Books for All Blog

New free Digital Scottish Heinemann Maths books

Paul Nisbet — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:20:38

25 Scottish Heinemann Maths books covering Primary 1 to Primary 5 have been added to the Books for All Scotland Database.

These books are free to download for learners with disabilities who cannot use the ordinary printed copies. They are particularly aimed at learners with physical disabilities who have difficulty writing on the paper versions, but they are also useful for children with a visual impairment, who can zoom in to make the text larger and young people with dyslexia, who can use text-to-speech to help read the questions. We have also found that some children on the autistic spectrum like these electronic versions of the books.

The books have been scanned to PDF and then CALL staff and some volunteers from George Heriot's School here in Edinburgh have drawn in thousands of answer boxes so that learners just need to click and type their answers. We have also added in extra pages with for example grid paper, for drawing exercises. We are very grateful to Sarah and Rececca here in CALL, and to the volunteers for all their hard work. Take a look at some of the books and marvel at their efforts!

Here's a few things you can do with the books and we also have quick guides for different versions of Adobe Reader.

Type in answers

Click on a blue answer box and type your answer, then hit the TAB key to jump to the next box. Hit SHIFT-TAB to move back a box.

Read questions with Text-to-Speech

You can use a text-to-speech program such as free MiniReader to read out the text.

Use Drawing Tools

When you have questions that require drawing, you can use the tools available in Adobe Reader to answer the question.

Highlight text and circle numbers to answer questions

Use voice to answer question or to comment on pupil's work

Adobe Reader has a Record Audio button so the pupil can record their answer. A teacher could also use it to record the question, or to give feedback.

Draw shapes and graphs

We have added extra pages for pupils to use to draw in shapes and graphs for symmetry and tiling.

Measure dimensions and angles

Adobe Reader has 'Analyse' tools for measuring dimensions and angles.

We will be adding the SHM 6 and 7 books as oon as they are finished, and then we'll start on the new TeeJay Curriculum for Excellence titles.

Happy counting, drawing and measuring!

Free exhibition: ICT and Inclusion 2013

Robert Stewart — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:49:44

CALL Scotland has been organising the FREE annual ICT and Inclusion road-show since 2001. It provides people with an opportunity to see and compare the latest software and technology to support students with additional support needs from most of the leading UK companies.

Location and dates for the exhibitions are:

CALL Scotland, Edinburgh - 18 June 2013
Thistle Hotel, Glasgow - 19 June 2013

Suppliers will describe their key products in timetabled sessions and there will also be short presentations by staff from CALL Scotland.

The exhibitions will be open from 9.00 am until 4.00 pm.

Free Lunch! A free buffet lunch is provided at each of the three venues. It is therefore important that people register for the exhibition in advance so we have an idea of numbers before the day. Please indicate when you book a place if you wish to stay for lunch.

To find out more and to book online, go to the ICT and Inclusion web page or telephone CALL Scotland on 0131 651 6235 to book a place.

Scottish Book Awards, 2012

Allan Wilson — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:42:29

Congratulations to the winners of the Scottish Book Awards for 2012, which were announced today in Dundee. The winners were:

3 - 7 years - John Fardell for The Day Louis Got Eaten
8 - 11 years - Jonathan Meres for The World of Norm: May Contain Nuts
12 - 16 years - Barry Hutchison for The 13th Horseman

Over 30,000 children in schools throughout Scotland voted for their favourite new book to decide the winner of each category.

CALL Scotland's Books for All project provided copies of the books in electronic accessible formats for 55 pupils with a print disability in schools throughout Scotland to allow them to join their friends in voting for their favourite book.

Load2Learn database of accessible textbooks is now free!

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:08:31

Load2Learn is a database of downloadable accessible textbooks and images that has been set up by RNIB and Dyslexia Action with funding from the Department for Education. It's similar to the Books for All Database (we gave them some input and it's actually hosted by Scran, same as B4A) but when it was first set up, there was a membership subscription. Happily, it's now FREE! and so anyone who is working in schools with print-disabled pupils should join immediately and start getting access to more accessible titles.

To join, one member of staff in a school or service applies for membership to create a School group and then invites other staff to join the group. Then members of the group can search for and download books and images.

Since it's funded by the Department for Education, many of the secondary school books are the (English and Welsh) National Curriculum - AQA, GCSE etc - and so not relevant for most Scottish schools, but there are also many titles which are.

For example, Nelson Thornes have made a lot of their books available as PDFs - New Maths in Action; Scientifica, and there are many novels and primary textbooks available too.

Recently I was looking for accessible digital copies of Kes and Blood Brothers for a pupil and neither were available on B4A or Seeing Ear, but both are on Load2Learn.

The Load2Learn titles are offered in a range of different formats:

PDFs, which look just like the paper book and so will suit some learners;
Word files, which can be read on screen or converted into other formats such as Large print or Braille;
ePUB, which can be read on iPads, tablets and smartphones;
audio books.

So we now have three sources of books in accessible formats for schools in Scotland:

plus of course commercial eBook venders such as Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith and the iBook Store.

