quizzes are automatically linked to your Screencast account ensuring that responses are accurately reported and available to you in a user friendly format. Having access to Camtasia Studio 8 and a Wacom tablet will give you the tools you need to create instructional videos that your students will be engaged and able to learn from. Techsmith has created a great resources for educators looking to learn more about the flipped classroom. There are certainly lots of way for teachers to create videos for the flipped classroom and another one of my favorite ways to do this is with the Livescribe Smartpen. Using the Livescribe Echo Smartpen teachers can simply record their instructional videos by writing in a Livescribe notebook as they are talking through the steps of the problem or lesson. The Livescribe Smartpen will automatically synchronize the audio and ink and allow students to watch the video as if they were sitting next to their teacher. The process of creating the pencast is straight forward and easily accomplished. Pencasts can be viewed on multiple platforms and be shared to iOS devices to be played back. The Livescribe Smartpens are certainly a great way to create content for the flipped classroom. For more information about how to get started with Pencasts please take a look at a post I did last year. Pencasts are also easy to embed into websites, wikis, and learning management systems (LMS) giving student access to the material whatever platform they are on. While at ISTE 2012 I had a chance to stop by Improv Electronics, the developers of the Boogie Board and Boogie Board RIP. I have always found the Boogie Boards to be a very enticing and engaging tool for writing, drawing and doodling. Using the Boogie Board RIP and the Companion Desktop software along with Camtasia Studio, Jing or Screenr, teachers could create on the fly videos for their flipped classroom in no time. Here is an example of how to create a video using the Boogie Board RIP and the Companion desktop software. At the show, Improv Electronics announced that they would soon release new companion software the would allow your stored files on the Boogie Board RIP to be saved to your Evernote account. This is a huge feature and one that will certainly have educators looking at the Boogie Board RIP more closely once it is released. Evernote has become an integral piece of the educational marketplace with more and more schools and students using it to save notes, images and audio. The integration of the Boogie Board RIP and Evernote will certainly make this an enticing offer and one that I'm sure teachers will look at as a way to move notes to a digital platform in an inexpensive and convenient package. Improv Electronics also announced the availability of the MyScript plug-in this fall that will allow for hand writing recognition of notes recorded on the Boogie Board RIP.  For teachers who have an iPhone or iPod Touch (4th generation) you may want to take a look at the Swivl a truly innovative way to record video without the need for a camera person. the Swivl is a small motorized turret that can follow you as you move around the classroom simply by holding the marker that ships with the product. The Swivl gives you the freedom to create videos on the fly that can be started and stopped from the marker Additionally, the marker serves as  a high quality digital recorder that guarantees no matter where you are in relationship to your iPhone or iPod you will deliver high quality audio to the device. Using the Swivl is really a breeze to learn. For more about the Swivl you can read a review that I recently posted. The Swivl is an easy and effortless way to capture high quality video in the classroom and gives you the freedom to move around. Using the Swivl would be another great way to create content for the flipped classroom. ISTE 2012 was filled with great tools to allow teachers to quickly create content for their flipped classroom. Depending on your level of expertise there are entry and advanced tools for you to access to let you begin to experiment with the flipped classroom methodology. To learn more the flipped classroom you may want to take a look at this book which was recently published: Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Your Classroom Everyday. If you have any questions about how to create material using these tools for your flipped classroom please feel free to contact me via email. If you are looking for a workshop on content creation for the flipped classroom, please feel free to contact me. I am available for workshops and teacher training on these tools.

