OTMC Tidbits
October 26, 2013 In this issue (CTRL + Left Mouse Click) … Welcome Cathy Stine! iPad Training Offered Introducing MakerBot Smart Brailler Update BARD Mobile App is HERE! BARD Tutorial Available BARD App on New iPads BVIS Technical Support FREE Books! Subscribe to Scholastic News Order Window Opens SOON! iPad Update iPad Criteria APH Federal Quota Census Update Book Requests in a Nutshell Learning Ally Membership TBABS & BARD Contact Information
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When she is not at work, Cathy enjoys gardening, crafts, walking her dog, and spending time with family.
The following are the four workshops that will run concurrently throughout the day:
Wayne Oshiro (BVIS Tech) Overview & Differences between iOS 6 and 7 BARD Mobile App (from TBABS) VoiceDream App Scott Wall (CRP) iPad Productivity for the teacher and student Ruth McKee & Tyler York (CRP) Apps and switches for multi-handicapped and CVI students Dan Glowicki (Cascade) Scanning apps VoiceOver DropBox download
As Scott McCallum of BVIS reports, “I hope to see you all there!” In order to help with that, Scott also states that “BVIS Fund Reimbursement will be available for Regional Programs who send TVIs from Southern, Eastern, or Central Oregon. This may include hotel, mileage and per diem.”
Please register here: http://bit.ly/BVIS_iPad_Registration
OTMC Tidbits – November 2013 Page 2 The MakerBot heats up plastic filament that is fed from a spool and then lays down molten plastic in thin layers to create a variety of shapes. The object of this “printing” comes from a large online library that the user downloads and then opens in the MakerBot design software. It’s fascinating to watch 3-D printings occur and even more fascinating to see the finished product. Now that we have a MakerBot, OTMC will gladly provide YOU with various manipulatives to help you with teaching Oregon’s students who are blind and visually impaired. As you look through the online library at www.thingiverse.com to select items, please keep in mind that the MakerBot process is time-consuming. We’ve had test pieces that have taken four hours to complete! Therefore we will fill orders as soon as possible and in the order in which they are received.
In order to make this process work accurately and efficiently, locate the item(s) you desire on www.thingiverse.com and use the OTMC Online Order System and enter the following information (under “Educational Materials”) for each item you want us to make from that website library. Item Name Creation Date (put under “Comments”) Name of creator (“By ???” – put under “Description”) Since there are numerous versions of the same type of item (for instance, search thingiverse.com for a “chair”), the above information will insure that we will make the item you want.
While we can’t pre-order from APH, OTMC is keeping a “pre-order” list and we currently have 19 requests for this revolutionary new Brailler. As soon as we can, we will place an order to cover OUR pre-orders as well as a few “extras”. It is hoped that we won’t see the same sort of distribution delays as the VisioBook last year where we had people waiting for 10+ months.
Finally, since we don’t anticipate getting all of them in stock right away, OTMC will distribute the Smart Brailler in the order in which the requests/pre-orders were received. This seems to be the most fair approach.
As always we appreciate your patience as we work to insure that everyone who wants a Smart Brailler will get one as soon as possible.
If you have not yet pre-ordered a SmartBrailler on the OTMC Online Order System, please do so as soon as possible so as to not delay any longer than necessary the time it will take to deliver one to you.
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OR … by searching for BARD Mobile in the App Store. You will need to be a registered BARD user to order to use the BARD Mobile app.
There are a couple of key features we’d like to highlight about the BARD Mobile app so you are as well prepared as possible to make great use of it:
Once you log into the BARD Mobile app using your BARD login information, you will not need to log in again. The BARD Mobile app will remember your user credentials.
Books and magazines are accessed through the BARD Mobile app 2 ways. First, from you’re My Wishlist, and second, from the Recently Added lists. You can search through BARD and find books like on your computer, but instead of the link at the bottom of the record being to download the item it will be to add it to your My Wishlist. Items can be added to your My Wishlist either through the BARD Mobile app or on your computer. You do not need to worry about extracting items you download using the BARD Mobile app. Let me repeat that: you do NOT need to extract items you download using BARD Mobile. The BARD Mobile app does everything for you. Just click the download button and in a few minutes you will be good to go. Hurray! Books and magazines can be quite large to download (50MB - 200MB), so be sure to manage your downloads carefully, especially if you have a limited data plan. You can set BARD Mobile to only download over wi-fi.