New SQA Guidance, Answer and Data booklets for Digital Question Papers

Paul Nisbet — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:55:57

New Guidance

SQA have published new guidance documents for schools who intend to use the SQA Digital Question Papers and Digital Answer Booklets in this year's exam diet. They have up to date advice on how to set up computers and software, and revised guidance for candidates:

‘Digital Question Papers: Guidance for Centres’
‘Digital Question Papers: Guidance for Candidates’.

and can be downloaded from the SQA web site.

There are also new versions of the Digital Answer Booklets. These are used by candidates answering 'question only' papers (i.e. papers that do not have the red answer boxes - mostly for Standard Grade Credit, Intermediate 2, Higher and Advanced Higher papers). Most of the Answer Booklets in Word format are now single pages that expand as the candidate writes (saving paper when they are printed, because there will be fewer blank pages at the end), and there are new booklets for maths and business management.

The Answer booklets are available in PDF and Word formats. Most candidates will probably be best to use the Word versions because:

the Word formatting and editing tools are better;
text flows from page to page;
writing support tools such as word prediction and speech recognition are more reliable;
learners can use equation editors such as Efofex to create scientific and mathematical formulae, and graphs.

Data Booklets

Digital Data Booklets in PDF are now available for Chemistry, Physics and TechnologicalStudies. The booklets have bookmarks (table of contents) so that candidates can easily find their way to the relevant tables. These should be particularly helpful for candidates with physical disabilities who may find it hard to handle the paper booklets, or those with visual impairment, who will be able to magnify the data on the screen.

First Thoughts on the Kindle Fire

Allan Wilson — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:51:21

I got myself a Kindle Fire HD earlier this week as it is hard to respond to inquiries about a piece of equipment that we haven't seen. Interestingly, Amazon could not deliver until the middle of February so I got one from our local branch of Argos for the same price - sometimes it pays to shop local!

The Kindle Fire (bottom left in the photo), with a 7" screen is roughly the same size as the old keyboard Kindle (bottom right), just a fraction wider), but it is nearly twice as heavy. It is significantly smaller and lighter than the iPad (top). The display has a very decent resolution (1,280 x 800 pixels) and is clear and sharp.

The onscreen keyboard is as good as most others and works in either portrait or landscape orientation, with white lettering on black keys. There is built-in word rediction, with predicted words appearing in a row above the keyboard.

Reading eBooks on the Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire can access the same Kindle library as other Kindle devices, but the colour screen makes children's picture books much more inviting. Some picture books have been provided with 'popups', enlarging small passages of text in a box with a cream background, using a standard, slightly enlarged, serif font to replace the various more graphical fonts used in picture books. Unfortunately, in the book I tried ('Twas the Night Before Christmas') it was not possible to further enlarge this text, or have it read out loud by the Kindle. I could not find any books in the Picture Book section of the Amazon Shop which claimed to be 'speech enabled'.

Books made up primarily of text can be read the same way as in earlier Kindles, with options to change line spacing, style and size of the text. Six fonts are available. Given that that the more 'traditional' Kindles available from Amazon (basic Kindle and Paperwhite) no longer provide text to speech support for reading eBooks, I was particularly keen to see how this performed on the Kindle Fire. To turn speech on, simply tap on the screen to bring up the Menu and choose Settings, then turn Text-to-Speech on. Tap again and press the Play icon at the bottom left of the screen to listen to the speech. Speech quality is better than on the earlier Kindles, but still isn't great.

I was disappointed to find that Immersion Reading is not yet available in the UK. This has been introduced for Kindle readers in the USA, allowing people to link their Kindle eBook to an audio book downloaded from Audible.com. Books can be read with a human voice (generally the author, or an actor), with text highlighted on screen as the words are spoken. When I tried to find out whether this would become available for the UK, the response from Amazon Support was somewhat cryptic: "We've made no announcement about implementing Immersion Reading in the UK, so unfortunately I can't answer your question."

What else does the Kindle Fire have?

The Kindle Fire HD has a dual-band Wi-Fi connection, which I have found to be pretty fast. The web browser is OK, but pretty basic, without any facilities for improving accessibility. You can connect to email, Facebook and Twitter accounts

Though the Kindle Fire uses the Android operating system, you are restricted to using apps available from the Amazon App Store. There's a good selection of mainstream apps available, many of which are free, but there's a shortage of the more specialist apps. Anybody looking for a budget communication aid will be disappointed.

The Kindle Fire has a built-in front facing HD video camera, aimed primarily at people using video chat - it can be used to take photographs, but it is awkward as you cannot see what you are taking a picture of.

Although it isn't documented, it is possible to take a screenshot of the Kindle screen by simultaneously pressing the Lower Volume and Power buttons. This can be tricky as it is easy to get it slightly wrong and just get the Volume Bar, or the Shut Down menu on screen.

The Fire can be connected to an external display, e.g. a data projector, by means of a micro HDMI cable (not supplied, but very cheap)

Overall Impressions

Basically, I like the Fire - screen quality is good, it is portable and has access to a wide range of facilities. Some tasks are pretty fiddly (like taking a screenshot) and I was a bit disappointed with the text-to-speech quality - and the absence of Immersion Reading, but overall I was pretty impressed, especially as it only cost £159.

