Evelyn Wood Would be Proud

Interesting posting in the Chronicle of Higher Education Wired-Campus Blog about students watching video lectures in fast forward.

Some professors report that when their students are reviewing class materials, the students speed up online recordings of lectures and zip through hour-long presentations in as little as 30 minutes. Sure, their professors sound like chipmunks. But the students say they can absorb the information faster than the professors deliver it.

As per usual with this blog, the comments make even better reading than the initial posting with discussion back and forth regarding how sensible it is to belive that students really can improve their comprehension level by viewing or listening to lectures and other course materials at high playback speed. Several folks from the disability services realm (especially from those experienced in working with the Blind and visually impaired) report the high speed at which users of JAWS and other screenreaders rev up their playback.

Several supporting articles and papers are linked from the comments section, including and article from the New York Times, a paper (in PDF format) presented to an institutional Instructional Design Center, and a link to a blog with similar information. As can be expected, there are numerous detractors posting comments and it should be recognized that 'speed listening' is not going to be equally effective for everyone, but it is at least worth a try.

I have some personal experience with speed listening in that my friend and business partner swears by it and has gotten me trying it as well. from the time he discovered DAISY Talking Books he starts the semester by listening to all of his books at high speed once thru. In his words this provides an overview of the material and sets and outline of sorts in his mind. Later on, when he reads for specific assignyemts, he slows the rate down and listens more intently. What he has found personally is that his comprehension of the reading material skyrockets. This is especially true when he is able to view the text on screen as well as listen audibly.
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New Blogs and Articles of Interest

Several colleagues and friends (and even people I do not know) have blogs on the topic of alternative media, access technologies, disability law and more. Here is a run-down of what is new and of interest in the disability blogosphere:

James Bailey, Adaptive Technology Access Adviser at the University of Oregon, well known AHEAD trainer on access technologies, and ATHEN member in good standing, provides a “port in the storm” for non-tech types who have to manage Access Technology in a college setting with his blog Managing Assistive Technology in Higher Education.

Another blog I recently came across is No Limits 2 Learning written by Lon Thornburg, a self described educator and assistive technology specialist and trainer. On his blogroll is the site SpEdChange by Ira David Socol. I've seen Ira speak a couple of times at conferences and had the opportunity to shoot the breeze with him afterwards. One day we'll break bread and have a brew but until then I'll read and enjoy his blog. Each post is like a short story and well worth the time necessary to dig into it. One of his post on Assistive Technology for Writing succinctly summarizes some thoughts I've had this topic and has helped me to clarify some of my work in this area. Ira also has a podcast of his work.

For you unconventional types out there - check out ATMac: Assistive Technology for Mac OS X Users. The name pretty much says it all but the blog includes news, views, and reviews for all OS X users, content producers, and developers with an interest in disability, assistive technology, and making accessible programs and content.

I came across ATMac through a Blog Carnival hosted by No Limits 2 Learning. What is a Blog Carnival you ask -- ? Well, according to Wikipedia, a blog carnival is a type of blog event. It is similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks links to other blog articles on the particular topic. Maybe the ATHEN blog should take a crack at doing one of these ... could be interesting.

Next up - Our friend Beth Case of Disability 411 has expanded her horizons by assisting in the development and presentation of the podcast Disability Law Lowdown. Brought to you by nationally recognized leaders in the field of disability law, the Disability Law Lowdown Podcast delivers the latest in disability rights information every other week. Got that? Good ... because it gets more interesting because the DLL podcast is also the DLL Video Podcast (I say VodCast -- but Beth doesn't like how that sounds). Available both through the site and via YouTube, this podcast /vodcast is the first video podcast in ASL that brings you information on the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability rights laws. Very Cool Beth!

And speaking of Cool! - Regular readers may have noticed that we have a new member of the blogging team here at ATHEN Susan Kelmer, Adaptive Technology Specialist and Lab Coordinator at St. Louis Community College, has signed up to provide the occasional post. Thanks Susabelle!

NFB - Access Technology Blog

Another new blog of interest to our readers has come to my attention. The National Federation of the Blind has started The Access Technology Blog. This is produced by the NFB Access Technology Team and is led by Clara Van Gerven.

Accessibility: Making it all worthwhile

Thanks to Sean Keegan for bringing this blog and especially this entry to our attention:
ThePickards » Blog Archive » Accessibility: Making it all worthwhile

I highly recommnd reading not only the blog post - but also the links within the posting. This is good stuff and speaks to the heart of web accessibility issues as well as the language of accessibility overall.

