opening the door: adaptive technologies and writing instruction dr. maria clayton middle tennessee...

Opening the Door: Adaptive

Technologies and Writing

Instruction

Dr. Maria ClaytonMiddle Tennessee State

University

2010 EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional

Conference

15-17 March

Opening the Door: Adaptive Technologies and Writing Instruction

Introductions Speaker Presentation Overview

Purpose Raise awareness among faculty &

admin Shed light on teaching/learning

w/disabilities Briefly introduce three preferred AT

apps Share materials related to

presentation Targeted Audience Publication project—Basis of the

presentation Starting point Scope limitation


Statement of Problem Description Types of disabilities

Blindness or Visual Impairment Deaf or Hearing Impairment Mobility Impairment Speech Impairment Other Disabilities—learning,

developmental, emotional, and the like

Further limiting scope of discussion


Brief overview of legislation Section 504 Rehabilitation Act, 1973 Education for All Handicapped Children

Act, 1975 Reauthorized in 1990 as Individual with

Disabilities Education Act of 1975, amended, 1997

Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act (the Tech Act), 1988, revised 1994

Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, amended 2008

Other signs that point to progress Increased interest, proliferation of

Disabled Studies programs Faculty recognition of not wanting their

own access limited


When writing about the issue of AT as a means of improving accessibility, Carmela Cunningham and Norman Coombs suggest, “People with disabilities may have benefited more from the proliferation computers over the past two decades than any other population group. Computer technology provides for these individuals the tools needed to obtain a significant increment of independence and productivity hitherto unavailable to them” (vii).

(Information Access and Adaptive Technology. Phoenix: Orynx Press, 1997)


Teaching with a Disability Insights from faculty

S. O’Neal, English Department GTA, ABD

J. Harris, Director, Disabled Student Services

Dr. D. Shelar, Prof, Health and Human Performance

Dr. T. Perry, Prof, Health and Human Performance

Dr. K. Burriss, Prof, Elementary and Special Education

Learning with a Disability Insights from students

C. Gourneau, Education Dept. GA,, MA in History, pursuing teaching licensure

J. Beecham, AT Lab Assistant, MA in Exercise Science


“First, I would like to explain why I stress the importance of AT and why I think teachers should understand more about it. The first reasons are rather personal. My position is based partly on the fact that I currently work in the Adaptive Technologies Center at Middle Tennessee State University. It is appropriate to admit that I am disabled myself. I have a high functioning form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). Though I have not required AT to fit the needs of my particular disability, working at MTSU’s ATC has given me a new perspective of this special-needs population on campus. I have met and befriended several students struggling with various disabilities, and I have seen them interact successfully with many technological applications with which I (like many able-bodied users) was previously unfamiliar. In the ATC, I feel that I am connecting to an important population on the campus of which I am a member. Additionally, I have realized that such equipment would be very beneficial in a ‘normal’ classroom.” (O’Neal)


How do faculty get started? Educating ourselves on the needs of our disabled

students Conferring with students Using a variety of strategies to facilitate their

access Multiple methods of conveying same

content Alternate versions of assignments/materials

[i.e. digital text, Alt text, and audio] Collaborative assignments

Practicing flexibility with work completion and giving feedback

Responding digitally to student writing Collaborative assignments Conferencing Privileging revision [e.g. portfolios]

Making use of DSS and IT resources within University

http://mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11210/ATProject2010Rev/ElectronicGrading.pdf

http://www.mtsu.edu/dssemail/adatech.shtml


Focus on Zoom Text Text magnifier for Microsoft Windows Released in 1988 for MS-DOS for the

visually impaired Released in 1996 for Microsoft

Windows Now available for Macs—built-in on

Mac Book Pro http://www.synapseadaptive.com/aisquared/zoo

mtext_9/zoomtext_9_home_page.htm

Originator: AI Squared Customizable to user preferences A side story

http://www.synapseadaptive.com/aisquared/zoomtext_9/zoomtext_9_home_page.htm

http://www.synapseadaptive.com/aisquared/zoomtext_9/zoomtext_9_home_page.htm

http://www.aisquared.com/about_us

http://www.aisquared.com/email/static/zoomnews_february_2010.html?utm_source=ZoomNews+from+Ai+Squared&utm_campaign=f857808c30-ZoomNews_February_2010&utm_medium=email