Your progress through a book will not be updated across iOS devices, meaning if you start listening to a book on your iPhone, your progress through the book will not be updated on your iPad.
You can have up to 5 iOS devices registered with the BARD Mobile app.
If you want additional information on the new BARD app, please see: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/TBABS/Pages/bard_info.aspx#BARD_Mobile
It’s been a long time coming, and we hope you all enjoy the benefits of the new BARD Moblie app. Happy downloading!
Note: If you have any questions about using BARD or the app, please contact Joel Henderson at [email protected] or at 1-800-452-0292.
Please note that this link will take your student to the TBABS student page. That way they can learn about all of the services of TBABS and not just about BARD. As I’ve said many times, I strongly urge you to assist students in getting signed up for accounts for reading material such as Talking Book and Braille Services. Please contact Joel directly should you have specific questions about BARD/TBABS or are having difficulty with the service. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 503-378-5391.
Regarding the tutorial, Joel further states that:
OTMC Tidbits – November 2013 Page 4 “This video takes users through the entire BARD process, from signing up for the service, to searching for books, downloading them, and transferring the book onto their flash drive. I made the video using Camtasia, a screen-recording and tutorial-making program by TechSmith (a much cheaper option than Adobe Captivate).
You can also view this tutorial using this YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3X1hB4cNd8. The video is listed as private, so you can only view it if you have the direct link (it won’t show up in the results of a search), and comments have been disabled.”
OTMC Tidbits – November 2013 Page 5 The information below will assist you in ordering these magazines for your student. Please use the OTMC Online Order System to place these orders (one student listed per order). Also, use the APH catalog number for the desired publication(s) as well as a brief item name/description. (e.g. “Scholastic News – BRL grade 4”)
My suggestion is that you order the identical version in large print for all your braille requests. That way the classroom teacher or student peers can better follow along with your student. Keep in mind, however, that APH typically doesn’t ship the corresponding Braille and large print versions at the exact same time. Still, eventually everything will catch up and you’ll then have both versions side-by-side.
Finally, unless we hear otherwise, all subscriptions will be mailed directly from APH to the requesting teacher. IF you wish another/different address to which these are to be shipped, be sure to include that in the “Comments” box of the order form.
Braille Scholastic News® No. of Issues Catalog No.
Grade 2 32 ZW-SN2-B
Grade 3 24 ZW-SN3-B
Grade 4 24 ZW-SN4-B
Grade 5-6 24 ZW-SN5-B
Junior Scholastic® (Grades 6-8) 20 ZW-JRS-B
Science World® (Grade 6-10) 12 ZW-SSW-B
Large Print Scholastic News® No. of Issues Catalog No.
Grade 2 32 ZW-SN2-LT
Grade 3 24 ZW-SN3-LT
Grade 4 24 ZW-SN4-LT
Grade 5-6 24 ZW-SN5-LT
Junior Scholastic® (Grades 6-8) 20 ZW-JRS-LT
Science World® (Grades 6-10) 12 ZW-SSW-LT
One final note, you can place orders for Scholastic News for the 2013-14 school year up until Friday February 28, 2014.
As with recent years, only the District Test Coordinators (DTC) are authorized to request a Braille or Large Print version of this annual test. If you would like any of your students to have either a Braille or large print copy of the Extended Assessment, please contact the DTC of the students’ district.
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We continue to hear great things from Oregon’s vision community about how these iPads have been a positive influence in the lives of the students we all serve. Additionally, we’re seeing a lot of book requests come in for iPad accessible electronic files. It is believed that this trend will continue in the months and years to come.
Please see Book Requests in a Nutshell showing the numbers of books requested compared with previous years. We believe that more students are using iPad books rather than getting large print copies. This is an excellent use of technology and a trend that is sure to continue in the years ahead. What an exciting time to be in the field of education!