It has been a number of years since I had initiated putting together a mind mapping conference here in New Jersey, and today I was talking to my good friend and visual mapper Wallace Tait about the possibility of setting up a mind mapping conference so that we convene and share ideas. With the economy in its current state we need to bring innovation and ideas to the work that we do whether it is in the public or private sectors. What better way to  kick-start this year then by planning to convene interested participants who want to explore how we can put mind mapping to use in the work that we do. I have spoken to Wallace about the idea for an Unconference -whereby we pick a time and place and build the agenda the day of the conference based on your needs. This model has worked really well in the educational marketplace and is one that could work well for us. At the Unconference we could learn about new and innovative ways that people are using mind mapping in the work that they do, whether it is academic, personal, or business related. In this spirit, it would be great to have some corporate sponsorship that could take care of some of the expenses and be a host for the day. I for one think that a mind mapping conference is long overdue and hope that some of the leading companies in this arena will find value in this idea and step up to the plate to make this a reality. I know that Wallace and I are willing to put the time in to see that it happens. If you are interested in making this a reality please feel free to contact me.  All the best and Happy Mind Mapping!

I have been meaning to write about Clicker 6 for some time now, but it has been an incredibly busy spring and summer and I didn't get a chance to sit down and reflect on the latest release. Truth be told I have been a big fan of Clicker for a long time now and with the current release I am even more excited with the potential of this program with students with a wide range of abilities. Having worked with a lot of assistive technology over the years one of the key criteria for me is that it has got to be easy to use. If it takes me awhile to learn how to use a software program then I know that it is doomed in the classroom. The latest release of Clicker 6 now includes Activity Wizards which make using the program a real dream. Just this morning I had the chance to use Clicker 6 with a student I was working with who had underlying cognitive and language disabilities and within seconds of selecting a Talk About Wizard I had developed a picture based activity that he could use to tell a story about the pictures on the screen. It was incredible just how engaged the student was and how exciting it was to see the expression on his teacher's face as he told his story. Using the Activity Wizard the activity was created within 15 seconds. In today's, fast paced classroom having tools at your disposal that can create rich curriculum based materials is more important than ever. After I created this Talk About activity, I decided to create a picture to word matching activity to see if the student could match the pictures to the word. To create this activity, I selected the Matching Wizard, followed the on-screen prompts and selected the pictures that I had downloaded to a folder on my desktop. Again within 10 seconds my matching activity was up and running and the student could give it a try. The teachers were very impressed and were able to see just how easy it was to create the activity. Clicker 6 provides students with high quality text to speech supports and with the integration of the webcam, audio and multimedia it is my go to program for students that have a wide range of learning challenges. If you have not looked at Clicker for awhile I would urge you to take a look at the current release which has a lot to offer. I am planning another post to talk about the other supports that are now integrated into Clicker 6 namely, word prediction, switch support, and drawing tools. So watch for another post about Clicker 6 to be coming soon!

In my previous post I spoke about just how easy it was to create a Matching Activity in Clicker 6 with it new Wizards and thought that I would show you how quickly this could be accomplished. Likewise, my other reason for creating the screencast was to work with the latest version of Camtasia Studio 8 which was recently released. If you are doing screencasting of any sort, then you will want to take a look at the latest release of Camtasia Studio 8. I was able to create this polished screencast with Camtasia Studio in minutes and share it with you using their on line storage component called, Screencast.com. In the age of the "flipped classroom," Camtasia Studio 8 is an essential tool and one that will make your videos shine. Please look for a more in depth review of Camtasia Studio 8 in the coming weeks.

Finding ways to engage students in the classroom with easy to use tools is always a challenge for teachers. But when you do find and easy to use tool that works well-its time to share. I recently had the opportunity to review the Easi-Speak digital microphone form Learning Resources and it name says it all. The Easi-Speak USB microphone has a built-in rechargeable battery that can last up to 4 hours on a charge, giving you and your students plenty of time to record. The Easi-Speak USB microphone can be charged via the USB port on your computer and there is no need to ever have to change or discard batteries.  The Easi-Speak USB microphone is simple to use and is ideal for students in the kindergarten all the way up through the grades. Students can start recording by clicking the Red button on the microphone and when they are done they can simply press the Red button again to end the recording session. I had my graduate students use the Easi-Speak USB microphone and they were really excited and impressed with the quality of the audio recordings. Many of my students were looking forward to purchasing an Easi-Speak USB microphone to use in their classrooms for reading fluency, story telling, and for podcasting. The Easi-Speak USB microphone can save the audio files in the MP3 or WAV format making it easy to utilize with other computer applications. In fact when you plug in the Easi-Speak USB microphone into a USB port it mounts as a flash drive where you can find all of your recordings. The Easi-Speak USB microphone ships with a copy of Audacity giving you the ability to edit the sound files. With the Easi-Speak USB microphone, simple controls and quality recordings, this is one tool most teachers will definitely want to have in the classroom. Here is short video about Easi-Speak USB microphone. To be in the running for a free Easi-Speak USB microphone click here and share how you would use this tool in the classroom.

