[nabs-l] course compass

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi Beth and all,

That's why it's so critical for us to pick our own readers and tutors
as much as possible--so we have some quality control!

Arielle

On 1/13/09, Beth <thebluesisloose at gmail.com> wrote:
> Cindy, to answer your question, I did Course Compass once, had the
> same problem, and hired a prite tutor through the Office for Disabled
> Students.  She walked me through the stuff I had to know.  I at first
> had a girl who had no idea what to do, then I got bad grades on the
> tests, then another lady toom over, and the grades improved.  Sad,
> isn't that?
> Beth
>
> On 1/12/09, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Cindy,
>>
>> I don't know a thing about Course Compass, but your situation
>> definitely sounds frustrating and unfortunate. If a lot of NABS
>> members are having problems this might be an issue we'll want to
>> address as an organization with Course Compass and/or JAWS (for
>> scripting, etc.)
>>
>> The most equitable solution is probably to hire either a reader or a
>> private tutor depending on how much help you think you'll need with
>> learning the material. If you are understanding the concepts pretty
>> well from the lectures a reader to simply tell you what is on the
>> screen may be all you need, but if you want to get more conceptual
>> assistance a tutor (either paid or volunteer through your academic
>> support center) may be more appropriate.
>>
>> Alternatively, if you're short on funds and it's not easy to secure
>> reader money from rehab, you can see if your professor would be
>> willing to send you the homework questions in an MS-Word file, and
>> then meet with your prof or TA (if there is one) during their office
>> hours to go over conceptual issues. Most professors love to work with
>> students one-on-one and professor office hours are generally an
>> underused resource. You  probably won't be able to use your professor
>> as a reader for every assignment, but if the prof can send you the
>> questions and then be there to provide instruction should you  need
>> it, this can be very workable.
>>
>> Teaching assistants are another overlooked source of assistance.
>> Usually TA's are graduate students in the field they teach (in this
>> case, math) who get paid by the department to help students and take
>> care of administrative details. They also hold office hours and are
>> getting compensated to help students with things, so you won't
>> inconvenience your TA unduly if you make an appointment with him/her
>> to go over material. TA's may also be willing to convert the homework
>> assignments into formats you  can use. When I took advanced statistics
>> at the undergrad level, my TA helped me with learning computer
>> programs and converting tables from the textbook into a format that I
>> could use. Many TA's are happy to help not just because it's their
>> job, but because it gives them more experience with teaching.
>>
>> This isn't directly related to Cindy's question, but sometimes TA's
>> can also serve as good readers for exams if you're having trouble
>> getting permission to use your own readers. TA's have to be around on
>> test day, but often have nothing really to do during the test itself,
>> making them available to read. The good thing about using a TA as a
>> reader is that the TA is familiar with the material and can describe
>> diagrams, charts, etc. accurately. Yet it's often not as
>> nerve-wracking as using the professor as a reader especially if the TA
>> isn't grading your test.
>>
>> Arielle
>>
>> On 1/12/09, Cindy Bennett <passionflower505 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> This semester, all of the homework for my college algebra class is done
>>> online through a website generated by the company that publishes the
>>> book.
>>> It is called course compass. Today i attempted my first assignment. I
>>> first
>>> downloaded the necissary software, and i attempted to read the questions,
>>> but so far, Jaws version 9 has not read any of it. My room mate confirmed
>>> the fact that the questions are vissibly there, but it is, in fact, that
>>> jaws is just not reading them. Have any of you worked with course compass
>>> while using a screen reader?
>>>
>>> I would really like to hear what you guys have done when online
>>> components
>>> did not work. Should i just get another assignment? Something out of the
>>> book? One of the purposes of the online homework is to provide access to
>>> help. There are links that walk students through difficult problems step
>>> by
>>> step, and if i don't have access to the site, then i would be missing out
>>> on
>>> a lot of help. There is a learning center on campus, but sessions for the
>>> course that i am in generally meet as a group. Should i request to have a
>>> private tutor since i might not have access to all of the online help?
>>>
>>> It is disapointing to me, because so far, i have had access to everything
>>> having to do with the school and even blackboard, but this is different.
>>> Thanks
>>> Cindy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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