Parent Group on Student Learning
Meeting notes
11.11.08
The focus of this meeting was to demonstrate some of the different technologies that are available for purchase as well as ones that are available and built-in on some computers.
We had the following demonstrations:
Kurzweil system
This was demonstrated by an Upper School student. She is new to the program and uses it for primarily for reading any sort of material that can be scanned including text books, worksheets/handouts and tests and also material or documents on her computer. She also uses the program for writing and she showed us how to add a text box to material that was scanned so she can easily add info to respond or answer questions. More info can be found at:
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/
Mac text to speech capabilities
This was demonstrated by a parent using a MacBook computer. The demo included setting up and using speech capabilities that are built-in to the Leopard operating system of a Mac, creating a short cut for speech activation, stickie notes, a discussion on how students may use this option for writing and reading. All of this and much more information can be found at: http://www.apple.com/education/accessibility/
Co:Writer
This is a word prediction software that can be used in word processing documents, email, and internet. One highlight is that there are topic dictionaries and word banks to choose from or you can create your own. More information can be found at:
http://www.donjohnston.com/products/cowriter/index.html
MacSpeech Dictate
This is speech to text software that was developed for the Mac by using the Dragon speech recognition engine. It is relatively quick and simple to train with high accuracy. It can be used with what you have on your computer already including word processing, email, iChat and more. More info can be found at: http://www.macspeech.com
If you have questions or want more information, please contact one of the Learning Specialists.
Robyn Kramer (rkramer@moundsparkacademy.org)
Patti Osman (posman@moundsparkacademy.org)
Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, 2009 from 8:30-9:30.
Topic: To be determined
Treats: Dana G. and Cheryl
Meeting notes
11.11.08
The focus of this meeting was to demonstrate some of the different technologies that are available for purchase as well as ones that are available and built-in on some computers.
We had the following demonstrations:
Kurzweil system
This was demonstrated by an Upper School student. She is new to the program and uses it for primarily for reading any sort of material that can be scanned including text books, worksheets/handouts and tests and also material or documents on her computer. She also uses the program for writing and she showed us how to add a text box to material that was scanned so she can easily add info to respond or answer questions. More info can be found at:
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/
Mac text to speech capabilities
This was demonstrated by a parent using a MacBook computer. The demo included setting up and using speech capabilities that are built-in to the Leopard operating system of a Mac, creating a short cut for speech activation, stickie notes, a discussion on how students may use this option for writing and reading. All of this and much more information can be found at: http://www.apple.com/education/accessibility/
Co:Writer
This is a word prediction software that can be used in word processing documents, email, and internet. One highlight is that there are topic dictionaries and word banks to choose from or you can create your own. More information can be found at:
http://www.donjohnston.com/products/cowriter/index.html
MacSpeech Dictate
This is speech to text software that was developed for the Mac by using the Dragon speech recognition engine. It is relatively quick and simple to train with high accuracy. It can be used with what you have on your computer already including word processing, email, iChat and more. More info can be found at: http://www.macspeech.com
If you have questions or want more information, please contact one of the Learning Specialists.
Robyn Kramer (rkramer@moundsparkacademy.org)
Patti Osman (posman@moundsparkacademy.org)
Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, 2009 from 8:30-9:30.
Topic: To be determined
Treats: Dana G. and Cheryl
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