Some institutions are providing policy involving appropriate technology usage. According to the University of Central Florida Golden Rule,
“Users shall not use university computing resources to impersonate another individual. All e-mail messages must correctly identify the sender. Users shall not modify the original attribution of e-mail messages Users shall not send anonymous e-mail messages. Users shall not use the university’s computing resources or telecommunication networks to send e-mail "spam". For the purposes of this document e-mail shall include postings to newsgroups and listservs, point-to-point messages such as those generated by Internet pagers including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Pager, etc., or any electronic messages involving computers and/or computer networks. ”
Appropriate use of technology may range from downloads, such as MP3’s or pornography, use of e-mail, and instant messenger services. The newest wave of disciplinary files in higher education deal with such misuse of technology. Institutions are able to monitor ports on campus and determine the source of illegal downloads. Some institutions are coping with this by installing a “firewall”- a program designed to keep people on particular computers or networks from illegal downloads.
Other disciplinary issues include a new form of harassment: cyber-stalking, harassing e-mails and instant messages, e-mail spams and bombs. Recent case law is being incorporated into federal and state law regarding this technologically enhanced form of harassment, and there are numerous resources on this available on the internet.
Colleges and universities must keep current on technology-based case law. The newest example is a case determining student e-mails to faculty and staff as official educational records, and therefore protected by the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA). The significance is in the fact that students may be assured that e-mails (absent of anything against policy such as threat or harassment) to faculty and administration are protected from public record.
A simple search on findlaw.com uncovered a wealth of information pertaining to online harassment and misuse of technology. As long as institutions maintain policy which parallels public law, and community standards are set for cyberspace, liability goes down, and administrators can focus their efforts on other issues.
Resources
http://www.ucf.edu/goldenrule/conduct.html
http://www.findlaw.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/frompost/nov98/email01.htm
http://www.e-lawconsultant.com/cybercrime/index.shtml
http://www.cyberangels.org/
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Online Student Services
There are many different ways that students and student services on a campus can be affected by these changes. Technology based student services are a reality on today’s college campus. Fundamentally, student services are created to help students and bring them together academically, psychologically, and socially. There is the ethical question in a technology-based student affairs department as to are students receiving the attention they need to nourish and grow and thrive in life? The flip side is – What if students want easy, no hassle access in today’s busy world?
Technology is revolutionizing the classroom and the way that information is given to students. Services to students that could be affected include education, academic advising, support services, bookstore, alumni services, and career services. Every way that a college interacts with a student is considered a “student service.” Many services can be put on line for convenience to students, but at what point is this detrimental to the overall student collegiate experience? Is the mission and philosophy of the university services being met (Davidson, 2001)?
On-line classes are becoming more accepted, and a very practical way for “non-traditional” college aged students to continue their education. In fact, “the preference of adults to continue working and living at home while earning a college degree, the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web, and the increasing availability and importance of computers” (Brigham, 2001) make the need for distance education that much greater. Students and faculty no longer need to meet at the same place at the same time. It assures that “any person qualified will no longer be excluded dude to time and place constraints” (Upcraft, Terenzini, & Kruger). The ability to control the pace of what is being learned and to have the option of when activities are completed have put the student’s needs as a priority. Financially, this option is also promising as it eliminates time for travel, child care, and meals (Van Dusen, 1998). Students ages 18-22 currently comprise only about 25% of total enrollment in higher education (Van Dusen, 1998). The needs of “non-traditional” students obviously should be met, and on-line classes are a great alternative.
There are obvious downfalls from a student affairs perspective to this kind of technology. As students sit at home in front of a computer, face to face contact with faculty, administrators, and peers is reduced significantly (Upcraft, Ternznini, & Kruger). Some students learn through interaction and gestures, and may find distance learning extremely difficult. It will also be difficult for universities to keep up with the ever-changing computer technology – this could eventually cost students more through tuition for upgrades and maintenance.
Student affairs is concerned with the entire development of a student intellectually, emotionally, and socially. An asynchronous learning environment could be extremely threatening to this concept. Classroom interaction as we know it among students and faculty is in jeopardy. It is important for all students to have an equal opportunity for a quality education. Legal aspects will have to be considered, such as the definition of e-mail harassment, site access, and a body that monitors this information.
With on-line technology, registration has already completely been revolutionized. Advising would be the next step. If a school were to transition to on-line advising, this would probably be done by a full-time professional advisor, as opposed to faculty (Brigham, 2001). Students would have more access to an advisor with this system. The obvious downfall to this system would be the lack of human interaction and counseling skills that would be necessary to help students make informed decisions concerning their future. Likewise, in a web-based career service center the same argument could be made. There should be a certain amount of counseling involved. This kind of system, however, would be easy access for students to retrieve career information, take self-assessments to learn about interests, skills, and abilities, and get resumes critiqued (Davidson, 2001). On the Internet, a web-site can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hours of operation for a Career Resource Center would be limited to school business hours. It also gives students a “sense of ownership of their progress,” as they can access various information without the help of others (Davidson, 2001).
Bookstores and libraries have and will be affected by technology. Students will have extended access to many different resources and will be able to order and pay for study materials on-line (Brigham, 2001). Therefore, once again it is easy access. However, this also limits time on campus for students. These technological changes once again affect the entire collegiate experience.
