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"Safe" shortcut keys

for

From: Jan Heck
Date: Feb 5, 2009 12:50PM


Some colleagues are developing a Web application, the content of which is
mostly accessed in a linear fashion, with Back and Next buttons. Can anyone
recommend "safe" keyboard shortcut combinations for the Back and Next
buttons that won't interfere with the browser, with JAWS, etc.? I could
really use some help with this!



Thanks very much,

Jan Heck



From: Shelley Haven [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:28 AM
To: Alternate Media
Subject: RE: has anyone heard of this new tech device?



Hi, all!



As I mentioned in a previous post, the audio+notes recording feature of the
Livescribe pen is most effective if you have a notetaking strategy to use
with it. Here's a strategy I teach to students who have difficulty
simultaneously taking notes and listening:



I suggest they decide on a set of words which can help them find the
appropriate audio when they need it (whether to relisten to it or to expand
notes). For example, they could mark or annotate key points or "sections"
in the audio by writing just one or two words like:

- Assignment, or an "A" in a circle (for where the instructor goes over the
homework assignment)

- Major Point, MP, or an asterisk (to imply "be sure to listen to this
later")

- Test (this will be on the test)

- ?? (don't understand - ask instructor later, or go back and listen to
later)

- Page __, or a circled number (reference to something in textbook)

- [Topic name] (marks where instructor began talking about a new topic)

- [Slide title] (marks new slide just put up on screen)

- etc.



With a little practice and refinement, the result becomes a pen-navigable
outline of the lecture where the student can go back and listen to important
sections either for review or to fill in extra notes, etc. Since it always
takes a little time to decide whether to write something and what to write,
I suggest students turn on the smartpen's "Playback Latency" feature, so
that selecting a note with the pen (or on the computer after downloading)
begins audio playback from 10 seconds prior to when the note was actually
written.



BTW, the same basic strategy can be applied to notetaking software like
Microsoft OneNote (Windows only) and Circus Ponies NoteBook (Mac only), both
of which include an audio recording feature which synchronizes typed notes
and audio. With these, one can reduce notetaking even more by creating
keyboard macros for those "bookmark" terms listed above -- F1 "Assignment", F2 = "Major Point", etc.



Hope this helps,

Shelley Haven







At 3:51 PM -0800 2/2/09, Gaeir Dietrich wrote:

Actually, Maria, I think the pen would be great. You do not need to write
words. You could use numbers or symbols or even just a letter "x" each time
the lecturer said something that you wanted to hear later. Then you could go
back to each of your marks and the pen would let you know what was being
said at that time. You could think of it as a way of putting a "bookmark" in
the audio file.

******************************************************
Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich
High Tech Center Training Unit of the
California Community Colleges
De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
www.htctu.net
408-996-6043

_____

From: Pena, Maria [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 12:04 PM
To: Alternate Media
Subject: RE: has anyone heard of this new tech device?



Question Daryl et al - With my LD my writing looks like chicken scratch - I
cannot even write on the lines, I miss information, and usually it is best
if I have a note taker in class - BUT - I always record my lectures - so for
someone like me, is this pen worth it, or is it better to use a digital
recorder with a USB cable to download the audio file later and just get a
note taker? I have students who are just like me with their LD's so I am
curious for them also - please advise?



"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless
swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do
not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you
deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature
of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it
is possible, it is yours."

-Ayn Rand (1905-1982); novelist, screenwriter, playwright,







From: Daryl Murphy [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 9:14 AM

To: Alternate Media

Subject: RE: has anyone heard of this new tech device?



I purchased this pen In Nov of last year and works great. The following is
just a sample of things that it can do and things that are in the works for
the coming months;

1. record conversations, lectures, or meetings in normal settings. (you
can be in the middle of the classroom and record the instructor very well)

2. take notes while recording to match notes with speech

3. save the notes and speech to a computer

4. save and publish notes on their web site for free to share notes

5. (with an optional program) turn your notes into text for word
processing

6. Print out paper for note taking with the newer color laser printers
(if the printer is less than 2 years old, should be just fine)

7. If you purchased the paper it's basically the same price as in the
store (comes with 3 tablets, extra ink refills, carrying case) [from Costco
$199.99 2 gig model]

8. Soon to be released, a translation dictionary program and OCR to text
program

There web site is



<http://www.livescribe.com/index.html>; http://www.livescribe.com/index.html



great tool



Daryl R. Murphy

Adaptive Computer Technician Specialist (Retired)

862.1315



-----Original Message-----
From: Sean J Keegan [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 2:37 PM
To: Alternate Media
Subject: Re: has anyone heard of this new tech device?





> a person taking notes for one of our students came in today

> and is using a pen (with special paper) that records the lecture

> then the student can download it via a USB cable



It is called the Pulse SmartPen by LiveScribe
(http://www.livescribe.com/smartpen/index.html - warning Flash site). Cost
for the 1GB model is $149 and for the 2GB model $199.



It does basically what you mentioned - it can record audio while the student
is taking notes. The really cool part is that if you are using their
special paper, the audio content is "synchronized" with the notes on the
page. All you need to do is press on the paper where the notes were taken
and the pen will automatically jump to that section of the audio recording.



We have a number of them in circulation, but I have not heard back from
students if they are a real benefit or just a fancy pen. A few comments I
have heard from others is that it is a nice feature to have the audio, but
you need to be careful where you sit in the class in order to get a good
audio recording. What I would like to look at is what learning and
note-taking strategies are important to use in order to take advantage of
the pen's features.



Next month is "smartpen month" for me as I am planning to play with it more
then.



Take care,

sean



Sean Keegan

Associate Director, Assistive Technology

Office of Accessible Education - Stanford University