Bridging Diverse Literacy Gaps with Multisensory Intervention
The integration of technology into literacy intervention can support a learner's experience by providing increased engagement. Assistive Technology bridges gaps for learners with language and literacy disabilities by supporting access to age appropriate content. AT aids in reducing frustration and prevents individuals from falling behind at school or work. If individuals do not have access to AT, their literacy development will suffer, negatively impacting higher order skills, such as comprehension, idea synthesis, and conversational discourse, directly hindering their opportunity for higher education and/or future employment. AT and explicit intervention CAN play nice!
Driving Accessibility Improvements in IT Products
Campuses are required to acquire accessible products yet vendors are not required to sell accessible products. The appropriate time to put the responsibility for accessibility on the vendor is during the acquisition process. Insisting on accurate accessibility documentation, commitments from the vendor for accessibility improvements to the product, and informative information for the users is crucial to drive improvements to the product. Accurate documentation gives campuses the opportunity to create Equally Effective Alternative Access Plans so students that encounter barriers can be quickly served with workarounds or accommodations.
Acquiring accessible IT products is one of the biggest challenges facing an institution when implementing an accessible technology program. To meet this challenge the CSU has developed a process that integrates accessibility requirements into campus business processes and puts the responsibility on vendors for the accessibility of their product.
Working through the CSU approval process challenged McGraw-Hill Education to update the way they report on and support the accessibility compliance of our educational technology products. McGraw-Hill will share insights to how their internal review processes, accessibility testing and reports so that they are better able to contextualize audit results providing accurate and informative documentation to customers, as well as the changes in regulations and awareness of accessibility.
Creating Accessible Online Course Materials
Accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought. It is often easier and more effective to create with accessibility in mind rather than attempt to remediate access barriers. This workshop will focus on instructor created online course content including items created in popular desktop software. We will explore accessibility requirements for common course document types and lecture videos. Hands on instruction will be provided in creating accessible Word and PowerPoint files as well as recorded course lectures.
Introduction to Assistive Technology
Welcome to an introduction to the many types of Assistive Technology available today. This workshop is especially useful for newcomers to the fields of AT and disabilities and those who are first-timers at the CSUN Conference. Participants will gain a general understanding of assistive technology and be able to describe technologies that support participation, communication and learning.
Sign language is a helpful communication tool for students with Down syndrome, autism, ADHD, auditory processing disorder - the list goes on. However some of these students have issues that keep them from effectively using sign language. Three problems consistently pop-up that prevent students from progressing:
Sign Shapers were created as a way to scaffold instruction for these students, an extra step, to make it more accessible to them. Sign Shapers are easy-to-make, inexpensive "puppets" that can be created by teachers, therapists, parents-anyone who wants to help the student succeed in producing understandable signs. These attractive puppets entice the student to engage, correctly shaping their hand as it is inserted into the puppet. The design of the puppet takes advantage of the iconicity of the sign it represents, (the Sign Shaper for "shark" looks like a shark fin, "duck" resembles a duck's beak, etc.) to help bring that connection of meaning, and assist with memory. The movement of the puppet helps develop motor memory. There are approximately 40 different handshapes used in American Sign Language (ASL). Once a handshape is mastered, the student can create a multitude of new signs which will now be understandable by changing one or more of the other parameters, (location, palm orientation, movement, and facial expression.) In this workshop, participants will make and take several Sign Shapers to begin using immediately with their students, and create a therapy kit to provide more intensive intervention. We will also learn how to create online books to specifically target the handshapes their students are working on mastering.
Design Thinking, Innovative Technologies, and UDL: A Recipe for Success!
You may have seen the fun Virtual Reality (VR) booths at the mall or amusement park. Or heard about the Makerspaces trends in schools. This emerging technology isn't just fun and games. When it comes to education, it can be the motivator to engage and reach all learners in a classroom. This session will use lecture and small group format introduce and review the Universal Design for Learning framework and introduce the design thinking approach to learning that includes considering real-world problems, research, analysis, conceiving original ideas, experimentation, building things by hand, collaboration, and performance.
Participants will then apply the theoretical knowledge received to hands-on practice creating learning experiences supporting all learners, including learners with disabilities or other marginalized populations. We will create a pop-up makerspace and virtual reality laboratory that will utilize Google Expeditions, 360° video camera, as well as design unique instruments and have a battle of the bands.