It has been a couple of years since I last reviewed the Labquest from Vernier, so when I was able to get my hands on the LabQuest 2, I was really excited to find out about all the new enhancements in this new handheld connected science system. The LabQuest 2 is about the size of large cell phone with a high contrast screen that is powered by a high capacity rechargeable Lithium battery. The Labquest 2 has a great design and feels very solid in your hands as you use the device. The high resolution touch screen is great for viewing when you are using it outside in the field. Vernier did not skimp on the processing power in this device and you will find it very responsive when you are collecting or analyzing data on the device. The LabQuest 2 supports all of the Vernier sensors making it easy for schools who have invested in their devices and probes. The LabQuest 2 now includes both WiFi and Bluetooth which opens up all kinds of possibilities which I will discuss later in the post. Additionally, the LabQuest 2 has built-in accelerometers as well as GPS which can be utilized with other sensors for recording such data. I should mention that the LabQuest 2 is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers. LabQuest 2 Screenshot But no matter how good the hardware is-how does the LabQuest 2 hold up when in use? This is where this device really shines! Teachers will find that the LabQuest 2 is a dream to use-just plug in the sensor which will be automatically detected by the LabQuest 2 and press the Collect button to get started. Instantly students will be able to see their data being displayed on the screen. Once the data is collected students can spend their time using the analytic tools built in or transfer the data to a computer. Teachers can also have students email the data, graph, or screenshot directly from the LabQuest 2, that was captured, which makes it easy to include in a lab report. The LabQuest 2 supports analysis with linear and curve fits and allows students to record their notes on the device, with the on-screen keyboard. Teachers will enjoy the fact- knowing that the LabQuest 2 comes with over 100 experiments that are pre-loaded on the device which students can access. If teachers would like to customize the labs, Vernier has a handy Lab Creator Tool that is available to teachers that allows you to tweak the lab to your liking.  Vernier Data Share on iPhone 4S In this age of bring your own device (BYOD) Vernier has taken this model to heart and created the "connected science system," allowing anyone with a browser to view and interact with the collected data. This enables students with iPhones, Android Phones, iPod Touches, and iPads, to launch their browser and view the data live as it is being collected. All the students need to to do is go to their Settings and make sure that their device and the LabQuest 2 is on the same wireless network. Now simply launch the browser and enter in the IP address or name of Network and voila you are ready to view the data being collected in real time. I have tested various browsers, using my iPhone, iPad, and Kindle Fire with the LabQuest 2 and in each case the data was instantaneously available for me to preview in real time. For a richer set of tools, teachers can purchase the Graphical Analysis for iPad app from the App Store. With the LabQuest 2, Vernier has transformed the way teachers need to think about teaching science in the classroom and provided them with an easy and powerful solution for capturing data in real time. Utilizing their "connected science system" with the LabQuest 2 it is now possible to extend their set of tools to students, so that they can collaborate in real time-by simply launching a browser. For teachers that want to create more interactive science lessons and give students the opportunity to collect data the LabQuest 2 is certainly an outstanding tool you should include in your classroom. Giving students the opportunity to both visualize and analyze data is at the heart of science and what better way to make it hands-on than with the LabQuest 2. For ore information about the LabQuest 2 you can click here. If you are considering using the LabQuest 2 in your classroom Vernier will be offering free 4 hour workshop sessions in the Fall. For more information about the workshops click here.

