Techtalk: Access to Distance Education
By Caverly, David C.; MacDonald, Lucy; Journal of Developmental Education, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 38-39Publication Date: Fall 2002
Article discusses how access to distance education is improving for students with disabilities. An application called the Planning and Execution Assistant and Training System from Attention Control Systems is discussed, as the application utilizes a personal digital assistant to help students with brain injury, attention deficit disorder, Alzheimer’s, or cognitive disabilities plan daily tasks, maintain a schedule, remember directions or personal information, and remember tasks to be completed at a specific time. The iCommunicator from Interactive Solutions, Incorporated, provides real-time transcriptions for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, including speech to text; speech to video sign language; speech to computer-generated voice, and text to computer generated voice or video sign language. The Wynn Wizard from Freedom Scientific and the Kurzweil 1000 from Kurzweil Educational Systems provide screen readers for students with visual disabilities. For students to utilize these applications in a distance education setting, they can make use of high-speed remote videoconferencing via programs such as Blackboard, WebCT, HorizonLive, and Tegrity. Software such as NetMeeting and web cameras such as ViaVideo allow students to receive two-way audio and video. Implications for future articles on how specific subjects will be taught are discussed.
Assistive Products Discussed: WYNN WIZARD & WYNN READER
KURZWEIL 1000
ICOMMUNICATOR
Published by: National Center for Developmental Education (Website:http://www.ncde.appstate.edu)
