[Trainer-Talk] Comments on the Kindle Fire And Learning Ally

[Deborah Armstrong]

This is an email I sent a friend; decided it might be useful for this list:

Learning Ally's tech support knowledgeBase says Learning ally is not compatible with Kindle or Amazon Fire devices.

This is simply untrue. I've been demonstrating Learning Ally on my $50 Kindle Fire for three quarters now for fully sighted, visually impaired and blind students.

My suspicion is that Amazon doesn't want to have Go Read or Learning Ally in their app store because it would cut in to Kindle sales, but who knows? They have NLS BARD in their app store. They also have VoiceDream Reader.

First, you need to find a free Android app repository on the net. I like www.apkfree.com or www.apkpure.com but do your own research. Some of the lesser known repositories are filled with malware.

Locate and download the learning ally app. Apps are .apk files; they have been packaged just like zipping a file so that Android can install them.

Next, on your Fire tablet, go to the Amazon app store and download an app called Easy Installer. It lets you install apk files without a hassle and checks their integrity. An alternate app that does the same thing is called Simple Installer.

Put the apk file for Learning Ally in some storage on the Fire. You can copy it to a micro-sd card and insert that in the Fire, or you can connect the Fire to your PC via usb and move the apk over there. It doesn't really matter where you store it: Easy Installer searches the entire device.

Run Easy installer. It will show you a list of apps it locates that are packaged as .APK files.

Pick Learning Ally and it gets automatically installed.

Though the Fire is less accessible than an iPAD mini for totally blind people, I've found no difference for low-vision and LD students using it as a reading device, especially for purely audio books or for magnifying books visually. At $50 it's a tenth of the price of an iPAD, and I think it's a smarter expenditure for low-income students with reading impairments and reading needs!

I tell students to let their DOR counselor buy the iPAD and they should buy a Fire as a backup. They can use the pleuthora of apps on that iPAD for study, recording lectures, taking notes and keeping a calendar. They can use the Fire for reading books so their iPAD storage won't be filled with space-consuming audio!

For fully blind students on a budget, my recommendation is an old iPOD Touch. They can't see the screen and they need the best possible accessibility!

--Debee