Alumni services could be well enhanced by a web-site created by colleges. This would be a quick and convenient way to update information and for old friends to keep in touch. Links to career resources, campus updates, surveys, and other publications for the school could be placed on-line (Brigham, 2001).
There are many advantages and disadvantages to these on-line services on a college campus. Some additional consequences to think about when considering changing any of these services: “establishing a response time for answering student messages, integrating e-mail with phone calls, letters, and faxes, and tracking and storing messages” (Brigham, 2001). Additionally, these changes in technology are expensive. The cost of these programs long term and the impact on students on campus must be seriously considered.
Technology is revolutionizing the classroom and the way that information is given to students. Services to students that could be affected include education, academic advising, support services, bookstore, alumni services, and career services. Every way that a college interacts with a student is considered a “student service.” Many services can be put on line for convenience to students, but at what point is this detrimental to the overall student collegiate experience? Is the mission and philosophy of the university services being met (Davidson, 2001)?
On-line classes are becoming more accepted, and a very practical way for “non-traditional” college aged students to continue their education. In fact, “the preference of adults to continue working and living at home while earning a college degree, the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web, and the increasing availability and importance of computers” (Brigham, 2001) make the need for distance education that much greater. Students and faculty no longer need to meet at the same place at the same time. It assures that “any person qualified will no longer be excluded dude to time and place constraints” (Upcraft, Terenzini, & Kruger). The ability to control the pace of what is being learned and to have the option of when activities are completed have put the student’s needs as a priority. Financially, this option is also promising as it eliminates time for travel, child care, and meals (Van Dusen, 1998). Students ages 18-22 currently comprise only about 25% of total enrollment in higher education (Van Dusen, 1998). The needs of “non-traditional” students obviously should be met, and on-line classes are a great alternative.
There are obvious downfalls from a student affairs perspective to this kind of technology. As students sit at home in front of a computer, face to face contact with faculty, administrators, and peers is reduced significantly (Upcraft, Ternznini, & Kruger). Some students learn through interaction and gestures, and may find distance learning extremely difficult. It will also be difficult for universities to keep up with the ever-changing computer technology – this could eventually cost students more through tuition for upgrades and maintenance.
Student affairs is concerned with the entire development of a student intellectually, emotionally, and socially. An asynchronous learning environment could be extremely threatening to this concept. Classroom interaction as we know it among students and faculty is in jeopardy. It is important for all students to have an equal opportunity for a quality education. Legal aspects will have to be considered, such as the definition of e-mail harassment, site access, and a body that monitors this information.
With on-line technology, registration has already completely been revolutionized. Advising would be the next step. If a school were to transition to on-line advising, this would probably be done by a full-time professional advisor, as opposed to faculty (Brigham, 2001). Students would have more access to an advisor with this system. The obvious downfall to this system would be the lack of human interaction and counseling skills that would be necessary to help students make informed decisions concerning their future. Likewise, in a web-based career service center the same argument could be made. There should be a certain amount of counseling involved. This kind of system, however, would be easy access for students to retrieve career information, take self-assessments to learn about interests, skills, and abilities, and get resumes critiqued (Davidson, 2001). On the Internet, a web-site can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hours of operation for a Career Resource Center would be limited to school business hours. It also gives students a “sense of ownership of their progress,” as they can access various information without the help of others (Davidson, 2001).
Bookstores and libraries have and will be affected by technology. Students will have extended access to many different resources and will be able to order and pay for study materials on-line (Brigham, 2001). Therefore, once again it is easy access. However, this also limits time on campus for students. These technological changes once again affect the entire collegiate experience.
Alumni services could be well enhanced by a web-site created by colleges. This would be a quick and convenient way to update information and for old friends to keep in touch. Links to career resources, campus updates, surveys, and other publications for the school could be placed on-line (Brigham, 2001).
There are many advantages and disadvantages to these on-line services on a college campus. Some additional consequences to think about when considering changing any of these services: “establishing a response time for answering student messages, integrating e-mail with phone calls, letters, and faxes, and tracking and storing messages” (Brigham, 2001). Additionally, these changes in technology are expensive. The cost of these programs long term and the impact on students on campus must be seriously considered.
Building Community and Digital Divide
In regard to building a successful college community in a technologically savvy era, we believe that it is important for the college to lay the foundation. The main reason why students flock to their computers is because computers are something that is familiar to them, while being in college is not. It is the colleges’ responsibility to draw these students out by providing programming and reaching out. Students in unfamiliar surroundings need to be catered to with creative programming specifically designed for them.
On the issue of digital divide in higher education, we must recognize the haves and have-nots. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) tend to have less technology advancements that historically white colleges and universities. According to B. Keith Fulton, one of the most recognized authorities in Digital Divide issues in the United States, “One benchmark is the "Most Wired College" list, and I believe two HBCU’s made the list last year -- one being Tennessee State and the other being Hampton University...(Morehouse also made the list.) .” When only three HBCU’s make this list it shows a significant gap in the advantages that students graduating from these schools will have. Higher education must address the issue of the digital divide to continue to prepare students for the global marketplace.
