SEN apps and mobile technology

1. iPad ideas and apps
Dan Bowen
Babcock 4S Limited
www.babcock-education.co.uk/4S

2. Aims of the session
• To identify strategies to best use iPads
• To look at specific apps to support learning

3. Session 1: Questions to consider
What are my values and beliefs about student
learning?
• what is the long term goal?
• what attributes do we want our students to have?
What are my values and beliefs about the role of
ICT in learning and teaching?
• does it help learning?

4. Questions to ask
• What does my current pedagogy look like? (How
do I teach?)
• What does it look like when I am teaching with
ICT?
• How might it look in ‘my iPad classroom’?
• What are my curriculum planning practices?
• What are my assessment practices?
• How might my planning and assessment need to
change to reflect learning and teaching with
iPads?

5. Students can:
• virtually explore the world online
• visit museums and libraries around the world
• access rich, multimedia information & resources to support
research and investigations
• connect, communicate and collaborate with people all over the
world (who has used face time?)
• create and publish to the web and have an audience (quad
blogging, blogging)
• use a wide array of specialist apps tailored to different learning
styles
• access learning anytime, anywhere and anything (via video, games
and text)
• Digital Literacy and Literacy in Digital age

6. Reshaping our thinking…
How do YOU learn best?
Discuss: Did you
learn something
over the summer?
What are the
current trends for
learning at
universities and
other contexts?
Khan Academy, iTunesU, Learning Platforms,
Video Conference, MIT Open Courseware

7. Mr Gove

8. ICT is inclusive, enlightening
and exciting
Meaningful
experience
Mobile
technology
Foster a sense
of community
Audio visual
Let learners
take ownership
Encourage
cooperative
learning
Develop
collaborative
problem solving
Encourage
collaborative
teaching
Online
Communities
Podcasts
Blogs
Wikis
Games
Learning
Platforms
Source: BECTA – Inclusive use of technology

9. iOS accessibility
There are many built-in features on iDevices that accommodate learning disabilities and help improve
productivity. The iPhone and the iPad have some differences here so it is important that you get the
tools that best fits your needs. Apple provides a section just on accessibility option worth exploring but
also check out the details of many of those built-in accessibility options in the iOS Technology.
Just to name a few:
Guided Access
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VoiceOver
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VoiceOver with Zoom
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Zoom
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VoiceOver with Maps
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Text Completion
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Siri
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Siri’s ability to launch apps
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White-on-Black
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Hands Free
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Alternate alerts
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Custom vibration patterns for alerts
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FaceTime over 3G (for signing)
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New Made for iPhone hearing aids
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Word highlights in speak selection

10. ‘tips’

11. Integrated software
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Note taking (notes)
Video recording and playback
Photos
Email
Sound recording
Music
Browsing the internet
PDF bookshelf, ebooks, ibooks
Email
Calendar

13. 200 Apps for Autistic Learners
• http://www.iautism.info/en/2013/04/02/freeor-discounted-apps-on-world-autismawareness-day-2013/#comment-17968

14. Autism and other SEN
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Apps for Autism - Apps for ASD iPod Touch Project is designed for children with
Autism, broken down into categories, including quick and easy description and cost
for each app makes it easy to find what you may be looking for.
Apps for Children with Special Needs (A4cwsn) is dedicated to serving children
with special needs and the associated communities who work with them. Not only do
they provide listings of recommended apps, by categories with descriptions, but
A4cwsn has created videos to demonstrate how APPS that have been designed for
children with special needs really work.
Apps Designed with Disability in Mind provides a listing divided up by category.
Worth exploring.
Apps for Education by Compiled by Carolann Cormier, MS, CCC-SLP, ATP is kept
up-dated and broken down into categories. This is one of my favorite listings.
Bookmark this one and you are pretty set.
Apps for Learning Social Skills - as this site states, "One of the three core
symptoms for an autism spectrum disorder is social impairment. People on the
autism spectrum learn by association rather than by observation. An iTunes app can
be used as a teaching tool for the purpose of making associative connections (visual
clues) by pictures or stories showing what social skills are supposed to look like so
that the person with an autism spectrum disorder can learn (by visual association)
and model (by imitation) these social skills in the context of real life social scenarios."
This is an extensive listing of apps for developing social skills- worth exploring!
Snapps4Kids - http://bridgingapps.org/snapps4kids-has-become-bridgingapps/

15. SEN Apps - Art
Drawing Pad
Doodle Buddy

16. SEN Apps - Relax
Pocket Pond

17. SEN Apps - Keyboard
Virtuoso
Garageband

18. SEN Apps - Senses
Tesla Toy

19. SEN Apps – Movie editing
iMovie
Splice

20. SEN Apps – story telling
PuppetPals HD

21. SEN Apps – News and TV
News apps
• BBC News
• Sky News
• Sky Sports News
• Apple TV – buy one!

22. SEN Apps – around the world
Google Earth

23. SEN Apps – News stand
Magazines
Music
Art
and so on..
Books
iBooks
Newspapers

24. SEN Apps – teacher tools
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Screen Chomp – Screen recording tool
Nearpod – Whiteboarding
Explain Everything -Whiteboarding
Socrative – use your iPad as a voting device
• iTunesU
• Kahn Academy
• TED Talks– talks to inspire you

25. Other apps of note
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AutismXpress
Pics Aloud Lite
Choicepad lite (Makaton symbols and BSL)
Colour Me
iComm lite
Talking Tom
Monkey Math lunchbox
Land of me - storytime

26. Choosing apps
• The National Center for Learning Disabilities
has a section, "There's an app for that! But is
it right for you?" designed by a parent who
came up with strategies for evaluating an app
before deciding to buy it.

