A Week with the Surface 3 – First Impressions

A couple of weeks ago out of the blue I received an email invitation from Microsoft to attend a party in New York City on March 31st. For the life of me, I could not figure out what this event would highlight-you see, it seemed like the timing was all off for a big announcement. But then on March 31, Microsoft announced the Surface 3 tablets which caught us all off guard. Microsoft announced the new Surface 3 with the latest Atom “Cherry Trail” processor, which would run Windows 8.1 and

be upgradeable to Windows 10 when it is released later this summer. The specifications noted that the Surface 3 weighted in at 1.37 pounds with a 10.8 diagonal screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1920 x 1280. The Surface 3 has a built-in kickstand that can be locked into 3 different positions and has a micro –SD slot. By all accounts the Surface 3 is a lightweight tablet with enough horsepower to run Office, legacy Windows software, surf the web and promise great all day battery life. My expectations were running high for a tablet with this form factor and one that could utilize the Surface touch type keyboard and digital inking pen. Having a mobile and a light weight tablet to run Office and some of the specialized assistive technology software that I often use is important for me. To say the least there was a lot of excitement leading up to the Launch Event of Surface 3 in NYC! 

Having arrived to the event a little early, I walked into the Microsoft loft and was really excited to see all of the new Surface 3’s on display to touch and play with. Picking up the tablet I was amazed just how light it was and typing on the touch type keyboard was a great experience. The Surface 3 looked great with a wonderful build quality and feels great in your hands. Having had my hands on one the screen is really gorgeous and very bright with excellent contrast. During the event, I had a chance to speak with many of the Microsoft engineers that were on the Surface Team which was really great. As the evening came to an end one of the Microsoft engineers announced that we would all go home with a Surface 3 to test and kick the tires-which created quite a stir. So for the past week I have been using the Surface 3 with different applications to get a sense of how it handles itself.

Having used the Surface Pro 3, I was excited to learn that the Surface 3 starts at just $499 for a 2GB RAM and a 64 GB SSD. For another hundred dollars you can double the RAM to 4GB and the SSD to 128 GB and will pay $599. Bear in mind that educators can get a 10% discount when purchasing the Surface 3. When purchasing the Surface 3 you will probably want to invest in the Touch Type keyboard which will cost you $129 dollars and the pen will set you back $49 dollars. To be honest, you will definitely want to invest in these accessories which will give you the full Surface 3 experience. Having a touch keyboard that you can pop in and out with a click is great and adds very little weight to the package. 

If you ever thought about moving all your note-taking to the digital realm, then you have to experience OneNote and the Surface 3 pen. The digital inking experience on the Surface 3 is exactly what you would experience on the Surface Pro 3. With palm rejection and the silky feel of the pen on the screen you will feel right at home taking notes using OneNote. The Surface experience is probably one of the best writing experiences you will find on any tablet. One of the nice tricks when using the pen is that you can tap on the eraser and this will automatically open a blank page in OneNote ready for you to start writing. Even when your Surface 3 is asleep tapping on the eraser of the pen will automatically wake up your Surface 3 and open OneNote. 

The Surface 3 supports Miracast and I was able to quickly connect it to my HDMI TV with the Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition. This combination of Surface 3 and OneNote with the

Actiontec ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition is an ideal solution for the classroom-giving teachers the freedom to move about the classroom without being tethered to the projector. The Surface 3 just needs a case which would allow teachers to securely support the tablet-but since it is so light this will make for a great solution.

Having learned that the Surface 3 was using an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor I was initially concerned about the speed and responsiveness of the tablet. However, after using it for a week I would have to say that it feels zippy and responsive using a wide range of applications. From opening web pages to word processing to utilizing mind mapping applications the Surface 3 handled it well without a hiccup. For educators who are not doing processor intensive tasks like video or photo editing the Surface 3 should meet all of your basic computing needs. Given that the Surface 3 is a full Windows 8.1 device, there are no limitations with regard to installing Modern apps or full Windows legacy applications. 

