Emmas Blog

Tutorial Eight Technical Description

2008-06-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

Tutorial Eight: Assistive technology

Provide a definition of Assistive technology (your Cook and Hussey reading may be helpful with this).

Assistive technology refers to a broad range of devices, services, strategies and practices that are conceived and applied to ameliorate the problems faced by people with disabilities.Cook, A.M., & Hussey, S.M. (2000). Assistive technologies: principles and practice. St Louis: Mosby.

Describe one piece of equipment introduced in the assistive technology tutorial. Provide information on size, cost and functions.
The Sunny Sunshine Switch
When used as a toy, the easiest touch will reward the child with coloured lights, vibrations, and three different soothing tunes in sync with 8 different coloured blinking lights. If a toy or device is plugged in, the sunny sunshine switch will activate it when touched.

14” L x 14” W x 8” H.

Requires 6AA batteries

Sunny Sunshine Switch #892

$82.95 American

$109.67 NZD

How does your chosen piece of equipment increased functional capacity for the user? Provide examples here from the tutorial and lecture.

Suitable for children. Bright colours and can be changed from just hitting one of the sun rays or holding one down depending on the clients physical abilities.
- Switch was hooked up to radio and the user was able to turn the radio on and off by hitting or holding on to one of the rays.
- Kids with cerebral palsy – sings, hand eye coordination, needing to hear a sound to know that it has worked.

Tutorial Seven Technical Description

2008-06-11T23:28:00.001-07:00

Tutorial Seven: Posting You Tube Videos and Flickr Badges to Blogs: Explaining the process

Task One: Explain the step by step process required to embed You Tube videos into your Blog . Consider using screen captures to provide a visual representation of these steps.

Step 1: Log on to Youtube.com
Step 2: Search for the video that you wish to add to your blog
Step 3: Copy the URL address of the video you have found.
Step 4: Paste the URL address on a new posting within your own blog.
Step 5: Click on submit post and the youtube video will appear on your blog.
Task Two: Explain the step by step process required to embed a Flickr Badge into your Blog . Consider using screen captures to provide a visual representation of these steps.

Step 1 – Create a flickr account (www.flickr.com)

Step 2 – Log into your flickr account

Step 3 – Click on Upload Photo

Step 4 – Find the photo that you wish to upload on your computer (you may add up to 6 photos at a time)

Step 5 – Click upload and there will be a URL address

Step 6 – Copy the URL address and open up your blog

Step 7 – Click on customise and then add elements

Step 8 – Click on script and paste the URL address in.

Step 9 – Give your flickr badge a title

Tutorial Six Technical Description

2008-06-11T23:27:00.001-07:00

Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities

Either search online for a community which interest you or choose one of the provided online communities to investigate. Make sure your selected a community that comprises some form of online forum, discussion page or chat room. You may also wish to see if your community has a Wikipedia entry.

Provide the web address and the name of the community you are investigating

http://disabledonline.com/

What is the brief or focus of this community

To provide the best content for people with disabilities, their families and friends. It provides beneficial resources for these people from shopping to websites and vendors.

What services are provided? How interactive is this site? How can people contribute?

This site offers chat rooms for members to chat to people from all around the world; there is a place for members to post items for sale, vehicles or available jobs. It also gives the advertising compartment to provide resources on products that they have which are disability friendly for viewers to see. The chat rooms are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You are able to email any questions or comments to the site and they will reply with answers as soon as possible.
There are other websites available through disabledonline.com that will take you to adaptive devices web pages as well as some assistive technology pages.
There is also the opportunity to add your own site of interest. There is a calendar that is filled with events for members to attend which will help promote the social aspects of having a disability.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking?

Wikipedia defines an online community as being a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as letters, telephone, email or Usenet rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes. If the mechanism is a computer network, it is called an online community. Virtual and online communities have also become a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other primarily in real life. Many means are used in social software separately or in combination, including text-based chatrooms and forums that use voice, video text or avatars. Significant socio-technical change may have resulted from the proliferation of such Internet-based social networks.[1]
Some people who have a disability may often find it hard communicating with others due to the social stigma that is attached to the word disability. So becoming part of an online community will help promote abilities to connect with people of similar interests/needs/concerns, can compliment real life communities and can help provide connections over great distances. However, there are some negative aspects of becoming a part of an online community. These include the technology compatibility, misuse, limited communication tools, delusional reliance on virtual communities and the validity of the information that is being shared.

