Clickerpedia

Here's another website I've just found out about: Clickerpedia. If you're familiar with Crick Software's Clicker 5, this website is devoted to this AT gem. For those of us in Ontario, Clicker 5 is OSAPAC-licensed, so I encourage you to learn about it if you've never seen it in action before. It is hands-down one of the best pieces of education software for k-6, maybe k-8, on the market today. I'll be posting more Clicker 5 resources in the future, so stay tuned or subscribe so you don't miss out.

Free Mindmapping Online --- Another Option

A short while ago, I mentioned free online mindmapping tool mywebspiration.com. Well, since then I've had a chance to check out another example of a Web 2.0 tool for creating mind maps. If you want something really simple to use, and you don't need anything other than bare-bones mind mapping, bubbl.us is the tool for you. If, on the other hand, you want something full-featured, with the ability to start from ready-made templates, or make complex webs with imbedded images, go for Webspiration. Here's a visual comparison of the 2 services made using bubbl.us. Click the image to enlarge.

More Kurzweil How-To Videos

I've created some new Kurzweil 3000 how-to videos. Most of them are centered around completing tests or worksheets in Kurzweil. Enjoy!


  KESI Virtual Printer: no need to print and then scan files from your computer. Take documents from Word or Adobe PDF, web pages from your browser -- anything you can print -- and zap them into Kurzweil image files with all the features of Kurzweil not normally available through text import: http://j.mp/virtprint 

1.    Customize Toolbars: add buttons to simplify tasks: http://j.mp/k3000custom

2.    Completing a Test or Worksheet: filling in blanks, circling answers for multiple choice, managing text boxes: http://j.mp/k3000test

3.    Locking Out Features: disabling tools like the dictionary during test-taking: http://j.mp/k3000lock

4.    Built-in How-To Videos: Kurzweil 3000 has several of its own how-to videos you can access to learn some of the basics: http://j.mp/k3000videos

Book-Reading and -Making online (from "Pencils For All" workshop)

Deb Thomas, an exemplary Occupational Therapist at my board, provided me with a series of links to websites that have examples of, or tools to create, online accessible books for students with developmental and/or physical disabilities. Click here to download a Word document in which she provides all the links with a brief description of each.

Digital Math Workspaces

Now why didn't I think of this?! Montgomery County Public Schools have a page of strategies for helping struggling students featuring low-tech and high-tech solutions. A couple of people have recently asked me what software solutions exist for students who have difficulty writing out math calculations in their workbooks. My immediate thought was MathPad Plus, which sounds pretty nifty, but I haven't seen it actually being used by students (if you have, please comment!). The trouble with MathPad is that it was abandoned by the publisher; well, they still sell it, but they haven't updated it in years, and it's still in version 1.x.

So, back to Montgomery County. They have a simple solution for getting some calculations down using some well-thought-out MS Word tables. Here are direct links to download the Word 97-2003 version and the Word 2007 version. Tables are my favourite feature of MS Word, so it pains me that I never thought of this. Kudos to those folks in Montgomery for their elegant and simple (and no-cost) idea to help kids with dysgraphia and executive dysfunction get through their arithmetic.