27. iEvalaute
• Jeanette Van Houten developed iEvaluate
Apps for Special Needs which is a detailed
rubric specific for selecting apps for students
with special needs.

28. Apps for VI
iDevices are becoming increasingly accessible to blind and visually impaired users through screenaccess technology (VoiceOver) and a magnification program (Zoom) built into the iOS operating
system and a growing number of accessible apps. I explored and found, what I feel to be, a couple of
great resources for apps for the Visually Impaired:
Apps for the Blind and Visually Impaired - highlights some of the most innovative apps available.
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Gradients of Sight has provided a listing and review of each.
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Indiana AT Act has a nice listing of low vision apps.
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Join Me provides a a quick, easy way for instant screen sharing allowing a student the ability to
see what is on the whiteboard by manipulating and enlarging the screen as needed on their iPad.
(For more information, see iPads and Visually Impaired Students.)
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Magnification and Vision Support listing by Spectronics is also a good guide.
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Spectronics has a listing of apps for people who have low vision, and teachers of students who
have a vision impairment.
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Eric Jerman has provided a nice document to support students with visual impairments.
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Apps for the Visually Impaired highlights some of the most innovative and entertaining apps
available to the vision impaired.
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Not assistive technology but may be worth exploring is: Apps that can aid in Visual Skills
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Voice Dream Reader app provides text-to-speech that lets you listen to any articles, blog posts,
reports, papers, and books. It reads the text using the best available text-to-speech technology.
You can add it to your Bookshare account easily. VDR allows for many color options, the Text-ToSpeech can be set for wpm, and I think you will like the reading screen feature.
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For more apps for Visually Impaired check out: appadvice.com/applists/show/apps-for-thevisually-impaired

29. Apps for HI
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Apps for Deaf and Hard of Hearing:
To better facilitate communication and make it possible to place and receive audio and/or
video calls, the iPhone has provided extra support. Many apps are available for signing
programs. There are not a lot of listings for apps specifically for this population other than
the signing programs. Here are the few that I felt were worth mentioning:
Accessibility Features for DHH users
ATLA - concentrating mostly on iPhones but many of the apps mentioned can also be used
on the iPad.
iHelp for Special Needs has provided a listing of their top recommended sign language
apps.
IP-Relay: - enables people with hearing challenges to use an iPhone to quickly and easily
call people who are hearing. Like an instant message, you type your side conversation. A
certified operator receives it and voices everything you type to the hearing person. When
the hearing person responds, the operator types their words. You watch the entire
conversation live, right on your iPhone.
Sign Language - There are literally dozens and dozens of Sign Language Translators,
Dictionaries and Tutorials for learning to Sign.Explore the various ones to choose the one
that best suits your needs and learning style. I like iSign.
SpeakIt - Text to Speech - with this app the user can type their message and then have
the app speak it for them. Great possibilities with those who struggle with speech.
TapTap - is designed specifically to help bridge the gap to the audio world. Loud noises
trigger TapTap to notify you with vibration and a flashing screen. Alone at night in your quiet
home? Turn TapTap's sensitivity all the way up and it will respond to the slightest sounds.
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For more, visit Apps for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

30. Fine motor skills
Fine Motor Challenges
You might want to explore OT (Occupational
Therapy) iTool Kit Apps.

31. Switching apps
Apps that can be Accessed through the use of a
Switch:
• A list of Switch Accessible Apps compiled by
Jane Farrall with Alex Dunn from Inclusioneers
available through this link...

32. Learning Platform
• Fronter App allows you to look at resources in
your fronter rooms
• Internet allows full functionality for this and
therefore personalised content

33. Health and Safety
There is currently little documentary evidence of
Health and Safety when using portable devices
• Usage – at school, lighting, duration, SEN specific
apps at the ridgeway
• Posture – of students when using, of staff when
using at home
• Charging – in school and at home
• Noise – via prolonged use of earphones

34. Practical tips
• Don’t let battery fully discharge if you can but
fully power down over holidays
• Don’t use liquids to clean the screen
• Don’t forget to share your favourite apps with
colleagues
• Don’t put up with glitchy iPad – They can be
restored easily by the network team
• Health and safety – don’t forget useage and
addiction issues

35. E-Safety & Data Handling
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Student work
School work
Pictures
Social Networking in SEN context
School Acceptable Use Policies, data protection,
copyright and patents
www.surreyesafety.co.uk for some free helpful tips and advice

36. Vulnerable students need new
strategies for:
Currently schools are not looking at these in relation to the technological change
SMSC now added to the Ofsted EF….community cohesion is back…reactionary
Source: Munch, Poke and Ping report

37. Further research and resources
• Bloomin’ Apps http://www.schrockguide.net/bloominapps.html
• Tony Vincents blog http://learninginhand.com/ipad/
• Offical iPad videos http://www.apple.com/ipad/videos/

38. @dan_bowen