Some other nice touches you find on the Surface 3 is a full USB 3.0 port a mini-display port and a micro-USB port. Being able to charge the Surface 3 with a micro-USB cable is ideal since you can always find one in your bag. The Surface 3 Pro had used a proprietary cable which, if you left it behind when you traveled you were sunk. So Microsoft listened to their customers and resolved this issue by providing micro-USB for charging. By the way I did learn that you can use the micro-USB port for transferring data, as well. 

The Surface 3 specifications should hit that sweet spot for educators and consumers that are looking for a portable Windows tablet that can quickly transform into an ultra-light laptop by clicking in the keyboard.  I found the Surface 3 to be a responsive tablet that exceeded my specifications. Like all new devices I did find some quirkiness with the Surface 3 recognizing the keyboard in certain instances. I’m sure there will be firmware updates shortly to address some of these issues. Having the Surface 3 in my bag will allow me the freedom to have a full featured Windows device that can run specialized software when I need it. The Surface 3 has a good price point which should make the Surface 3 a big success in the marketplace. The Surface 3 will go on sale later this week and will ship on May 5.

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MindView 6 from Matchware- Solid Upgrade

When I heard that Matchware was releasing MindView 6, I was excited to find out its new feature set and how it would help me to do my work. For the past several years I have been using MindView 5 to craft my very structured consulting reports that I deliver to the schools that I work with. Over the years I have developed some templates that really have helped me to communicate ideas in a very clear fashion. One of the chief reasons that I go back to MindView time and time again is because I have always found that MindView has some of the best Microsoft Office integration when exporting mind maps to Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

The timing of the release for MindView 6 could not have been any better for me since I needed to complete a Request for a Proposal (RFP) for an assistive technology grant that the state was offering. I decided that I would test out the capabilities of this version by using MindView 6 to write up the proposal and estimate the costs for the proposed project. MindView 6 has a much cleaner look and

now adheres to the user interface conventions set forth by Microsoft. Users of previous versions will feel right at home using MindView 6 since the Ribbon structure has not been changed. When I am developing an RFP, I really like the ability to brainstorm ideas and what better way to do but in a mind map. Using MindView 6, I can get all my ideas down quickly and then begin to organize my ideas and activities. Moving ideas around MindView 6 is fast and intuitive and the interface shows you exactly where your idea will land-no guess work here. Once I had roughed out my ideas I was able to attach notes to my activities which would become the body of my RFP. The interface of MindView 6 to create notes feels as if you are in a mini version of Word, complete with a full array of formatting tools at your disposal.

One of the requirements of any grant is to spell out the costs and this is an area that you would not normally think of using a mind map for but in the case of MindView 6 you would be wrong. MindView 6 has powerful calculation features which enables the user to create formulas that automatically update throughout the mind map. The ability to see your costs roll up on any activity in

the mind map works really well and it lets you do what if's in real time. Using the SUM feature you can easily roll up cost for a particular activity and see the impact it has on the overall estimate for the grant. In MindView 6, like it's predecessor, there is a Calculation panel that lets you create items, cost and formulas. Once you get the hang of it you will find this a handy feature when you need to work with numbers inside your mind map. With the release of MindView 6 you can now enter and edit

numbers directly on the item itself without the need to go into the Calculation Panel which saved me and inordinate amount of time. It is now easier then ever to set currency defaults-which saved me some time as well. While there were certainly a large number of improvements and features in MindView 6 most users will find them to be very subtle and well integrated into the application without feeling overwhelmed by feature creep. Once I had entered all my costs into the mind map I was able to export the financials into a well formatted Excel report that I could attach to the RFP. Hopefully, if I am successful and receive the grant I will be able to monitor the activities in the project management side of this application.


All in all my experience with MindView 6 was very positive in future posts, I will highlight some of the features that would make this an ideal tool for students.

I want to thank the folks at MatchWare for providing me a copy of MindVirew 6 so that I could do the review.

