QR Code Update: Make Audio-Based QRs with Recordmp3.org

In my previous series on using QR codes in speech and language intervention, we covered how clinicians can use this engaging visual strategy to easily "hide" text and images behind a code scannable by mobile devices.  The result is kind of a high-tech (but simple) hide and seek where stimuli related to articulation, vocabulary, sentence structure, narrative skills, you name it, can be accessed by your students.

I have seen some QR codes that, when scanned, play audio, and it occurred to me that this adds a really exciting dimension (and modality) to the potential uses of QR.  Think of it- you could create QR codes that will play verbal directions, informational material, even the students' own oral language (descriptions, storytelling, functional narration of a school tour or rationale for their art/writing project, etc).

So, though I am sure there must be other ways of doing this, one simple way I found is to use Record mp3.  This simple site uses a Flash-based tool (so, you will need to use your computer and NOT an iPad to access it) to let you make a simple recording. You will want to make sure your Flash is updated or you may have trouble or distorted audio.

It even tells you how right on the site:

Once you have recorded and saved the audio sample, the site gives you a link. From what you know about QR already (I hope a little bit, or you'll want to go to my series, read about it and watch the video tutorials), what do you do next? Go to a QR code generator such as Kaywa, copy and paste the link from Record mp3, and you have a QR code that plays audio when scanned.  Try using the app Scan to access mine below:

Now, go have fun with audio QRs!

Workshop in Detroit, Michigan area- seats available

I am excited to be going out to the Detroit area again in 2 weeks (12/7/12).  If you are looking for a workshop in iPad integration and are in the area, there are seats available for this session:

Current Topics in iPad Integration for Speech-Language Pathologists: Fall 2012 Update 
This workshop provides an update on available apps that are dedicated to speech-language therapy, as well as further models of repurposing of apps designed for gaming, visual exploration, organization, creation, and professional development for use in speech and language interventions. Additionally, an overview of emerging trends will be reviewed, including use of QR Codes, Augmented Reality, and use of ePub tools to create books within interventions. This workshop will also discuss the utilization of apps in social intervention for students with autism spectrum and related disorders. Time permitting, an App Smackdown activity will allow participants to briefly share apps that they have found useful in therapy, with facilitation and discussion by presenter.

Click here for registration information. Thanks!

2012 Edublog Award Nominations

Each year I enjoy the Edublog Awards season, which is ostensibly a competition but really a reminder of the importance of social media in education.  For more on the history of the Edublog awards, click here.  In the past few years, quite a few of the SLPs participating in social media have represented in this event, as you can see in last year's ASHAsphere post.  I'd encourage SLPs who blog to nominate others; visibility and awareness of the work that SLPs do in education is very valuable. No matter who "wins," the annual event exposes all educators to a new list of passionate teachers.

Here's how you can nominate others, if you are a blogger and are interested.

Here's a link to Chris Bugaj's nomination post- Chris, thanks again for the nod.

So, short(listed), hopefully, and sweet, here are mine:

Best individual blog 
Speechie Apps by Aubrey Klingensmith is a great spot for app reviews, and kudos to Aubrey for tackling the task of helping SLPs incorporate Android apps as well as iOS, which I honestly have no desire to do! So glad I can send SLPs to her blog to explore this area.

Best group blog
ASHAsphere, the blog of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, features thoughtful blog posts from SLPs with a variety of viewpoints, in a variety of settings, working with a variety of populations. It's great food for thought and skillfully compiled, collected and elicited by Maggie McGary, ASHA's social media director.

Best new blog
Hanna B. gradstudentSLP explores a variety of topics close to my heart (executive function, social cognition, and apps) with humor and the wisdom of a...wait, Hanna's a grad student still??

Best ed tech / resource sharing blog 
all4mychild shares the creative use of a variety of apps, books (particularly with their books4all analyses) and other strategies to make therapy engaging and effective.

Best teacher blog
Speech Adventures-Speech Therapy, Technology and Humor by Mary Huston (not a teacher technically, but as an individual SLP in the school setting) has in a short time adventured into many interesting territories, including app commentary, RTI, and even the connection between Cher's Burlesque and our tendency to get stuck in our own thought patterns. I love me some Cher and flexible thinking.

Most influential blog post 
Appdapted: Halloween-Themed Apps by Jeremy Legaspi is a tour de force of creative re-purposing of apps, which you probably know is my favorite topic. With 21 examples of how to consider apps' features as related to speech and language objectives, readers are sure to be able to generalize these ideas past October 31.

Best twitter hashtag
#slpeeps, of course, is my go-to hashtag when I have a question or just want to engage with other professionals.

Best free web tool
Domo Animate is one of my favorite web tools to tell people about. Animation=Language, and it's pretty easy to use.

Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast 
A.T.TIPSCAST by Chris Bugaj continues to infuse an ever-growing list of high- and low-tech tips with humor and production values, and is geared toward every educator (but we SLPs should arm ourselves with a lot of A.T.TIPS, for sure, in our consultation work). Again, podcasts provide an opportunity for re-claimed drive time.  Listen to Chris on your commute through the free Podcast app.