Focus on JAWS--Jobs Access with Speech Text to Speech or Braille display

(screen reader) Released in 1989 for the blind and

visually impaired using MS-DOS—Ted Henter

Released in 1995 for use with Microsoft Windows

Highly customizable http://www.freedomscientific.com/jaws-hq.asp

http://www.freedomscientific.com/jaws-hq.asp


Focus on Kurzweil 3000 Text to speech converter app Raymond Kurzweil, early 1970’s

reading machine for blind people K-1000 for visually impaired, K-3000

for disabilities related to reading and writing, 1996

Works with Microsoft Windows and Macintosh Version 4

Highly customizable http://www.kurzweiledu.com/kurz3000.aspx

http://www.kurzweiledu.com/kurz3000.aspx


Final Thoughts:“Our good colleague Brenda Brueggemann, a

leading scholar in disability studies, reminds us that technologies used initially to help those who have been termed disabled—persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, blind or struggling with diminished eye-sight, or limited in their mobility—often have the unintended consequence of serving communities who consider themselves fully abled precisely because these groups share some common needs and fundamental values, even as they differ widely on others” (57).

Lee, Valerie, and Cynthia L. Selfe. “Our Capacious Caper: Exposing Print-Culture Bias in Departmental Tenure Documents. ADE

Bulletin 145 (Spring 2008): 51-8.


Works Cited Beecham, J. Personal interview. 8 Feb. 2010. Burriss, Kathleen G. Personal interview. 20 Feb. 2010. Cunningham, Carmela, and Norman Coombs. Information

Access and Adaptive Technology. Phoenix: Orynx Press, 1997.

Downing, June E. Including Students with Severe and Multiple Disabilities in Typical Classrooms: Practical Strategies for Teachers. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes, 2002.

Gourneau, C. Personal interview. 8 Feb. 2010. Hamill, Lee, and Caroline Everington. Teaching Students

with Moderate to Severe Disabilities. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2002.

Harris, John. Personal interview. 20 Nov. 2008. Lee, Valerie, and Cynthia L. Selfe. “Our Capacious Caper:

Exposing Print-Culture Bias in Departmental Tenure Documents. ADE Bulletin 145 (Spring 2008): 51-8.


Lewiecki-Wilson, Cynthia, and Brenda Jo Brueggemann, eds. Disability and the Teaching of Writing: A Critical Sourcebook. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

___. Lewiecki-Wilson, Cynthia, and Brenda Jo Brueggemann. Introduction. Lewiecki-Wilson and Brueggemann, Disability 1-9.

Murray, Dinah, and Ann Aspinall. Getting IT: Using Information Technology to Empower People with Communicatin Diffuculties. London: Jessica Kingsley Pub., 2006.

Perry, Tara. Personal interview. 21 Oct. 2008. Scherer, Marcia J. Living in the State of Stuck. Cambridge:

Brookline Books, 1993. Shelar, Dawn. Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2008. Walshe, John. “Ahead of the Times . . . Providing for

Disabilities.” Irish Independent 7 Jan. 2004. 29 Sept. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/Inacademic/frame.do?tokenKey=rsh-20.960237.96290200>.


Contact information:Dr. Maria Clayton

PO Box 70Middle Tennessee State University

Murfreesboro, TN [email protected]

http://www.mtsu.edu/~mclayton

Materials available from PDF files at:

http://www.mtsu.edu/~mclayton/2010educause.htm

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mtsu.edu/~mclayton



Opening the Door: Adaptive

Technologies and Writing

Instruction

Copyright Dr. Maria A. Clayton, 2010. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.