iPad accessibility features

The iPad has some great accessibility features (see previous post).

Following are a few handy online articles that explain how to use the accessibility features in a step by step way:

Review of the accessibility features of the iPad.

iPad VoiceOver guide for people with vision loss. (Adam Turner, Sydney Morning Herald 28 Jan 2011).

VoiceOver and the onscreen keyboard on the iPad. (Adam Turner, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Jan 2011).

VoiceOver and Safari. (Adam Turner, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 Feb 2011)

VoiceOver and iBooks on the iPad. (Adam Turner, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 Feb 2011)

Podcasts from Vision Australia about using the accessibility features of the iPad.

See previous post on this blog with thelist of gestures used in VoiceOver.

Also the iPad User Guide gives detailed instructions. (Guides for iPad 1 softwre versions and iPad 2)

Apple support for wireless Braille displays.

Ipads for special education learning

The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has a very useful resource 'Ipads in Special Education'. This is a comprehensive document listing hundreds of educational apps by category as well as providing information on the accessibility funtions of the iPad. (Prices of the Apps are not included)

Apple has a Special Education section in the iTunes App store listing a range of Apps with their prices.
Visit Apples webpage explaining the accessibility features of the iPad for:

• Vision
• Hearing
• Physical and motor skills
  

A Google Docs spreadsheet of recommended Apps for people with Autism.

Slideshow: iPossibilities: iPods and iPads in Special Education. 3 slideshows looking at various apps for special needs education.

Jeremy Browns App recommendation for students with Autism.

iPad questions answered

Have a look at iPad4Edu.
A useful website for educators where you can post questions you have the about the iPad.

Management and pedagogy of iPads in schools

If you are planning on buying multiple iPads for your school you need to do a bit of planning around the management, administration and pedagogical integration of the iPad in your classroom. There are also important issues around licencing of apps. The following articles provide some background information and practical strategies for schools:

Australian Macworld discusses the main issues for schools in iPad goes to School.
..... For starters, how does a school deal with the issue of students putting apps onto iPads? If the iPad is a shared resource, then having students install or remove apps can be a significant problem. Apple’s iOS deployment tools (developer.apple.com/library/ios) can help with locking down elements of the operating system and making it easy to push new apps onto devices using your wireless network.

Application licensing is also a concern. When an app is bought through the App Store it’s only licensed for one user. That means that the practice of setting up one reference iPad, backing it up and then restoring that installation onto multiple iPads will result in breaching the software licensing conditions. Apple is addressing this with a volume licensing program in the United States. There’s no word on when that will be coming to Australia, however.

Where students are allocated an iPad for their own use, life gets a little easier. iOS apps can be added to the school booklist and students can be given iTunes Store vouchers in order to buy apps themselves and set the device up to suit themselves. .......... Read more.

Ringwood Secondary College in Victoria is implementing a 1-1 iPad rollout to its Year 7 students. They have developed an implementation document "Yr 7 iPad info 2011" around setting up accounts and installation of apps. Each
 student
 is 
provided
 with
 an 
iTunes 
card 
to
 the 
value
 of 
$50 
as 
part of 
their 
iPad
 package ,
to 
allow
 an
 individual student account 
to 
be
 created
 and
 apps
 downloaded.

 This
 will 
all
 be 
done 
at
 school 
to
 ensure
 students 
have 
installed 
the
 correct 
apps.

Preparing your school for iPad implementation.

This article provides some really good points about planning for both infrastructure needs and the educational applications of the iPad. It discusses device management and content management and some thoughts around pedagogy. (This article also mentions the volume licensing program which as yet is only available in the USA)