Cut and paste an example of the type of topics being discussed (you may have to provide a context to your excerpt).

I am unable to access the chat rooms to cut and paste some excerpts on discussion but I am able to see the types of subjects that are available for the users of the site to see and find out about. These include things such as arts and entertainment, employment, education, government, home and living, legal, medical, news and articles, organisations, recreation, shopping, social and travel.

Considering material presented during the course and make comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community e.g. lack of identity and accountability.

Majority of the information that is shown on disabledonline.com can be accessed by any other person who has access to the internet. This becomes an ethical issue when for example, you wanted to remain anonymous and there was someone else in the chat room that may recognise what you are saying. The internet is filled with ethical issues that are not abided by such as safety and confidentiality issues which are becoming bigger and bigger issues.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on the benefits this community holds over traditional notions of community e.g. communities reliant on geographic proximity

This online community allows people with disabilities to contact from all over the world. So they do not have to stay within their own geographical boundaries. This means that for communication to be successful, distance is not an issue or a barrier for members of disabledonline.com. it creates a more “speedier” way of communication and can also help promote unity between disabled member of the community around the world.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment what this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can.

A person with a disability that affects their ability to access a computer and the internet will have trouble accessing disabledonline.com. Although it does help provide support and a sense of individuality, it does not give the user the sense of the face to face communication that is often more successful in the development of themselves as individuals.

Tutorial Four and Five Technical Descriptions

2008-06-11T23:26:00.002-07:00

Tutorial Four and Five: Video Production Sessions

Task One: Follow instructions and work in a small group to plan and produce and edit a 30 second short.

Task Two: Set up a U Tube account

Task Three: Follow instructions to posting your video on U Tube.

Task Four (Blog Posting): Provide a brief summary of the services offered by U Tube. Information can be drawn from the week five tutorial hand out.

Youtube allows users to post videos of interest into the webpage where others are able to view them at will. These videos are unable to be downloaded. The types of videos that are available are subjects of humour, news items, pets, educational, health, music videos. Registered users are able to upload an unlimited amount of videos onto the site and unregistered users are able to view unlimited numbers of videos that are available.
Some videos are available only to users of age 18 or older (e.g. videos containing potentially offensive content). The uploading of videos containing pornography, nudity, defamation, harassment, commercial advertisements and material encouraging criminal conduct is prohibited. Related videos, determined by title and tags, appear onscreen to the right of a given video.
The San Bruno-based service uses Adobe Flash technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging and short original videos.

Retrieved May 29, 2008, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube

Task Five (Blog Posting): Provide a brief account (1-2 paragraphs) on how the use of planning (storyboarding and scripting aided your groups short film.

As I was absent during the tutorial, I did not get to see the actual using of storyboarding or scripting and their use within short film making. However, i have made notes on why these would be helpful with making short films.

Storyboarding would be useful as it will help the recorder to visualise the full film in its entirety and see any potential problems that may occur during filming.
A storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera lens. And in the case of interactive media, it is the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or information. In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film or interactive media project can be efficiently described either in picture, or in additional text.

Retrieved May 30, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard

Scripting would allow the members who are visually involved in the film production to visualise what to say and how to say it in order for the film to be successful and follow the plans that are shown through storyboarding.

Tutorial Three Technical Description

2008-06-11T23:26:00.001-07:00

Task Four: Provide a brief summary of the services offered by Blogger (this will be your third posting. Information can be drawn from the attached hand out). In addition to this name one other Blog host.

Blogger.com is a website that allows people to create pages that express personal opinions, ideas, feelings, thoughts, expressions and any other information and this can be processed onto a page that can be viewed by others. A blog is a page that can be changed only by the creator and can be viewed by anyone who is able to access internet and that particular blogging site. A blog can be set up free of charge and is provided with steps for the user to create the page almost hassle free. Blogger.com also allows the users to add photos, video clips and other advertisements or objects to their page to make it more exciting or enticing for others to visit.