Accessible Versions of Scottish Children's Book Awards Shortlist

Allan Wilson — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:58:51

We've been distributing CDs with accessible versions of the shortlisted titles for this year's Scottish Book Trust's Scottish Children's Book Awards for the last couple of weeks. (See previous Blog for details of the Awards and the shortlisted titles.)

Children in schools throughout Scotland are asked to choose their favourite from their age category:

Bookbug Readers (3 - 7 years)
Younger Readers (8 - 11 years)
Older Readers (12 - 16 years)

Pupils with a print disability (e.g. visual impairment, dyslexia, some physical disabilities) who are not able to use standard books can benefit from having the books in an accessible electronic format available from CALL Scotland. This year, we have made the books available in the following formats:

BookBug Readers - PowerPoint and PDF. The PowerPoint files have recorded narration, i.e. children will hear a human voice reading the text on a page when they turn it. There are PowerPoint files specially set up for children using a switch. The PDF files have been set up so that the text can be read out loud by computer using either Adobe Reader and Read OutLoud, or Nook Study. Instructions for both are provided. We recommend using either of the Scottish Voices, Stuart or Heather, available for schools and parents from the Scottish Voice web site.

Younger Readers - Standard and Large Print (18 point) PDF and Daisy. Again, there are instructions for reading the PDFs using Adobe Reader or Nook Study. AMIS Daisy Reader software is provided for reading the Daisy versions.

Older Readers - Standard and Large Print (18 point) PDF and Daisy. Full instructions are provided.

Getting Accessible Copies of the Shortlisted Books

If you need an accessible copy of the books for a particular pupil, go to the CALL Scotland Books for All web site and fill in the form giving your name, the pupil name and letting us know which set of books is required. We'll send you the books on a CD.

Taking Part

Schools wanting to take part in deciding the winners in each category have to register with the Scottish Book Trust by 31st December and pupils can vote for their favourite book until 8th February.

Parent Information Day on iPads

Allan Wilson — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:33:46

Nearly 50 parents of children with additional support needs came to CALL on Saturday for our Parent Information Day on iPads.During the course of the day there was a series of presentations by CALL staff on different aspects of the use of the iPad to support learning and communication, along with exhibition space with various stands where visitors could have more in-depth discussions with CALL staff and browse through some of the extensive information downloadable from the internet on the use of iPads to support learning.Stuart and Paul provided an overview of the use of the iPad to read books available in different electronic formats (primarily ePub and PDF), using apps including iBooks, iWordQ and VoiceDream Reader.

In a parallel session, Sally demonstrated a number of picture-based apps that could be used to support communication, including BitsBoard, Book Creator, Sounding Board and GoTalk Now.

The morning finished with a presentation by Craig highlighting basic functions of the iPad, such as file management and the creation of folders, and the accessibility features of the iPad.After lunch there was time for people to browse through a vast array of information resources (listed in a handout) and to ask questions. Many people took the opportunity to buy CALL's book on the iPad, iPads for Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning, available as a free download, or to purchase in paper format from CALL.

What people thought of the Information Day

Here are some comments made by people attending the Information Day:

"CALL is a brilliant discovery for us, and I feel it should be promoted to EVERY dyslexic kid as a matter of course - by law!"
" I liked the depth & breadth of experience and approachability of presenters."

New Books on Dyslexia

Allan Wilson — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:49:28

The British Dyslexia Association have recently published some new books covering different aspects of dyslexia. The full list is available from the store on their web site. We have purchased six of the new titles for the CALL Library:

Dyslexia and Useful Technology, edited by EA Draffen
Dyslexia in Education: A Guide for Teachers and Teaching Assistants, by Sue Thurtle
Dyslexia and Parents, by Margaret Malpas
Dyslexia: Early Intervention by Judith Stansfield
Maths Learning Difficulties, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, by Steve Chinn
Dyslexia Friendly Schools: Good Practice Guide, edited by Katrina Cochrane and Kate Saunders

CALL Scotland has a reference library, generally open between 9am and 5pm, available to teachers, therapists, students and anyone else with an interest in augmentative communication, assistive technology and education. It is best to phone beforehand to make sure that the Information Officer will be available to give you any help you need. Tel 0131 651 6235.

Ivona MiniReader free text-to-speech reader

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:10:23

One very common question we get asked is "what do you recommend for reading out the SQA Digital Question Papers?"

There are several good programs for this such as TextHelp Read and Write Gold, ClaroRead, Co:Writer and Penfriend but if you have no money and you want a nice simple tool for your Windows computer, take a look at the Ivona MiniReader. It's very straightforward - select the text you want to read and click 'Play', and it reads reliably from PDFs, Word files, the internet - anything provided you can select the text.

A technician recently asked if the licence allows for it to be installed on all the computers in a school, and so I contacted Ivona to ask: Piotr Syrokwarz of Ivona says "Of course you can use MiniReader at schools".

MiniReader Quick Guide (download it from here)

Ivona MiniReader is a simple text reader which adds a floating toolbar on the screen and can read out text from almost any program – Adobe Reader, Microsoft Word, internet browsers etc.. MiniReader can use the free Scottish voice Heather and Stuart and most other voices on your computer.

