Tone Matrix (and some things for your iTouch)

Tone Matrix is designed as a tool to write/create music. For our learners it can be a fantastic tools to use light and musical tones to encourage cause and effect using a touch screen, interactive white board or even a head or eye tracker.

Imagine one of your learners swiping his hand across the SMART Board to to make a glowing song and then clicking a switch (set to "space bar") to clear that song and make another!



If you are lucky enough to have an iPod touch or iPhone for your classroom you can do pretty much the same thing wigh the app Melodica or in color with the app Tripper. Another cool app that doesn't look like these (it is prettier), but meets the same purpose is Bloom (and I think it sounds beautiful).

Thanks to NCS Tech for the Tone Matrix tip.

Cause and Effect for Touch Screens/Interactive Whiteboards

Check out this cool kaleidoscope to use on a touchscreen or SMART board.

Hint: Click on one of the resolutions at the bottom of the screen such as 800x1200 for fullscreen.

Another Fun Touch Screen Program

Bomomo is another free simple cause and effect painting program that works on touch screens or interactive white boards. It has six dots or balls that chase your movements making designs on the screens, making hand and arm movements highly rewarded. Yet, Bomomo also has higher level options making it work as an alternate slightly weird paint program for some students. Give it a try.

Cause and Effect on a Touch Screen

This little online program, Koosh Generator, could be fun for cause and effect and encouraging upper body range of motion at the same time on a touch screen or interactive whiteboard.

Keyboard Bangers

"Keyboard Bangers" is a category of software designed for infants and toddlers who bang on the keyboard while sitting on mom or dad's lap. Keyboard Bangers have some interesting applications in the intensive special needs room as well. Used with a switch, touchscreen, alternative keyboard or a regular keyboard Keyboard Bangers are an excellent cause and effect teaching tools. Some versions of the software have letters pressed create and image and sound effect that match that sound. I once had a student so enthralled with the sound effects from a keyboard banger that I would record the sounds onto a Big Mac switch so he could play them on the bus or at home when he was upset. Many Keyboard Banger games are available for free download. Here is a listing of a few.

Compu-Tot-Games

Baby2Computer

Sarah's Mostly Harmless Keybangers

Baby Banger (scroll down a bit)

Babimils

Larry's Animals and Things (scroll down a little)

Baby One

Toddler Keys

Baby Keys

and here is a program available for Palm OS - Baby Blink.