Switch to HTML mode and paste the e Apple profit jumps to $8.8 bn, but below forecasts (via AFP) Apple on Tuesday reported a rise in its quarterly profit to $8.8 billion on hot iPad sales but the results came up short of lofty Wall Street expectations, prompting its shares to dive. The profit in the fiscal quarter to June was up 20.5 percent from a year earlier and amounted to $9.32 dollars a…   mbed code over this text

I had a chance last week to write a blog post for SmartBlogs in Education and wanted to share the link with you. As Moore’s Law would have predicted, the pace of technology has been accelerating at an incredible rate in the past couple of years, which has made it a challenge for educators to select and decide on which technology to bring into the classroom. While general education is now wrestling with how to handle the purchase of tablets (iPads) for classroom use, the decisions that have to be made with regards to using these technologies with students in special education has become even a bigger issue.  Continue to Read Article Your comments are welcome!

Giving students and teachers the opportunity to visualize ideas and concepts is one proven way to improve achievement in the classroom. While many classrooms now have whiteboards as well as interactive whiteboards there are still a large number of schools that still have traditional blackboards that long for the opportunity to have a whiteboard that they can put colored markers to. Replacing blackboards with whiteboards can be extremely expensive for schools when you take into account the labor and the price of good quality whiteboards. But what if there was a cost effective way for classrooms to transform their blackboards into whiteboards? In fact, there is a cost effective way to accomplish this using IdeaPaint- an easy to use dry erase paint that can be applied to almost any surface. In fact some teachers have used IdeaPaint to paint the walls as well as the top of student's desks. I had learned about IdeaPaint several years ago but was excited to see how educators in New Jersey were using this product in the classroom. IdeaPaint has a number of great videos on their website demonstrating how teachers across the US are using IdeaPaint in the classroom to make learning more interactive and more visually appealing.  I had a chance to chat with Annika Levitt, First Grade Teacher at the Kiel School in Kinnelon, NJ who has been using IdeaPaint in the classroom to get her perspective on the product. BSF: What's your overall view of IdeaPaint? It looks like a great product for the classroom! AL: I can see as to why IdeaPaint would strike you as a great tool for the classroom...because it is!! Visually it is a wonderful outlet for kids to express their ideas and keep them motivated. For example, the difference of having them solve math problems on their desks vs. paper did wonders! As for the application, although I did not cover the desks and walls firsthand, I was there to watch the painters and it seemed like a pretty simple task. The desks were very easy to prep. As for the walls, like any paint job it took some prep work of sanding, but once the paint was ready to roll on it was an easy process. I did have the experience of using some touch up paint in a difficult area and that also very simple. BSF: What difference do you see having access to the Ideapaint surfaces in your first grade classroom? AL: Having access to IdeaPaint surfaces in the classroom opens up endless opportunities for learning. The ability to write on these surfaces caters to the needs of all different types of students, who exhibit multiple learning styles. For example, the child who learns through visual means, the child who needs kinesthetic learning can get up and write on his/her locker as opposed to being  trapped at their seat. My classroom is the smallest room in the school and IdeaPaint allowed for us to utilize the most space. We can even write on an area of the floor! I also find children are not afraid, or shall I say less reluctant to get their ideas out. We use Teacher's College Writing Workshop and IdeaPaint is a fabulous tool for brainstorming, editing, and partner sharing. I found students in my classroom collaborated at a different level too through means of a dry erase marker! In an age where we reinforce "going green," IdeaPaint allowed for me to take pictures of students work, e-mail them or post them on my website for parent communication, giving them access to the fun classroom learning. Also, as a teacher I was able to post charts up for students to look back on past learning serving as reference tools. I also took pictures of kids' drawings, science conclusions, writing charts and saved them to my Smart Board to have on file.  BSF: You seem very excited by the potential of IdeaPaint-please share some final thoughts AL: All in all, I cannot express enough how IdeaPaint has helped me as a teacher to not only make learning more fun, but to watch children interact and grow incorporating the tool. I am excited to kick off a new school year having students walk into the classroom with their names written in dry erase, allowing them to personalize their locker area, and having their parents write a letter to their child on Back-to-School Night right on their desks! I strongly recommend this product to educators at all different levels! Watch Annika describe how she is using IdeaPaint in her classroom IdeaPaint is a great product that opens up all kinds of learning opportunities for the classroom. If you have any questions about the product, please feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Since the ISTE 2012 Conference, I have be experimenting with the Boogie Board RIP and how it could be used by students in the classroom for taking notes. I was excited to learn that last week Improv Electronics released the Virtual Desktop Companion 2 software that now includes Evernote integration and handwriting recognition support using MyScript Studio Notes Edition software. Now it is possible for students who are using the Boogie Board RIP to take notes and save them to their Evernote account. I have put together a short screencast demonstrating just how easy it is to send your notes to your Evernote account. The Boogie Board RIP can store 200 pages of notes which at any time can be moved to your Evernote account giving you complete freedom to store and file them. Look for another screencast coming soon, demonstrating the handwriting recognition software that will allow you to go from a handwritten note directly into Microsoft Word. Screencast created using Camtasia Studio 8

