Assistive Technology on Mac Snow Leopard OS X

1. Zoom function for the visually impaired

Snow Leopard OS X offers a zoom function by merely going in the opposite direction out with two fingers on the mousepad. This allows people who have vision problems to zoom in 6 times the size of the original website and even more (up to 40 times the original size!) if the settings are adjusted. People who have trouble reading and are farsighted can minimize text and for those who are nearsighted, people can enlarge text. This is efficient and effective for many people who don't have the ability to use a computer because of their vision impairments. It also enhances the amount of activity they can accomplish by eliminating the barriers that are holding them back.

2. Enlargable Dock for the visually impaired

The Dock offers a convenient way to access commonly used applications, files, and folders. As you drag items into the Dock, it automatically resizes to accommodate new items. The more items you add to the Dock, the smaller the icons get. With the enlargable dock option, the icons will become magnified when scrolled over so that they may become easier to see. This again would be better for those people with vision issues who cannot see what icons they are selecting. It would also be beneficial instead of using the finder with all of the small print, the most commonly used icons would be readily available and would be easily identifiable.

3. VoiceOver option for the blind and those with low vision

The VoiceOver option tool present in Snow Leopard OS X allows for those who are blind or with low vision to control the processes of the computer and understand what the computer is doing at all times. VoiceOver allows for text to speech reading but not only that it will tell the user exactly what is running, what it is doing, and other functions. There is also an option that can have the time spoken to the user at any intervals. VoiceOver also has a commander option. Using commanders, you can assign keys and gestures to open an application, utility, or file, run an AppleScript script or Automator workflow, or perform a VoiceOver command. There are also optional Braille keyboards that can be purchased in conjunction. It is a great tool to enhance the experience of computer use of the blind or low vision users.

InspireData and Unemployment Rates

In the major economic strife that occupies our country at this time, nothing has been given more attention than the national unemployment rates. In this assignment and with the use of InspireData we were to look at and interpret the national unemployment rates and eventually compare them to the unemployment rates from the last two years in Indiana.

This station, station 5, dealt with unemployment in the United States and the data obtained and what exactly it means for the state of the nation as it stands. In my group, I was the only member since I was not present in class and couldn't accomplish it there. The goal of this station was to use technology data analysis tools, in this case InspireData to look at employment rates over an extended period of time and look into trends that occur and identify why they occur. Because I worked alone, I accomplished everything myself which included finding the necessary data needed to complete the tables, creating the graphs and taking the screenshots of the data.

In order to manipulate the data to make it analyzable, one must change it from the table format to the scatter plot by selecting the x-y table at the bottom. Then one must adjust the x-axis to year and the y-axis to average unemployment percentage.

Once this is accomplished trends can be viewed. It can be seen that every time that unemployment rates go up, something must be done so that they must return lower. This can be seen by the fact that every time unemployment rates rise, policies or programs are enacted that hope to bring the percentages down. Monthly trends indicate that during the summer months, throughout a majority of years, unemployment is the highest. Reasoning for this could be that jobs tend to make the most layoffs right before the summer and in turn unemployment rates rise. It should also be noted that at this time, unemployment rates in the United States are the highest they have been since the recession of the mid 1980s and the Great Depression.

In regards to the state of Indiana from 2008 to 2009, Indiana's unemployment rates were higher than the national monthly average for 7 out of 12 months in 2008 and 2009 with one month being the same as the national average both years. This was determined by comparing the table of the national numbers with the numbers found in the table for the state of Indiana.

Personally, I believe that this activity is very useful when dealing with information or data to be analyzed. In the social studies classroom, this could include unemployment rates as seen in this case, demographics of regions, and other statistics. From a teachers perspective, I enjoyed how InspireData displayed all the information that was available and gave one the option to do many different things with it. From a students perspective, it was very easily understood what was trying to be presented and how it correlates with what needs to be learned. What I didn't like about this assignment from a students perspective was that it was very tedious and difficult sometimes to find the data to enter into the table. From a teachers perspective, I would not like to have to double check everyones data to make sure the students didn't just make up the data. I was very surprised to find that this year's unemployment rates are the highest since the recession of the mid 1980s and the Great Depression. It really gives you an idea of how bad the state of employment is in the nation today.

Content Exploration in Social Studies - Google Earth

Content Exploration in social studies is crucial to the understanding of major topics. Without the ability to find out more information about subjects such as, in this case, the Civil War, a deeper understand instead of just a memorization of facts would not be plausible. In this case, I used two sources Google Earth, a software program free to all through Google, and GoogleLitTrips, a website whwere you can download various files for Google Earth, in order to find information on the Civil War. Students in various classes created their own representations of the Civil War, adding historical battles, places, and important ideas using Google Earth as a project. This can easily be accomplished by any teacher and it becomes more interesting for students to learn using an interactive tool where they have the ability to actually see where things happened. It is almost a virtual field trip of sorts.

This tool falls under the category of a reference tool as well as an open-ended tool. Google Earth uses links that anyone can put on there that incorpate pictures and descriptions of places as well as a 3D building option where you can go to the street level and view buildings as they stand. This is incredibly useful when dealing with ancient history and sites like ancient Rome or Greece where much of the architecture still stands. Because of the extensive amount of information it provides, I would consider it a reference tool. Also, because there is room for other exploration by students, it should also be considered an open ended tool. With Google Earth, the possiblities for exploration are quite endless and its provides students with the possibility for engagement.

