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Presenter(s)
Karen Sheehan
IntelliTools, Inc.
1720 Corporate Circle
Petaluma, CA 94954
ksheehan@intellitools.com
This hands-on workshop will provide in-depth training on using Overlay Maker 3 to meet IEP goals for students and adults. Participants will see just how easy it is to use the updated features of Overlay Maker 3 to create cross-platform, OSX compatible overlays that can solve a variety of curriculum and access needs for individuals with physical, cognitive, visual, and learning disabilities.
This workshop will be presented in the context of a day in the life of a classroom. Not only will participants have the opportunity to learn Overlay Maker 3 but they will also understand the application of using overlays from a day-by-day perspective.
We'll begin the workshop focusing on literacy and the timesaving templates that are included with Overlay Maker 3. These overlay templates provide a variety of strategies, scaffolding, and steps to success for students who range in skills from beginning readers and writers to writers that need to fine-tune their skills. The templates are designed for the teacher or therapist who has limited time and needs to be able to quickly create access to the computer for clients with a wide range of abilities. The strategies used incorporate both teaching and reinforcing concepts.
Math is another key subject area and one that can be difficult to teach to students who have limited physical abilities. The math overlays and corresponding IntelliTools Classroom Suite activities included with Overlay Maker 3 provide ideas for using manipulatives to teach number sense. Participants will explore these samples as well as learn how quickly they can modify the overlays or create their own.
Overlay Maker is often used to create overlays for off-computer learning games. Participants will see the many new game board overlays included in Overlay Maker 3 that have been adapted from SoftTouch software. We'll talk about application, modification, and creating new game overlays for cards, dominos, lotto and game boards.
Overlay Maker 3 can also be used to create a variety of keyboard layouts. In this lab participants will learn how easy it is to create their own custom keyboard. Samples such as a reduced alphabet keyboard, Dvorak keyboard, JAWS overlay and keyboard designed for visually impaired users can be used as is or quickly modified using the accompanying template.
The new features of Overlay Maker 3 are especially powerful when designing custom overlays to interface with IntelliTools Classroom Suite or other software programs. Participants will get the opportunity to use an innovative Make Overlay feature of Overlay Maker 3 and experience just how easy it is to use this program.
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