The role of Community Colleges also will be an important factor in bridging digital divide. Community Colleges have the ability to train students in a shorter period of time and get them out into the technological workplace. Dr. Gustavo Mellander stated, “…the two-year institutions can gear up quickly, they are accessible in terms of location and cost, and they are experienced in teaching nontraditional students.” Given these advantages, community colleges should lead the way in a new national effort to provide computer training to those who are most at risk of being left behind. Higher education in America has played an integral role in developing computer and internet- related technologies. It is important that with development, higher education institutions also prepare individuals to work with this technology and level the playing fields so all schools are able to compete.
On the issue of digital divide in higher education, we must recognize the haves and have-nots. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) tend to have less technology advancements that historically white colleges and universities. According to B. Keith Fulton, one of the most recognized authorities in Digital Divide issues in the United States, “One benchmark is the "Most Wired College" list, and I believe two HBCU’s made the list last year -- one being Tennessee State and the other being Hampton University...(Morehouse also made the list.) .” When only three HBCU’s make this list it shows a significant gap in the advantages that students graduating from these schools will have. Higher education must address the issue of the digital divide to continue to prepare students for the global marketplace.
The role of Community Colleges also will be an important factor in bridging digital divide. Community Colleges have the ability to train students in a shorter period of time and get them out into the technological workplace. Dr. Gustavo Mellander stated, “…the two-year institutions can gear up quickly, they are accessible in terms of location and cost, and they are experienced in teaching nontraditional students.” Given these advantages, community colleges should lead the way in a new national effort to provide computer training to those who are most at risk of being left behind. Higher education in America has played an integral role in developing computer and internet- related technologies. It is important that with development, higher education institutions also prepare individuals to work with this technology and level the playing fields so all schools are able to compete.
'We will laugh at today's technology in five years'
The Internet is set to revolutionise television within five years, due to an explosion of online video content and the merging of PCs and TV sets, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said on Saturday.
"I'm stunned how people aren't seeing that with TV, in five years from now, people will laugh at what we've had," he told business leaders and politicians at the World Economic Forum.
The rise of high-speed Internet and the popularity of video sites like Google Inc.'s YouTube has already led to a worldwide decline in the number hours spent by young people in front of a TV set.
In the years ahead, more and more viewers will hanker after the flexibility offered by online video and abandon conventional broadcast television, with its fixed programme slots and advertisements that interrupt shows, Gates said.
"Certain things like elections or the Olympics really point out how TV is terrible. You have to wait for the guy to talk about the thing you care about or you miss the event and want to go back and see it," he said.
"Internet presentation of these things is vastly superior."
At the moment, watching video clips on a computer is a separate experience from watching sitcoms or documentaries on television.
But convergence is coming, posing new challenges for TV companies and advertisers.
"Because TV is moving into being delivered over the Internet - and some of the big phone companies are building up the infrastructure for that - you're going to have that experience all together," Gates said.
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley said the impact on advertising would be profound, with the future promising far more targeted ads tailored to each viewer's profile.
"In the coming months we're going to do experiments to see how people interact with these ads to build an effective model that works for advertisers and works for users," he said.
Advertisers are already racing to adapt their strategies to the growing power of the Web, and more and more promotional cash is tipped to migrate from television to Web sites in future.
"I'm stunned how people aren't seeing that with TV, in five years from now, people will laugh at what we've had," he told business leaders and politicians at the World Economic Forum.
The rise of high-speed Internet and the popularity of video sites like Google Inc.'s YouTube has already led to a worldwide decline in the number hours spent by young people in front of a TV set.
In the years ahead, more and more viewers will hanker after the flexibility offered by online video and abandon conventional broadcast television, with its fixed programme slots and advertisements that interrupt shows, Gates said.
"Certain things like elections or the Olympics really point out how TV is terrible. You have to wait for the guy to talk about the thing you care about or you miss the event and want to go back and see it," he said.
"Internet presentation of these things is vastly superior."
At the moment, watching video clips on a computer is a separate experience from watching sitcoms or documentaries on television.
But convergence is coming, posing new challenges for TV companies and advertisers.
"Because TV is moving into being delivered over the Internet - and some of the big phone companies are building up the infrastructure for that - you're going to have that experience all together," Gates said.
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley said the impact on advertising would be profound, with the future promising far more targeted ads tailored to each viewer's profile.
"In the coming months we're going to do experiments to see how people interact with these ads to build an effective model that works for advertisers and works for users," he said.
Advertisers are already racing to adapt their strategies to the growing power of the Web, and more and more promotional cash is tipped to migrate from television to Web sites in future.
The Art Of Image Altering
What is real? What is a true likeness? The smiles on their faces are genuine, but what ends up in the family album may not look exactly the same.
We can now alter these class pictures digitally so no kid has a runny nose or a blemish in the final photo.
In our digital age, images fly at us with remarkable speed and frequency. Computers, television, cell phones — this flood of visual information pours into our eyes, and our brains then determine if we like what we see. But, more and more, my brain is asking, is it real? Or is it a contrivance? Has it been touched up for vanity? Or altered to make a political point?
For example, a photographer added more smoke to a picture of the war in Lebanon for effect.
