Tag Archives: iphone

Survey Results: Strong Support for Special Education to Use iPads

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Copyright 2012 Misun Media

Recently MisunMedia conducted a survey asking people about their opinions concerning the use of computerized devices such as, but not limited to, the Apple iPad to help teach special needs students, especially those with non-verbal disabilities.

Across the board, all of the people who took part in the survey voted, “Yes,” in, “supporting the use of devices such as the iPad in Special Needs classroom.”

The participants also were asked to choose whichever methods they felt were the best ways to work with non-verbal children and 71% selected “Sign Language,” along with,

“iPad or other Tablet PC devices.”  A much smaller percentage, less than half in fact, selected “other communication devices,” such as the PRC Vantage Lite and, “Picture Prompts,” as other options.

 

MisunMedia also posted a story on June 10, 2012 that contained a video that lays a basis for the topic on the pros and cons of using computerized communication devices for special needs children.  The video received two likes in particular from two special needs teachers. One works with speech students and another who works primarily with autistic children.

The topic will continue to be a strong topic as the Tablet PC devices have become more affordable, but don’t offer as direct of social interaction as the Vantage Lite does.  And as one school year ends and another is on the way and parents are preparing their children for the next grade and trying to determine the proper supplies students will need.  Another result from the survey proposed the question, “If schools didn’t provide computer devices for your child, would you purchase one for your home?”  The result was 100% for, “Yes,” but one participant commented, “I would like to purchase one, but the cost is too much, as I have so many other medical expenses to pay on,” which still stresses that even though the prices are much less expensive in comparison, they are still more than everyone is able to afford.

As MisunMedia continues to explore this topic, the community input will be invaluable and strongly desired.  Please feel free to leave comments on this post or on our Facebook page and let us know your feelings.

@MisunMedia

Survey: Your Take on Technology for Teaching Special Needs Students

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Copyright 2012 – Chris Misun

We are now in a new age.  Technology is all around us through our cellphones, computers, tablet PCs, in our vehicles and most importantly in our classrooms.  Classrooms with Special Needs students are beginning to use devices more frequently as they become less expensive and more accessible.  Devices like the Vantage Lite by PRC comes in very pricey at over $7000.  Options like these are not easy to come by for most families of special needs students without grants but with the tablet PC world becoming stronger, parents will have more options to choose from.  One option that is becoming more popular is the iPad by Apple, Inc.  The iPad starts at $499 and you can get apps like the iCommunicate app, which runs for $49.99.  Please take the survey below and let us know what you think.

Link to Survey

Fill out my online form.

 

Whether or not these devices will be beneficial or detrimental to the developing skills of special needs students and particularly those that are non-verbal will be told over time.  It is important for people to be informed and not get caught up in next best thing and assume that it will be the most ideal thing for their child.  Sometimes the saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”  Are non-computer forms of working with non-verbal students still working and if not, how do we replace them the right way?

@MisunMedia

The Success of the iPhone 4S and iOS 5

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On October 5, 2011, the world lost Steve Jobs.  The Co-founder and former Chairman and CEO of Apple, Inc., carried the company on his shoulders after their struggles in the early to mid 90’s.  Upon his return, he used his knowledge and creativity to spearhead over a decade and half of revolutionary technology that has changed everything in the way that human beings communicate.  According to GigaOm.com, Apple’s market share increased to 5.2 percent of the worldwide computer sales, which for Apple is a huge leap.  Part of the growth can be contributed to the popularity and public coverage of the passing of the late Jobs.  This is definitely a push in the right direction of the company in terms of sales and is giving new CEO, Tim Cook, a chance to fill in the shoes that Jobs left behind.

But it isn’t just computers that Apple is using to climb the market share.  The iOS used in the popular iPhone and iPad devices continues to top all other mobile operating devices.  BGR.com reported that in October, iOS had control over 61 percent of the mobile market share with Andriod making a climb as well and obtaining almost 19 percent.

Image courtesy of BGR.com

With numbers like these, it seems as though in the short while since Jobs’ passing, the company is doing quite well.  They released their latest iPhone model, the 4S in October, and topped nearly 4 million sales in it’s first week, according to USAToday.com in October.  Although those numbers were the best launch sales for Apple to date, the overall 3Q for Apple, Inc., wasn’t nearly as impressive.  Business Insider makes a good point in their December 1 article that, “It was widely known that Apple would be announcing a new iPhone in October, so many people delayed their purchases.”  This point is very important to the stockholders of Apple shares.  There is no need to hit the panic button quite yet as Apple will most likely anticipate a generous holiday season with their latest iPhone 4S device.

With heavy control over the mobile operating system market and a decent stance in mobile phones, there is no need to be concerned that the future of Apple devices will be suffering even in a post-Jobs era.  Jobs surrounded himself with like-minded people and was aware his time was near.

 

Chris Misun (@misunmedia)

MOBILIZE your business

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Will a business ever be able to keep up with the consumer?  Just when businesses are starting to hone their skills in their websites, with design upgrades, graphic changes and more security for e-commerce, technology comes around the corner and changes things once again.  You, as the consumer, are probably not helping things either.  According to new research from comScore “In the U.S., smartphone adoption has grown more than 50 percent in the past year, with 36.1 percent of Americans age 13 and older now using smartphones.”

So where is the issue?  Is there an issue?  It depends on who you ask.  For those business owners who have finally found a satisfactory fix to their website, they are having to go back and rework portions of it to please the masses that are attached to their mobile devices.  This is creating more work and challengers for web developers as well.

Karen Dowden, web developer for Personnel Network, Inc in Meridian, Mississippi says, “It’s hard to stay on top of the options that exist for handheld application development.”  Options that weigh the decision between developing mobile applications versus mobile sites.  CMSWire.com ran a two part series in April of 2010 that still deems relevant today.  In part 2 of the article, Jason Munson describes a great advantage to using mobile sites, “Unlike a mobile application, a mobile website enables you, the brand owner, to refine the experience and publish your changes to the entire user base without requiring user action. This means everyone will see the new experience upon their next visit.”

In addition to being able to make changes on the fly without requiring a new update to be downloaded, Karen also mentions another advantage to mobile sites. “In some ways, it is easier to develop mobile interfaces due to the physical limitations of the media. The smaller screen size and bandwidth constraints almost seem like a return to the early days of web development.”

Now there are even web tools to help developers find out how well they have reformed their websites to the mobile world.  InternetRetailer.com had an article announcing a new Google resource called, GoMo.  The site rates and provides a report on the ease of use and design of a mobile site by using a virtual mobile device to view the site on.  This allows the developer or business owner to rate their site on a checklist and see where changes could be made to improve their mobile web presence.

With tools and resources for mobile web development becoming increasingly more accessible, there are fewer excuses for a business to not step up and make mobile web improvements to their current sites.  With the numbers of mobile users constantly on the rise, it will become just as important to be mobile as it was in the latter part of the twentieth century to be on the Internet.

 

Chris Misun (@misunmedia)