In my last post I share with you how the Boogie Board RIP integrates with Evernote the online note taking service. Today I would like to share with you a screencast that shows you how you can take your hand written notes and covert them to editable text that can be exported to Microsoft Word. The Boogie Board RIP now supports hand writing recognition using MyScript Studio Notes Edition software which adds another facet to this handy note taking device. Watch my screencast as I demo just how easy it is to convert your notes with MyScript Studio Notes Edition. Download a rial version of . Download a trial version of  MyScript Studio Notes Edition and see just how easy it is to convert your handwritten notes! This screencast was created using Camtasia Studio 8

EPSON Workforce DS-30 With school around the corner I have been doing a lot of teacher training before the school bell rings, and just the other day I had a chance to use the EPSON Workforce DS-30 Portable Scanner in my training session. Working with a range of students with fine motor, learning and visual disabilities it is important for me to demonstrate to teachers how they can create materials that can be viewed on the computer screen. Inevitably this requires them to scan the material and prepare it so that the student can access the material on their computer. One of my favorite programs for adapting materials and scanning them into the computer is Adobe Acrobat X. I have written about Adobe Acrobat X and how I use it to create onscreen materials, but now having the trusty EPSON Workforce DS-30 in my bag has made a world of difference.  The EPSON Workforce DS-30 is quite lightweight and is powered by the USB port eliminating the need for a power cord. The  EPSON Workforce DS-30 was easy to set up and comes standard with a TWAIN driver that lets me utilize the scanner with other scan and read applications. The  EPSON Workforce DS-30 supports both Macintosh and Windows and can scan Black and White as well as Color documents with resolutions as high as 600 dpi. Scanned Page from Scholastic Science News Isolating Text from Article In the following example, the Science teachers gave me a copy of the Scholastic Science News which she will be using throughout the year. Looking at the complexity of the page, I knew that we would need to break out the text from the page and isolate it for the student to be able to read this. With this in mind, I decided to scan the page into Adobe Acrobat X using the  EPSON Workforce DS-30. Even though the Scholastic Science News was about 12 pages- the scanner had no problem scanning the page. After scanning the page this is what the captured page looked like. Now using the Take a Snapshot Tool in Adobe Acrobat X, I selected the area of text at the bottom left of the page. This placed the text into the clipboard which then allowed me from within Adobe Acrobat X to use the Create PDF from Clipboard command to create a stand alone file with just the text. Using the Zoom in feature from within Adobe Acrobat X on the text will allow the student to be able to read and access the materials. Having access to the  EPSON Workforce DS-30 and Adobe Acrobat X allows me to help students who need access their school materials on the computer. These tools pack a lot of power and give me the freedom to demonstrate what is possible when modifying student's work. If you are looking at portable solutions for scanning then please take a look at the EPSON Workforce DS-30- it is lightweight powerhouse of a scanner that every assistive technology should carry in their bag. Trust me you will want to add  the EPSON Workforce DS-30 to your AT Toolkit. Look for a screencast demonstrating this technique shortly on my blog and on my YouTube channel.