"It was a pretty crude manipulation," Dr. Hany Farid, who teaches computer science at Dartmouth, told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. The truth came out and the photographer was fired.
John Kerry's political enemies tried to pass judgment on his patriotism when they found this photo with anti-war activist Jane Fonda, which eventually turned out to be fake. Regrettably, Katie Couric lost a dress size or two to a photo editor at CBS Promotions. Flattery? Or a failure to communicate?
We assume the pictures we see in glossy magazines have been touched up, but what of the photos of your family and friends? Have they been touched up a little? And does it matter?
"A lot of people who do Match.com send me photographs," Farid said. "They're about to meet somebody and I can tell you the vast majority of images on dating sites have been at least manipulated in some way."
Farid helped invent software that can detect when an image has been digitally altered. Sometimes it really does matter, from a police surveillance video to medical malpractice images.
"Men taking the hairline and bringing it down a little bit — very common," he said. "And very easy to do. It's my favorite manipulation. I mean, some of the most famous portraits of Abraham Lincoln, for example, are his head in somebody else's body. Stalin famously airbrushed people out of photographs that fell out of favor. It's not that it hasn't been done. It's just that it's just so much easier and so much more prevalent now."
What makes it all so easy is Photoshop, made in Silicon Valley by Adobe. With Photoshop you can alter just about anything.
"When it comes time to work with images it's the standard," Dave Story, Adobe's vice president of product development, said. "Everyone uses it. Every image that you see in print, on TV, other places, you could be completely assured that Photoshop has likely touched that image."
In the fashion world models are modified to a level of perceived beauty that doesn't exist anywhere but on billboards.
Dove soap produced a short film that details the full Madison Avenue beauty process complete with computer manipulation that stretches the model's neck and adjusts her eyes to a size you'd never see on an actual person.
"You know it's so hard to be human in the face of all this stuff," writer for Adweek Magazine, Barbara Lippert, said. "And I think for young girls, it's really important to see this. Because, you know, there's no plastic surgery right now that can elongate your neck or make your eyeballs twice the size that you were born with. And so, all this illusion, all of this fantasy of what you want is just based on such non-reality that it really makes you crazy."
Very few digital artists walk that line between fantasy and reality as often or as successfully as Matt Mahurin. If you've visited a newsstand in the past 20 years, chances are you've seen his work in Rolling Stone, Esquire and G.Q. He has done about 40 covers for Time. He works alone in a spare New York studio, using only a small camera, a computer and — more often than not — his own face.
"I just painted my beard white and went out and got a coat and these Freud glasses," he said, referring to a 1993 cover of Time which featured a story on Sigmund Freud.
Weirder still, on another Time cover of a caveman it's Mahurin's face again, digitally reworked. On the Time cover after the Abu Ghraib revelations, Mahurin used a manipulated photo he took of himself to make an image of what appeared to be a torture victim.
"I think probably the way it's labeled inside the magazine is photo-illustration," he said.
Mahurin's most controversial work was the 1994 O.J. Simpson's mug-shot. Mahurin darkened the image, a step that he saw as editorial but others read as racist.
"My situation was, is that my work is taken in context ... I work dark images," he said. "I do dramatic images. I don't do -- you know, I don't do brightly colored things. I don't do greeting cards, I do dark images. And to me this was a dramatic moment. I've always believed in the power of images, and so for me that was, you know, that was all part of it. It's an experience that I would not wish on anybody, but I would not have traded it for anything either."
What we don't remember is the caption on the cover. The words, the explanation, are irrelevant: It's the image that's king in the end. Seeing is believing, but there are methods for telling the altered photos from the real thing.
"When you compare those two swatches, these four dots, I call them truth dots, which proves mathematically that this image has been doctored since it came out of the camera," Story said.
The images insist that we be as sophisticated as the software that's used. "The analogy I always like to draw is, imagine a pile of sand," Strong said. "And when does it go from a couple of grains of sand to a pile? And surely, taking one grain of sand on and off doesn't fundamentally change the pile of sand. But at some point, it's no longer a mound of sand, and it's just a couple grains. But where did that transition happen?
"And it's the same thing with an image. When you start disturbing pixels — little elements of an image — is one okay? Is two okay? Is three okay? And when does is stop becoming okay? And I don't think there's a simple answer to that."
Maybe it's a little like cosmetic surgery: if you've had too much, then you don't look like yourself 1 2 anymore.
We can now alter these class pictures digitally so no kid has a runny nose or a blemish in the final photo.
In our digital age, images fly at us with remarkable speed and frequency. Computers, television, cell phones — this flood of visual information pours into our eyes, and our brains then determine if we like what we see. But, more and more, my brain is asking, is it real? Or is it a contrivance? Has it been touched up for vanity? Or altered to make a political point?
For example, a photographer added more smoke to a picture of the war in Lebanon for effect.
"It was a pretty crude manipulation," Dr. Hany Farid, who teaches computer science at Dartmouth, told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. The truth came out and the photographer was fired.
John Kerry's political enemies tried to pass judgment on his patriotism when they found this photo with anti-war activist Jane Fonda, which eventually turned out to be fake. Regrettably, Katie Couric lost a dress size or two to a photo editor at CBS Promotions. Flattery? Or a failure to communicate?
