BCEd Access with Tracy and Kaori
Check check. Mike check. I guess it’s working. For a week 10 we were discussing inclusivity and accessibility in education we had to guess from BC add access.
For this week’s reflection I am using Google dock dictation tool. I learned about it from the OT. Best free assistive technology for students video on YouTube. You can watch it here.
Best FREE Assistive Technology for Students
There are also many other great tools but I thought I would test this one out.
We had to get speakers Khoury Lao and Tracy Humphrey’s. Before our guests started their presentation our teacher Went around the classroom handing out small slips of paper. They were different colors. They were very small so I didn’t really realize what they would be used for. They were almost too small to write on more of an index tab style of post to note. I was soon to learn what they were meaning. Michael our teacher introduced her to get speakers Tracy was with us in person in the class, well Kaori was joining us by zoom.
After a brief hello Tracy told us that all the people who had blue pieces of paper wouldn’t be allowed to join the class today and that they would have to leave. She then said people who also had the green piece of paper but also have to leave they would not be able to join. With a very serious look on her face I believe her I didn’t fully understand what the point of her lesson was. The first initial thought was well that doesn’t seem fair. It’s just a piece of paper and it’s been handed out randomly. But this Piece of paper I soon learned was a metaphor for different disabilities that people have. Summer settle somewhere extremely obvious. She use this example to demonstrate with people with disabilities go through every day. It was a great lesson because she didn’t set it up or tell us what was happening there was actually a little bit of emotion and frustration behind being told I would not be able to participate in class.
What is a great start to the class. It really hit home and made me think about what people deal with.
It was amazing hearing the testimonies of both Carrie and Tracy about their families and their children and relating it to other peoples struggles with their own problems. Definitely open my eyes and will make me think about how to make sure that lessons and activities are inclusive for all. The feeling of being excluded especially over something that is out of your control and that you’ve just been born with a horrible feeling to live your life being aware of.
For this reflection I tried using this speech to text function in Google Drive to see how accurate would be and how easy it would be to use. I do find that it makes a few simple mistakes and that things need to be spoken clearly and slowly. So obviously if you have a speech problem of any kind will be very challenging. But it is amazing tool and for students who struggle with writing to be able to get ideas down on a page it would be a great way to lower the creativity to flow And help them feel included in certain projects in class.
I also watched the video what is accessibility? I don’t take certain things for granted and this was a great class to help reflect on not only my good fortune so far in life but also to be compassionate and helpful and inclusive to others.
Review with one more video from the disability law center of Virginia called assistive technology devices in action for people with disabilities.
Assistive Technology Devices In Action For People With Disabilities
Parentheses. I left all spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes as a visual lesson to the imperfection of this dictation technology. End parentheses