I recently had a hand at trying a new app called Haiku Deck which is a new presentation tool for the iPad and am very impressed with the results. Haiku Deck is free and is a worthwhile app for anyone who is considering doing a presentation on the iPad. If you are trying to move away from PowerPoint and bulleted points then you are really going to like Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is ideal for creating beautifully designed presentations that comes with multiple themes that you can select from. Select a theme, add a slide and watch the magic happen as you add pictures and some text. To add a picture you simply type a keyword and Haiku Deck goes out and searches for Creative Common pictures for your use. Add some text and voila you are done. Once you create your Haiku Deck it is easy to share your presentation with others by embedding it, by providing your participants with a link or allowing them to download it as a PDF. I recently created a presentation that I will use this weekend to give you and idea of what is possible. Give it a try and let me know what you think.  Click here to view the presentation

I have been utilizing my Boogie Board RIP daily for recording notes and have found using MyScript Studio Notes Edition to be ideal for doing the hand writing conversion. One of the powerful features in MyScript Studio Notes Edition is the ability to add new words to its core dictionary so that when it encounters the unique word it knows how to convert it. In the screencast below, you will see how I was able to enter the word Nearpod, which is a great app for the iPad and how MyScript Studio Notes Edition then handled the text conversion. Using the add Vocabulary feature is a great way to teach MyScript Studio Notes Edition how to convert unfamiliar handwritten words that it encounters.

One of my favorite features in ConceptDraw Mindmap is the ability to plan out my tweets for Twitter. Using a simple mind map, I can structure the map by the week and add my tweets. When I'm ready to send the tweets it is as easy as going to the toolbar and pressing the Tweet button. Using ConceptDraw Minmap I can get a perspective on my tweets, and better yet it even shortens attached URL's. If you are planning a tweet campaign you should really take a look at ConceptDraw Mindmap to help you strategize and deliver your tweets. ConceptDraw Mindmap gives you the option of tweeting the topic, map or screen which is a nice touch. The only thing I would like to see developed in ConceptDraw Mindmap is a feature by which you could set each of the tweets to be sent on a specific date and time. Happy tweeting with ConceptDraw Mindmap.

Apple has added a number of new Accessibility features in iOS 6 which makes the iPad even easier to use for students with reading disabilities. In the latest version of the iOS students can now turn on the Highlight Word feature which will highlight the words as they are being read on the screen. Being able to synchronize the highlighting of text on the screen is an invaluable feature and one that many students with reading and attentional difficulties will find to be extremely helpful. Remember that this feature is part of the iOS-so as long as you are able to select text on the screen it will work in most apps. This feature is also great as an editing tool for students when they are doing writing. I have embedded a short video demonstrating how to turn on this feature.