We assume the pictures we see in glossy magazines have been touched up, but what of the photos of your family and friends? Have they been touched up a little? And does it matter?
"A lot of people who do Match.com send me photographs," Farid said. "They're about to meet somebody and I can tell you the vast majority of images on dating sites have been at least manipulated in some way."
Farid helped invent software that can detect when an image has been digitally altered. Sometimes it really does matter, from a police surveillance video to medical malpractice images.
"Men taking the hairline and bringing it down a little bit — very common," he said. "And very easy to do. It's my favorite manipulation. I mean, some of the most famous portraits of Abraham Lincoln, for example, are his head in somebody else's body. Stalin famously airbrushed people out of photographs that fell out of favor. It's not that it hasn't been done. It's just that it's just so much easier and so much more prevalent now."
What makes it all so easy is Photoshop, made in Silicon Valley by Adobe. With Photoshop you can alter just about anything.
"When it comes time to work with images it's the standard," Dave Story, Adobe's vice president of product development, said. "Everyone uses it. Every image that you see in print, on TV, other places, you could be completely assured that Photoshop has likely touched that image."
In the fashion world models are modified to a level of perceived beauty that doesn't exist anywhere but on billboards.
Dove soap produced a short film that details the full Madison Avenue beauty process complete with computer manipulation that stretches the model's neck and adjusts her eyes to a size you'd never see on an actual person.
"You know it's so hard to be human in the face of all this stuff," writer for Adweek Magazine, Barbara Lippert, said. "And I think for young girls, it's really important to see this. Because, you know, there's no plastic surgery right now that can elongate your neck or make your eyeballs twice the size that you were born with. And so, all this illusion, all of this fantasy of what you want is just based on such non-reality that it really makes you crazy."
Very few digital artists walk that line between fantasy and reality as often or as successfully as Matt Mahurin. If you've visited a newsstand in the past 20 years, chances are you've seen his work in Rolling Stone, Esquire and G.Q. He has done about 40 covers for Time. He works alone in a spare New York studio, using only a small camera, a computer and — more often than not — his own face.
"I just painted my beard white and went out and got a coat and these Freud glasses," he said, referring to a 1993 cover of Time which featured a story on Sigmund Freud.
Weirder still, on another Time cover of a caveman it's Mahurin's face again, digitally reworked. On the Time cover after the Abu Ghraib revelations, Mahurin used a manipulated photo he took of himself to make an image of what appeared to be a torture victim.
"I think probably the way it's labeled inside the magazine is photo-illustration," he said.
Mahurin's most controversial work was the 1994 O.J. Simpson's mug-shot. Mahurin darkened the image, a step that he saw as editorial but others read as racist.
"My situation was, is that my work is taken in context ... I work dark images," he said. "I do dramatic images. I don't do -- you know, I don't do brightly colored things. I don't do greeting cards, I do dark images. And to me this was a dramatic moment. I've always believed in the power of images, and so for me that was, you know, that was all part of it. It's an experience that I would not wish on anybody, but I would not have traded it for anything either."
What we don't remember is the caption on the cover. The words, the explanation, are irrelevant: It's the image that's king in the end. Seeing is believing, but there are methods for telling the altered photos from the real thing.
"When you compare those two swatches, these four dots, I call them truth dots, which proves mathematically that this image has been doctored since it came out of the camera," Story said.
The images insist that we be as sophisticated as the software that's used. "The analogy I always like to draw is, imagine a pile of sand," Strong said. "And when does it go from a couple of grains of sand to a pile? And surely, taking one grain of sand on and off doesn't fundamentally change the pile of sand. But at some point, it's no longer a mound of sand, and it's just a couple grains. But where did that transition happen?
"And it's the same thing with an image. When you start disturbing pixels — little elements of an image — is one okay? Is two okay? Is three okay? And when does is stop becoming okay? And I don't think there's a simple answer to that."
Maybe it's a little like cosmetic surgery: if you've had too much, then you don't look like yourself 1 2 anymore.
Dyslexia and the Challenge of Using Today’s Technology
Technology is a miracle for many people with dyslexia. Word processing enables dyslexic people to write. Computer software and reading machines turn the written word into spoken language, enabling many of us to “read.” We use cell phones to get directions and tell people we will be late. Small tape recorders allow us to record our thoughts during the day, a great substitute for taking notes. Telephones can be programmed to remember and dial phone numbers at the click of a key, relieving us of a major memory chore.
Nina Ghiselli, Psy.D., a psychologist in Hayward, California, finds that Power Point keeps her presentations on track, allows her to express herself in pictures and words, and cues her as to what to say next. She uses her favorite computer software to organize her outlines for class. She says that online bill pay saved her life and her credit.
Patrick Costello, a trial attorney in New York explained, “With dyslexia, your organization has to be superior. The computer permits that. You can put everything in the computer, your personal memos, notes, and all the material. You don’t have to write anything down. Litigation is lots and lots of paper. And it’s all right there. You just print it out.” Bill Butler, from Arizona, uses a data bank wristwatch, which keeps his phone numbers, reminds him of appointments, and much more.