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Reflections of EdCampAccessNJ 2105

Yesterday was the big day, after a couple of months of planning with my co-host Mike Marotta, EdcampAccessNJ held at the College of St. Elizabeth was off and running. It is always such an exciting day for me and the participants as we share our skills and talents.

Mike and I have had this philosophy since we spoke about running an Unconference "build it and the will come" and they did. Yesterday we had over 150 dedicated educators  spend their entire Saturday with us to learn about new ways they can bring assistive technology into their classroom. Using Twitter, Facebook and word of mouth we had teachers, directors of technology, speech therapists, occupational therapists, special education teachers, directors of special education, college professors, assistive technology specialist, and parents attend and contribute to the days event. As Mike and I know putting the agenda together the morning of the event is a "leap of faith," but some how everyone steps up to the plate and within a couple of minutes the schedule comes together. We had sessions on Chrome Extensions, iPad, Using Robots, Professional Development, Using Word Prediction, Using OfficeMix,and many more. 

We started the day in the Dolan Auditorium to go over the logistics for the day and finished off the session by interviewing to students who have been using assistive technology at school and at home. It is always so exciting and refreshing to here how students are taking advantage of the various technologies and what a difference it has made in their lives. Leaving the auditorium all of the participants were off to their first session which worked like clock work. The day was running rather smoothly, but about half through the second morning session we lost power and the rooms went dark. Like troopers that they are the learning continued and despite the loss of WiFi and power the speakers all were able to finish their sessions. A quick huddle ensued and we learned that one of the other buildings on campus had power so we were able to have lunch in St. Joseph's Hall and continue the sessions there. The Academic Computing Department, Events Planning & Media Services support staff were there and within minutes we were up and running in a new venue. This is probably the first Unconference with a power outage- something to talk about when we get together with our colleagues. In any case everyone stayed calm and conference went on as planned.

For those of you have not participated in an Unconference there is a special karma that ensues that makes this a very special type of event. Everyone attending is there to learn and participate and to be fully engaged. The results of the process and the fact that participants self select to be there makes for an incredible learning event and synergy. Topping off the day we had a Smackdown which is always informative and fun. We ended the day with give-a ways which were provided by so many companies that supported the event. Once again it was a pleasure and honor to host this event and we are looking to build ing a bigger and better EdCampAccessNJ 2016 event which is scheduled for March 5, 2016 at the College of St. Elizabeth - hope to see you there!





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Chromebooks in the Classroom: Changing the Landscape of Education

Having just returned from the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) 2015 Conference I had a chance to connect with friends and colleagues and survey the landscape to pick up on trends and practices in the field of assistive technology. Without a doubt we are at the beginning of another trend in our field as more and more schools move to Chromebooks. Chromebooks in many ways represent a real paradigm shift for educators and students since all of the apps follow the students account as they are delivered through the Chrome browser. This is a huge shift allowing educators to customize the experience of every student who is using a Chromebook. In many ways this is what educators have longed for, for years, the ability to seamlessly give students the tools they need that automatically load into their browser any time they are signed into their Chrome browser. As I walked the hallways of the ATIA Conference and peered into the rooms that were brimming with educators, there was a good chance the topic revolved around Chromebooks.  

Chromebooks look to the naked eye just like laptops but underneath the hood it is running the Chrome OS which when launched gives you access to the Chrome browser. While the Chrome OS has many built-in accessibility tools there is a wide range of extensions and applications that can be installed to give students access to text to speech, word prediction, mind mapping, task management, and study skills. Some of the more full featured assistive technology tools have been developed by TextHelp, Don Johnston and Quillsoft Ltd.