Having used Adobe Presenter 7 to create eLearning material it was exciting to learn that Adobe had released a new version of Adobe Presenter with a slew of new and exciting features. I have had a chance to work with Adobe Presenter 8 for the past two months to learn the ins and outs of the program and am really impressed with the product and some of the new features that have been added. Adobe Presenter 8 remains a plug-in for PowerPoint on the Windows platform which when installed appears as a new Tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon. Once you click on the Tab you will see a host of features that are specific to Adobe Presenter 8 that you can utilize. To get started with Adobe Presenter 8 just open an existing PowerPoint, click on the Adobe Presenter Tab and you can then bring in video, record audio and build an eLearning module complete with navigation and quizzes. Subject matter experts will enjoy the easy to use interface and be creating modules in no time. One of the real strengths of Adobe Presenter 8 is the intuitive interface which will ensure a fast learning curve. As more and more students are learning online it is essential that as subject matter experts that we have easy to use tools to create rich online materials. Using a HD webcam you can bring in high quality video into your eLearning courses with Adobe Presenter 8 and display it on a slide or on the Navigation pane.  Adobe Presenter 8 lets you customize the Navigation pane and gives you control over the color selection. In the current version of Adobe Presenter 8 you can have the Navigation pane inherit the color and theme of your PowerPoint presentation giving it a lot of pizzazz and visual appeal. Narrating your presentation could not be easier with Adobe Presenter 8. When using the recording feature you can import all of your Slide notes and have them ready to access as you add audio to your eLearning module. If you have animations on your slides Adobe Presenter 8 makes it easy to synchronize the animations to your audio thus ensuring that the audio and animation matches during playback. Adobe Presenter 8 has added a host of new features like Interactions, Characters and Scenes which will make your presentations more compelling and interactive. It is now easy to add a scene to your PowerPoint presentation by selecting from any of the built-in scenes provided. You can then overly that with characters that have added to Adobe Presenter 8 to give your eLearning module a polished and professional look. To add more interactivity into your module you can now select from several new Interactions that have been added to Adobe Presenter 8. When the eLearning module has been published students can interact with the presentation making it a more dynamic experience. What has always impressed me about Adobe Presenter 8 is the ease of use and the way that it can wrap up your material up complete with navigation to make for a very professional looking course. Since so many professionals have legacy PowerPoint presentations-having access to Adobe Presenter 8 makes sense for those of you who are considering putting together online courses. Adobe Presenter 8 eLearning courses can be published to your Adobe Connect account,  or as a PDF that can be viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 or above. Adobe Presenter 8 can also be viewed on an iPad using the Presenter App. Please note there are some limitations viewing eLearning courses on the iPad. One of the most innovative new features in Adobe Presenter 8 is the addition of the Video Creator tool. Now it is possible to create highly engaging material with high quality video without the need for an expensive video creation application. Using a high quality webcam like the Logitech 920D-it is now possible to produce great videos right within Adobe Presenter 8. After hitting the record button you have the option to record within your PowerPoint presentation or you can use it to demonstrate any software application that you have access to on your computer. The editing tools are easy to access and use and the published video allows you to be on the right or left side of the screen as you demonstrate whats on your computer screen. Once you have finished creating your video you can easily output and share it via Vimeo or YouTube right from Adobe Presenter 8. While creating engaging material for your online courses is one of the goals of Adobe Presenter 8, when it comes time to assess your students, Adobe Presenter 8 includes the ability to create Quizzes which can capture what they have learned. Adobe Presenter 8 supports AICC and SCORM making it easy to connect to existing Learning Management Systems (LMS). I have used this feature within Moodle which worked well and provided me reports as to how my students performed on the learning module. Adobe Presenter 8 allows designers and teachers to include True/False, Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blanks, Short Answer, Hotspots, Likert Scale, Matching and Sequence style questions. Adobe Presenter 8 will automatically create a summary slide to provide feedback and scores to the students. Adobe Presenter 8 hits that sweet spot for individuals that are comfortable using PowerPoint and have made an investment in creating presentations over the years. Utilizing Adobe Presenter 8 gives them the ability to quickly convert their legacy presentations into interactive presentations that can be uploaded and utilized within a LMS or published to a server. Users will appreciate the easy to use interface and now having access to the Video Creator adds a new dimension to the program allowing users the ability to create high quality video demonstrations without the need for expensive equipment. You can download a trial version of Adobe Presenter 8 and kick the tires- you will be glad you did.

