I'm back again. The first thing you'll notice is I changed my blog a little. I really didn't like my last template, but just now got around to changing it some. There are still some changes I'd like to make, but I'll get there eventually.
Anyway, things have been pretty busy lately. I have lots going on at work now. I'm actually starting to get some customers interested in our equipment coming in. I think we have around 5 customers now, and more should be coming soon which is great. When we started, there weren't any at all. Some are interested in learning Dragon, but most are interested in the Blind and low vision stuff, which is cool because I know the most about that...
On MLK day the Accessibility and Usability committee teamed up with the Programming Committee and presented a workshop to other Americorps members. The programming committee showed some pretty cool resources and technology for training people to use computers, and where to get other assistance. Our part of the presentation covered some useful tips for effective presentations and training. I was really impressed how it turned out. We didn't get many people to come, which was kind of unfortunate, but the people who were there really seemed to get into it and ask a lot of questions. We even had someone tell us later that we were the best one there.
I have also started my spring semester in my masters degree program. Last semester we created a layout for a training module, so this semester we have to actually create the instruction. What I'm realizing every time I look at the course is how much work there really is to do. I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. In the end, the training will be how to create a basic accessible web page with Dreamweaver. But it's amazing how much you actually have to cover before you can even teach people that. I have gotten a lot of interest from a few of the people at work and in the CTEP program, so I may suggest this as another project I can work on for work, because this will be useful for pretty much any organization, business, or individual creating websites. Maybe it can even be included in our CD toolkit.
All that stuff is keeping me really busy. I'm pretty much working on something all the time. It is cool though because we're slowly getting a group of gamers together in the CTEP program. We play a little Nintendo DS on training days, and will probably get together more in the future.
I also wanted to continue what I was talking about last entry. There are many cool programs and events for people with disabilities, and I've been fortunate enough to participate in some. The first one I want to talk about is the DO-IT Program at the University of Washington. DO-IT stands for Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology. It's a program for high school and college students with disabilities who are interested in a career in science, math, or technology. The program has gone though a few changes since its first year in 1993. Originally it was only open to Washington residence, but but then included Origon, Montanna, and North Dakota, which was when I started. I was accepted in 1995.
Basically how the program works is, for the first 2 years, you are considered a DO-IT scholar. For two weeks in the summer, you get to go to the University of Washington. Here you meet everyone, learn about cool new technology, get college and job raining, and do all kinds of fun stuff. We went to the science museum and really secret virtual reality lab. Both were very very cool. After the first two years, you become a DO-IT Ambassitor or Mentor. I actually attended the summer session for a third year to help out with everything.
The summer sessions are just the basics of the program. During the rest of the year, you keep in contact with everyone in the program online. One of the coolest things about the program is, if you didn't have a computer, or a decent one to get on the Internet, you got one through the program, including the assistive technology you needed to use the computer. I had a computer, but it was super old, nowhere near what I needed. Although I made old technology do things it was never meant to, which is another entry... I got a new computer, Jaws, Zoomtext, and scanner with scanning software. We also got an E-mail account for the program. All this was available to us as long as we were active in the program.
I really enjoyed going through the program, meeting all kind of interesting people, learning about all kinds of disabilities, etc. I still keep in contact with some of the people today, although I haven't been very involved lately. I hope to get back into the program again as a mentor and meet all the new scholars.
The other event I'll talk about before signing off again is Ski for Light. This is a yearly event in South Dakota. It's actually probably coming up here at the end of January. This program is for people with all kinds of disabilities who want to try skiing and other fun snow activities. I have only gone once, back in 2003, but it was a lot of fun. It's a week long event. Everyone stays at a hotel during the week, and goes to the mountain every day to ski. There was downhill and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing down the mountain, and an interesting form of sledding. I did some cross country skiing, but no downhill. I figured I had a hard enough time staying up on fairly level ground. I'd kill myself trying to downhill ski. The sledding was fun though. They were basically some cool sleds that looked like snowmobiles called Sharks. They had a 1 and 2 person model. You would be pulled up the mountain with a snowmobile, and then fly down on your own. It was really cool. There was a little joystick thingy to turn, and you could go alone or with a friend. Those were the most fun during the week. On Friday we had little competitions for skiing, and I actually won the cross country one. We basically had to write down a time for the circuit, and then try and finish as close to that as possible. I was only 17 seconds off. Woohoo!
At nights we'd have some activities or we could just wander around town doing whatever. One thing I noticed is everyone loved to drink. People often hung out around the casinos, and they even had a tent at the foot of the mountain with some drinks during the day. It was a lot of fun, and I'd like to go again some day when I have time.
