CodeQuest vs Visual LightPad

CodeQuest is an interactive game designed to teach coding logic to preschool and early elementary students. Students learn new skills as they navigate a series of grids that increase in difficulty as the game progresses. CodeQuest was created for use by blind, visually impaired, and sighted students alike, making it ideal for use by an entire class! CodeQuest is easy to learn. Players help an astronaut return to his ship by devising a series of commands to guide him. The solution with the least number of steps earns the highest possible score. The grids get increasingly complex as the game progresses. This allows for the introduction of concepts like sequencing and looping. In addition to all the game fun and coding concepts, students also benefit from the computational thinking used throughout CodeQuest. This includes the ability to: develop a solution to a problem; to recognize patterns and trends; and to identify the best among multiple possible solutions to a problem. Tactile graphic design files of the grids are available for download. Go to www.aph.org and search “CodeQuest” to find them. You will also find design files of three tactile grid boards and several manipulatives including the astronaut, rocket ship, alien, and arrow tiles that can be laser-cut or 3D-printed. Features: * Fun and easy to use for young students. * Fully compatible with VoiceOver. * Integrates fundamental coding concepts such as sequencing and looping into game play. * Allows students to work on orientation concepts including up, down, left, and right. * Motivates students to practice problem solving, planning, and computational thinking skills. * Great for visually impaired students to learn access technology through game play. * Great for blind students to practice tactile graphic reading skills.

Visual LightPad creates a bright illuminated surface for developing visual perceptual and visual motor skills in people with visual impairment. It's a cheaper alternative to expensive, dedicated hardware visual impairment light boxes. Think of it as a digital light box! Adjust Visual LightPad's brightness and color, then place semi transparent toys, numbers or letters on the iPad's screen. Where colors become difficult, open the color picker and change the background color to something that accentuates the toys. Where hardware light boxes can be associated with work, iPads tend to be associated with play. Visual LightPad helps develop awareness to color and light, but using objects also helps in the development of visual perceptual skills, hand eye coordination, and both visual scanning and tracking. Visual LightPad can also be used for; - Reading content printed onto acetate - Providing a reading backlight when paper documents are placed on top of it - Photo negative illumination - Sensory / mood lighting Visual LightPad is purposefully easy to use and relatively low on features. It supports presets for easy saving and recall of preferred settings. It is designed to run on iPad, but also runs on iPhone - meaning you can keep a small light box in your pocket at all times.