Who should get an iPad from OTMC? Students who traditionally use large print and/or magnification devices to access print. Students who can read large print but may prefer auditory access.
Who should not receive one of the iPads from OTMC? Student who is unable to access printed information visually. Students who have remaining functional vision but are considered non-readers.
What should I do if I have a student who can really benefit from an ipad (or other idevice) but does not meet the OTMC iPad criteria? Work with your administrator and submit a proposal to Scott McCallum at [email protected] If you have other questions of concerns please do not hesitate to contact Scott.
As mentioned, please keep in mind that iPads could be provided to those students who do not meet the above criteria, but who still have a need for this incredible device. All you need to do to secure one is for either you or your supervisor to contact Scott McCallum of the BVIS Fund with a request for funding. Be sure to provide a statement as to what you need, the cost of items requested, and the reason why you believe these items are needed.
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At this writing we are awaiting the update from APH of the instructions we are to follow in conducting this year’s count. On behalf of all Oregon’s students who are blind or visually impaired, thank you for the excellent work you all do to insure that this census update is completed smoothly and accurately.
As you can imagine, we will report more on this process in the coming months.
In case you missed it with the previous issue of Tidbits, here are the current totals as recorded in January 2013. Region Count 1 – Eastern Oregon Regional Program 25 2 – Central Oregon Regional Program 26 3 – Southern Oregon Regional Program 80 4 – South Coast ESD (Cascade Regional Program) 12 4 – Linn-Benton-Lincoln ESD (Cascade Regional 33 Program) 5 – WESD Regional Program 121 6 – Columbia Regional Program 221 7 – Lane Regional Program 48 8 – Northwest Regional Program 88 Total: 654
Book Requests in a Nutshell
Additionally, we have approximately 100 students signed up under our institutional membership to have a sub-account to Learning Ally. These students are able to download their own Learning Ally audio books directly to their device (computer, tablet, etc.) thereby greatly minimizing the number of audio CDs that OTMC is asked to provide. This is a good thing, by the way, since we’re hearing that Learning Ally will eventually discontinue the use of CDs in their offering. (By the way, downloads carried out by students within their Learning Ally sub-accounts are NOT reflected in the total of efiles listed on the following chart.)
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The chart below gives a format-by-format comparison. Just so there’s no misunderstanding, BR= Braille; CD=CD Audio Book; EF=eFile; LP=Large Print. qryCROSS-TAB-FormatComparison Sch Year Total Of ID <> BR CD EF LP 2010-2011 1792 495 355 88 854 2011-2012 1610 512 262 100 736 2012-2013 1525 542 166 231 586 2013-2014 1172 540 23 358 251
(Note: 2011-2012 was the last full school year where iPads were NOT available for distribution by BVIS/OTMC.)
Do YOU have students who would benefit from using Learning Ally to listen to audio books? If so, please use the Online Order Form and provide us with the following information. (You can use the comments/description boxes for some of the following.) Student’s name (NOT initials!) Date of Birth (Learning Ally requires this as part of their verification process) Grade in school
This is a VERY simple and quick process to give your students access to these books. Remember, if your student has an iPad then they already have the Learning Ally app. We can give them the login to USE that app!
By the way – while you’re helping to set up a student with Learning Ally, you should also consider setting them up with Bookshare and Talking Book and Braille Services! Think of it as having multiple tools in the toolbox….
OTMC Tidbits – November 2013 Page 9 The staff at TBABS would welcome the opportunity to come to a staff meeting and discuss their service and give a demonstration of the playback options and equipment they provide. If you would like to schedule such a presentation or discuss accounts for your students or for your agency, please contact: Joel Henderson, Administrative Program Coordinator (503-378-5391) Elke Bruton, Public Service Librarian (503-378-5455)
Name Phone/Email Bob Disher 503-540-2940 W OTMC Manager 503-931-8239 C [email protected] Eleni Boston 503-385-4606 Supervisor of OTMC [email protected]
Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
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