I also appreciate this blog because it provdes me one of those moments that validates my academic work. I currently have an article submitted to the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability that speaks directly to the need clarity in language - especially where terms such as "access" or "accessible" are used in conjunction with "digital." I also have a couple of presentation proposals in the works that are based upon this article. Here is the gist of the article and presentations - here's hoping it fids it's way through the various mazes:

Definitions of the terms digital and access are generally taken for granted within educational vernacular. Their meanings, however, are altered by the context of their use and as society gravitates towards ubiquitous computing and germinates the attitude that access to digital content at all times by all persons is a universal truth, these concepts as they relate to individuals with print disabilities become increasingly unclear. The purpose of this article is to examine and define the terms digital and access in the context of individuals with print disabilities making use of electronic versions of text based materials within the academic environment. The reader will be introduced to conceptual understandings of how these terms operate within continuums of meaning and how the context of use directly impacts definitions with the expectation being that having a shared vernacular will assist educators, researchers and perhaps legislators to develop a shared meaning for the
improvement of access to education.

GW Micro teaches Yahoo - The Desert Skies

Courtesy of The Desert Skies blog:

Check out this very interesting post to the Yahoo User Interface blog.

GW Micro is getting more and more press about their involvement in newer technologies. The link is a blog post with videos where Doug Geoffray [President of GW Micro] is teaching the Yahoo engineers all about screen reader technology.

More students across US logging on to online classrooms - The Boston Globe

Two quotes from this story caught my eye --

Online learning "is going to reinvent high school in the United States," said Ken Ellwein, executive director of the Lutheran high school, which created its online school last year. "To keep technology away from kids while they're going to school, when they have it in every other part of their lives -- it just doesn't make sense."

and

The US Department of Education plans to release a study about the prevalence of online schooling later this year. But one survey the department completed nearly five years ago found that 36 percent of school districts in the nation had students enrolled in virtual school, mostly high school students.

Personally I belive that to have a gap of 5 years between studies on anything having to do with technology in education is disgraceful! I definitely want to see these how this number (and related numbers) have grown. Speaking of Instructional Technology - the following comes from the blog EduTechie.com:

Let’s have a little competition at school and get ready for thefuture. I will use a laptop and you will use paper and pencil. Are you ready…?

• I will access up-to-date information - you have a textbook that is 5 years old.
• I will immediately know when I misspell a word – you have to wait until it’s graded.
• I will learn how to care for technology by using it – you will read about it.
• I will see math problems in 3D – you will do the odd problems.
• I will create artwork and poetry and share it with the world – you will share yours with the class.
• I will have 24/7 access – you have the entire class period.
• I will access the most dynamic information – yours will be printed and photocopied.
• I will communicate with leaders and experts using email – you will wait for Friday’s speaker.
• I will select my learning style – you will use the teacher’s favorite learning style.
• I will collaborate with my peers from around the world – you will collaborate with peers in your classroom.
• I will take my learning as far as I want – you must wait for the rest of the class.
• The cost of a laptop per year? - $250The cost of teacher and student training? – Expensive
• The cost of well educated US citizens and workforce? - Priceless

I am not expert on Instructionl Technology but I think that pretty much I need to knwo is right here in this list. If this doesn’t sum up instructional technology and its goals I don’t know what does!

Textbook Evaluator [a new blog]

For those of you who simply cannot get enough of textbooks ... textbooks ... textbooks there are actually a number of blogs dedicated to the subject (on the web - there is no accounting for taste!) Anyway ... the site has its share of reviews, complaints, studies, interesting bits and pieces and more. The site also includes - from the About This Blog page:

The focus of this blog is on the use and abuse of textbooks in our public schools. We discuss the following topics:

• The textbook publishing industry
• Textbook adoptions by states, districts and schools
• Textbook evaluation criteria
• Evaluation processes
• Research on the effectiveness of textbooks and other instructional programs
• Independent ratings or reviews of textbooks in all disciplines

New Blogs to Check-Out

Poet and writer Steve Kuusisto has launched a blog called "Planet of the Blind" which he hopes will be of general interest to those who share his interest in literary nonfiction and disability. The Harmony Books blog boldtype has a writeup and interview for his memoir "Planet of the Blind".

Next up is a blog that has been around for some time but appears to be under new management that may update it more often. All About Access is the tech blog of the Carroll center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts. Personally I think they should just call it CarrollTech, but apparently the dot-com version belongs to a company that manufactures & repairs tracks for heavy equipment [and whether the white cane hits the armored personnel carrier or vice-versa ... it's gonna be bad for the white cane!].