Best educational wiki
Karen Janowski and Joyce Valenza's UDL Tech Toolkit is a one-stop shop for tools to help any learner access the curriculum.

Best open PD/unconference/webinar series
I have been to a number of Edcamps in the past several years, and these free unconferences, crowdsourcing the knowledge of the attendees themselves, still rival any experience I pay $$$ for.

Best educational use of a social network
Monthly #slpchat events continue to be an excellent reason for SLPs to check out twitter, recently covering such topics as AAC, autism and conference attendance strategies.

Best mobile app 
Toontastic, again, cause Animation=Language, and because Launchpad has continued to develop context and allowed school-based SLPs to access them with the All-access Pass.

Always tough to pick.  Good luck, guys!

ASHA 2012 Highlights

Like many of us who attended ASHA this week, I still have what is known as the "ASHA Hangover." This does not have to do with consuming adult beverages (though there were a few, I admit) so much as consuming knowledge, walking yards and yards of various carpets and traversing escalators (lots of escalators!) occasionally waiting in long lines, and pretty much talking incessantly leading to my vocal folds going on strike. Exhausting, but a great experience.

My 2 sessions were embarrassingly well attended and I am sorry to anyone who needed to watch from an overflow room or got closed out entirely.  ASHA was very kind to ask me to repeat the sessions on Saturday. Wow.

You can see the handouts here and here.

I attended some great sessions by Sarah Ward, Anthony Bashir, and Bonnie Singer, and as always appreciated the panel discussion on contextual language intervention by Bonnie and Barbara Ehren, Geraldine Wallach, Kerry Howland, et al.  Meeting Barbara Ehren was an SLP Geek-out moment for sure.

Here are some photos from the event:


The Exhibit Hall being put together!

My hotel was near the Olympic torch...and pretty much nothing else. Priceline Fail.


With pals Jeremy The Speech Guy and Easy Speak Magazine's Shareka Bentham, who traveled all the way from Barbados!



Mary Huston of Speech Adventures and Smarty Ears' Barbara Fernandes


Not Real...But Fun.  From ASHA Leader Launch Party for the upcoming redesign.

Helping out at the booth with the Smarty Ears Team!



Did you know? all4mychild's Meghan Graham and Tactus Therapy's Meghan Sutton and I are all BU alums- and I was once their (unnecessary) clinical supervisor? Funny!



What's wrong with this picture? Bathroom problems are infamous at ASHA, and this year was no different!

Hope to see you all in Chicago in 2013!

ASHA Sessions Update

Hi folks,

ASHA has asked me to repeat my two sessions tomorrow as I guess the room and overflows were filled for both. I am so appreciative of people's interest in integrating technology in their work! Please spread the word if you are attending ASHA as I think this information is only available at info desk and the daily update sheet, two resources I doubt people access.

 

Repeat Session (1084)

1540: Applying Emerging Trends in iPad Apps in Speech-Language Interventions (Repeat Session)

11/17/2012, 8:00am-9:00am

B401-B402

 

Repeat Session (1042)

1541: Pairing Picture Books with Apps to Contextually Target Language Objectives (Repeat Session)

11/17/2012, 9:30am-10:30am

A402-A403

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Wrapping up Appy-Picking Month: Topia World Builder

Topia World Builder is a quiet, gentle nature simulation...except for the subtle animals-eating-each-other thing.  This app has beautiful graphics and interactivity allowing you to create and populate worlds with pretend "animals," then observe what happens.  Touch to create, raise, sink or flatten land and you have an engaging way to teach the key vocabulary/category of geographic features: mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, oceans, harbors, capes, you name it!  Depending on which animals you put where, understated effects will visually show you predator-prey relationships, as well as breeding.

Common Core Connection:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

PHEW- Appy-Picking Month was fun but a bit tiring! I hope that you found what I intended here- a wide variety of apps that can be repurposed to meet speech and language goals while engaging our students.  

I am going to be taking a few weeks off, so see you after ASHA!

Appy-Picking Month: Speech4Good

The folks at Balbus Speech in my hometown of Boston have designed an innovative app to visualize speech.  Because I have few opportunities to work with fluency clients, Jessica Chase from the wonderful Consonantly Speaking offered to cross-post here as part of Appy-Picking Month. Thanks so much, Jessica!!  Please check out her great site. Thank you also to Balbus, who offered a few promotional codes to our readers.  If you are interested in entering the giveaway, click on over to the post on Jessica's site.

Back in June when I started my ABCs 4 SLPs series, I reviewed the Speech4Good application by Balbus Speech. Since then, they have updated their application and included a Lite version for users to try. In addition, I have been attending a workshop focusing on fluency assessment and therapy in which the application was recommended as one way to visually/auditorily practice fluency techniques.

Speech4Good is a clean, easy to navigate and use, application that primarily focuses on fluency disorders. The four different menus that one can access on the full version of the application include SpeechCenter, Library, Sharing, and Account.

