Resources To Support Library And Information Specialists Aug 09
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Resources to support inclusive practice. An overview of freeware assistive and enabling technologies to assist staff and students in schools, colleges and universities.
Transcript of Resources To Support Library And Information Specialists Aug 09
RSC SW Scotland Services
Scottish RSCs Inclusion BlogInclusion in e-Learning Forum (sharing good practice)RSCtv iTunes PodcastsGot a yearning for e-Learning? JISC AskEvents and Training
www.rsc-sw-scotland.ac.uk
JISC Advisory Services
Advice on all aspects of plagiarism prevention
& detection
Advice with still images, moving images and sound
advice
Advice on all aspects of technology& inclusion
Internet training workshops, online self- paced tutorials
Effectivestrategic planning, implementation
& management of ICT
Strategic guidance& advice
re legal issues in ICT
Techdis
The JISC TechDis service advises on the use oftechnology to support inclusive practice inThis includes advice and guidance for
teaching and learning, libraries & learner resourcesfront line practitioners,policy makers ,staff developers.
a wide range of support roles including administration support and
marketing.
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Students on mainstream courses in FE requiring additional support
across Scotland
SFC Infact Database - www.sfc.ac.uk/infact
• JISC TechDis has been working with library groups for several years. Libraries have a critical role in accessibility because they are a key support for independent learning
• They play a significant role in signposting different types of resource to staff and learners
• They are instrumental in obtaining text books in alternative formats
Better use of existing resources: Better use of existing resources: going beyond handoutsgoing beyond handouts
Accessibility Essentials Series
• Making your computer more accessible for you
•Producing MS Word documents that are more accessible
•Producing inclusive MS PowerPoint
•Making PDFs as accessible as possible
Follow this link to view an example of guidelines from Accessibility Essentials
www.techdis.ac.uk/resources/sites/accessibilityessentials2
‘I cant read the information on the screen.’ ‘The information on the screen is too small to see.’ ‘I can’t adjust the font and colour backgrounds to suit my personal preferences.’ ‘The words keep jumping around the screen.’ ‘I find it difficult to navigate.’ ‘I can’t click the mouse buttons.’ ‘I can’t see the keys on the keyboard.’ ‘I keep miss-hitting the keyboard keys.’
Issues for students accessing learning resources
How can you support learners with access needs?
In general, the main ways of supporting learners in a library/learning resources setting include:Promoting your services effectively.Communicating with users through appropriate media.Ensuring users can access space and information.Helping users access study tools.Providing alternative interfaces where required.Providing books in alternative formats.Creating coherent policies.
Guidance on providing support in each of these areas is available at
www.techdis.ac.uk/getlibraryguides
Talk to 50 librarians…
How do you support learner’s study skills?
• Read and write gold• Inspiration• Mind Mapping• Tools to help with planning and organisation
Where? How often? How many effective users? How many supported per £? What are they not trying?
Senior Management Briefing Series.
http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getfreesoftware
Saving £s and improving independence.
JISC TechDis have created a resource giving tutorials in how to use
free and open source technologies in an educational context.
Some IT staff are reluctant to use software that isn’t supported by a
helpdesk - this must be weighed alongside the other benefits that
free software brings in terms of supporting non-traditional learners.
How They Learn
Reflect on knowledge or skill
Write responses
Interact withresources
Record information
Plan responses
Reading Tools
Alternative Interfaces
Recording Tools
Planning Tools
Communication Tools
What They Do How To Help
Visualisation Tools
Writing Tools
Introduce new knowledge or skill
Exemplify new knowledge or skill
Test understanding of new knowledge or skill by completing specific assignments
Reflect on knowledge or skill
Enabling technologies supporting all learners
Process, tasks and tools
What is AccessApps?What is AccessApps?
Inclusion/Empowerment by All....Not just the Supported Learning staff
............For AllFor All
ProvidingProvidingenabling technology enabling technology
solutions should not belong solely solutions should not belong solely to support specialists any to support specialists any more than accessibility ormore than accessibility orinclusion should belonginclusion should belong
exclusivelyexclusivelyto disabled peopleto disabled people
What’s on the USB AccessApps?