Download and install

Go to http://www.ivona.com/en/mini-reader/ and click on the Free Download button. Follow the instructions to install MiniReader.

When you install the software, it offers you the option to install some of the Ivona voices for 30 day trial – we suggest that you decline this offer and untick the Start the Ivona voices installation, unless unless you are interested in evaluating the voices.

Reading text with MiniReader

Click Start > All programs > IVONA > IVONA MiniReader

Open your PDF document of web page, select some text then click on the Play button (or press CTR+SHIFT+SPACE), and MiniReader will read it out. Click Pause or press the keyboard shortcut again to pause the speech.

Double click on a word to select it, triple click to select a line and quadruple click to select the whole page.

You can switch between the Mini and Full toolbar by clicking on the Show/Hide button. The Full toolbar lets you change voice and adjust speed and volume:

Some limitations of MiniReader compared to other paid-for text readers are that you have to manually select the text to be read, it doesn’t highlight the text as it reads, and there is no pronunciation dictionary. The hyperlinks to encourage you to 'Buy IVONA Reader' and 'Buy IVONA Voice' might also be distracting for some learners.

The paid-for Ivona Reader comes with extra voices, can convert text to MP3 files, has a reading window that does highlight the text as it reads, and adds reading buttons to internet browsers, Word and email.

The paid-for text readers like Read and Write Gold, ClaroRead, Co:Writer and Penfriend also have many other features and tools such as word prediction, phonetic spellchecker, dictionaries, scanning and OCR etc.

iPad Scotland Evaluation is published

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:10:34

Earlier this year eight schools in Scotland participated in a study which asked „How does the use of tablet devices (e.g. the iPad) impact on teaching and learning?”

Given the huge interest in iPads, this is a good question to ask, and even better to answer!

Researchers at the University of Hull have just published the project report here, and it makes interesting reading for anyone interested in iPads and tablet computers in schools. The Key Findings are reproduced below:

"1. Use of tablet devices such as the iPad was found to facilitate the achievement of many of the core elements required within the Curriculum for Excellence framework and could be further developed in order to achieve these aspirations.

2. The adoption of a personalised device such as an iPad significantly transforms access to and use of technology inside the classroom with many attendant benefits:

Many teachers noted that ubiquitous access to the Internet and other knowledge tools associated with the iPad altered the dynamics of their classroom and enabled a wider range of learning activities to routinely occur than had been possible previously.
The device also encouraged many teachers to explore alternative activities and forms of assessment for learning

3. Personal ‘ownership’ of the device is seen as the single most important factor for successful use of this technology:

This is seen as the critical element:

in increasing student levels of motivation, interest and engagement;
in promoting greater student autonomy and self-efficacy;
in encouraging students to take more responsibility for their own learning.

Evidence suggests that greater personal ownership of the iPad may also contribute to more interdisciplinary activity.

4. The individual possession of and early familiarisation with the iPad by teachers was seen as being responsible for the significant ‘buy in’ and low level of resistance from teachers:

The iPad engaged both teachers and students equally well.
Many members of school and Local Authority management teams commented that the deployment and effective use of iPad technology had been the most easily accepted, successful and problem-free initiative they had ever witnessed.

5. As a result of the pilot initiative schools are reconsidering their existing technology deployments with a view to more mobile provision:

Some schools have decided that because of their experiences with the iPad their existing ICT suites of computers will not be replaced in future.
Many schools reported that teachers and students were using iPads every day and in most lessons.
Little formal training or tuition to use the devices was required by teachers; they learned experientially through play and through collaboration with colleagues and students.

6. The device is bringing about significant changes in the way teachers approach their professional role as educators and is changing the way they see themselves and their pedagogy:

Teachers noted that iPads had promoted more collaboration between them and students
Teachers now see many students coaching and teaching their peers without the intervention of the class teacher
Software and applications (e.g. screen recording apps) support these processes and resultant changes in pedagogy
The use of iPads has enabled many more students to express their creativity, to engage in peer assessment and in group critique.
Teachers have seen the emergence of a real learning community that extends beyond the academic to include a partnership between students and teachers who work closely together.
Students report that within a month of the pilot starting, they noticed from their perspective that the quality of teaching seemed to have improved.
Class teachers feel that the functionality of these devices better supports students of all abilities.
Teachers reported that iPads allowed them to develop and extend homework and provide better feedback to students about their learning.

7. Parents also appear to become more engaged with the school and their child’s learning when the iPad travels home with the student:

The overwhelming majority of parents believe that students should be allowed to use mobile technologies in their school before they reach the secondary stage and reported that their children gained significant positive dispositions towards learning as a result of access to the iPad.
Over 80 per cent of parents considered the pilot project to have been valuable for their child despite its short duration and say it has significantly changed their child’s enjoyment of and attitude towards school.
Parents say that greater motivation, interest and engagement of their child with learning have been the single largest benefits.
Over 90 per cent of students believe that the iPad has helped them to learn more and to learn more difficult concepts and ideas better.
75 per cent felt that their children were now more willing to complete homework.
Many noticed that their children were now more willing to talk to them about their school work.

