The PATINS Project provides a range of support services for impacting both the organizational capacity and the professional capabilities of Indiana’s local educational agencies in serving students with unique learning needs.  These services include:

• Operation of the Indiana Center for Accessible Instructional Materials (ICAM) www.icam.k12.in.us 
• Regional Lending Libraries 
• Technical Assistance and Training 
• Vendor Offered Discounts  
• PATINS Rapid Fire Blog 
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Blog 
• PATINS Refurbished Computer Program 
• Family Resources

Accessible Instruction Pledge

As promised, PATINS held an iPAD2 drawing for all 350 people that took our Pledge to support Accessible Instruction for ALL students.  The lucky winner is:
Lindsey Goshorn
Special Education Teacher at Brownstown Elementary School

Congratulations to Lindsey and Thank you to all who took the Pledge!

DAISY to EPUB Converter 2.0

The PATINS Indiana Center for Accessible Instructional Materials (ICAM) is pleased to announce that as of December 22, 2011, Daisy to ePub Converter version 2.0 is available for download.

Here are the Key Changes:

• Supports Microsoft Word (docx), txt, and html in addition to DAISY and NIMAS
• Accessibility interface enhancements to support users with visual and physical challenges
• Simple way to view and add alt text for images when converting
• Batch Processing (converts multiple files at once)

With DAISYtoEPUB, it’s easy to convert files in a three-step process:

1. Select the file and choose a location to save the converted file
2. Click convert
3. Transfer the EPUB file to the portable device or computer

To obtain your Software, please click here to logon

 The DAISYtoEPUB software works on Mac 10.4, Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

For more information visit the Don Johnston website or contact your PATINS Regional Site Coordinator.

Other information

• To obtain your Software, please click here to logon
• Click here for detailed instructions on installing an ePub on your iPad
  
  

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New Opportunity!  AIM FOR YOUNG CHILDREN SERIES

The PATINS Project will be hosting a three part series on AIM to Start Early: Implementing Accessible Materials with Young Children with national presenters Kelly Fonner, Scott Marfilius and Donna McNear:

Feb. 6, 2012; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST - The first event in the series is a webinar with Scott and Donna that will cover the current educational contexts for using AIM with young children, as well as cover the foundational concepts, research implications, developmentally appropriate practices and the instructional framework.

Mar. 5, 2012; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST - The second event will be a live streaming event with Kelly, Scott and Donna that will encompass implementation with demonstration of appropriate technology tools and software and instructional supports.

April 2, 2012; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST -The final event will be a follow-up webinar with Kelly and Scott that will focus on developing a plan for implementation and program development/improvement.

Click here for Registration information for this informative series.

*Professional Growth Points (PGPs) for participation require participation in all three events of the series.

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PATINS TTA Grant

PATINS TTA (Targeted Technical Assistance) Grant Selections Announced!  The PATINS Project thanks all districts who applied for your interest in the 2011-2012 Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Targeted Technical Assistance Grant.  Congratulations to the districts who have been chosen to participate in this year’s grant process.  A few applications were not considered because they were only partially completed. However; this is an on-going grant opportunity and we will be considering the provision of more grants to interested school districts throughout this school year.  So, if you wish to reapply for this grant, please watch for the next opportunity which will be posted to the IDOE Learning Connection, on the Rapid Fire blog and here on the PATINS Website.

 

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Video Series

The PATINS Project has released a series of videos on Addressing the Barriers of a Digital Curriculum and E-Learning Resources. This series of PATINS videos will focus on addressing the accessibility issues that local educational agencies need to consider when purchasing an on-line or digital curriculum or when a school district sets a course for developing their own digital curriculum.

 

• Series 1: This video gives an interesting overview of the barriers with two national experts: Dr. Joy Zabala, Director of Technical Assistance with CAST - the Center for Applied Special Technologies; and also the National Accessible Instructional Materials Center as well as Skip Stahl, Senior Policy Analyst and the Project Director for CAST and the NIMAS Technical Development Center.

• Series 2: This video brings you an interview with key personnel from the Bartholomew County School Corporation who will discuss their approach to universally designing curriculum inclusive of digital and on-line educational materials.

• Series 3: This video brings you a series of presentations by Jeff Bond, the PATINS Central Region Site Coordinator, on solutions for making your traditional or digital curriculum accessible to students with disabilities.

• All video presentations can be located on the PATINS YouTube Channel and on TeachIndy.com.

   

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Read:OutLoud

ICAM is pleased to announce that the Indiana Center for Exceptional Learners' PATINS Project has entered into an additional year's agreement with Don Johnston Incorporated to provide a new version of the Read:OutLoud text reader. Many enhancements have been made to the software to make it easier to install, use and implement efficiently and effectively. This statewide, unlimited license, agreement is available through the ICAM at no cost to Indiana local education agencies (LEAs).

As the national accessible instructional materials repositories continue to grow through the collection of more and more textbooks and materials, so then does the accountability for LEAs to provide these materials to students in a timely manner - hence the need for you to adopt and implement the tool the state has purchased to make these materials available to the widest range of students.

Read:OutLoud 6 text reader software will assist administrators, regular and special education teachers and families in providing access to a variety of digital alternate formats of standard print instructional materials. This statewide initiative is intended to assist LEAs as they strive to support the individual reading accommodations needed for students. The unlimited licensing of the software will enable your district the greatest amount of flexibility in providing reading related accommodations to your students at school and at home because the license includes "take-home" rights for students - installation and use of the software at home. Adoption of this tool will ultimately expedite access to the general education curriculum for all students.

Watch the ICAM web site www.icam.k12.in.us for training opportunities and materials.  For on-site training opportunities please contact your Regional Site Coordinator who can speak with you regarding on-site training opportunities.

Don Johnston is hosting a free webinar on February 9th on Read:OutLoud. More information and registration available here!

Don Johnston also has great one minute videos on using Read:OutLoud. Check them out here!

Have you seen our video which tells about PATINS? We are pleased to announce our new video channel!  It can be accessed here!  You can find this video as well as many other videos on our new page.