Open Office
Planning and Organising Tools
Reading and Writing Support
Visual Support
Accessible Browsers
Keyboard and Mouse Alternatives
Multimedia Resources
Presentation Tools
Learning Games
Picture Holder
AccessApps storage facility. Use these folders to store the work you produce with AccessApps.
AccessApps applications.whenever you click on a folder item or a menu item, the AccessApps start menu will move to the background.
Open Office
Back
You can save your OpenOffice Writer files as Word-compatible documents.
OpenOffice Impress is the equivalent of PowerPoint
Open Office - What do Students think
www.lexdis.org
“With my budget computer at home, I found it difficult to do college work because I did not have MS Word at home so I had to use word pad which I didn't like to
use because it did not offer me the right tools to complete work”Student at Coatbridge College
Planning & Organisational Tools
Freemind – Mind MappingWeb based - mindmeister Mozilla Sunbird - Calendar Hott Notes 4 – Sticky Notes *
Back
Reading & Writing SupportRapid Set – Change Font/Colour Background
Vu Bar – Read Text one line at a time
The Sage – Portable Dictionary
DyslexiaScotopic sensitivity and visual difficulties experienced
by many learners with dyslexia
What is it like to have dyslexia?
TechDis Sim Dis Simultations
Rapid Set helping a member of staff in the workplace
DSpeech
Dspeech will hook Dspeech will hook into the speech into the speech engine on any engine on any
windows PC you windows PC you use use and will will
either read out either read out text or convert to text or convert to
MP3MP3
WordTalk
www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home/
WordTalk is a free plug-in developed for use with all versions of Microsoft Word (from Word 97 upwards), which can help people with reading difficulties use Microsoft Word more effectively. It will speak the text of the document and will highlight it as it goes.
Talking dictionary to help decide which word spelling is most appropriate. Sits neatly in toolbar, highly configurable, adjust the highlight colours, the voice and the speed of the speech. WordTalk does not export the file as a stand-alone MP3.
Other web based text to speech converters
Zamzar – www.zamzar.comRead the Words - www.readthewords.com/Spoken Text - http://www.spokentext.net/RoboBraille - www.robobraille.org/frontpage
Visual Support
• Virtual Magnifying Glass
• Sonar – Cursor Ring
Accessible Browsers• WebbIE – Text Based Browser
Use in collaboration with Thunder Screen Reader*
Typical Web PageSame Web Page using WebbIE
Click N Type and Mouse Tools may assist for users with mobility issues or RSI
problems
Keyboard and Mouse AlternativesDasher (Case Study)
Click on the image below to see a demonstration
Dasher is a information-efficient communication system driven by continuous pointing gestures.
Instead of using a keyboard, the user writes by continuous steering, zooming into a landscape painted with letters.
Dasher can be driven by a regular mouse, by touch-screen, or by gaze-direction.
Multimedia and Presentation ToolsAudacity records and editing audioWhat do educators think of this:• Use this all the time for audio, no other tool is as good• A great free (open source) tool for creating and editing audio files• A well focused tool that academics and student can pick up easily. It's very
portable• and this is important for digital audio where many users want to work in private
spaces• Free and easy to create classroom podcasts and mp3s where the students get to
hear edit and publish themselves. Promotes ownership extremely motivating.�• ‘back up ‘ for lecture, for listening in ‘dead time’
Multimedia and Presentation Tools
• Cam Studio – record all screen and audio activity to create avi/flash multimedia learning resources
• VLC Media Player – cross platform media player• AudioBook Cutter – splits mp3 sound files to
make them easier to listen to in smaller chunks
Creating Mobile PromptsWork on most mobile devicesNo stigma attached to mobile learning
most people have a mobile device discreetcurrentportable
• Two pieces of software needed– Microsoft PowerPoint
to create a series of gifs
– unFREEz (freeware)to create the animated gifhttp://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/ By Matt Harrison of Portland College and
Alistair McNaught of TechDis
Applications
• Timetables• Travel training
– Landmarks along the way• Health and Safety
– Manual handling sequences, COSHH etc.• Sequences
– Daily routines, specific tasksAnd, don’t forget….
