With these 2 DESKTOP apps added to your tech toolbox, you'll be ready to support even more challenged readers in your classroom this year!
With the estimated
1 in 5 persons in the U.S. challenged with dyslexia and the
8 to 13% (depending on the state)
of school-aged children in our country who have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorders (ADHD), there is a significant need today to provide support for challenged readers and learners. These individuals can find it particularly
difficult to focus, decode, track, concentrate, comprehend and retain information when reading, especially for extended periods or when many pages of text must be read at a time. Assistive technologies in recent years have begun to provide this much-needed support.
1. Turn Your Computer into a Kindle with This FREE App from Amazon!
One of the most popular and easily recognizable technologies to help these challenged readers is Amazon's
Kindle, the well-known e-reader launched in late 2007 that has been most
disruptive in the publishing world. The
Kindle technology enables readers to eliminate glare with a unique screen, diminish the starkness of white page backgrounds behind virtual text, manipulate font or text sizes and more to assist persons with various reading issues.
Did you know that readers can actually download the
FREE Kindle app to a desktop or laptop? Whether the hardware is a Mac or Windows PC, it costs nothing to turn one's computer or laptop into a virtual
Kindle and then immediately purchase and download e-books to that computer from Amazon.com.
2. Add the Reading Focus Cards App to the Kindle App & Watch What Happens on Your Desktop!
For challenged readers who often struggle with
focus and attention,
tracking,
comprehension and
retention, it would be hard to beat the
combination of the
Kindle app AND an innovative application called the
Reading Focus Cards desktop app (Patent 8,360,779) for
Macs and
Windows PC's. If you know a challenged student or other struggling reader with ADHD or dyslexia, this 2-app combination can enable that individual to experience more comfortably focused, sustained and successful reading of e-books or other digital media. ($5.99 per download)
3. When in use,
the virtual Reading Focus Card actually floats on top AND
stays on top of e-book pages or any underlying application to more easily read a web page, Word or PDF document, Excel spreadsheet, e-book or other digital media. If readers become overwhelmed with too much text on a digital page of an e-book,
the Reading Focus Cards app directs the eye to what needs to be read WHILE covering as much or as little of the surrounding text as selected by the reader. Nearly an entire digital e-book page can be covered to improve focus on the text line needing attention.
4. Easily move the virtual Reading Focus Card over an underlying e-book or other application on the screen with a touch pad, mouse, arrow keys or even with your fingers, where touch technology is applicable. No speed reading here. Move the virtual card at
your comfortable reading rate.
5. With this app's pop-up Toolbox, independently customize the color, level of
transparency,
height,
width and
orientation of both the virtual
Reading Window and Reading Card, respectively, to provide more reading comfort and focus to block out distractions and keep you focused on the text you are reading.
6. Never worry about the virtual Reading Focus Card disappearing from the screen unexpectedly, even when using with the
Kindle app or other underlying programs! It
floats on top AND
stays on top of your computer screen, so you can scroll through e-book pages as well as read documents without interruption. You decide when to close the application.
Special Note: Currently, mobile devices are unable to successfully support this unique, overlay-type Reading Focus Cards app that stays on top of and moves independently of the underlying media applications.
Now, readers of any age and ability can improve their focus to read e-books as well as other digital media in greater comfort and with much more reading success. Now it is possible to
create your own reading system by combining these 2 great literacy apps, the
Kindle app AND the
Reading Focus Cards desktop app---and all for less than the price of a paperback!
Happy Reading---now for everyone!
Sources
By the Numbers: 120+ Amazing Amazon Statistics (2016)
by Craig Smith, of
DMR
http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/amazon-statistics/
e-Book Statistics Update
from
Writing for Life
http://www.livewritethrive.com/2012/06/18/ebook-statistics-update/
Research-Based Literacy Tool – Helpful App for Struggling Readers
by Jayne Clare, of
Teachers With Apps
http://www.teacherswithapps.com/research-based-literacy-tool-evolves-helpful-app-struggling-readers/
Reading Focus Cards Desktop App---Patent 8,360,779 (for Macs & PC's)
For Macs: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-and-focus/id920617853?mt=12 or visit the Mac App Store and search for the
Reading Focus Cards.
For Windows PCs: https://gumroad.com/l/ReadingFocusCards OR visit the Microsoft Windows Store and search for the
Reading Focus Cards. (No URLs provided for apps in the Windows Store.)
Kindle App for Macs, Windows PC's & Other Tech Devices
from Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/gp/digital/fiona/kcp-landing-page/
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations [1867 Edition]. A Public Domain Book. N.p. N.d. e-Book.
This is the e-book available via Amazon.com used for the screenshots in this article.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Expectations-Charles-Dickens-ebook/dp/B0082SWC30/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1472929542&sr=1-1&keywords=great+expectations
For information on
digital & low-tech reading tools for dyslexia, ADHD and other challenges, please visit:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897
Image courtesy of:
MrRental:
http://www.mrrental.com.au/media/computers-office/v5-431p-05_-copy.jpg?sfvrsn=0 and
Brennan Innovators, LLC at
www.focusandread.com
