LiveWire 4 Education - February 2007

A newsletter for blind and vision impaired students, their teachers and parents.

The 2007 Quantum Technology Scholarship Program

Later this year will mark Quantum’s 21st Birthday – our ‘coming of age’. While this is an exciting event in itself, possibly the most exciting part of it is recognising just how far we have come in those 21 years. One achievement that symbolises all that Quantum stands for and strives to achieve has materialised in our Scholarship Program, which this year has been extended to include a Braille Literacy Scholarship.

For 21 years Quantum has designed, developed and distributed products that are aimed at empowering children, students and adults who have a print disability (blindness, low vision, and learning disabilities). We have seen the power of assistive technology and its ability to transform lives and provide opportunities for learning and living life to the fullest.

One of the greatest rewards our staff receives is the feedback and interaction with people that use our products, and the Scholarship Program is the pinnacle of that. We receive applications from students all around Australia and it is wonderful to hear about the success, courage and struggles of these talented young people.

Our full Scholarship program consists of:

• The Quantum Technology/Freedom Scientific Jaws Scholarship
• The Quantum Technology/Freedom Scientific WYNN Scholarship
• The Quantum Technology Braille Literacy Scholarship

The new Braille Literacy Scholarship consists of two awards, each honouring a person who has made an outstanding contribution to Braille Literacy in Australia and indeed, around the world.

The Gillian Gale Award for Braille Literacy

Gillian is well known and admired throughout Australia and New Zealand for her untiring efforts in promoting and facilitating Braille Literacy. We are thrilled that she has agreed to lend her name and boundless energy in support of this Award.

The Norman Wilson Notetaking Award.

Norman is one of the unsung heroes of the modern Braille Literacy movement. The inventor of the Braille-n-Print in the early 1980’s, Norman has been credited with providing the first tool that enabled blind children to be integrated into regular classrooms. Many thousands of blind children around the world have used Norman’s invention on their journey to Braille Literacy.

Each of the Scholarship programs provides assistive technology tools that enable the winning applicants to continue with their studies and achieve success to the best of their abilities. Details of each program are available from our website or by contacting us and requesting them. Our sincere thanks to all the students, teachers and parents who have contributed to making our Scholarship Program such a success.

PacMate and Pizza

Just before Christmas, Quantum hosted a PacMate and Pizza Day. Four students from NSW Department of Education Schools bought their PacMates and teachers along for some training, exchanging ideas and of course, pizza.

Under the excellent tuition of Lee Kumutat, the students were shown how to use some of the more advanced features of PacMates, to connect to the Web and download information and generally explore how the PacMate can provide the tools and tricks needed to access information in an accessible format.

Possibly the best part of the day was when the students were left to themselves and they shared with each other what they knew about their PacMate. It might be a little harsh, but possibly at this point they left their teachers well behind them! This proves of course our long held belief that the students will always be the technology experts; the teachers role often being relegated to that of a facilitator. In this, blind and vision impaired children are no different to their sighted counterparts.

We welcome the opportunity of holding more PacMate and Pizza days in any of our three offices, or by arrangement in other states. Suggestions for other training days are also welcome. How about a Mountbatten and Mudcake Day?!

Review of the P&P Day by Rebecca Wong.

The Pac mate day I attended was both fun and informative. As well as learning a lot of useful and interesting things, I got to see a few of my friends.

Together we learnt how to use the calendar and calculator, and how to synchronise the PacMate with the desktop, so that surfing the net was possible. We also created, edited, and beamed files to one another. This was done in a pleasant and casual environment, so we all felt welcome and comfortable.

There was a lot of friendly interaction, and we had time to socialize over lunch. Although we didn’t get through everything planned, I enjoyed the day very much, and would certainly go to another one.

PacMate RoadShow March 2007

During the first week of March, Quantum will be conducting a national PacMate Roadshow which is aimed at helping teachers and educators understand how PacMate can be a vital tool for their students.

Jonathon Mosen, Vice President of Blindness Hardware from Freedom Scientific BLV Group will be presenting on "PacMate in Education". Jonathon is well known internationally and is one of the leading experts on accessible portable computing. He will be able to answer any questions you may have and there will also be opportunities for training.

