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Iowa e-Learning Central

Technology Resources for Access and Instruction

Introduction

The technology resources embedded in this document are available through many sources; the layout presented here was originally compiled by representatives of Iowa institutions of higher education and AEA personnel.* Many of these resources support instruction for any learner, some are specific to individuals with disabilities. They are grouped around the following areas:

  • Teacher Management
  • Self Regulation/Monitoring
  • Student Work Flow
  • Student Collaboration
  • Accessible Educational Materials
  • Mindfulness
  • Website/Digital Resource Evaluation Tools
  • Tips and Tricks

Teacher Management

Google Classroom

  • Individualize instruction
  • Delegate virtually
  • Link to Google Drive
  • Track student submissions
  • Provide timely feedback
  • Download scores
  • Link to Google Calendar

Google Drive

  • Ease of organization
  • Share docs and folders
  • Monitor 
  • Auto save

Google Docs, Sheets, Slides

  • Modify Tasks
  • Monitor Work
  • Collaborate
  • Provide Feedback
  • Track Progress
  • Voice Typing (Docs)
  • Automated Closed Captioning (Slides)

Google Forms

  • Behavior Tracking
  • Behavior check in and check out
  • Data Collection
  • Summary Report

Google Chat

  • Behavior check in and check out

EquatIO

  • Create math expressions including equations and formulas
  • Compatible with Google Docs, Forms,* Slides,* Sheets* & Drawings*
  • Input via keyboard, handwriting recognition
  • Voice dictation
  • Predictive text
  • Create interactive digital math quizzes*
  • Input student responses directly into digital quizzes*
  • Chemistry formula prediction*
  • *Paid: $100/year, free for teachers

 

Self Regulation/Monitoring

Google Calendar

  • Stay organized
  • Set notifications
  • Subscribe to course calendars
  • Invite others to join
  • Shared calendars

Google Keep

  • Checklists
  • Notes
  • Images
  • Collaboration
  • Reminders
  • Color coding
  • Copy to Google Docs
  • Scan images to editable text (built-in OCR)

Google Keep Chrome Extension

  • Save web pages, images, quotes
  • Sync across all platforms
  • Add notes to saved items

Grammarly

  • Contextual spelling
  • Grammar
  • Punctuation
  • Sentence structure
  • Style
  • Plagiarism*
  • Vocab enhancement*
  • Pro proofreading*                

*paid version

Internet Abridged

  • Summarize the entire website you are currently on by clicking the icon in your toolbar
  • Summarize selected content
  • Inject a summary into the website.

Rewordify (website)

  • Intelligently simplify difficult English, for faster comprehension
  • Effectively teach words, for building a better vocabulary
  • Help teachers save time and produce engaging lessons
  • Help improve learning outcomes

Text Compactor (website)

  • Automatic text summarization tool
  • Shorten your text by whatever % you like

 

Student Work Flow

Brainingcamp Virtual Manipulatives (website)

  • Supports visualization of math concepts
  • 15 digital manipulatives for various levels
  • Great short tutorials

Calculators: Chrome Calculator, Cloudy Calculator, GED Calculator

  • Supports decoding of text, mathematical notation, and symbols
  • Optimize access to tools
  • Vary methods for response and navigation

Checker Plus for Gmail

  • Sound and voice notifications
  • Mark as read or delete
  • Do not disturb mode
  • Manage information and resources

Dualless

  • Dual monitor solution
  • Splits your browser windows into two
  • Adjust the ratio of each window

Extensity

  • Enable and disable your extensions from one place
  • Launch apps/extensions from one list

GeoGebra (also website)

  • Free online math tools for graphing, geometry, 3D, and more
  • Classroom resources for various levels

Mindomo

  • Mind mapping
  • Graphical outline
  • Plan writing
  • Study guide

YouTube

  • Rewindable teaching
  • Alternative assessment
  • Verbally explain thinking
  • Closed captioning
  • Access to content

Other screencasting tools:

 

Student Collaboration

Google Docs, Sheets, Slides

  • Collaborate in real time
  • Commenting feature
  • Suggestions feature
  • Chat feature
  • Revision history

