[nabs-l] Extended Time

Wed Feb 6 19:34:42 UTC 2013

Katie,
I've known my fair share of professors who, I think rightly so, insist that I take the test all in one sitting. I kind of prefer that, anyway, so I am not tempted to go home and study more.
Best,
Kirt

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 6, 2013, at 12:14 PM, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Agreed.  I use that trick as well as using x for finding checkboxes
> because some of those are used for those instead of radio boxes on
> some of our online tests.  Most of the time if I know either radio
> buttons are checkboxes are there I'll hit r or x and then just arrow
> up to find the question.  It saves a lot of time that would otherwise
> be spent arrowing down past links, advertisements, or other junk that
> isn't relevant to the class.
> 
> The best approach is to let your professors know beforehand that you
> may not always need extended time.  With the exception of some exams I
> always test in class at the same time as everyone else and usually
> finish in time.  If not, I can go to my professors and give them back
> their flashdrive to keep until we can set up an office appointment to
> finish the test.
> 
> On 2/6/13, Kirt <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Ashley,
>> I don't mean to be contrary, but I have found quite the opposite to be the
>> case in my personal experiences with jaws.  You can press are, from the
>> start of the page, to go directly to the first radio button on the first
>> question… It will save you a whole bunch of arrowing down.  And, at least
>> for me, once I figured out how Jaws Associates radio buttons with particular
>> question answers, on whatever quiz I'm taking, it's been really easy to just
>> apply that pattern to the rest of the quiz… Hopefully, I am making sense.
>> For me, personally, the only online assignments that warrant extra time are
>> the ones with lots of images that need to be described by somebody else. If
>> an online quiz, or test, or assignment is all text, which many of them are,
>> I usually finish well within the allotted time. In fact, I have noticed, my
>> screen reader reads things to me faster than many sided people read. While I
>> don't comprehend as much as I do with braille, this is definitely an
>> advantage for me sometimes which, I daresay, most people don't have.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> On Feb 6, 2013, at 10:34 AM, "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Arielle,
>>> Well I see your points. Extended time while we use braille could send a
>>> bad message I suppose that we're inherently slow.
>>> I cannot remember whether I used  extended time all the time in high
>>> school or not. I had a study hall period with my vision teacher, or TVI as
>>> they're called. Here I finished any tests or in class assignments I needed
>>> to for the day or worked on homework. This was very valuable time for me
>>> since I struggled with some spatial concepts too and my TVI sort of acted
>>> as a tutor for math as well and explained diagrams.
>>> 
>>> I think ideally that  extended time and accomodations should be given on a
>>> case by case basis. You may need some accomodations in one class and not
>>> others.
>>> But that isn't how college works; they have to make accomodations across
>>> the board so you have one accomodation sheet for all professors.
>>> 
>>> I feel that yes extended time is needed in college because of
>>> the medium its taken in. I consider equal access to be braille since
>>> sighted students read it; they do not have to hear it.
>>> As you know, braille is not given to us in college except for maybe math
>>> if you beg for it.
>>> 
>>> So, I think using jaws is slower than reading it in print. If its multiple
>>> choice, I find I need to hear it twice because as with any test taker, I
>>> read it once and eliminate two answers and read it again to pic the  best
>>> answer.
>>> A sighted user clicks the correct button where as we have to go line by
>>> line and listen to the line and arrow up til finding the right answer.
>>> If using a reader, I need them to repeat my answers sometimes to ensure
>>> they circled the right one.
>>> 
>>> I am trying to get extended time for practice online quizzes because I
>>> need to scroll back up to check my answers.
>>> I'm confused as to what radio button goes
>>> with what answer. I wish the Letter options of A, b, c, d were on the same
>>> line but jaws isn't reading like that.
>>> Not to mention that I use a minute or two to find where the darn quiz
>>> begins! Yes, I do use the quick navigation keys such as H for heading to
>>> help but when there are lots of headings this doesn't help too much.
>>> 
>>> I find that other forms of tests such as short answer and essay formats
>>> take me less time. I don't always use extended time. But its there in the
>>> many cases I do need it.
>>> 
>>> Now, I  just hope I can get
>>> extended time for the blackboard quiz. It has to be manually changed for
>>> me to get extended time.
>>> 
>>> Ashley
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Arielle Silverman
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2013 9:57 PM
>>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Extended Time
>>> 
>>> Hi all,
>>> The last post about using extra time on quizzes got me thinking about
>>> why we automatically get extra time to take tests and whether or not
>>> this is a good idea. I think the extra time is intended to correct for
>>> any issues with our accommodations or technology that make test-taking
>>> slower; for example, it might make sense to use extra time if we have
>>> to have a scribe write an essay for us or if we are using a reader and
>>> asking them to repeat things or read answer choices a few times. Extra
>>> time also seems appropriate if we have a problem with technology
>>> breaking, files not downloading correctly, etc. But I question whether
>>> extra time is really appropriate for online quizzes, for example, or
>>> for Braille or large print tests.
>>> As a Braille reader I used extended time only on a few occasions and I
>>> found that I only "needed" it when, deep down, I didn't fully
>>> understand the material I was being tested on. This happened a lot
>>> when I had tactile diagrams to interpret since I have always been bad
>>> with spatial mapping and understanding tactile images. So I would use
>>> the extra time to agonize over test questions I didn't understand and
>>> then eventually guess an answer. I really don't think the extra time
>>> was helpful for either my test performance or my learning and I feel
>>> it only acted as a Band-Aid covering up the real issue which was that
>>> I didn't know how to interpret tactile images. Had I not been granted
>>> extended time this might have become a more pressing issue for me to
>>> deal with back in high school. Similarly, I worry that when Braille
>>> readers are automatically granted double time across the board, it
>>> allows teachers to grow complacent with slower Braille-reading speeds
>>> than is desirable and almost sets up the expectation that Braille
>>> reading is inherently slow. It might be appropriate to *temporarily*
>>> grant an individual student extended time while they are still in the
>>> process of building Braille fluency, but granting it to everybody who
>>> reads Braille is something that bothers me. I also question the
>>> implication that blind students just do things slower and that nothing
>>> can or should be done about it so just let them take extra time. I
>>> don't need to tell you that extended time is not granted in the job
>>> world and this is becoming more real for me as I approach graduation
>>> and employment myself.
>>> I'm not trying to belittle anybody who uses extended time. I am just
>>> proposing that we reflect a little on what the extra time is
>>> specifically meant to accomplish, why we use it and whether or not it
>>> is actually helpful. I would propose that we make mindful decisions
>>> about when to accept extended time and that we aim to use it only when
>>> it is truly necessary and beneficial. In order to grow as students
>>> progressing toward employment, I think we should also be aware of why
>>> we are finding ourselves needing extra time and see if there are skill
>>> issues we might be able to address so that we need it less in the
>>> future. In my own case my weakness with tactile diagrams probably
>>> won't impact me much on the job, but a weakness in Braille reading
>>> speed or Web navigation is something that can be addressed with
>>> training and practice and addressing it can make a person much more
>>> competitive on the job, and able to get the job done as efficiently as
>>> sightedd colleagues.
>>> Best,
>>> Arielle
>>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Kaiti
> 
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