TextHelp has developed Read&Write for Google which provides students with word prediction, text to speech, and speech recognition along with a host of study skill tools. Once

logged in, students will have access to the Read&Write for Google Toolbar when they are in Google Docs and when they are on the web. The text to speech functions is first rate and is available to students when accessing the web. Read&Write for Google Toolbar is a solid app that provides students with a comprehensive set of tools for reading and writing. Teachers can access the premium version Read&Write for Google free by filling out this form: http://rw.texthelp.com/drive/Home/RegisterTeacher


Don Johnston just released Co:Writer Universal which provides students with top of the line word prediction as we have been accustomed to for the last 25 years. If you are working in a district that is using a variety of different computer platforms then Co:Writer Universal is a great app, since you can for one price run Co:Writer Universal on iPads, Mac, and PC in

addition to Chromebooks.  The word prediction on Co:Writer Universal is second to none and provides students with text to speech support right within the Chrome browser. As you would expect students have access to Topic Dictionaries and the full set of feature that they have come to expect from Co:Writer. Don Johnston was also showing Snap & Read Universal another Chrome extension which adds text to speech for reading the web that is able to perform optical character recognition on web pages that display embedded text in graphics. Snap & Read Universal will also let students level the text to make it more understandable when they are reading text on the web.


Quillsoft Ltd was showing WordQ for the Chromebook that can provide students with excellent word prediction and text to speech supports. Students can easily select the words

using the number keys and when they hover over a word in the prediction bar WordQ will read the word. Combining WordQ with their companion app ThoughtQ can help students explore topic lists of words when writing research papers. All documents can be saved on the students Google drive for easy storage and retrieval.




As more and more developers move their apps to Chrome platform we will begin to see the need for teachers to be better trained in helping them to understand this shift and how to

maximize the power of this ecosystem. In this vein, Mike Marotta and I have developed a highly readable six page laminated resource guide that highlights how to use Chromebooks in the classroom. It covers accessibility, installing apps and extensions as well as ways to really get the most out your Chromebook investment. To purchase Chromebooks in the Classroom click here









PS; Don’t forget to sign up for  EDCampAccessNJ.org on March 7, 2015 at the College of St. Elizabeth for a great day of learning and networking!

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OfficeMix-Off to a Great Start in 2015

I trust you had some time to rest and recreate during the holidays and that you are now refreshed and rearing to go. As I start to plan for the semester ahead I am generally excited with all the possibilities and how I can engage my students in their learning. For the past couple of years I have taught many of my courses as a hybrid-meeting on campus for half the semester and teaching the rest online, which has worked out really well. Last semester, I experimented using OfficeMix an new plug-in for PowerPoint that makes the creation of digital assets extremely easy. For teachers who have wanted to flip the classroom, but are still looking for a

tool to help in the creation of material I would recommend that you install the OfficeMix plug-in which is available on the Windows platform for PowerPoint 2013 or Office 365. 

OfficeMix adds the ability to add digital ink (great if you are using a Surface Pro 2 or 3) , videos (Khan Academy, You Tube), simulations (PhET Simulations), quizzes, screencasts, screen captures-complete with user analytics. OfficeMix works great on a Surface Pro 3 because you can take advantage of the webcam and record audio as well as video and include it in your Mix. Likewise, having access to the digital ink on the Surface Pro 3 lends itself to marking up slides or for white boarding directly on a slide.  

One of the more challenging aspects of flipping the classroom for teachers is figuring out how to publish the material and where to publish it to. OfficeMix remedies this problem by hosting your Mixes in the Cloud-at no cost. With a click on the Upload button your Mix heads to the Cloud, making your last mile to publishing effortless. Once you have published your Mix you can get the link or embed code and set the permissions making it easy to restrict who has access to your material. If your Mix includes a quiz you can view your students responses in your Mix Dashboard on the web or download the results to an Excel formatted file.

Working with Mix is easy and students who are using a Windows or Macintosh computer can access the Mix with all of the interactivity. So for example if you insert a science simulation students will be able to interact with it when they open the Mix. If you will be viewing your Mix's on a tablet you can always export or publish them as a video-but your students will lose out on the interactivity. Teachers will find using OfficeMix to be straight forward and easy to use with lots of possibilities. 