8. Education departments and associated services within Local Authorities were perceived to have been helpful towards the iPad initiative and to have worked hard to support its use although corporate systems sometimes found this challenging:

Some concerns surrounded data security and eSafety but schools felt that corporate structures should recognise the need to place more trust in schools and students.
Schools felt that the appropriate use of the Internet is primarily a behavioural and educational issue that was within their abilities to address.
Schools saw many central or corporate eSafety protocols as unhelpful and counter productive and most felt they prevented them from making full use of iPads.
The physical safety of the devices has proved unproblematic and schools reported that students displayed high levels of responsibility and care even when taking iPads home.
The iPad itself is simple to operate and is robust and reliable although a number of bulk maintenance and upgrading issues remain to be resolved in schools.

9. Many teachers and students wish to have access to the iPad after the end of the trial and are convinced it has changed learning for the better."

Where to get Acrobat Pro (a lot) cheaper.

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:19:16

Last week a colleague in a local authority got a quote for a single licence for Acrobat Pro from his Procurement department, for £480.

This is not good use of public money, given that you can get it for £58.58 per licence, plus £20 for the DVD, from Education Scotland (ex VAT). (Note that their web site is out of date and still has Acrobat Pro 9 but when you order, you get Pro X.)

Or, try Academia who apparently have it for £56.70 plus £17.40 for the CD (plus VAT).

So, if you want to save some money, get your procurement department to order Acrobat Pro from one of these suppliers and save yourself £400 a pop.

(Thanks to Sandra O'Neill for getting the current prices.)

Reasonable Adjustments - New guidance on the duty to provide auxiliary aids & services

Stuart Aitken — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:12:23

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has published new guidance on the reasonable adjustments duty on auxiliary aids and services for disabled pupils. This duty duty took effect from 1 September 2012 in the UK, although the new guidance applies only in Scotland. The guidance is designed to help school leaders and education authorities comply with the reasonable adjustments duty, with a particular focus on the new auxiliary aids and services provision. It will also help disabled pupils and their parents understand the duty.

The practical examples included are designed to illustrate what would be expected of schools responding to and anticipating the support needs of disabled pupils for whom schools have to make reasonable adjustments. It includes practical case studies showing how the duty can be applied in contexts which will be familiar to teachers.

Many of the examples do indicate an awareness of, and draw on evidence for, the important role that ICT can play in providing assistive technology to help pupils to access the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence. As many schools may find it difficult or slow to access the EHRC website directly we've provided a direct link to the Guidance document itself which is in Microsoft Word (.doc) format.

Speak Text in Microsoft Word 2010

Stuart Aitken — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:32:12

A well hidden feature in Microsoft Office 2010 is the option to speak text out. Yes, MS Office 2010 includes a text-to-speech feature. It is pretty basic but it is available.

As MS Office is integrated with Windows it means that whichever voice is selected in that computer's Control Panel will be used when you select Speak. If you have Heather or Stuart or both installed you can choose one or other of these high quality Scottish voices to speak the text. (You do this via the Control Panels rather in Word itself [Control Panels > Speech Recognition > Text-to-Speech, selecting the preferred voice from the drop down list.]

Because it is part of MS Word you can assign a Keyboard Shortcut to start and stop speaking text. This is very useful for pupils with a visual impairment, poor mouse control or simply because the pupil finds it quicker to use keyboard commands rather than mouse clicking.

MS Word is just one of the Office Programs that the Speak feature works with. It can also be made available to use with PowerPoint (yes talking PowerPoint), Excel and OneNote (one of our favourite programs that deserves more widespread use in schools). You follow the same steps to add the Speak feature in each program.

You can also add Speak to the Quick Access Toolbar and position the toolbar below the Ribbon to simplify the interface for pupils.

WordTalk versus Speak

So how does Speak, the MS Office 2010 text-to-speech feature compare with WordTalk, the toolbar designed to use with MS Word versions from Word 97 onwards?

In favour of Speak are the fact that it is built in not just to Word but to other MS Office 2010 software. It uses whichever voice is the Default voice used by the computer. Speak offers a range of text-to-speech options - by word, paragraph etc. A big advantage is that you can add Speak to the Quick Access toolbar, position the Quick Access toolbar below the Ribbon, and then Minimise the Ribbon (Right click on Ribbon > select Minimise). The pupil can then attend more easily to what he or she is reading or writing. Another advantage is that because it is a Microsoft product it should work smoothly with future updates to MS Office 2010 (and 2013).

Because WordTalk was designed by a teacher to support a pupil with severe dyslexia (who went on to achieve Highers), it includes features that teachers often find useful: Save as MP3 or Wav audio for listening to later; talking dictionary; an easy way to turn on and off keyboard shortcuts - a must for pupils who find it difficult to control a mouse or who just like to be able to access features quickly. The biggest advantage with WordTalk is that pupils who prefer to have text highlighted so that they can follow the text and listen to the spoken version can do so. They can also change the highlighting and text colour – useful for pupils with scotopic sensitivity problems.

Find out more

We’ve prepared a Quick Guide on Finding and Installing the Speak Text feature in MS Word 2010. The Quick Guide covers finding and adding the Speak button, assigning a Keyboard Shortcut, how to add the Speak button to the Quick Access Toolbar and how to position the toolbar below the Ribbon.