One other blog host is that which is called www.squarespace.com

Tutorial Two Technical Description

2008-06-11T23:25:00.001-07:00

Tutorial Two: Digital Camera use and applications

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”. Briefly discuss this statement in relation to digital camera technology. What would you consider to be some of the pluses and minuses digital camera technology holds in relation to more traditional film based cameras?

Digital cameras these days can be considered as reversible. This can be explained by the fact that once a shot or photo is taken, the viewer can see the photo and decide whether or not it suits them or not. They can then follow through to delete it and retake the shot. There is also a larger limit on the amount of photos that can be taken. The digital cameras can store a lot more images and then can also be transferred from the camera onto a computer, laptop or CD to be printed off or kept.
Some minuses of a digital camera are that it requires batteries. This can become a hassle when the batteries are flat and the camera is needed. Compared to the older style cameras that require film processing, they do not need to be charged up to work.

List some of the ways that digital images can be stored transferred and manipulated using other communications technology.

The images from a digital camera can be transferred from the camera itself onto a laptop or computer where it can be backed up in files and stored there or transferred from there onto CDs that can be processed either in a specific photo processing store or printed yourself with a special photo printing printer. The images can be used to upload into web pages, blogs, screen savers, emailed to others around the world and also changed to suit the viewer.

Given the prevalence of image capturing devices, and thinking about the issues discussed in tutorial one, consider what sort of ethical issues may arise with their use.

If an image is taken of a particular object or person, anything in the background has not given informed consent for that photo to be processed if the user chooses to keep that photo. Therefore, the person in the background does not have any control over what happens to the photo or who will see it.

Briefly discuss some of the ways that digital images could, or are, being used in occupational therapy practice.

Can be used as visual aids for patients or clients

They can also be used to show patients adaptive devices that may enable them to return home. Photos can be taken of environments if advice is needed from other professionals within the team.

Provide a brief summary of the services offered by Flickr.com

Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. It was one of the earliest Web 2.0 applications. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers as a photo repository. Its popularity has been fueled by its organization tools, which allow photos to be tagged and browsed by folksonomic means. As of November 2007, it hosts more than two billion images.
Retrieved February 16, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr

Name one other photo storage website which offers a service similar to Flickr.com

www.pixigogo.com

Explain what the difference is between a digital and an optical zoom

Optical zoom is equivalent to physically moving closer to the subject (although your lens is moving and not you) so you capture the actual image without any kind of digital manipulating on the part of your camera. The result is a clear shot, just like any other photo.Digital zoom is where the camera crops and enlarges the part of the photo you are trying to zoom in on. So it's not really a zoom, its just an enlargement. When you enlarge a photo, your camera has to make up the spaces in between the pixels (those tiny colour blocks that make up the photo) that didn't exist in the original shot. The problem is that cameras aren't that smart, so the result is always blurry and sometimes discoloured in areas because the camera's software duplicated the wrong pixels. This process is called dithering by the way, and there's more than one way to dither, but none of the dithering technologies is anywhere near being close to fooling the eye. That's why optical zoom is the only thing you should look at when considering a camera to buy.
17
Pts

Explain what is meant by the term mega pixel

This term is generally used with digital cameras when it is referring to the number of pixels that make up the image sensor that makes up a photo.

A megapixel (that is, a million pixels) is a unit of image sensing capacity in a digital camera. (A pixel - a word invented from "picture element" - is the basic unit of programmable colour on a computer display or in a computer image.) In general, the more megapixels in a camera, the better the resolution when printing an image in a given size. A digital camera with a 1.3 megapixel resolution will print a good quality 4 x 3 inch print at 300 dpi (dots per inch). If a higher quality is needed or a larger print at the same quality, a camera with a higher megapixel value will be needed.
The number of images that can be stored in a given size of flash memory for the camera is determined by the size of the flash memory and the size of each image in terms of megapixels.

Tutorial One Technical Description

2008-06-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethical Issues

Provide a definition of Information Technology/Information Communications Technology (APA reference required)
Information Technology also known as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Infocomm in Asia is concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information, especially in large organisations.
In the broadest sense, information technology refers to both the hardware and software that are used to store, retrieve, and manipulate information. Information Technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information.
Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology
Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/definition/information-technology.asp

Consider the definition of IT you have provided. How is this form of technology prevalent in our society? How common place has it become?

