Hoover’s New Wheels on the AEX

by Samuel Sennott

Check out another generous offering by Byron Wilkes of Learning Magic Inc.  The exchange is filled with gems like this. The AEX or Intellitools Activity Exchange can be found at:  http://aex.intellitools.com

I saw the exchange was acting up, so here is the direct links to the resource on the Learning Magic Site.

Hoover’s New Wheels

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This activity is based upon a true story about a dog named Hoover who unfortunately suffered a broken back in a ‘freak accident’. Paralyzed in the hind portion of his body, he was forced to hop along on his front legs. Well that was true until a colleague of mine and I were able to fit him with some “new wheels”. This activity helps illustrate that being in a wheelchair is not that limiting. Hoover has been an inspiration to many of us who know him. Even when he hopped along and dragged his legs behind him he continued to be happy and thrived in his environment. But now with his new wheels he is able to chase the pesky squirrels that live in his yard again.

Note: There is a companion activity in the Goodies section entitled “Hoover’s Newest Wheelchair”, which documents a later upgrade to a newer wheelchair as well. The activity is created in one of the writing templates from our “The Writing Bin” CD. On the CD there are six unique templates which allow you to create activities that will provide both reading and writing opportunities for your students. There are also over thirty finished activities available on the CD for your use.

This activity was built in Classroom Suite v. 3.2. The activity can be run on the ITAN Player. But IntelliPics Studio 3® is needed to perform data capture, automatic grading and portfolio management, as well as any editing or changes to the activity itself.

Required Software: IntelliTools Classroom Suite® v. 3.2.

Grades 3-5.  Curriculum area: Language Arts.   File size: 23 MB

The Pogo Stylus for the iPhone

by Samuel Sennott

The Pogo iPhone Stylus

The folks at Ten One Design were nice enough to send me a Pogo Stylus to do some testing it as an adaptive tool for using the iPhone. The reason why you need a special stylus is that the iPhone only works with your finger.  As Wikipedia eloquently states it, “Because the screen is a capacitive touchscreen, bare skin is required; a stylus or a normal glove prevents the necessary electrical conductivity.^{[34][35][36][37]”}

When we corresponded, they connected me with a user who had physical disabilities who was testing it for them.  During my own testing, I found this stylus to work terrifically when I used it holding it with my hands. Yet, know that you cannot extend the stylus, as it depends on the alloy for conductivity.  When I mounted it on varying head sticks, it did not work.  That could be corrected by using a longer stylus if they become available in the future.

Overall I give this product a recommendation.  For people with physical impairments, this may be a great way to help them access the iPhone and iPod Touch.  For people without physical impairments, this also may be a great way to access these devices in a more exacting way.

Images from the site: http://www.tenonedesign.com/stylus.php

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