To find out about using the Speak facility in additional languages visit Microsoft’s language site.

Once installed because the Speak feature is integrated with Windows it will recognise the language used within the text and read out in that language – provided the speech engine for the language is installed.

Well done Microsoft…now please bring back Large Icons!

We’ve given Microsoft major pats on the back for providing an option to Speak text in Word documents (and in Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote). It would be great if they would bring back a couple of really useful features from MS Office 2003.

We think Microsoft made a huge own goal by not providing a much used feature in MS Word 2003, PowerPoint, Excel - the option to use Large Icons in the toolbar.

The facility to record voice comments or voice notes is also available in MS Word 2007 and 2010 but it does not have the simplicity of MS Word 2003 – a feature that for many pupils was the difference between handing in work that they had produced themselves (recording their spoken answers in the document) or having to rely on scribing. MS Word 2007 and 2010 do provide this feature but for the pupils who are likely to benefit most, it is too difficult to access.

Scottish Children's Book Awards, 2012

Allan Wilson — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:13:42

The shortlisted titles for this year's Scottish Book Awards were announced last week by the Scottish Book Trust. There are three categories for the awards: Bookbug Readers (3 - 7 years); Younger Readers (8 - 11 years) and Older Readers (12 - 16 years). The shortlisted books in each category are:

Bookbug Readers

Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner
The Day Louis got Eaten by John Fardell
Jack and the Flumflum Tree by Julia Donaldson

Younger Readers

Out of the Depths by Cathy MacPhail
Soldier's Game by James Killgore
The World of Norm: May Contain Nuts by Jonathan Meres

Older Readers

The 13th Horseman by Barry Hutchison
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
The Prince who Walked with Lions by Elizabeth Laird

Accessible Versions of the Books

For the fourth year in a row, CALL will be producing accessible versions of the books in a variety of formats for pupils with a print disability who are unable to access traditional book formats. We plan to make the books available in the following formats:

Bookbug Readers

Digital files with human narration for Powerpoint and Clicker

Younger Readers and Older Readers

Accessible PDF
Microsoft Word files, allowing people to convert them to Large Print or Braille
Daisy (full text and audio) for iPad
Daisy (text only for PC with Amis)

We are currently getting copies of electronic files from the publishers of the books and hope to have the accessible format files ready by the end of the summer.

Taking Part in the Awards Scheme

Pupils in schools throughout Scotland are encouraged to take part in the Awards scheme by voting for their favourite book in their age category. Last year more than 23,000 pupils from throughout Scotland voted for their favourite book. Schools are invited to register to take part by 31st December 2012, with the deadline for voting set as 8th February 2013. Further information is available from the Scottish Book Trust.

Something positive to end the term!

Paul Nisbet — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:37:38

Today I received a very positive evaluation back from a pupil and teacher who have been evaluating some equipment, and I thought I'd share it: seems like a nice way to end the term. (Mark is not his real name.)

Background

Mark is a Primary 6 pupil who attends his local primary school. Mark has cerebral palsy which affects his fine motor control, and although he has good ideas, he does tire easily when he writes by hand. He has support from staff to help him lay out his written work, and also on occasion for scribing, but this does mean he relies on staff and is not independent. Staff say that his reliance on others is also affecting his self-esteem. Mark has some difficulties with spelling and also with maths, organisation and spatial skills. Despite these barriers to learning, Mark is an enthusiastic member of the class.

Mark has tried specialist pencils and pencil grips, and writing adaptations. He was referred to CALL for advice on assistive technology to help him to learn and work more independently and productively.

Following an assessment, we loaned a Toshiba netbook computer with Co:Writer 6 and Inspiration software, plus an EasiSpeak microphone, for Mark and his teacher to evaluate. The assessment had shown that Co:Writer has the potential to help Mark write more independently, and with greater accuracy. Co:Writer should also reduce his fatigue and help him to produce higher quality work. (Click here to find out more about Co:Writer and word prediction).

Inspiration was suggested to help Mark organise his work. We loaned a headset microphone for Mark to record his ideas directly into Inspiration, and the portable Easi-Speak recorder, because his verbal output is currently better than his written output.

(Both Inspiration and Co:Writer 6 are available for reduced cost under a special licence for Scottish Schools, from Education Scotland.)

This is what Mark and his teacher thought of the technology.

Class teacher evaluation

1. What impact has the netbook had on the pupil’s ability to access the curriculum?

There was an immediate impact on Mark’s enthusiasm and attitude to attempt and produce work.

Used for:

Word processing: planning, drafting and publishing. Mark is more able and willing to work independently on these three steps without an adult scribe. Mark is eager, and able, to be involved in adding to his Co-writer word bank.
Typing answers to spelling activities – a task which Mark dislikes when he is writing by hand. He now produces work of a higher level.
Spelling has improved.

An adult currently scaffolds Mark’s work by asking questions about his text, to encourage him to develop his answers/writing. It is planned that if the teacher is checking/marking Mark’s work in his absence, s/he will insert the questions into his text. This will enable Mark to develop his work in line with his peers, working in their jotters.

Mark enjoys paired work with the netbook. Previously, being left handed the mouse was cumbersome and this was awkward when he was working with a partner.

