I'm back yet again, and have a few interesting things to talk about this time. First work... Things are going well. This past week hasn't been quite so busy, which is kind of nice. I helped out a few customers and learned a little more on some training tools for Jaws.
The cool part of the week though was the training day on Friday. The Accessibility and Usability Committee did a presentation in the afternoon on some of the assistive technology at the library we have at the library and that I use every day. We started out the presentation with an activity. This was to get people more interested in the topic and show them a completely different way of using a computer. The activity was to perform 5 simple tasks people often do in Windows, but with a catch. They couldn't use the mouse. Everything had to be done with only the keyboard. I then asked them to imagine doing this but without being able to actually see the screen.
The activity went really well, and everyone eventually got all the tasks done. It was interesting to see what kinds of things people had trouble with.
After that, I gave a demonstration of some of the assistive technology I use every day, and that I'm now helping others learn at the library. I demoed Jaws, Magic, and Kurzweil. Everyone seemed quite interested and asked some good questions. I ended this presentation by showing how Jaws could speak things in different languages, particularely Brittish English. Everyone really got a kick out of that, and I have to admit hearing Jaws speak in Brittish English still amuses me to this day.
Finally we handed out some useful Windows tips and tricks, as well as a list of some useful keyboard commands and shortcuts anyone in Windows can use. Overall the afternoon went really well, and I had a lot of fun. I'm definitely keeping everything on hand so I can do another presentation like this if I get the chance. All of the hand-outs and other materials can be downloaded from the AU Committee's section of the CTEP message boards at www.messages.technologypower.org. Also visit the AU Committee blog at http://au/committee.blogspot.com for more information and links.
I also went to a job fair in Minneapolis this weekend with a few friends of mine also looking for work. It was OK, but there's one thing that really is bugging me about all these job fairs. I've been to many of them over the past few years, and am seeing a lot of the same things. Often when I visit a company's booth and ask what types of positions they have open or that I'm looking for something in I.T., they hand me a booklet with information and tell me to go to their website and check their current job postings section. This is cool, but couldn't I just do that on my own anyway? I wish you could get a little more info, or even get an interview more often at these things. It's nice to learn about companies you've never heard of, and learn more about ones you have, but still...
Aside from that, nothing too exciting has happened. I'm still trying to work more on my training module and other stuff for my grad school course. And I may have an opportunity to do a little more website work for my landlord. So I'm keeping plenty busy. I'm still playing some DS and other video games when I find time too. Next month is going to be great because a couple great games will be coming out that I've been looking forward to for a long time. Everyone must get Tetris DS next month. It's going to be sweet! I also have very high hopes for The Elder Scrolls IV, Oblivion. I could go on and on why this game is going to be so awesome, but I won't, now anyway. From what I can tell though, it will be one of the coolest adventure/RPG's ever. I also hope to get together with a few friends over the next couple weeks, so that should be fun too.
So until next time...
The cool part of the week though was the training day on Friday. The Accessibility and Usability Committee did a presentation in the afternoon on some of the assistive technology at the library we have at the library and that I use every day. We started out the presentation with an activity. This was to get people more interested in the topic and show them a completely different way of using a computer. The activity was to perform 5 simple tasks people often do in Windows, but with a catch. They couldn't use the mouse. Everything had to be done with only the keyboard. I then asked them to imagine doing this but without being able to actually see the screen.
The activity went really well, and everyone eventually got all the tasks done. It was interesting to see what kinds of things people had trouble with.
After that, I gave a demonstration of some of the assistive technology I use every day, and that I'm now helping others learn at the library. I demoed Jaws, Magic, and Kurzweil. Everyone seemed quite interested and asked some good questions. I ended this presentation by showing how Jaws could speak things in different languages, particularely Brittish English. Everyone really got a kick out of that, and I have to admit hearing Jaws speak in Brittish English still amuses me to this day.
Finally we handed out some useful Windows tips and tricks, as well as a list of some useful keyboard commands and shortcuts anyone in Windows can use. Overall the afternoon went really well, and I had a lot of fun. I'm definitely keeping everything on hand so I can do another presentation like this if I get the chance. All of the hand-outs and other materials can be downloaded from the AU Committee's section of the CTEP message boards at www.messages.technologypower.org. Also visit the AU Committee blog at http://au/committee.blogspot.com for more information and links.
I also went to a job fair in Minneapolis this weekend with a few friends of mine also looking for work. It was OK, but there's one thing that really is bugging me about all these job fairs. I've been to many of them over the past few years, and am seeing a lot of the same things. Often when I visit a company's booth and ask what types of positions they have open or that I'm looking for something in I.T., they hand me a booklet with information and tell me to go to their website and check their current job postings section. This is cool, but couldn't I just do that on my own anyway? I wish you could get a little more info, or even get an interview more often at these things. It's nice to learn about companies you've never heard of, and learn more about ones you have, but still...
Aside from that, nothing too exciting has happened. I'm still trying to work more on my training module and other stuff for my grad school course. And I may have an opportunity to do a little more website work for my landlord. So I'm keeping plenty busy. I'm still playing some DS and other video games when I find time too. Next month is going to be great because a couple great games will be coming out that I've been looking forward to for a long time. Everyone must get Tetris DS next month. It's going to be sweet! I also have very high hopes for The Elder Scrolls IV, Oblivion. I could go on and on why this game is going to be so awesome, but I won't, now anyway. From what I can tell though, it will be one of the coolest adventure/RPG's ever. I also hope to get together with a few friends over the next couple weeks, so that should be fun too.
So until next time...
posted by Jesse Anderson at 12:21 PM
1 Comments:
Jesse,
Your training was fantastic! But also very difficult for me. It took three of us to figure out those keyboard shortcuts when we couldn't use the mouse. The workshop was very engaging and interesting, and the British English thing cracks me up! Speaking of which, PBS is showing the personal best of Monty Python these days, so if you like Monty Python you should check it out.
Post a Comment
<< Home