In the classroom, this tool has infinite possibilites. For example, if teaching about Ancient Rome or Greece, as stated above, one can see the architecture in 3D and see the labrynith of streets in the cities. Another example would be when teaching United States history one could show exactly where battles in the Revolutionary War or Civil War had taken place and even draw on the maps using Scribble Maps to recreate what actually happened at a particular battle such as where troops came from, who attacked first, etc. With google maps one teaching world geogrpahy can show the demographics of different countries (mountain ranges and other geographical features) more clearly so that their features can be exemplified for students to see.
All in all, this tool can enhance the learning environment greatly creating excitment in your students by enhancing their learning abilities.

Podcast Analysis: The Cigar Box Project - Remixing History

In this particular podcast, a project done by a school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was explained to those viewers who were interested to see how this project went, as well as those intrigued as to how the school allows students to learn using inquiry based work. The professional development coordinator at the school explained how this process began and his goals for showing to podcast. The goals he stated were to exemplify the power of remixing in the classroom and how it can affect student learning and also that student work should be designed with strong inquiry based learning as a foundation. His ideas stated that teachers should place more emphasis on boundaries on work instead of the chaos that occurs when students decide what to work on.

This project was designed with the cooperation of the museum and curator around their area and originated when the museum displayed cigar boxes with various historical figures and events. Each panel on the cigar box told a particular story and the students at the school were told to do something similar. With the help of the Galileo education tools that the school works in cooperation with, an inquiry based rubric was formulated that helped the teacher (Neil) to design and create inquiry based work that helps students develop a deeper understanding of material.

The students were broken up into groups, each group receiving four to five topics. With each topic, a question was posed to which the students must find the answer using their "digital access to history." They must then create their own cigar box that tells the story of their figure using historical images and documents that represent Canadian history.

They first were to analyze the examples from the museum because every detail is important in telling a part of the story. They were then visited by a graphic designer from one of the community colleges in the area who helped to explain the technology and symbolism used in graphic design. They were then to design their own sketches in a sketch book so that they may revisit their progress at any point in time to see how they have formulated their sketches and ideas. After all of the necessary steps were done, they were then able to create their graphic designs. They worked collaboratively with the curator of the museum to get ideas as they were creating their projects and were even granted access to the archives so that they may take pictures of important documents that could help them.

All in all, this podcast demonstrated the step by step process in creating a great project that allows students to learn information on their own but still within boundaries. It also allowed these students to use a deeper understanding of the knowledge they encountered in order to formulate a creation that they could be proud and helped develop important skills that they will continue to use throughout their school careers.

Three Useful Tools for the Social Studies Classroom (3 E's)

Three Useful Tools for the Social Studies Classroom (3 E's)

1. Scribble Maps

http://scribblemaps.com/#

Scribble Maps is an online drawing and mapping tool that allows students and teachers to draw and examine maps using Google Earth. The difference between this tool and Google Earth is that one can draw shapes and lines on these maps, can label landmarks using texts and markers, and even add custom images and overlays on the maps.

This tool, in terms of enhancement, efficiency, and effectiveness, encompasses all of these aspects in one way or another. When studying the civil war, for example, one can zoom in where famous battles took place and actually show how the battle materialized (i.e. where troops were coming from, where they faced off, etc.). This allows students to enhance their knowledge of the battles seeing first hand what happened. It is also efficient and effective in the sense that all the tools that one needs to incorporate this in a lesson are provided on the website. It is effective in the sense that many teachers do not use interactive maps in this way and therefore, it is a new and exciting tool that many students do not get the opportunity to see.

2. All of Me Timelines

http://www.allofme.com/

All of Me Timelines are useful tools in the classroom. It allows students and teachers to map out out events as they happened at various periods of time and analyze the order in which events occur and how they contributed to the issues of those periods. Even if the assignment isn't to create an original timeline, students can search through other pre-created timelines to help them study for tests or quizzes.

This tool, in terms of enhancement, efficiency, and effectiveness, also encompasses all three aspects in one way or another. It has the capability to enhance the students knowledge by using picture or video to show the specific event. One can also add commentary or a description of what the event is and how it pertains to the issue that the students are studying. It is an efficient tool because all of the events are listed with images and videos right at the students fingertips. It is an effective tool because, much like the Scribble Maps, it is something very original and does not get much use in the classroom. Because many students don't use the tool, they'll be intrigued and hopefully enjoy the experience and continue to use it to study and learn.

3. Flashcard Machine

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/

Flashcard Machine is a common yet very useful tool in the classroom. Many students from elementary to college use flashcards in some way or another. This tools takes the idea of creating flashcards and takes it a step further. It allows you as a student to create your own flashcards and keep them in a database as well as search through the flashcards that millions of contributors have created. As a teacher, this site allows you to create flashcards for all of your students as well as create your own classroom page for better organization. Another excellent reason for using this tool is the option called iStudyToGo which allows students to export their cards onto their iPod to help them study while on the go.

This tool exemplifies effectiveness and efficiency. Flashcards have been proven to be an effective tool regardless of the age of students and the grades they are in. This tools makes it easier to organize and study terms, events, or ideas to help students perform their best on quizzes or tests. The iStudyToGo option also further proves its efficiency. Students able to take their study materials with them on the go will not feel forced to have to sit and study but instead can do other daily tasks and study.

All of these tools can easily be implemented into the classroom without the adjustment of lesson planning. Ultimately, they make lessons easier and more pleasurable for teachers and they can all make learning easier, fun, and more enjoyable for students.