Using Technology to Access the ClassroomInstruction

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Using Technology to Access the Classroom/Instructi
on

• Barbara Keefe, Sharon Downs, Shannon Aylesworth,
  Bambi Riehl

PEPNet Family Training Conference Monday,
4/26/05, 100 pm
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Agenda

• Rationale for Making Online Courses Fully
  Accessible
• Virtual Learners
• Project ADEPT
• (Accessible Distance Education for Postsecondary
  Teaching)
• PantherCom Video Interpreting
• PantherCom Remote Captioning (Speech-to-Text
  Transcription)

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Rationale for Making Online Courses Fully
Accessible

• Universal Design in Instruction
• Technology is advancing, and services must
  advance with it
• Required under the ADA
• Students online experience must be fully
  accessible, just as if the student were sitting
  on campus in a classroom

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Distance Learning andDistance Accommodations

• Synchronous
• Asynchronous

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Broadband Network

• Needed for access by students who are deaf and
  hard of hearing
• High speed communications to simultaneously carry
• Voice
• Video
• Data
• Communications of at least
• 1.5 to 2 megabits/second

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Accommodations

• Securing accommodations
• Teleservice Staff --or-- Disability Support
  Staff?
• Interpreters or speech-to-text providers
• Delivered over network?
• Competent in content area? Who determines?
• Accommodations different if class is synchronous
  or asynchronous?

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Technology Concerns

• Problems with technology?
• How to access missed content?
• Videotapescaptioned or interpreted
• Multi campus environmentwho provides
  accommodation?

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Considerations

• Seamless ASL delivery
• Broadband needed in both directions
• Captioning in synchronous classes
• Encoders needed at broadcast site
• Video is Bandwidth-hog
• Bigger pipes easier traffic flow

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ADEPTAccessible Distance Education for
Postsecondary Teaching

• Instructor lecturing
• PowerPoint presentation
• Sign Language Interpreter
• Captions

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ADEPT Challenges

• Where to film
• Bandwidth
• Long process
• Technical glitches
• Lecturestaff time ratio
• Coordinating so many players
• Determining which courses get this service

• Posting accessible videostreams quickly
• Requires tight quality assurance controls
• Process requires planning, technology, expertise,
  funding, and collaboration
• Signing space of interpreter

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ADEPT Highlights

• Flexible use for deaf, hard of hearing, learning
  disability, ADD
• Access to videostreams same time as other
  students
• Students can review videostreams repeatedly to
  aid with comprehension
• Other students are educated about accommodations

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ADEPT Misc.

• SMIL technology for captions allows for resizing
• New program allows faster addition of captions
  (still in testing stage)

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PantherCom Video Interpreting

• Three year grant between Wisconsin DVR and
  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Originally intended for DVR client appointments
  technology is now being piloted in a
  postsecondary environment
• Using web cameras and the Internet to provide
  video interpreting to a remote campus which has
  an interpreter shortage

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PantherCom Video Interpreting
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PantherCom Video Interpreting Challenges

• ?Bandwidth
• ?Bandwidth
• ?Bandwidth
• Sound and picture quality
• Remote training for instructor and student

• Questions or comments from students
• Visual information/ handouts
• Roles/responsibilities
• Invisibility
• Small group work

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PantherCom Video Interpreting Highlights

• Access to more interpreters for rural areas or
  campuses experiencing shortages or fluctuating
  need
• WIN/WIN no travel time for anyone
• Provides diverse interpreting experience for our
  staff interpreters and job security at their home
  campus

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PantherCom Remote Captioning
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PantherCom Remote Captioning Challenges

• Accent/Lecture Style
• Learning Curve
• Remote Training for Instructor and Student
• Questions or Comments from Students
• Visual Information
• Technology

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PantherCom Remote Captioning Highlights

• Less Set-Up Time
• Reduces Travel Time
• Eliminates Equipment Transport
• Extends Student Access to Captioning Services

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Summary

• Variety of service delivery options using
  technology
• Investment of time, energy, and funds are
  required
• Develop collaborative relationships with IT
  departments, faculty, and administration
• Anticipate learning curve for everyone
• Anticipate inevitable technology glitches

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Resources

• www.ualr.edu/adept
• www.uwm.edu/dept/panthercom
• This presentation and handouts are available at
• www.ualr.edu/sotac/pftc05