Re: media:Fw: Software offers vision-impaired access to MSU online courses

On Sat, 1 Nov 2003, David Poehlman wrote:

another system that REQUIRES the users to posses expensive proprietary
software.   IRC works on most all computers, most all software, most all
browsers.   

Why do they insist on EXCLUDING people in their misguided attempt to
be accessible.???

why do they insist on spending lots $$$$$ that could be used on education
to do something that is already avaliable at little or no cost.???

someone ought to file an ADA or similar complaint against these
folks. unfortunately probably needs to be a student who can't get access
to a class they need

 Bob

> 
> Gee, I kind of like irc.
> 
> Software offers vision-impaired access to MSU online courses
> 
> University Relations
> News Bureau (662) 325-3442
> Contact: Maridith Geuder
> Oct. 24, 2003
> 
> STARKVILLE, Miss.--Voice-conferencing software recently purchased by
> Mississippi State is allowing university students with vision impairments
> to participate in online learning opportunities.
> 
> Enabling students to hear their instructors and classroom peers via
> online
> chat rooms, iVocalize was acquired by MSU's Division of Continuing
> Education in collaboration with the on-campus Rehabilitation Research and
> Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision.
> 
> The new online environment, which the division has named "iDeclare," is
> helping allay a fear that the traditional classroom becomes lost in
> Internet courses, said Laura Crittenden, manager of credit studies.
> 
> "With the advent of voice technology, instructors and students will have
> one more tool to help them develop more nurturing and positive
> relationships with each other," she said. Instructions for online access
> are available at
> http://www.distance.msstate.edu/ideclare,
> she added.
> 
> Frank Puckett, a faculty member using the software this semester,
> describes
> it as "very accommodating to people with visual disabilities." An
> associate
> clinical professor in the department of counselor education, educational
> psychology and social work, he works with the RRTC.
> 
> "I'm using it frequently for conferencing with the American Foundation
> for
> the Blind," Puckett said.
> 
> Teaching online courses exclusively, Puckett uses iVocalize in a course
> on
> the medical aspects of disability. "The software promotes class
> discussion
> and enhances review of the material," he said.
> 
> To use iVocalize software, instructors and students must have a Windows
> Media Player 9 and a microphone. The equipment also enables students who
> miss a chat session to record it for later review or re-visit chat
> sessions
> for study purposes.
> 
> Providing technical assistance in the new effort are Franklin Johnson,
> RRTC
> access technology specialist, and Jason Crittenden, technical assistant
> for
> the continuing education division.
> 
> For more information about the iVocalize software or about distance
> learning at MSU, telephone Crittenden at (662) 325-2677.
> 

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Received on Saturday, 1 November 2003 09:39:23 UTC