Hangouts

  • Foster collaboration and community
  • Vary method for response
  • Construction and communication

Padlet (also a website)

  • Collaborate in real time
  • Can add notes by
    • Text
    • Images
    • Voice recordings
    • Drawings
    • Documents
    • Attach URLs

Jamboard

  • Collaborate in real time
  • Multiple pages
  • Add notes by
    • Stickies
    • Images
    • Handwriting, shapes
    • Draw
    • Pen
    • Laser

 

Accessible Educational Materials

Physically Reading

AdBlock

  • Blocks ads
  • Whitelist your favorite sites

BeeLine Reader

  • Color gradient to guide eyes from end of one line to beginning of next
  • Free version

BeeLine Reader PDF Viewer

  • Color gradient to guide eyes from end of one line to beginning of next on a pdf
  • Paid version

Dot epub

  • Brings book down from web as epub
  • Save to device of choice (phone, tablet, desktop, laptop, e-reader)
  • Read later

Dyslexia Friendly

  • Increases readability of web pages 
  • Changes the font
  • Contrast
  • Adds a reading ruler

Just Read

  • With one click, you can strip:
    • The page's styling
    • Ads
    • Pop-ups
    • Comments

Mercury Reader

  • Removes ads and distractions on websites
  • Adjust typeface and text size
  • Adjust themes (light or dark)

Newsela

  • Current non-fiction news articles at 5 reading levels from grades 3–12
  • Assign articles to students based on reading level
  • Pre-made quizzes

OpenDyslexic

  • Font
  • Increases readability for dyslexic readers

Low Vision and Color Blind

Color Contrast Analyzer

  • Analyze text color contrast problems
  • Specify size of text

Color Enhancer

  • Improve color perception
  • Useful for users who are color blind

Deluminate

  • Invert the brightness of the web without changing the colors
  • Useful as night mode
  • Soothing black instead of glaring white
  • High contrast

High Contrast

  • High contrast
  • Inverted colors
  • On/Off toggle

Hover Zoom+

  • Zoom images/videos in the web

MagicScroll Webreader

  • Turns pages on the web into a book format 
  • Scroll pages without moving them

Visor

  • Darkens the screen except for a horizontal band that aids in focusing on the text the student is reading
  • Move the band up and down as you read

Text Reading & Writing Supports

ChromeVox

  • Screen reader
    • Reads all content on screen
    • Supports navigation

Co:Writer Universal

  • Note: License needed
  • Text to speech
  • Word prediction
  • Speech recognition
  • Grammar support
  • Spelling support
  • Integrates with Drive and Gmail

Read and Write

  • Text-to-speech to hear words, passages, or whole documents read aloud with easy-to-follow dual color highlighting
  • Text and picture dictionaries to see the meaning of words explained
  • With speech-to-text, dictate words to assist with writing, proofreading & studying
  • Word prediction offers suggestions for the current or next word as you type
  • Collect highlights from text in documents or the web for summarizing and research
  • Create and listen to voice notes directly inside of Google Docs
  • Simplify and summarize text on web pages to remove ads and other copy that can be distracting
    • Free teacher account - for all teachers
    • Free 30 day trial for students

Bookshare

  • Makes reading easier
  • Customized Reading
  • Read anywhere
  • Get unlimited access: FREE for qualified U.S. students and schools

Tar Heel Reader

  • Free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. 
  • Can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens, the IntelliKeys with custom overlays, and 1 to 3 switches
  • Create own book with pictures 
    • Personally uploaded pictures or from Flickr
    • Edit, proofread, etc before publishing to the site

EasyBib (Google Add-on)

  • Automatic bibliography citation generator within Google Docs
  • Format in MLA, APA, Harvard, and over 7K more styles!
  • Create a bibliography for your research paper
  • Automatically cite books, journal articles, and websites just by entering in the titles or URLs

Grammarly

  • Contextual spelling
  • Grammar
  • Punctuation
  • Sentence structure
  • Style
  • Plagiarism
  • Vocab enhancement
  • Pro proofreading