Copies of the PacMate’s Teachers Guides will be available at each presentation. If you would like us to visit or can organise a group of teachers and/or students, then please let us know.

PacMate Stories

When blind school student Alex Follo entered fourth grade, he found the challenges of accomplishing his school workload on a Perkins nearly impossible. His grades fell, and he and his teachers were frustrated. When he began using a PAC Mate, his grades soared - and so did his eagerness for learning. You can hear about Alex's classroom experiences with the PAC Mate assistive technology and his mother's enthusiastic comments on the Freedom Scientific Web Page www.freedomscientific.com and follow the link to PacMate Headquarters.

Jot a Dot Around the World

In a world that worships high tech gadgets it can often be hard to get people excited by something low-tech. However, Jot a Dot is proving to be an exception. The strong interest has been coming from education where the need to provide basic note-taking opportunities is recognised as fundamentally important.

Taking notes on excursions, developing good self organisation skills and having small notes on paper are just some of the reasons teachers and students are telling us that Jot a Dot is proving to be an invaluable tool. Here is some feedback from an "expert" in Belgium;

"Dear Sir,

My name is Ditmar, I’m 9 years old and I receive a Jot a Dot from Carla who is my friend. I was very happy to receive it. Earlier this year, we went to a shop in Brugge to see the Jot a Dot. There I could try the machine already. I was enthusiastic. Carla phoned my mum to say that she’d won the Jot a Dot from your contest. I really could not believe it. To be honest, I was a bit jealous. But then Carla told me she would give the Jot a Dot to me (because she is not blind)!

The next day I took the machine with me to school, and the next day, and the next day, … Everybody in my class wanted to try the Jot a Dot. My teacher was also interested because she sees alot of blind children. The machine is very easy to work with and not so heavy like all my other machines. The only think I found difficult was to read the manuscript ‘how to use the machine’. Me and my mum laughed a lot about it.

Thank you for sending us the machine.

We hope you will make a lot of people also very happy!

Best wishes, Ditmar"

Daisy Daisy,
Give me your answer do!

While this may be a well known folk song from 1892, it isn’t the Daisy that every person in vision education needs to know about. The other is DAISY, an acronym for Digital Accessible Information System. This DAISY is one of the most important developments in the provision of alternative format materials in our generation and has the potential to usher in a new age of accessibility.

DAISY is a format that is being used to make the next generation of talking books. In fact any text material can be converted to DAISY format. Like any new area of technology, DAISY comes with a whole array of new acronyms to learn. The first one is DTB (for Digital Talking Book) and that is what any text material in a DAISY format is called.

Why is DAISY so important? There are many answers to this and we are not going to try and give all of them here. However, what is really significant is that once information is digital it can be transformed easily into a range of different reading mediums. Hence a teacher can grab some text from the web, and using DAISY tools can quickly and easily convert that to speech (MP3 format), large print, or to file ready for translation to Braille.

The real power of DAISY is that it provides a navigation system as part of the structure of the DBT. Anyone that has used a talking book will know the frustration of trying to locate a particular spot in the book, and the need to scroll forward, scroll back etc to find anything. Using a DAISY DTB a student will be able to select the exact page they want to start reading from. There are also options within the DAISY format that enable access to all features of a book, such as jumping to a footnote, index or table of contents, placing bookmarks in the text to refer to later, and begin reading from the exact point you left it.

To learn more about DAISY check out
http://www.daisy.org

Quantum has a range of DAISY related products for education. Ask us for a data sheet or detailed information on the products designed for students and teachers to use and produce DAISY materials.

Braille Literacy and Technology in Australia

Late in 2006, Lee Kumutat and Tim Connell visited Canberra to attend a meeting with Diana Van Straalen, Senior Advisor to the Hon. Julie Bishop, Minister for Education Science and Training.

This meeting came about at the suggestion of Mal Brough, Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, after he launched the Jot a Dot earlier in 2006. The following is an extract of the paper that was presented on behalf of Quantum to the Ministers office.