2. How has it impacted on his/ her written work (quantity and quality), in comparison with what s/he was able to produce without it?

Mark has immediate success which encourages him to keep on task. He is willing to expand and build on his work after further class discussion or with an adult.

Previously Mark found typing laborious but Co-writer is changing his attitude and he is very willing and able to type for a much longer period. He finds the netbook keyboard easier to manipulate. It is anticipated that this will be helped further with touch typing lessons.

Mark now copes with thinking up his answers/ideas, typing and spelling. This has resulted in better and lengthier pieces of work produced quicker. Previously these tasks were done separately.

Mark’s work is legible. He willingly shares it with peers, allowing them to read it independently of Mark.

3. Has it helped him/her to develop the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence?

Successful learner.Mark is able to show and do the best he can. He thinks of new ideas and is more interested in tackling writing activities by himself.
Confident individualMark is happier and more confident. His self-esteem has been raised.
Effective contributorMark is no longer excluded by the position of the computer system. Previously he had to sit with his back to the class because of the location of the computer.Peers are more ready to allow Mark to tale a role in ‘scribing’ .Mark is able to type his ideas and share with peers, who previously found his handwriting very difficult to read.
Responsible citizen.Mark is much more confident about working as part of a group during tasks that require planning/writing. Mark takes the responsibility of looking after the netbook seriously, and making sure it is switched on/off when needed.

4. Any further comments....

The netbook and software have much more potential for enabling Mark to be included more into the class and to access literacy activities. As I, and assisting adults, become more familiar with it, and Mark learns to touch type, I foresee that we will be able to take full advantage of the equipment.

Mark’s evaluation

This form is to help you think about the use and effectiveness of the writing tools you have tried out and to compare the technology with handwriting and jotters. Fill in the evaluation form when you feel you have a good idea about what it is like to use the devices(s). Please send a copy of the form to CALL.

Use a scale of 1 to 10. Score 1 if that factor is so bad that you would not dream of ever considering it. Score 10 if it is so brilliant that you could not do without it.

	Handwriting & jotter / paper Score 1 to 10 1=rubbish 10=brilliant	Netbook & Co:Writer Score 1 to 10 1=rubbish 10=brilliant
Writing / typing speed	5 sometimes 4	10
Legibility / quality of writing	4	10
Spelling	5	10
Effort needed to write / type	5	10
Portability (weight / size) lines/size	2/3	10
Ease of use	5	10
Ease of getting a paper copy	-	10
Screen (size / text size / clarity)	-	10
Keyboard	-	10
Battery life	-	10
Word processor & software	-	10
Appearance / cool factor	1	10
Opinions of friends	3	10
Opinions of family	4	10
Opinions of teachers	4 + occasionally10	10
Your opinion!	1	10
OVERALL SCORE	39 approx	160

Please write any other comments here:

1. Makes me feel I can keep up when working with the rest of the class.

2. I am really missing being able to use Inspiration to plan my writing and make a summary of what I read. [This was because Mark had been using a school netbook without Inspiration for a short time.]

3. Co-writer and inspiration really help me to get on with my work. I am looking forward to using it again in Primary 7.

4. I don’t mind sorting mistakes and making my ideas bigger and better.

Thanks Mark and his teacher for these positive and helpful comments!

Paul

SQA digital exams and assessments with an iPad

Paul Nisbet — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:51:17

Quite a few people have been asking if candidates can use iPads to complete the SQA Digital Question Papers. Previously, the answer was 'no' partly because SQA prohibited use of iPads in the same way they do not allow mobile phones in the exam room. However, this policy has now changed and some pupils at Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock did use their iPads to access the digital papers this year.

PDF Expert

The SQA Digital Question Papers are PDF files which can be read using many different apps including, for example, iBooks and Adobe Reader, but for digital exams we suggest PDF Expert which is the only app we have found that actually lets you type your answers into the digital paper answer boxes. PDF Expert lets you open the digital paper, type into the answer boxes, highlight and underline text, and add drawings and notes to the exam paper. Completed papers can be printed, saved and emailed. Cedars used PDF Expert on their iPads for the 2012 exams.

The digital papers work very well for question and answer exam papers which require short text answers. The screen shot shows how text can be typed into the answer boxes on an Intermediate 1 Computing Paper. To 'tick' the answer box, you tap with your finger.

The answer boxes can only accept text and so maths and science, where the learner has to produce equations and formulae, can be tricky to do digitally.

With a stylus, it is possible to draw diagrams, graphs and maths and science expressions on the digital paper although I still don't find it as easy as using a pencil and paper, personally (must be an age thing?). Note that candidates have the option of writing their drawings and equations on the digital paper, or on a paper copy.

The second screen shot shows my scrawled attempt to draw a graph and work through an equation with the stylus.

Security

Using iPads in assessments and exams raises questions and issues particularly in relation to security.

For obvious reasons, it is important to ensure that candidates who use technology in assessments and examinations cannot access files stored on the device or on the internet or on other electronic devices that could connect to the iPad. In Scotland, SQA state that it is the school’s responsibility to ensure that candidates cannot any electronic sources or files via the internet or on USB drives or mobile devices.

