Visual

media type="youtube" key="8kdvr7a0z1s" height="344" width="425"This video shows how the SmartBoard could be used for those who have visual impairments, as well as for those who have ADHD. I would like to focus on the ADHA aspect, and since there was not a category for ADHD and this video mentioned vision, I decided to include it here. The SmartBoard is great for students who have visual impairments, that are not completely blind. By usuing the SmartBoard, the teacher can enlarge images, worksheets, and texts to meet the various needs of all students. Focusing of the ADHD aspect, there are many interactive games that can be played on the SmartBoard, as well as bringing up worksheets, websites, and other various interaction programs. Since the SmartBoard responds to the touch of humans as well as physical "markers" it will be able to hold the attention of ADHD students longer because they are becoming physically involved. Secondly, alot of the games have sounds that the students will enjoy while learning. An example in this video was the money game. Once she put too much money in, the SmartBoard said it was "too much money and to try a smaller fiugre." As one can see, a SmartBoard is great for both ADHD students and visually impaired students.
 * I like how the SmartBoard adapts well not only for students with ADD/ADHD, but for studens with visual impairments and even regular education students. The interactivity of the board has the ability to keep all of the students focused throughout a lesson, as it appears different than a regular whiteboard lesson.

media type="youtube" key="Vff8thzMWAQ" height="340" width="560" This video talks about a place called Easter Seals Crossroads, which offers a number of assistive technologies and trainers to help use them. They focus on using large print, talking computers, braille computers and many more. The one guy who has a visual impairment uses a braille computer and is able to attend college classes, take notes, and review notes. He also is able to send e-mail, IMS, and use skpe.
 * The portion of this video dealing with braille computers is much like the tactile communication cards on the video that I posted. The young man who uses braille computers is much like using tactile communication cards. The braille computer system is much more advanced than the tactile communication system but alike in many ways. He uses the computer to communicate to his friends and family much like younger students use tactile communication cards to communicate with others.


 * The part of this video that relates to my previous video about the SmartBoard is the enlargement of print on the computer screen. Just as the size of images and text can be enlarged on a SmartBoard, certain computers have been made to adapt those who are visually blind and are using a computer in their home. Their computers at home, as shown in this video, have a much larger print size that makes the internet and various computer programs such as Microsoft, i-Tunes, and games even accessible to those who are visually impaired.
 * The part of the video that talks about using large print relates to my video because my video talks about a device enlarging print. The difference is yours enlarges print on the computer while my is for printed material.

media type="custom" key="4739515" Beth Koening, the director of Deaf Blind Services, demonstrates the use of tactile communication cards. She goes over the different types of tactile cards that her organization has to offer. Tactile cards are important because they are used by feel and touch. These tactile cards can be used for both students with visual impairments and auditory impairments.

media type="youtube" key="khv9LnKBDK4" height="344" width="425"This is a device for the visually impaired which makes print larger so it is easier for people too see.


 * The video magnifier is similar to the FarView that I had posted. The video magnifier seems to just magnify the text and allow different color options. With the FarView there seems to be a lot more options. From the information that I gathered from this video, the video magnifier can only be used for text that is close and not far away. This device seems to help those who are more farsighted and the FarView is geared more towards helping those who are nearsighted.
 * **I think this assistive technology is wonderful & can not only be helpful for the visually impaired, but also maybe the elderly!

media type="youtube" key="WqlDY227Y6I" height="344" width="425" The FarView is a device that assists people with visual impairments. It can be used to magnify text in books. You can change the color of the text and the background color to make it easier to read. It allows the user to take a picture of a menu that is far away such as in a fast food restaurant and then zoom in so that you can read the menu. This coud be quite useful in the classroom because then students could take pictures of their notes and review them later. This allows the opportutnity for students with visual impairments to sit in the back of the room instead of being right up front. Placing a student with a visual impairment in the front of the room is usually a solution that is used in the classroom but with this asssistive technology, that no longer has to happen. Something else that I thought was pretty cool about the FarView was that once you have the information on it, the user can upload and save the text onto a computer for later use.
 * This is really an incredible device. Not only could this help individuals with visual impairments, but it could assist any child in the classroom. By having the option to save it to a computer, a student with a visual impairment doesn't have to be confined to just this device, but he/she could transfer the information they need to a computer to work on projects and assignments that wouldn't be possible on this device. (TJD)