The two devices predominantly used for early Braille education in Australia date from the 1830’s and 1950, known as the Slate and Stylus and the Perkins Brailler respectively. They provide one of the least appropriate or supportive environments in which to foster Braille and technology skills, and hark from a different era. They are the standard devices used in many developing countries. It would be unthinkable to provide a sighted child in Australia with devices of similar age and functionality, yet this happens to blind students every single day. The reasons that contribute to this situation include:

Lack of national standards. Currently we have a huge disparity of services across the country in a situation that has been described as a “postcode lottery”. Braille and the teaching of Braille have different priorities depending on where you live. Braille is often seen as a last resort.

Lack of awareness and training. Very few states in Australia provide consistent professional development for teachers of blind children on the new technology options that enhance learning. Victoria is a notable exception, and their teachers receive 16 professional development days each year on the use and implementation of technology. In most other states, teachers of blind and vision impaired children receive very little or no technology training at all.

Lack of funding. There is a perception that there are not adequate funds available in most states to purchase modern electronic tools for every blind student. However, no true analysis of the cost of not providing these tools has been made. In our digital world, having modern electronic tools enables students to access, process and produce information to a level not thought possible even a decade ago. There is a lack of emphasis on making students as independent as possible. With an estimated 75% of blind adults unemployed, there appears to be a strong argument for reducing the welfare cost by providing more funding for early education and the tools that blind students need from kindergarten and right through to tertiary study.

Attitude of Scarcity. Several decades of neglect have induced an "attitude of scarcity" amongst educators, parents and students themselves. In turn this re-enforces a lack of expectations, both in terms of what blind students can achieve, but also in what they can advocate for. Teachers of blind children are typically highly committed and already work extended hours with very few resources. They are also usually the last people that can agitate or advocate for change within their own education system.

Recommendations:
That the Minister for Education Science and Training instigates the development of national standards for Braille education. That the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) funds a study on the use of modern electronic learning tools in early Braille education to provide empirical data upon which teachers can develop best practices in line with other developed nations. That DEST considers the establishment of an Assistive Technology Fund in cooperation with all stake-holders.

The Early Braille Readers Project: Using the Mountbatten Braillewriter in Primary Grade Classrooms
Holly Cooper, Ph.D. and Sharon Nichols
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Outreach, USA

The Early Braille Readers Project included 20 students, Kindergarten through second grade, in general education. The students were at or near grade level, with Braille reading and writing goals on the IEP. Braille was their primary reading medium.

The purpose of the Project was to evaluate the usefulness of the Mountbatten Braille Writer in early Braille education.

The following findings are based on the feedback of teachers participating in the Project. They were obtained in discussion groups, via email, and in phone and live conversations.

• Using the Mountbatten equipment facilitated development of writing skills. Traditionally motor delays often slowed acquisition of writing skills because of:
• Limited finger strength,
• Difficulty with finger separation
• Difficulty with finger coordination
• The Mountbatten was easier to use, requiring less finger strength. Students with motor delays were able to gain writing skills sooner.
• Students were able to write more, for longer periods of time. Because writing was less tiring, students were able to focus better and stay on task longer.
• For students with limited finger strength and stamina, writing skills emerged earlier in the school year than they would have using a manual Braille writer.
• Classroom teachers had a more active role in writing instruction because of the Mimic and QWERTY keyboard.
• Peers could share writing experiences.
• The Braille student could be more involved in classroom activities.
• Auditory feedback assisted with: spacing between words, using punctuation, using correct Braille characters, discovering errors in work.
• Auditory feedback reinforced phonetic aspects of writing by supporting invented spelling.
• Auditory feedback also improved listening skills.
• Teachers stated that students "discovered" some contractions using the auditory feedback of the Mountbatten. Auditory feedback also reinforced phonetic aspects of reading.
• Using the Mountbatten equipment facilitated development of reading skills. Having a full page of Braille vs. only a line of refreshable Braille was important for some Braille readers.
• Reading improved because students had more practice reading their own work, and they had more Braille materials to read.
• In general, there was more participation by classroom teachers in Braille students’ reading instruction.
• Using the Mountbatten facilitated inclusion.
• Braille students were more likely to be doing the same work at the same time as peers. Being part of the general education classroom encouraged the students to be less dependent on frequent prompting or feedback from adults.
• The presence of the Mountbatten raised awareness of other students to issues related to vision impairments and Braille. Other students expressed an interest in the Mountbatten, in Braille and interacting with the blind student.

