Katherine Swarts – Page 20

father and two sons sitting at table using technology

Back to School: Learning Self-Sufficiency

What are your family’s “learning goals” for the 2023–24 school year? Your children’s school district and board of education will have official standards for academic skills that students are expected to master. (For Texas residents, these are in the TEA…

Eye-Gaze Technology for ALS, Part 2

Over 31,000 people in the United States have ALS (full name amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a terminal nerve disease. The primary symptom is deteriorating muscle control which ultimately leads to respiratory failure and death, usually within five years. It’s quite possible…

Back to School: What to Do First, What Can Wait a Bit

If school has started and there are still unchecked items on your getting-ready list, that’s not a disaster—assuming your priorities were in order. You may have a problem, however, if you spent too much “Priority A” time on what should…

ipad laying on desk with app store displayed on screen

Tech Shopping on a Budget

Inflation has hit the technology market—including the software department. Even inexpensive apps can make an ugly dent in your budget if you download a screenful of them. The good news is, many great apps are available at little or no…

Preparing for Back-to-School: Health Considerations

As the 2023–24 school year begins—with the inevitable crowds and stresses of the season—these tips will help your children stay healthy for its challenges. Keep a couple of good health apps on your child’s device. These include coping tools for…

older adult woman being helped with her ipad by lady and man

Assistive Technology and Helping Others

You may or may not be a technical whiz, or have personal disability experience. However, even casual interactions can make positive contributions to the world of assistive technology (AT) and the lives of its users. Here are a few ideas…

Back to School with Special Needs

Within a month after this is published, most U.S. schoolchildren will begin the 2023-24 school year. Including the demographic of kids who—along with their families—find that “back to school” involves more-complicated-than-average challenges. If your child has a mental or physical…

Digital Skills Roundup: The First Things Everyone Should Know

Which statement is correct? Actually, both are correct with regard to certain aspects of screen use. What are “people” actually using their screens for? What educational or career fields are they in? What age groups? And perhaps most important, where…

girl sitting at desk looking at phone while making a list with pencil and paper

Preparing for Back-to-School

It’s August. Are your kids ready for school yet? Depending on where they’re enrolled, the actual first day of school may be as early as August 7 or as late as September 5. But however long you have to prepare,…

woman on video call with cat sitting on desk next to laptop

The Working Pet Owner

Among the hundreds of thousands of pets adopted from U.S. animal shelters each year, are an unfortunate minority who are eventually returned to the shelters because they required more money, time, or responsibility than anticipated. The “return” problem got substantial…