Auto Highlight

  • Highlights the most important text
  • Click the extension again to get more sentences highlighted, and a third time to get the most sentences highlighted
  • Clicking it again will turn off the highlights and let you start over if you wish

Super Simple Highlighter

  • Defines & remembers highlights made to text on websites

Kami

  • PDF and Document Annotation and Markup Tool 
  • Annotate, markup, and collaborate on PDF, document, or image files 
  • Works with Google Drive & Google Classroom
  • Files Supported: PDF, Documents, Powerpoint & Slides, Excel & Sheets, Image Files

Mic Note Voice Recorder & Notepad

  • Audio recorder + notepad, 2 in 1 tool

Mindomo

  • Mind mapping
  • Graphical outline
  • Plan writing
  • Study guide

MindMup2.0

  • App 
  • Create concept maps
  • Collaborative
  • Add images
  • Attach files

Read & Write for Google Chrome

  • Teachers: free premium subscription
  • Students: free premium account for 30 days
  • Reading features are always free
  • Hear docs read aloud
  • Dual color highlighting, export highlighted text to Google Doc
  • Definitions with text and pictures
  • Word prediction
  • Dictation (speech-to-text)
  • Create and listen to voice notes
  • Single-Word Translation (free always)
  • Check It-Spelling and Grammar Checker

*Install the Screenshot Reader extension to read pdfs

Read Aloud

  • A Text to Speech Voice Reader
  • Choose preferred voice
  • Control speed
  • Supports PDF

Select and Speak - Text to Speech (SpeakIt)

  • Text to speech
  • Choose preferred voice
  • Control speed

Snap & Read Universal

  • Note: License needed
  • Simplifies vocabulary
  • Levels text
  • Translates text
  • Reads text (even from a picture/pdf)
  • Captures and cites sources
  • Create outlines by highlighting text
  • Supports Bookshare Web Reader

Voice In

  • Use speech recognition capabilities in any textbox on any website

Voice Typing

  • Speech-to-text feature in Google Docs
  • Use in Google Docs or in notes section of Google Slides
    • “Tools” > “Voice Typing;” or
    • Ctrl+Shift+S

VoiceNote II

  • Voice typing
  • Creates a notepad
  • Can copy from the notepad to other textboxes or drag & drop

Mindfulness

Bell of Mindfulness

  • When we hear the sound of the bell, please stop what we are doing and take three breaths to bring our mind back to our body

Calm

  • Gives students a moment to come back to center and promotes being present for learning
  • Options for different increments of time
  • Guided or unguided sessions
  • It is a practical guide to twenty-first century mindfulness
  • Good tools as well at calm.com

Breathe

  • Breathe temporarily pauses your current chrome tab with a reminder to breathe
  • You can customize each breathing session to be as short as one minute, with reminders how frequently (or infrequently) you may like

G.lux

  • Change the color temperature of your browser/websites
  • Make your websites darker without using the monitor or operating system display settings
  • Choose a custom color for your webpages. You can even make your screen pink or green!

Practice Mindfulness

  • Mindfulness App helps you to stay focused throughout the day
  • By default it plays a mindful sound in every 5 minutes
  • You can also customize it to suit your needs and set your preferred time, volume and sound
  • You can select the sound that you like from the available 4 sound types

Singing Bowl

  • Singing Bowl is a countdown timer that plays the sound of a singing bowl twice to mark the beginning and the end of a meditation session
  • You can customize to suit your time needs

 

Website/Digital Resource Evaluation Tools

Color Contrast Analyzer

  • Analyze text color contrast problems
  • Specify size of text

NoCoffee

  • Test a website to see how various vision issues will affect how a person can “view” it

WAVE Evaluation Tool

  • Web accessibility evaluation tool developed by WebAIM.org
  • Provides visual feedback about the accessibility of your web content
  • Injects icons and indicators into your page

 

Tips and Tricks

Chromebook shortcuts

  • Click Ctrl + Alt + ? to see ALL available Keyboard Shortcuts on a Chromebook

 

As adapted and revised from a document created by Central Rivers AEA, University of Northern Iowa, and the Iowa Department of Education