SpeechCenter shows an oscilloscope (speech graph) which you can turn on and off, uses DAF in which you can turn on and off as well as adjust the delay, and allows you to record a persons' speech. The Library shows saved recordings and notes for sessions. You can also share files to e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook from the Library. Sharing allows you to view which files you have shared and where you sent them to. The Account menu allows you to log-in to Twitter or Facebook and shows a privacy policy. You can view more information about this application's use by reading my previous review here.

I like using the oscilloscope with my students for them to monitor their speech. I also like the ability to record sessions and take notes within the application. One thing that myself as well as many others have noted in previous reviews that we would like to see taken away but is still on the application is the ability to post to Twitter and Facebook. I understand that a user makes the choice to do so, but I do not see why anyone would ever want to share a confidential file with a social media site. E-mail is fine, but it makes me nervous with HIPAA that I might accidentally press the wrong button and load a confidential file to Facebook or Twitter.

Since I last wrote about the application, Balbus Speech has released a Lite version available for $4.99. This Lite version includes the oscilloscope (speech graph) and adjustable DAF. It does not allow the user to record speech, take notes, or save sessions. If you like the Lite version, you have the ability to upgrade to the full version within the application.

From working with a couple of voice and fluency students for the past couple months since school has started as well as attending a fluency workshop, I have learned more about fluency assessment and strategies. Since I am writing a second review of this application due to the fact that the other day was Stuttering Awareness Day, I would like to discuss how the Speech4Good application can be used for assessment and remediation of fluency disorders.

Assessment Using the Speech4Good Application:

• Turn off the "Speech Graph" and the "DAF" to solely record a persons' speech while in conversation, repeating phrases, and reading.
• Take notes following the session about secondary characteristics and types of dysfluencies and save the file to the application.
• Replay the recording(s) as many times as needed to count the number of syllables stuttered and the total number of syllables to get a percentage of syllables stuttered.
• Replay the recording(s) to determine the longest dysfluency, types of dysfluencies, and number of each type of dysfluency.
• Use the information found in your speech report.

Treatment Using the Speech4Good Application:

• Use easy onset and have the client watch the "Speech Graph" to see what a strategy such as easy onset looks like on the graph to help him or her visually monitor his or her speech.
• Record a clients' speech and save it to the application. Play back the recording for the client to self-assess how many times and types of dysfluencies he or she had.
• Plug headphones with a microphone into the iPhone to use the Delayed Auditory Feedback (DAF) function. Determine the length of delay to use with the client.
• Have the client practice his or her fluency modification or fluency strategies at home and e-mail you the files of his or her recordings to keep a record. He or she can also type notes as to environmental/emotional information that might be associated with the severity of stuttering on a given day. He or she can also rate himself or herself and the therapist can keep track of his or her ratings.

Price:
Speech4Good is available for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad for $19.99. Speech4Good Lite is available for the same devices for $4.99.

Appy-Picking Month: Brainpop Jr. Movie of the Week

Brainpop's little sister, Brainpop Jr., released an app recently! Both apps provide a visual summary of curriculum topics, narrated by a robot, Moby, and a human pal. Annie and Moby have been on the web for some time, but I am happy to see them in the app world. Brainpop Jr. provides a free movie each week on topics spanning Science, Social Studies, Reading, Writing, Math, Health, Arts and Technology. The movies are short, extremely engaging for kids, and filled with expository text structures such as lists, sequences, descriptions, etc, as well as great vocabulary. As such, it provides a quick and easy way for SLPs to present curriculum information and work on strategies to help kids understand it. The app also provides access to some of the interactive features of the site, such as quizzes and "Belly-Up" comics related to the topics. Brainpop Jr. Movie of the week also allows you to login and view all movies, not just the free movie of the week, if your school district has a subscription.

Common Core Connection:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Appy-Picking Month: Pepi Bath Lite

Pepi Bath Lite (free) is a fun little app that can be used for sequencing skills.  You can choose a boy or girl character and bring them through the steps of doing their laundry or getting ready at the sink in the morning.  Be aware that the kids disrobe to their undies, so if you have a student that can't handle that, you might want to avoid it! That said, I think the free version is also better than the paid, which incorporates a toileting scene. Not something I would want to work on. I have a number of kids that repeatedly would ask for this app and wouldn't go too out of control with the bath context.

Common Core Connection:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

Appy-Picking Month: The Weather Channel

As Hurricane Sandy approaches our region, and I wonder how much it is going to mess up my work week, I am reminded of the utility of the (free) Weather Channel app. The iPad version of the app provides a nice animated opening visualizing the weather in your selected location (e.g. a sunny field, a puddle with raindrops). I found this useful to build descriptive skills with certain students, particularly in conjunction with the weather component of Kid's Journal, which I wrote about earlier this month. For higher level goals, the app provides video that could be used to align with weather as a curriculum topic, as it is repeatedly used throughout the grades. These are great to review with the schema-building question: what do all weather forecasts have in common? The maps feature of the app can be used as a visual to generate language about weather characteristics and geography, as well as predictions, as different features of weather can be highlighted: temperature, precipitation, etc.  Weather also can be used as part of a greater project, such as this webquest on weather.

Common Core Connection:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.