Unfortunately, in order to access these devices, we have to actually learn and program them. The “keys” to our information are strings of numbers called “passwords” that we must remember. Technology can create challenges for some of us. This article will explain how people with dyslexia overcome these barriers.
Problems with modern life are listed followed by solutions. Each solution has worked for one or more (and usually many more) people with dyslexia or learning disabilities. They are not offered as techniques that work for everybody. Remember, each person with dyslexia has different abilities and disabilities. So be prepared to experiment with these ideas and to create your own.Problem:
“I’m glad the pass code protects my account from criminals. Unfortunately, they also protect my accounts from me! I can never remember the pass codes!”Solutions:
* Use digits, symbols, and numbers in a sequence that you can remember. For example, I might use *IDA* as a pass code, IDA stands or International Dyslexia Association. The stars on each side are there because I think IDA is a “star” organization.* Use number positions on the keypad to develop your password. For example 1,4,7,8,9 makes the letter “L.” You can also spell a word using the telephone keypad.* Use a sequence of numbers and letters that are already memorized, such as your childhood address or a former locker combination.* Although it is a security risk, some people use one pass code for everything.* Make a list of all of your pass codes and find a creative, unusual place to hide it. One person hides it in his computer where he says no search engine will find it. Another person put it in a safe.
Problem:
“I keep hearing how great all this technology is. Well, that assumes you can figure out how to use it. Not a correct assumption!”Solutions:
* Cultivate friends who are computer savvy and network with them. When Bill Bufton, a well-known professional in the field of corrections and a black-belt in karate, comes across a computer problem, he says. “I call my geeks. When they come across a human dynamics problem, they call me.”* Find people who can simplify as they teach. Several people had to go through two or more tutors before finding one that was able to work with them. Bill explains that he needs to be spoon-fed information. “I call them and say, ‘I can’t work my digital camera.’ And they say, ‘OK, you know that button on top.’ They wait til I find the button and say, ‘OK, press it. That turns it on.’”* Practice what you have learned until it is in your automatic memory.* Obtain written or recorded instructions that are clear. For example, Angela Steffens from Alameda, California found that her teacher needed to say “Push the control button.” to clarify that she wasn’t supposed to type the word “Control.”* Obtain or develop cheat sheets that list the commands.* “Play” with the computer. Experiment. Try things.
Problem:
“Look, I can use the computer. I can type. I can read. But no matter what anyone says, it still takes too long to get anything done.”Solutions:
* Remove unneeded icons and toolbars on your desktop and your screens to minimize visual clutter.* Experiment with different keyboards and mouses and find one that works. Some people find track ball mouses help them control the cursor. Angela found a touch screen mouse helped her. She appreciated separating the buttons that click from the mouse that moves.* Empty your e-mail in box daily, so that you have less visual clutter.* Use the “Save” button constantly so that you don’t accidentally erase your work. Back up your data constantly.
Problem:
“My e-mails have typos and are ungrammatical. My boss keeps telling me they are unprofessional and unacceptable for our organization.”Solutions:
* Use the phone if possible.* Use spell check for your e-mails.* Type your e-mails in your word processor using a large font. Print and review them. Then paste them in the e-mail using a regular size font. Send the e-mail.* Type your e-mails. Put them in your drafts folder. Then print them out the next day and review them. Make necessary changes before sending. Some people put the ones with a lot of changes back in their folder for another review the next day.* Ask someone else to review the important ones before you send them. Be particularly careful with e-mails that represent your organization and go to a large group.
Problem:
“I can’t remember where I put my data in the computer. Once it is filed and off my screen, it seems gone forever.”Solutions:
* Use the “find” or “search” functions. Each software package handles them differently. Usually, you type a phrase from your document into a box and the computer will search for it.* Use names for your folders that you can easily remember.
As you work on improving your technical skills, you will need to make decisions about software and equipment. Be sure equipment is tough and can survive the rigors of your use. Can you see the letters on the screen? Can you press one button without accidentally pressing two buttons? Does the contrast between the letters and the screen work for you and if not, can you change it?
Nina Ghiselli, Psy.D., a psychologist in Hayward, California, finds that Power Point keeps her presentations on track, allows her to express herself in pictures and words, and cues her as to what to say next. She uses her favorite computer software to organize her outlines for class. She says that online bill pay saved her life and her credit.
Patrick Costello, a trial attorney in New York explained, “With dyslexia, your organization has to be superior. The computer permits that. You can put everything in the computer, your personal memos, notes, and all the material. You don’t have to write anything down. Litigation is lots and lots of paper. And it’s all right there. You just print it out.” Bill Butler, from Arizona, uses a data bank wristwatch, which keeps his phone numbers, reminds him of appointments, and much more.
Unfortunately, in order to access these devices, we have to actually learn and program them. The “keys” to our information are strings of numbers called “passwords” that we must remember. Technology can create challenges for some of us. This article will explain how people with dyslexia overcome these barriers.
