Open courses to help me catch up with work.

Posted on October 11, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I watch open course videos to improve my knowledge or to help me to catch up with my classmates. I do not find some of the uni notes good enough so the online videos are the best help and they often come from Oxford, Cambridge and MIT etc.” Linda

The links to Oxford, Cambridge and MIT show a range of options from podcasts to a YouTube channel and a web page from MIT with links to more sites. There are also many websites that have lists of courses, videos or podcasts and they often use the acronym ‘MOOCs meaning Massive Open Online Courses for example

MOOCs: Top 10 Sites for Free Education With Elite Universities

300 Free MOOCs from Great Universities (Many Offering Certificates)

Sticky Notes on Windows 7 as a useful freely available task reminder

Posted on October 10, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

Sticky notes positioned around the Microsoft Windows instructions – they can be used as an overlay with any documents and a sticky note can be added at anytime. The application can be pinned to the taskbar so you can toggle the notes off and on or simply close the Window and they will be automatically saved.

I am using “Sticky Notes”, the built in application in Windows 7. I began using this application because I tend to forget tasks and things I have to do over the day or week. This application is really helping me to gather information at the time it is required and also helps me to improve my memory when it comes to those everyday tasks.

What is quite helpful with this app is the fact that it is always facing you, while it stays “stacked” on the screen, you always have a face-to-face communication with your tasks which really helps you not to forget them.

It really requires a bit of a notification system so that you can organize your tasks at different time intervals, but it seems to be working fine for me at the moment.

Stelios – MSc Web Technology

Using CalenGoo for sending reminders via text and email

Posted on September 17, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

I have an Orange / T-mobile account on my iPhone and with CalenGoo syncing with my Google calendar I can set up SMS reminders as well as email or pop up ones. The app costs £4.99 but allows for so many more options compared to the built in calendar on the iPhone including the chance to sync with multiple calendars. This means calendars can be set up for special projects. Colour coding and large fonts with zoom make it a calendar that is easy to read even on a small screen. Lots of online support is provided by the developers

CalenGoo is also available for Android phones and costs £4.63

YouTube Video showing the app on an Android.

Using C-pen 3.5 to collect journal notes

Posted on September 11, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

I have been using a C-pen 3.5 for collecting printed notes that can be stored for assignments. It works well with Bluetooth and a Windows computer – You can run the pen over the print quite quickly and it will appear in whatever document you are using.

I have found it works best on high contrast black print on white paper or vice versa. The smaller the font the slower you need to scan. If you use a ruler or hard edge against the side of the pen you get a more accurate result and can scan across the page at a faster rate.

Luke – ECS

Changing background colours and desktop settings.

Posted on September 10, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I have an HP laptop and I choose to use my own desktop background which is different from that supplied by the manufacturer. I prefer a background that is not too dark and not too light but gives good contrast.” Yusuf (Computer Science)

The desktop settings on a Windows computer can be changed via the Control Panel > Personalization and there you can choose themes or high contrast modes etc. The Ease of Access Center also offers more ways of changing the way things look on the screen.

Listening to a webcast and taking notes on DraftPad on the IPhone or iPad

Posted on August 23, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I can listen to a webcast and take notes. Previously, this required getting transportation to the presentation and lugging a Braille notetaker. Now I use my netbook for the webcast and my phone with external keyboard and the DraftPad app to take notes.”

DraftPad is free and offers a very accessible interface that can be used with VoiceOver or once the text has been copied, then select ‘Speak’. It allows you to send or share your notes via email, SMS and social networking sites as well as open them in other apps that may be on your device such as DocsToGo for more formatting, Evernote for linking with other notes, DropBox for sharing or backing up file. The app also links with text speaking apps such as SpeakText Free.

This strategy came thanks to Pat Pound on My Life Simplified via Accessible Web and Apps!

Lexdis 2.0

Accessible technology for learning

Category Archives: Difficulties