I had the pleasure of  presenting with my colleague Dr. Patricia Schall today at the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English Conference which was hosted at the College of St. Elizabeth. It was exciting to be part of this conference since I usually present at special education venues. The keynote speaker Andy Cohen who heads up the Bridge Film Festival at the Brooklyn Friends School shared with us some of the video's that students who participated in the file festival have crafted over the years. It was truly inspiring to listen and to watch the stories unfold on the screen. Andy shared that students used many tools to create the videos and shared one of then called GoAnimate, which he demoed for us. When I saw the ease of use and the potential of GoAnimate I signed up for a free account and gave it a whirl. Even with the free account you are able to create animated videos that are sure to capture your audience's attention. Using GoAnimate, it is easy to create eLearning assets and engaging materials that can be embedded into your website or blog. If you upgrade your account you get to select more move makers and the ability to upload to YouTube. Having tried GoAnimate I have to say wow! it is extremely easy and intuitive to use. Within minutes I had created my first animated video which was so easy to do. I am definitely going to explore the possibilities of GoAnimate and look to use it in my graduate classes for projects. I was anxious to share GoAnimate with you and so I am embedding a short but unfinished video so you get an idea of what is possible. I hope to complete this one so stay tuned! Enjoy! Accessible Books by AssistiveTek on GoAnimate Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.

Over the past year or so I have jumped in and helped to fund several Kickstarter products which has been a lot of fun. In addition to knowing that I am able to help fund a new product I also get the advantage of being on the ground floor when the product is released. This past year I have funded the Touchtype, a case for the iPad and Apple Bluetooth Wireless keyboard, the Elevation Dock for the iPhone and the Hidden Radio. All of the products have exceeded my expectations and have made using my iPad and iPhone a real joy to use. Spending time working and sharing with educators the potential for these mobile technologies, it is great to have on hand these innovative products to show and demonstrate. The Touchtype is the perfect solution for individuals like myself that want to use a full size keyboard but want to also be able to store the iPad in convenient and light weight case. The design of the Touchtype is fantastic and is light enough so that you don't really realize it is in an enclosure. While I have used a Zagg Portfolio with my iPad, I find that it adds way to much bulk and weight for my liking. Having access to the high quality Apple Bluetooth keyboard is a real pleasure when I am typing and the innovative Touchtype design makes carrying around the iPad a cinch. The Elevation Dock makes charging my iPhone 4S really simple. The Elevation Dock is beautifully designed and the phone fits into the 30 pin dock like a glove. The dock is made from anodized aluminium and has the Applesque finish to it. The Elevation Dock looks great on my nightstand and is the  perfect accessory for charging my iPhone. The Elevation Dock is heavy enough so that when you take your iPhone out of the charging base it does not life up from the nightstand. The look and fit is really incredible! The Hidden Radio is a really fantastic Bluetooth Speaker with innovative design. Once you pair it to your device you can turn it on by simply unscrewing the top. This not only turns it on, but as you raise the cover of the Hidden Radio the volume increases. The Hidden Radio produces some great sound and the volume is extraordinary. Check it out for yourself-you will be glad you did! Being able to jump in and fund these projects has been a lot of fun and the products were worth waiting for. So if you get the urge find out what is happening at Kickstarter! who knows you just might find something fun to fund!

I have been a long time fan and user of Snagit from TechSmith, Inc for many years now and I am always amazed at the features. One of the newer features is the ability to capture video from your screen which has really come in handy lately as I am developing some eLearning modules. While many of us will  initially think of using Snagit to capture screen images the latest version of Snagit can capture video along with audio and System audio making it indispensable tool for instructors and eLearning developers who are looking for a quick and easy way to capture video off of the screen. I recently created a short video using GoAnimate and wanted to save it in MP4 format to insert into an Adobe Presenter 8 module I was creating. Using Snagit's new ability to capture the GoAnimate video was a piece of cake and the quality of the video capture was outstanding. So take a look at Snagit and see how you might use it- it is one of the best kept secret and is available for Mac and Windows. Here is the example of what was captured using Snagit