Accessibility Devices

Braille Sense Plus
http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Notetakers/Braille-Sense

After watching the video Freedom Machines in class on Thursday, I became very curious about just what kind of assistive devices are available to students who have challenges to overcome in order to learn. I searched many different website, browsing through a wide variety of products before I cam across the Braille Sense Plus.

This device is a personal digital assistant that is used through Braille. A Braille keyboard allows for the input of information and refreshable Braille dots allows for the reading of information. The device can be used as a wireless Braille display, connecting to the internet, reading e-mails, writing e-mails, and even composing documents. Additionally, the Braille Sense Plus can be used for playing MP3s, special “books on tape” and intent audio streaming. With all of these programs available to the user, the Braille Sense Plus can be extremely helpful to anyone who has some visual impairments.

I particularly find this product interesting because it is able to take information from the internet, or information that has been inputted into it, and process that information into readable Braille. This technology is able to process information on to a screen and make it readable to those who can not see. That is truly an amazing feat as, in the past, the Braille would have to be permanently printed on a page. This device prints the Braille, then after someone reads it, prints a new line of Braille. This is truly fantastic.

Though I have not had much contact with students who have impairments, I think utilizing all of the improvements in technology is particularly important to give these students the same educational opportunities as students who do not have impairments. Accessibility devices can be extremely helpful to impaired students, and the Braille Sense Plus appears to be a phenomenal device that would be a great benefit to any student who is visually impaired.

Reflection on Technology Trends

Technology is evolving at a feverish pace; one that I often feel is a struggle to keep up with. It seems very couple of weeks/months something new and exciting comes to the market, often making what I purchased just a short time before out of date. With that said though, technology continues to offer great entertainment opportunities, better ways to communicate with people, and more efficient ways to be productive, all of which, if the finances are available, are difficult to pass up.

For myself, I find the new advances in communication particularly astounding and useful. With a smart phone, I can converse with friends, be in constant communication with the "office/work place," and be on the World Wide Web all at the same time. In a way, a smart phone can remove the need for a computer. (Though, there are very useful aspects of a computer that smart phones have not fully been able to utilize.) Additionally, Facebook and other networking sites have made it very easy to stay in touch with friends, rekindle old friendships and make new ones.

However, technological improvements have also created some potential problems. The youth of today, and even partly my own generation, are completely dependent on technology. It seems at times that young people today only now how to communicate through text messaging, Facebook, and twittering. Person to person social skills seem to be a challenge for some young people and I personally believe that this is a direct result from too much technology and not enough personal interaction. Furthermore, though I sincerely hope this never happens, where would the world be if technology stopped working? Obviously, human beings have an amazing ability to adapt. But, how would we adapt after having our technological connection silenced? In the beginning, we would surely struggle.