Portable Magnification for Near and Distant Viewing

The ClearNote from Optelec is proving to be very successful for students with Low Vision in a classroom, lecture theatre or home. It provides a sturdy and reliable magnification unit for viewing distance (like the black/white board or a science experiment) and near viewing (magnifying a book or any printed material). Since the base is so sturdy the camera is very stable and this provides a high quality image.

The ClearNote can be controlled with keystrokes on the computer or the controls on the camera arm and hence can be used with a PC laptop or just a monitor.

The ClearNote can be assembled easily and quickly and can be carried together with a laptop in a single bag (provided). ClearNote features a standard, build in light source for use in environments with low ambient light. No external light source is generally needed. The ClearNote also has a great depth of focus for reading thick books and for hobby work. The depth of focus is up to 5 cm, even in high magnification. Recently Optelec have up-dated the ClearNote and added some exciting new features:

• The camera now has 3 preset positions for quickly switching between distance and near viewing. For each position the image settings are stored automatically so when you move the camera, the image is automatically changed. This covers the level of magnification, horizontal flip, viewing mode, brightness and semi-colours.
• The contrast and brightness settings can now be stored and changed on the camera unit, even when working with a stand-alone monitor.
• A new integrated battery will provide up to 4 hours of use. Power for the ClearNote only comes from it’s own integrated battery which means that power is never drained from the laptop.

A Camera That’s a Mouse!

The OPTi is for the individual who wants mobility and flexibility integrated with their laptop or desktop PC. The unique OPTi software interface allows for effective management and control of the magnified image on the screen. The combined power of PC and OPTi bring new opportunities into view anywhere, anytime.

• Unique OPTi toolbar user interface on the PC Laptop or desktop compatible.
• Fully adjustable image size horizontally and vertically.
• Enhanced contrast positive and negative image.
• Choice of eight high contrast foreground and background colours.
• Image capture and save facility
• OPTi control functions are accessible via PC keyboard or OPTi toolbar.

Parents Making A Difference

Nobody has a greater commitment and interest in successfully raising a child who is blind or vision impaired than their parents. Yet, parents often remain isolated, lack the resources and knowledge about when and where to get help, and don’t have a voice in shaping the policies and services that are provided to their children.

A group of dedicated and visionary parents have got together and decided it is time to change all that. The Australian Association for Parents of Vision Impaired (AAPVI) is a new national organisation and this is their mission:

"To be an effective national self help group providing understanding, support and information to parents of vision impaired children. AAPVI encourages and supports parents to support each other to improve the health, welfare, education and socialising opportunities for their children."

Quantum is a proud sponsor of AAPVI and firmly believes that they need the support of the general public as well as the agencies and organisations that serve the blind community.

Parents can play a vital and unique role in advocacy and achieving political change. We believe AAPVI will grow and evolve into a vital ally to everyone involved in VI education.

Further information on AAPVI can be found at
http://www.aapvi.org.au

New Queensland Office!

Quantum Queensland has found a new home! We have been very lucky to be able to join Comepass Employment as a co-tenant. Comepass Employment is a division of Westside Community Services and provides specialist services to mature aged clients and people with disabilities.

People with a print disability will now be able to come to the one stop for assistance with employment and also check out the assistive technology solutions that they may need to perform their jobs. The new office is located in inner South Brisbane and there is a bus stop at the front door and the Buranda train station is nearby. Parking is available next to the building.

Please come and join us to an official opening from 4.00pm on Wednesday the 21st February!

46 Old Cleveland Rd
(Corner of Edith Street)
Stones Corner Qld 4120
RSVP 07 3324 1195 (space is limited)

Quantum New Faces

Judy Slatyer
Low Vision Consultant - Southern Sydney

Judy joined our team in September 2006 as the Low Vision Consultant for Sydney's south. That includes everything south of the Parramatta River. Judy has a background in Nursing, Optics, mobile eye care and has also worked in business management.