Both of these were great experiences. I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun. But that's enough for this entry.
Anyway, things have been pretty busy lately. I have lots going on at work now. I'm actually starting to get some customers interested in our equipment coming in. I think we have around 5 customers now, and more should be coming soon which is great. When we started, there weren't any at all. Some are interested in learning Dragon, but most are interested in the Blind and low vision stuff, which is cool because I know the most about that...
On MLK day the Accessibility and Usability committee teamed up with the Programming Committee and presented a workshop to other Americorps members. The programming committee showed some pretty cool resources and technology for training people to use computers, and where to get other assistance. Our part of the presentation covered some useful tips for effective presentations and training. I was really impressed how it turned out. We didn't get many people to come, which was kind of unfortunate, but the people who were there really seemed to get into it and ask a lot of questions. We even had someone tell us later that we were the best one there.
I have also started my spring semester in my masters degree program. Last semester we created a layout for a training module, so this semester we have to actually create the instruction. What I'm realizing every time I look at the course is how much work there really is to do. I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. In the end, the training will be how to create a basic accessible web page with Dreamweaver. But it's amazing how much you actually have to cover before you can even teach people that. I have gotten a lot of interest from a few of the people at work and in the CTEP program, so I may suggest this as another project I can work on for work, because this will be useful for pretty much any organization, business, or individual creating websites. Maybe it can even be included in our CD toolkit.
All that stuff is keeping me really busy. I'm pretty much working on something all the time. It is cool though because we're slowly getting a group of gamers together in the CTEP program. We play a little Nintendo DS on training days, and will probably get together more in the future.
I also wanted to continue what I was talking about last entry. There are many cool programs and events for people with disabilities, and I've been fortunate enough to participate in some. The first one I want to talk about is the DO-IT Program at the University of Washington. DO-IT stands for Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology. It's a program for high school and college students with disabilities who are interested in a career in science, math, or technology. The program has gone though a few changes since its first year in 1993. Originally it was only open to Washington residence, but but then included Origon, Montanna, and North Dakota, which was when I started. I was accepted in 1995.
Basically how the program works is, for the first 2 years, you are considered a DO-IT scholar. For two weeks in the summer, you get to go to the University of Washington. Here you meet everyone, learn about cool new technology, get college and job raining, and do all kinds of fun stuff. We went to the science museum and really secret virtual reality lab. Both were very very cool. After the first two years, you become a DO-IT Ambassitor or Mentor. I actually attended the summer session for a third year to help out with everything.
The summer sessions are just the basics of the program. During the rest of the year, you keep in contact with everyone in the program online. One of the coolest things about the program is, if you didn't have a computer, or a decent one to get on the Internet, you got one through the program, including the assistive technology you needed to use the computer. I had a computer, but it was super old, nowhere near what I needed. Although I made old technology do things it was never meant to, which is another entry... I got a new computer, Jaws, Zoomtext, and scanner with scanning software. We also got an E-mail account for the program. All this was available to us as long as we were active in the program.
I really enjoyed going through the program, meeting all kind of interesting people, learning about all kinds of disabilities, etc. I still keep in contact with some of the people today, although I haven't been very involved lately. I hope to get back into the program again as a mentor and meet all the new scholars.
The other event I'll talk about before signing off again is Ski for Light. This is a yearly event in South Dakota. It's actually probably coming up here at the end of January. This program is for people with all kinds of disabilities who want to try skiing and other fun snow activities. I have only gone once, back in 2003, but it was a lot of fun. It's a week long event. Everyone stays at a hotel during the week, and goes to the mountain every day to ski. There was downhill and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing down the mountain, and an interesting form of sledding. I did some cross country skiing, but no downhill. I figured I had a hard enough time staying up on fairly level ground. I'd kill myself trying to downhill ski. The sledding was fun though. They were basically some cool sleds that looked like snowmobiles called Sharks. They had a 1 and 2 person model. You would be pulled up the mountain with a snowmobile, and then fly down on your own. It was really cool. There was a little joystick thingy to turn, and you could go alone or with a friend. Those were the most fun during the week. On Friday we had little competitions for skiing, and I actually won the cross country one. We basically had to write down a time for the circuit, and then try and finish as close to that as possible. I was only 17 seconds off. Woohoo!
At nights we'd have some activities or we could just wander around town doing whatever. One thing I noticed is everyone loved to drink. People often hung out around the casinos, and they even had a tent at the foot of the mountain with some drinks during the day. It was a lot of fun, and I'd like to go again some day when I have time.
Both of these were great experiences. I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun. But that's enough for this entry.
posted by Jesse Anderson at 8:14 AM
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