In addition, any tools that may help the pupil, such as spellcheckers, word prediction or the iPad Auto-correction must be turned off, unless you have permission for the student to use them, from SQA.

Here's how to do it manually, although I suspect the best approach is for the school technician or engineer to use the Apple Configurator or iPhone Configuration Utility to set up an 'exam profile' with these restrictions on your exam iPads. See Fraser Speir's blog on how he set up the Cedars iPads.

Back up the iPad.
Delete all the apps on the iPad that are not required in the assessment. This leaves the apps required for the assessment (e.g. PDF Expert, maybe Pages etc,) plus the built-in Apps on the device.
Delete all photos, music files, videos, contacts, reminders and other documents. Clear the browser history.
Go into Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and delete all the accounts. This prevents access to Mail, Contacts and Calendar.
Remove any 3G SIM card.
Prevent access to the school Wi-Fi using the school network settings. Check that there are no other wi-fi internet access points available.
Turn off Bluetooth: Settings > General > Bluetooth > Off.
Now you need to prevent access to the built-in Apps, which are Newsstand, iMessages, Mail, Safari, iBooks, FaceTime, PhotoBooth, Reminders, Photos, Music, Videos
Go to Settings > General > Restrictions.
Click on Enable Restrictions and enter a passcode

Turn off any apps that you don’t want the candidate to be able to access (i.e. all of them). This will remove the following apps from the iPad screen: Safari, YouTube, Camera, FaceTime, iTunes, Ping and installing and deleting apps. Note this still leaves Mail, iMessage, Calendar and Contacts that the pupil could access the internet to find previously hidden answers, which is why you need to prevent access to wi-fi or the internet.

Allow Changes:

in Location, Don’t Allow Changes (this stops the iPad connecting to Wi-fi hotspots or devices)
In Accounts, Don’t Allow Changes (this prevents anyone adding a new mail or other account)

Turn off Auto-Correction and spellchecking (unless you have permission to use them):

Settings > General > Keyboard > Turn off Auto-Correction and Check Spelling
(Note that the candidate can easily turn them back on – we haven’t found a way to prevent this.)

You should now have an iPad with:

no stored files, emails, photos, videos, sound recordings or other documents;
only the apps which are required for the assessment;
no spellchecking or auto-correct;
no access to the internet or wi-fi;

and so the iPad should be secure.

If you have an iPad why not download some past papers from SQA's web site, try them out, and let us know what you think.

Free online Oxford Reading Tree eBooks from Oxford Owl

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:49:55

I've been meaning to blog about this for ages and have finally got round to it!

The Oxford Owl web site has over 250 free Oxford Reading Tree eBooks for teachers, children and parents to read online. The books have a recorded narration (i.e. human, not computer speech) and you can zoom in and out to make the text and pictures bigger or smaller. Turning the pages is done with a click of a mouse - you can't use the keyboard or switches directly. You could however point the mouse over the 'next page' button and then use a switch to click, to turn the page.

The books are ideal for using on a whiteboard or for individuals to read on their own computer (but not iPad - the books are Adobe Flash format which don't play on iOS).

There are also some activities for each book (although they didn't work on my computer - no doubt got the wrong version of Java / Flash / other plug in) and the 'Kids Barn' has a lot of information and games about Biff, Chip, Kipper and Floppy and the other characters.

109 new books on the Books for All Database

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:49:51

109 new books have just been added to the Books for All Database. They are all Large Print PDFs which have been created by the VTSS team in Edinburgh, and we are grateful to them for sharing these accessible copies via the Database.

The books can be downloaded and printed out for pupils with visual difficulties, and they can also be read on screen, which can be helpful to learners with dyslexia and reading difficulties, pupils with physical disabilities who have difficulty holding the paper book and turning pages.

Learners can read the books on computer using free Adobe Reader software, which lets you zoom in and out to change the size, and adjust the text and page colours. With most of the books, the text can be read out using either the free built-in Adobe Read Out Loud, or other text readers such as Ivona MiniReader, ClaroRead, Co:Writer, Penfriend or PDFaloud. Pupils can use the Adobe Reader commenting and markup tools to highlight key passages and add their own typed or recorded audio notes. To find out more, take a look at our Video Guides and Quick Guides.

You can find the new books on the Database here. (Note you have to log in to the database see the new books).

Have your say on the new Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit

Paul Nisbet — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:48:28

A Dyslexia Scotland Working Group is currently developing new material for the Assessing Dyslexia Toolkit, and would like your views of the current site and how it can be improved.

The Assessing Dyslexia Toolkit was formally launched on 1st June 2010 by Sir Jackie Stewart and Mike Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. The Toolkit was developed by the Dyslexia Scotland Assessment Working Group, chaired by Dr. Margaret Crombie, with funding from the Scottish Government and provides an online resource for teachers and early years workers to use to assess literacy difficulties and dyslexia.

The new resource will become the Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit in the autumn, and will have more material and resources on how educators can support dyslexic learners.

You can give your input to the new toolkit by completing this short online survey.

If you work with dyslexic learners and you've not already used the toolkit, why not take a visit? It contains a wealth of useful, practical advice on assessing the needs of learners with dyslexia and hopefully, the new site will provide even more support for addressing these needs.