Her life and work experiences have all generally been towards eye care and she will be a great resource for teachers and educators. Judy lives in Sydney with her two daughters and dog Chopper.

Trish Fraser
International Sales Manager

Trish, who joined us in January, will be well known by many people in the blindness education field in Australia. Trish has been part of the adaptive technology world for nearly twenty years, beginning with Robotron in Melbourne in 1987.

More recently she has been working in the assistive technology field in the UK involved in training, support and sales.

Trish will continue to be based in the UK for Quantum, and will look after our customers and resellers in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. The main focus of her work will be on the new Mountbatten Learning System and the Jot a Dot. Trish would love to hear from old friends and acquaintances and can be contacted at Email: pfraser@quantech.com.au.

Spotlight on Service Providers

Special Education Technology—British Columbia (SET-BC) Canada Provincial Resource Centre for Visually Impaired (PRCVI)

It is not an exaggeration to say that these 2 organisations together form one of the pre-eminent service delivery models to children who are blind and vision impaired in the world. Over several decades these two agencies working in close collaboration, have developed services covering all students who are blind and vision impaired in British Columbia.

SET-BC also provides services to students with a range of other disabilities, and operate under a philosophy that encourages the use of technology (among many other things).

Philosophy on Technology...

"As we move into the Twenty First Century, it is becoming increasing clear that society will continue to use technology in daily activities. All students, but, particularly those students with visual impairments, need to be competent users of technology. We need to give students the opportunity to learn how to use technological devices so that they are provided with the benefits of new technology. These benefits include a greater diversity in employment opportunities and an inclusion in the educational, social and recreational activities available on the "information highway".

Personal biases and attitudes that may question the usefulness of technology should not interfere with a willingness to provide students with the opportunity to understand, access and become increasingly proficient with technological devices."

SET-BC maintains the equipment on the following list and makes it available for loan to schools for student use.

Software
Duxbury Braille Translator (Mac/Win), MathType, Magic, JAWS, Kurzweil 1000, OpenBook, Scientific Notebook Braille Notetakers BrailleNote, PacMate with refreshable Braille display Braille Writer/Embossers Mountbatten Pro Brailler, Romeo Brailler Low Vision Hardware CCTV, Clarity Flex, Flipper Panel, Optelec Clearview CCTV

Australian and New Zealand VI teachers will be surprised to learn that this equipment is available to any eligible child and is held in sufficient quantities to cover the needs of the whole province. For example, in the case of the Mountbatten Braillers, over 40 units are available each year for loan to students.

During 2006 an Australian VI teacher, Kym Gribble has experienced first hand life in British Columbia, on a Teacher Exchange Program. We have asked Kym if he can share with our LiveWire readers some of his experiences in Canada, in a future edition (Kym, start writing please!).

To get a true understanding of both organisations you need to visit their websites

http://www.setbc.org
http://www.prcvi.org

What’s On in Our World!

16 Feb 07 VIC Catholic Education Vocational Preparation Program

22 Feb 07 NSW mid north coast Series of Low Vision presentations

5 Mar 07 National PacMate Roadshow

5 Mar 07 NSW Batemans Bay Department of Education Forum

12 Mar 07 NSW South Coast Macular Degeneration Foundation Tour

16 Mar 07 NSW Merrylands Inview A forum for students with vision impairments, their parents and educators. Catholic Education

19 Mar 07 USA CSUN, USA

28 Mar 07 Central Coast NSW Macular Degeneration Foundation Tour

16 Apr 07 NSW Southern Highlands Macular Degeneration Foundation Tour

5 May 07 SA Adelaide Round Table "Print Disability: Developing Individual Lifestyles in a Technological Age." Chifley Hotel, Adelaide, South Australia.

14 May 07 VIC "Doing it Better" - Learning Disabilities in Education and Employment Forum Melbourne. Storey Hall, RMIT University,

26 May 07 NSW Mini Expo Blind Citizens Australia (NSW) Shirley House 11a Ethel St. Burwood

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