BASIC Cell Phones Can Be Assistive Technologies

While we are starting to see cell phones and software being developed specially for the blind and deaf, I wanted to take a few minutes and explore how BASIC cell phones (without the costly software) can be assistive devices for hearing impaired and visually impaired students. I am NOT an expert on assistive technologies, but I have been hearing from more teachers on how their special needs students are benefiting from cell phone technology, so I wanted to share what I have learned.

For the Visually Impaired
A VI teacher in one of my courses (Julie Burger) shared with me that her VI students often are the last to get to experience new technologies because the technologies need to be modified for the visually impaired. For example digital resources often need to be modified for screen readers. However, Julie became very excited about the possibilities of cell phones in learning because she realized that this would be one time that her VI students could be on the forefront of technologies (possibly even being able to introduce their new mobile tool discoveries with their classmates without disabilities). A basic cell phone offers the ability for visually impaired to do the following;

1. Listen to any webpage
2. Listen to newscasts and podcasts
3. Send Speech to Text emails
4. Send Speech to Text Blog posts
5. Send Speech to Text Group posts (to places like Yahoo Groups)
6. Send Speech to Text Calendar appointments and meetings
7. Receive Voicemail reminders
8. Listen to text messages

Hearing Impaired Students
While VI students can take advantage of speech to text, and text to speech options in cell phones, HI students can take advantage of these same options on a basic cell phone but in the opposite directions. For examples, HI students can type in text and it can be sent to other students/teachers cell phones as a audio message. A basic cell phone offers the following options for hearing impaired students to better participate in their everyday class activities:

1. Send text messages that can become audio web-based posts (such as podcasts)
2. Send text messages that can become audio Voicemail
3. Receive an audio Voicemail message that can be transcribed into a text message
4. Read podcasts/audio broadcasts on their cell phone
   

The following are some free applications that couple with basic cell phones for students with assistive needs. The best part of these resources is that they can be used by any student (Univerisal Design), and they are a great way for teachers to be inclusive when developing assignments, group projects, or even basic class activities.

Free Mobile Resources for VI and HI Learners
Jott (Speech to Text Translation, emails, appointments)
Jott Feeds (Listen to text-based webpages)
Rocketron (Listen to news feeds)
Rminder (Text to Speech reminders)
PingMe (Text Message Reminders for groups and individuals)
Text4deaf (2-way text messaging, keeps tracks of texts, sends to individuals/groups) (Thanks to
Karen Montgomery for showing me this resource!)
ChaCha or Mymiamia for Google Searches (Text Message for HI students)
Dial2do (Speech to Text)
YouMail & GrandCentral (Transcriptions of VoiceMail)
Sendible (Text-Based Evites)
Voki (Text to Speech Avatars)
Hey Cosmos (Text Message to Speech Surveys and Quizzes)
Google Voice (Voicemail with Speech to Text Transcription)
Phonevite (Voice Message surveys, quizzes, and feedback)

I know a few others also are researching and using cell phones as assitive tools, please share your ideas and resources.

Making Avatars part of Mobile Learning

I know that many educators who are involved with the gaming world are interested in Avatars. I have seen some creative examples of how Avatars can become learning tools. Such as the Voices of the World project. While I fully admit to being a novice at Avatars (I just learned the proper pronunciation recently), I have just discovered that many web resources which allow you to create Avatars couple nicely with cell phones. One in particular called Voki, allows users to create an avatar for free, where they can upload their own backgrounds, record their own voice with a cell phone, and even send their avatar to their cell phone (or anyone else's). One of the benefits is that Voki will call you to record (therefore students without cell phones could use a land line). While it does cost a small fee to send an avatar to a cell phone, we can hope that in the future these sites will have some free options (hint, hint, hint to Voki and others...)!

I see potential learning applications with this resource. For example, students in a social studies class could create avatars of historical figures. They could create the Voki to look like the historical icon, including an appropriate background that reflects the time period. Second, using their cell phones they could record a message about who the figure is, and why they are significant in history. Finally, students could share them on each other's cell phones---thus becoming an instant review! The avatars could also be saved to a blog, wiki, or webpage. Students could update their Voki avatar through the unit as they learn more about their historical figure. This same activity could be done with science figures, biological species such as insects or flora, or even mathematical equations! I would love to hear about other Avatar sites that allow access to cell phones or teachers who are using Avatars for learning!