The OfficeMix Team is constantly updating the plug-in and bringing more functionality with every update. Looking ahead I would really like to see that OfficeMix can publish in HTML 5 so that we don't lose out on any of the interactivity when view a Mix on a tablet. Likewise, I would like to see the OfficeMix Team add a way to insert Close Captioning when publishing a Mix. Despite these minor things, give OfficeMix a try- I know you will find it a very formidable authoring tool in your content creation! Happy Mixing!

Here is an example of an OfficeMix I used with my students:



If you will attending the NJECC Conference next week I will be doing a session on using the Surface Pro 3 & OfficeMix in the flipped classroom. Likewise, I will be doing a session at the ATIA Conference in Orlando later this month on using the Surface Pro 3 with OfficeMix- so join me if you can and please drop by and say hello!

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ActionTec's ScreenBeam Mini 2- Good Things Come in Small Packages

I have been a big fan of ActionTec's ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition and have used it successfully in my classroom with my Surface Pro 3 and Dell Venue 8 tablets. Having the ability to walk around my classroom and share my screen without physically being connected to the projector is a real pleasure. Setting up the ScreenBeam Pro is extremely simple and does not require one to connect the device to the existing WiFi network which is a real advantage of the Miracast technology. 

When I heard that Actiontec was going to release a new Miracast receiver, I knew I had to get my hands on it and give it a test run. So first, I would like to thank Actiontec

for sending me a ScreenBeam Mini 2 to evaluate. The ScreenBeam Mini 2 is small and looks to be about the size of a USB thumb drive which gets plugged into the HDMI port on your projector or HDTV. If your HDTV has a USB port you can power the ScreenBeam Mini 2 from the port otherwise you can power the receiver with the supplied USB cable and plug. Once plugged in you will see a little LED, light up to tell you the ScreenBeam Mini 2 is powered up. Now simply turn on your HDTV and make sure that you have set the input to HDMI and you should see the Actiontec Screen alert you that it is ready to connect. Now simply swipe in from the right side of your Windows 8.1 tablet and select Devices and connect to the ScreenBeam Mini 2. If you don't see the ScreenBeam Mini 2 receiver listed simply click on Add device and your tablet will discover the ScreenBeam Mini 2. Within seconds you will see the magic happen and your device will be displayed on your television screen. I found that the ScreenBeam Mini 2 connected very quickly to my tablets and the audio quality was superb. ScreenBeam Mini 2 supports 1080 p 30 fps and 2 channel stereo. 

For home or school use the ScreenBeam Mini 2 is an ideal receiver when I want to share the contents of my tablets. If you are interested in securing your wireless receiver then you will want to take a look at the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition. I have tested the ScreenBeam Mini 2 with the Surface Pro 3, Dell Venue 8, and the Nexus 7 ( running Android 4.4)  and all have worked well with the receiver. As they say, good things do come in small packages and this is certainly true with regard to ActionTec's ScreenBeam Mini 2. The ScreenBeam Mini 2 is also ideal for the business person who travels and is doing presentations or who wants to watch movies in their hotel room. Check out the ScreenBeam Mini 2 if you are looking for a small Miracast receiver that carries a big punch!

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Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3- the Perfect Add-on

Cleanstylus for Surface Pro 3

As much as I enjoy using my Surface Pro 3, especially for the digital inking-it is just a matter of time, before I know I will eventually lose my stylus. So when I came across the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 from Cleanint I knew I had to take it out for a test run. I had a chance to speak with Tuan from Cleanint and he was kind enough to send me out one to review. If you are looking for an elegant and effective way to store your stylus then take a look at the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3. The Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3  comes in matching keyboard cover colors and uses a a reusable adhesive technology that lets you re-position the stylus/pen holder as you see fit. I decided to adhere the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 to the top right corner of my Surface Pro 3 and installing it was a cinch. The holder really grasps the stylus and you can either snap it in or slide it into the holder -which ever way you prefer. The Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 retails for $19.95 and is a great solution for securing your stylus and giving you the peace of mind knowing where it is when you need to use it. If you are interested in purchasing the Cleanstylus for the Surface Pro 3 please contact me via email. 

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