Assistive Technology-Cognitive Prostheses

We were asked to reflect upon this week’s learning exercises. The words shared by one man stood head and shoulders above the rest, as far as I’m concerned. I found myself nodding at the computer while he spoke. At the end of the eight-minute video clip, I believe that I may have even shouted, “testify”!

The gentleman’s name is Dave L. Edyburn, he was an Associate Professor at The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. I use the past tense here because it is quite evident to me that all the videos we have been asked to view are over ten years old. I have been able to ascertain this fact because the videos concern themselves with the use of technology in the classroom, and the IMac G3 is ubiquitous throughout the videos. The ironic thing is, the IMac G3 came out in 1998, and I hardly think that the video material is on the cutting edge of technology. I watched a video about the classroom application of a Palm Pilot, for heaven’s sake!

I digress; Mr. Edyburn was talking about the process of making school materials and facilities accessible for students with disabilities. According to the professor, there is a three-stage process to making school improvements for those with various impairments. The first stage is advocacy, where a staff member brings a need to the attention of others on the behalf of someone with a disability, physical or cognitive. Next, an action takes place, where assistive technology is employed. Finally, the accommodation is made, to ensure that all individuals have equal access to school facilities and curriculum, regardless of impairment.

You may be saying to yourself, “how does this help me? I don’t have a physical or cognitive impairment.” Dave Edyburn claims, good design for disability is really good design for all”. He offers two examples. First, “curb cuts” were first placed on the campus, so that those utilizing wheelchairs might have equal access to campus sidewalks. Today, cyclists and people with strollers enjoy the curb cuts also. Secondly, the ability to magnify text within a word document was originally engineered to help those with visual impairments view a word document. Right now, I am typing with my text set at 150% zoom. Testify!

We were also asked to post a flyer we have made in the process of our teaching. The image above is from a parent night I hosted last year. I have spruced it up by adding the Boone Brave head, as well as the AVID logo. I think that those images, the various colors, and the chosen font make the flyer visually appealing. My one gripe with the flyer would be the, “who, what. when, and why” statements before the colon. Perhaps those items should have been in black bold. They don’t seem to “pop” as those important signifiers should.