• Fun!
Key Ring Digital Photo Frames
• For some learners the phone was difficult to use
• So the system has been transferred to mini digital photo frames
• Small • Easy to use• Cheap
Case Studies• Find out how students at Coatbridge College have
used free resources to support their activities at:
www.rsc-sw-scotland.ac.uk/case_studies/docs/coatbridge_CS.pdf
If we buy our own pen drives, where canwe get access to download the material?
Other resources from JISC to help you create inclusive
environments for staff and students
e-Books = books with wings• E-Books for FE JISC funded (JISC Collections). Access to e-
books selected by the FE community in the UK. Free of charge to all FE colleges in the UK with access to a core collection of e-books. http://fe.jiscebooksproject.org
Where can we find out more about e-books?• Many e-books are in the public domain on sites like
Project Gutenberg. The JISC TechDis website section “Getting information in Alternative Formats - A guide for students and tutors” has a section focused on ways learners can obtain e-books and adapt them to their own needs. See www.techdis.ac.uk/getebooks.
www.publisherlookup.org.uk/
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
TechDis are at an early stage of planning an extension of PublisherLookup as well as starting a new bit of work with librarians to explore accessibility of online library catalogues and working with ProcureWeb to raise the bar on best practice
Obtaining textbooks in alternative formats
Teaching inclusively using technologyNew learning resources now available online.
Each module shows how resourcesand methods can be adapted with technology to deliver teaching more inclusively to the widest possible audience.
The modules in the JISC TechDis ‘Teaching Inclusively Using Technology’ sseries have five constituent elements:
Preparing Your Learning Delivering Learning (Lecture/Classroom) Delivering Learning (Practical/Fieldwork/Placement) Delivering Learning (Online) Assessing Learning
http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getteachinginclusively
Web2AccessWeb2Access is a JISC-funded project which allows developers and users to see at a glance the usability and accessibility of interactive and collaborative e-learning tools.Web2Access is based on the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) and explores a range of popular tools such as You Tube or Twitter and more. Each tool is given an average score based on issues such as image attributes, text editors, multimedia and appropriate use of tables and frames.http://www.web2access.org.uk/
http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/
Find advice on making accessible materials
Provide more agile mobile and Provide more agile mobile and remote learning opportunitiesremote learning opportunities
• http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getm-learning• Upwardly Mobile• Go Mobile• MoleNet• Mole TV
www.lexdis.ecs.soton.ac.uk/LexDis
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://inclusivity.rsc-yh.ac.uk/
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Teaching inclusively using technologyNew learning resources now available online.
Each module shows how resourcesand methods can be adapted with technology to deliver teaching more inclusively to the widest possible audience.
The modules in the JISC TechDis ‘Teaching Inclusively Using Technology’ sseries have five constituent elements:
Preparing Your Learning Delivering Learning (Lecture/Classroom) Delivering Learning (Practical/Fieldwork/Placement) Delivering Learning (Online) Assessing Learning
http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getteachinginclusively
Web2AccessWeb2Access is a JISC-funded project which allows developers and users to see at a glance the usability and accessibility of interactive and collaborative e-learning tools.Web2Access is based on the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) and explores a range of popular tools such as You Tube or Twitter and more. Each tool is given an average score based on issues such as image attributes, text editors, multimedia and appropriate use of tables and frames.http://www.web2access.org.uk/
http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/
Find advice on making accessible materials
Provide more agile mobile and Provide more agile mobile and remote learning opportunitiesremote learning opportunities
• http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getm-learning• Upwardly Mobile• Go Mobile• MoleNet• Mole TV