Problems with modern life are listed followed by solutions. Each solution has worked for one or more (and usually many more) people with dyslexia or learning disabilities. They are not offered as techniques that work for everybody. Remember, each person with dyslexia has different abilities and disabilities. So be prepared to experiment with these ideas and to create your own.Problem:
“I’m glad the pass code protects my account from criminals. Unfortunately, they also protect my accounts from me! I can never remember the pass codes!”Solutions:
* Use digits, symbols, and numbers in a sequence that you can remember. For example, I might use *IDA* as a pass code, IDA stands or International Dyslexia Association. The stars on each side are there because I think IDA is a “star” organization.* Use number positions on the keypad to develop your password. For example 1,4,7,8,9 makes the letter “L.” You can also spell a word using the telephone keypad.* Use a sequence of numbers and letters that are already memorized, such as your childhood address or a former locker combination.* Although it is a security risk, some people use one pass code for everything.* Make a list of all of your pass codes and find a creative, unusual place to hide it. One person hides it in his computer where he says no search engine will find it. Another person put it in a safe.
Problem:
“I keep hearing how great all this technology is. Well, that assumes you can figure out how to use it. Not a correct assumption!”Solutions:
* Cultivate friends who are computer savvy and network with them. When Bill Bufton, a well-known professional in the field of corrections and a black-belt in karate, comes across a computer problem, he says. “I call my geeks. When they come across a human dynamics problem, they call me.”* Find people who can simplify as they teach. Several people had to go through two or more tutors before finding one that was able to work with them. Bill explains that he needs to be spoon-fed information. “I call them and say, ‘I can’t work my digital camera.’ And they say, ‘OK, you know that button on top.’ They wait til I find the button and say, ‘OK, press it. That turns it on.’”* Practice what you have learned until it is in your automatic memory.* Obtain written or recorded instructions that are clear. For example, Angela Steffens from Alameda, California found that her teacher needed to say “Push the control button.” to clarify that she wasn’t supposed to type the word “Control.”* Obtain or develop cheat sheets that list the commands.* “Play” with the computer. Experiment. Try things.
Problem:
“Look, I can use the computer. I can type. I can read. But no matter what anyone says, it still takes too long to get anything done.”Solutions:
* Remove unneeded icons and toolbars on your desktop and your screens to minimize visual clutter.* Experiment with different keyboards and mouses and find one that works. Some people find track ball mouses help them control the cursor. Angela found a touch screen mouse helped her. She appreciated separating the buttons that click from the mouse that moves.* Empty your e-mail in box daily, so that you have less visual clutter.* Use the “Save” button constantly so that you don’t accidentally erase your work. Back up your data constantly.
Problem:
“My e-mails have typos and are ungrammatical. My boss keeps telling me they are unprofessional and unacceptable for our organization.”Solutions:
* Use the phone if possible.* Use spell check for your e-mails.* Type your e-mails in your word processor using a large font. Print and review them. Then paste them in the e-mail using a regular size font. Send the e-mail.* Type your e-mails. Put them in your drafts folder. Then print them out the next day and review them. Make necessary changes before sending. Some people put the ones with a lot of changes back in their folder for another review the next day.* Ask someone else to review the important ones before you send them. Be particularly careful with e-mails that represent your organization and go to a large group.
Problem:
“I can’t remember where I put my data in the computer. Once it is filed and off my screen, it seems gone forever.”Solutions:
* Use the “find” or “search” functions. Each software package handles them differently. Usually, you type a phrase from your document into a box and the computer will search for it.* Use names for your folders that you can easily remember.
As you work on improving your technical skills, you will need to make decisions about software and equipment. Be sure equipment is tough and can survive the rigors of your use. Can you see the letters on the screen? Can you press one button without accidentally pressing two buttons? Does the contrast between the letters and the screen work for you and if not, can you change it?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Fashionable Technology: The Intersection of Design, Fashion, Science and Technology
Fashionable Technology: The Intersection of Design, Fashion, Science and Technology, by Sabine Seymour (Amazon UK and USA.)
Published by Springer, abstract: The interplay of electronic textiles and wearable technology, wearables for short, and fashion, design and science is a highly promising and topical subject. Offered here is a compact survey of the theory involved and an explanation of the role technology plays in a fabric or article of clothing. The practical application is explained in detail and numerous illustrations serve as clarification. Over 50 well-known designers, research institutes, companies and artists, among them Philips, Burton, MIT Media Lab, XS Labs, New York University, Hussein Chalayan, Cute Circuit or International Fashion Machines are introduced by means of their latest, often still unpublished, project, and a survey of their work to date. Given for the first time is a list of all the relevant information on research institutes, materials, publications etc. A must for all those wishing to know everything about fashionable technology.
Lags, a series of patches for coping with social jet lag, by Teresa Almeida
The book contains only 15 pages of theoretical discourse. It might not sound like a lot but they have the virtue of going straight to the point. Sabine Seymour knows what she's writing about. Because the Vienna slash New York-based designer and researcher has spent several years dedicating her energy and brain to the exploration of what the next generation wearables would bring, she can see beyond the hype and detect what is truly inspiring or meaningful design-wise. Mondial Inc is a commercial entity born from her research and her role as an educator. She has lectured and exhibited her work internationally and she's currently a faculty member at Parsons The New School for Design in New York and the University of Arts and Industiral Desin in Linz, Austria.
