‘Talking Tins’ – inclusive technology

Hi

I thought I would share a link and some info about a very useful, cheap and easy to use bit of kit called ‘Talking Tins’ which has many uses including supporting reading. The resource is a very simple device which can record 5 secs/ 40 secs of speech and give instant playback. 

‘Talking Tins’ were originally designed for the blind/ visually impaired to put on the tops of tins, with a voice recording to indicate the content but there potential in the classroom was soon spotted ! 

I use them with KS1/KS2 pupils in a variety of ways and often encourage a child to record themselves/ me reading their reading book. They can then play back and follow the text. I also use them to work on a child’s spellings, as the child can read the spellings aloud and record their voice, then play that back and use it to practice writing those words. I also use them a lot for sentence writing, and work 1:1/ small group to build a sentence, then record it. The children write the sentence and can replay the audio if they forget what they are writing/ check they are correct.They can also be used to record ideas/ instructions/ items for overlearning such as common sequences … endless list !

http://www.talkingproducts.com/educational-resources/talking-tins-educationTo record, you just hold the 2 yellow buttons, then press the black one to play back. So simple !

PLN by any other name …

As part of our IRT unit we have been asked to develop our own PLN (Personal Learning Network). Naturally suspicious of anything new and alien, I pondered on the value and worth of a PLN and even wondered if I would use it beyond the parameters of the course.Then I had a little ‘lightbulb’ moment when I thought about what I usually do. When I need to research something, I go online and look at a variety of articles/ resources/ research until I find what I want. What do I do then ? Bookmark the link and save it to ‘favourites’ on my laptop. There it sits, in the midst of flight information, offers for plants, bread making sites and the general detritus of life !

Part of a PLN is to have designated places where all the educational/ work related stuff will go. All together, easy to find, hard to lose … What’s more, I can share that hard won information to save others the work and vice versa.

I think I’m just beginning to get it …

 

 

Inclusive reading technologies (#IRT12)

Well this is the first post on my shiny new blog ! I intend to share links/ info etc which may be of interest to my virtual course peers . We are all studying Inclusive Technologies for reading and we are using a variety of media including Twitter.

I have just been playing with the new Kindle Fire and looking at the features which promote inclusivity such as altering font size/ style and changing line width etc. I was also contemplating how I really really want one …

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