People are expected to have the most recent model of technology as they are more common. There are also expectations of people having the more expensive and newer models as Information Technology is developing more and more every day. The newer the model, the more advanced the device is in storing and accessing information so therefore, people require the most advanced and developed device that is available.
It is becoming more commonplace to have a newer model of technology every day however; people also tend to upgrade their model whenever something new and more advanced is brought to the market.

What IT devices or system do you feel comfortable and competent using?

Computers, telephones, cellphones, IPOD, Camera, USB, CD, DVD, CD ROM, VCR. I feel competent with most IT devices as I am from the generation that tends to depend more on these.

Thinking about your own fieldwork experiences consider how IT is being used in Occupational Therapy practice?

Research practice
Emailing
Client Data Bases – Notes
Cameras – Home visits for equipment and heights etc
Telephones
Organisational systems
Video
Computer based equipment requesting

Pagers through wards in hospital settings
Cellphones taken on Home visits
Computer based maps

What ethical implications arise from the capturing, sharing and transferring of information via IT devices (e.g. mobile phones) or systems (e.g. internet)

Credibility
Confidentiality
Information gained by you or your group can be easily changed or altered by others who are able to access the information.
Information may not always get to where you are trying to send or post it.

Provide a definition of Computer Ethics (APA reference required)

Is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct.

Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/computer_ethics

Provide a definition of Intellectual Property (APA reference required)

Intellectual property (IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical, literary, and artistic works; inventions; and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and related rights. Under intellectual property law, the holder of one of these abstract "properties" has certain exclusive rights to the creative work, commercial symbol, or invention by which it is covered.
Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Provide a definition of Social Justice (APA reference required)

Social justice refers to the concept of a society in which justice is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than merely the administration of law. It is generally thought of as a world which affords individuals and groups fair treatment and an impartial share of the benefits of society. (Different proponents of social justice have developed different interpretations of what constitutes fair treatment and an impartial share.) It can also refer to the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society.
Social justice is both a philosophical problem and an important issue in politics, religion and civil society. Most individuals wish to live in a just society, but different political ideologies have different conceptions of what a 'just society' actually is. The term "social justice" is often employed by the political left to describe a society with a greater degree of economic egalitarianism, which may be achieved through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or property redistribution. The right wing also uses the term social justice, but generally believes that a just society is best achieved through the operation of a free market, which they believe provides equality of opportunity and promotes philanthropy and charity. Both the right and the left tend to agree on the importance of rule of law, human rights, and some form of a welfare safety net (though the left supports this last element to a greater extent than the right).

Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice

Provide a definition of Informed Consent (APA reference required)

A legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action.
Some acts cannot legally take place because of a lack of informed consent. In cases where an individual is considered unable to give informed consent, another person is generally authorized to give consent on their behalf. Examples of this include the parents or legal guardians of a child and caregivers for the mentally ill. In cases where an individual is provided limited facts, serious ethical issues may arise. Examples of this in a clinical trial in medical research are anticipated and prevented by an ethics committee or Institutional Review Board.

Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_Consent

In your own words briefly summarise why (or why not) a great understanding of ITC and the ethical issues it encompasses will help us in our practice and daily lives.

The knowledge of ITC devices is needed a great deal these days as it is so easily accessed as well as used thoroughly within each day. Knowing what you are using, the effects it may have, any consequences that may come about as well as how to use it and why you are using it are things that should generally cross the mind of all ITC users during each day.
If you can adapt to using some sort of technology to its advantage, and not abuse it, it may help you to understand the job that you are doing better as well as in some forms, it may help make the job that you are doing a little bit easier as well.

Jill - A double amputee

2008-03-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

Just uploaded some videos from YouTube about a lady called Jill who is a double bilateral amputee and these show how she copes amazingly well with her ADL's.

Can be related to our case study of Carol in Designing for the Individual!

First blog posting

2008-02-28T16:24:00.001-08:00

Oh Giday Mate! Raining outside. Mint. Creating blogger accounts with Mr James this afternoon.