Taiknam Hat, by Ricardo Nascimento, Ebru Kurbak and Fabiana Shizue, reacts to medium wave radio signals
The theoretical intro covers briefly the history of wearable computing, comments on the technology used to enable garments to interact, underlines textile innovations, adds some design considerations in the process, etc.
Space invader knitting by Be-Geistert
After the intro, there's just a magnificent show and tell of some of the latest (a number of them haven't been published anywhere else) and most interesting techno-fashion projects. You'll find the big names of the industry (phillips, Nike, Adidas) but also pioneering and fearless fashion designers (Hussein Chalayan), the explorers of poetical fashion (Ying Gao), the young stars (CuteCircuit), the makers of fermented dresses (Donna Franklin), the always elegant (Despina Papadopoulos), the unclassifiable Kate Hartman), the lady ready for the catwalk in outer space (Kouji Hikawa), the geeky knitters (Cat Mazza, Ebru Kurbak & Mahir Yavuz), etc.
Kouji Hikawa's Space Suit and Cooling Pants
The book won't tell you everything you dream to know about fashion and technology, how to make a singing skirt or used nanotech in your next project, but it will definitively enable you to have an idea of the breadth and scope of the discipline. Besides it demosntrates that techno-fashion designers have gone a long way since the time "wearable technology" consisted of a keyboard roughly distributed over the body.
There are many books about fashion and technology but this one is truly unique. It's engaging, intelligent and it will make you smile and inspire as you turn the pages over. Besides, it makes a fantastic resource for students and anyone interested in the subject. There's a bibliography, a glossary of innovative materials, a list of blogs and websites but also events and institutes which will enable readers to dig further into the subject.
Textile XY by Maurin Donneaud
The book was launched last Thursday in New York. Phil Torrone from Make magazine was there. Just for info, Ulrike Reinhard had a chance to video one of Sabine's presentation a while ago.Image on the homepage is Diana Eng and Emily Albinski's Inflatable wedding dress.
Published by Springer, abstract: The interplay of electronic textiles and wearable technology, wearables for short, and fashion, design and science is a highly promising and topical subject. Offered here is a compact survey of the theory involved and an explanation of the role technology plays in a fabric or article of clothing. The practical application is explained in detail and numerous illustrations serve as clarification. Over 50 well-known designers, research institutes, companies and artists, among them Philips, Burton, MIT Media Lab, XS Labs, New York University, Hussein Chalayan, Cute Circuit or International Fashion Machines are introduced by means of their latest, often still unpublished, project, and a survey of their work to date. Given for the first time is a list of all the relevant information on research institutes, materials, publications etc. A must for all those wishing to know everything about fashionable technology.
Lags, a series of patches for coping with social jet lag, by Teresa Almeida
The book contains only 15 pages of theoretical discourse. It might not sound like a lot but they have the virtue of going straight to the point. Sabine Seymour knows what she's writing about. Because the Vienna slash New York-based designer and researcher has spent several years dedicating her energy and brain to the exploration of what the next generation wearables would bring, she can see beyond the hype and detect what is truly inspiring or meaningful design-wise. Mondial Inc is a commercial entity born from her research and her role as an educator. She has lectured and exhibited her work internationally and she's currently a faculty member at Parsons The New School for Design in New York and the University of Arts and Industiral Desin in Linz, Austria.
Taiknam Hat, by Ricardo Nascimento, Ebru Kurbak and Fabiana Shizue, reacts to medium wave radio signals
The theoretical intro covers briefly the history of wearable computing, comments on the technology used to enable garments to interact, underlines textile innovations, adds some design considerations in the process, etc.
Space invader knitting by Be-Geistert
After the intro, there's just a magnificent show and tell of some of the latest (a number of them haven't been published anywhere else) and most interesting techno-fashion projects. You'll find the big names of the industry (phillips, Nike, Adidas) but also pioneering and fearless fashion designers (Hussein Chalayan), the explorers of poetical fashion (Ying Gao), the young stars (CuteCircuit), the makers of fermented dresses (Donna Franklin), the always elegant (Despina Papadopoulos), the unclassifiable Kate Hartman), the lady ready for the catwalk in outer space (Kouji Hikawa), the geeky knitters (Cat Mazza, Ebru Kurbak & Mahir Yavuz), etc.
Kouji Hikawa's Space Suit and Cooling Pants
The book won't tell you everything you dream to know about fashion and technology, how to make a singing skirt or used nanotech in your next project, but it will definitively enable you to have an idea of the breadth and scope of the discipline. Besides it demosntrates that techno-fashion designers have gone a long way since the time "wearable technology" consisted of a keyboard roughly distributed over the body.
There are many books about fashion and technology but this one is truly unique. It's engaging, intelligent and it will make you smile and inspire as you turn the pages over. Besides, it makes a fantastic resource for students and anyone interested in the subject. There's a bibliography, a glossary of innovative materials, a list of blogs and websites but also events and institutes which will enable readers to dig further into the subject.
Textile XY by Maurin Donneaud
The book was launched last Thursday in New York. Phil Torrone from Make magazine was there. Just for info, Ulrike Reinhard had a chance to video one of Sabine's presentation a while ago.Image on the homepage is Diana Eng and Emily Albinski's Inflatable wedding dress.
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