This blog is designed to summarize information about Assistive Technology. It is also a space for reflection on the information and key ideas that it inspires.It is also designed for my future use as a Special Needs teacher. The picture is taken from my back yard. The body of water in it is Crescent Lake which is about eight km long.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
day 10 Board Maker pro
On day 10 the class was introduced to Boardmaker Pro. This software can be used to create communication boards and books. These can be manipulated using a variety of switches to help a student communicate and accomplish a variety of tasks. We were given the profile of a grade seven girl that we have to consider in designing a communication board. I am very pleased with the board that Margaret and I have designed. It took many hours, but I guess part of that was due to the fact that it was our first time using the software. It seems simple but considering the student, reconsidering the student, considering the links, and reconsidering the links takes time. At times we would leave the student stuck on the Language Arts board or the "My Classes" page with no way back. To say that it was a learning experience is a bit of an understatement. We did encounter one technical problem which we were unable to solve. The sound in our book will not play when we try it using Ctrl u. It will play when we review it in the design mode using the play button but not in real use. If anyone has any ideas, please post them in mine or Margaret's comments. To my classmates...sorry that I have not commented on your blogs yet. It is next on my agenda. I am interested in seeing your reflections. My key for today is that learning takes time. Sometimes we want it to happen yesterday. Patience can't be left behind as another key in another blog post.
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Sorry Carl, I can't help with the technical glitch but I can understand the time it took to do the project. I spent several hours Friday night completing my board and ensuring everything was linked properly. It took a long time. My partner's job was the book and I know she found it time consuming as well. Good tool for communication though and once it's made, it's pretty cool that everything can be accessed by one button on the computer.
ReplyDeleteCarl,
ReplyDeleteDid you and Margaret get the technical glitch solved with the play button? If it's not too late, here's a summary of my own experience.
I ran into that issue a couple of times, and it turned out to be user error on my part. Somehow (and I still don't know HOW I did it!) I had clicked "Speak Message" and selected the "Use the text above" radio button, but had typed nothing in the text box. Poor computer was caught in a loop of trying to read aloud what I hadn't put there! As my JH kids say, "Duh!"