[nabs-l] Fwd: Fwd: Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult situations

Ryan Silveira ryan.l.silveira at gmail.com
Mon Aug 24 21:07:05 UTC 2015 

Hello,

Thank you for your e-mail.  I am currently on vacation and will return on the 7th of September, 2015.  I will periodically check my e-mail, but please do not expect an immediate response.  Thank you very much.


Ryan L. Silveira
חיים אהרן בן אברהם

On Aug 24, 2015, at 12:20 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hello Carlos,
> 
> I can definitely understand how it can sometimes be difficult to find
> solutions to a problem while feeling frustrated or overwhelmed by things.
> However, I have a few thoughts about how to go about accessing inaccessible
> documents as well as the discussion boards for your classes.
> 
> I think it is safe to say that most blind students run into problems
> accessing print materials for their classes. I know the inaccessible PDF
> documents pose a challenge for a number of people. I do not have any
> experience using the OCR function with JAWS, but it is definitely something
> worth considering.
> 
> There is also a free service out there called RoboBraille which may also
> help you convert your PDF documents into other file types such as a Word
> document. You can find out more about this service by visiting
> www.robrobraille.org for more information about this service. I have used it
> in the past, and felt it was a good solution for reading the PDF document I
> was trying to read at the time. Although, I cannot recall how accessible or
> inaccessible the PDF document was when I used RoboBraille to help me convert
> it to a format that was easier for me to use.
> 
> Also, there was a recent discussion on here about opening PDF documents in
> one of the online platform apps for the IPhone using the KNFB Reader app. I
> do not have any experience in accessing PDF documents this way, but thought
> I would mention it as a possibility if you have the KNFB Reader app on your
> IPhone. I hear it is a good investment if it is something you can afford.
> 
> Finally, perhaps you could find someone to help convert the PDF files you
> need into a more accessible format for you. I believe finding independent
> ways of doing things is usually the best route for anyone to take. However,
> as someone with a full time job in addition to taking classes, this option
> may help you make the most out of your time. Perhaps your disabilities
> office could do this for you, or perhaps you could get another classmate to
> do this for you in exchange for something else like sharing your class notes
> with this person.
> 
> As far as accessing the discussion boards for your class, I have a few ideas
> for this as well. If you have been testing out the online platform you will
> be using to see how well it works with JAWS, and you have not encountered
> any major problems during your testing, I suspect you should not have any
> major difficulty accessing and participating in the discussion board.
> However, if you do run into trouble, here are a few things for you to try.
> 
> First, if you can read the discussion board prompt, and you are asked to
> simply respond to this prompt, perhaps you could write out your response in
> a Word document and have someone else help you post your response to the
> discussion board. If you are not able to access the discussion prompt,
> perhaps you could ask your professor to email it to you until you are able
> to figure out how to access the discussion board. Responding to discussion
> boards where you need to respond to what other students say might be a bit
> more tricky than a single post discussion board, but you could still use
> these techniques to form your initial response.
> 
> I believe my college offers face-to-face sessions to teach students how to
> use the online platform system. They also provide a help desk number for
> students to call regarding computer questions for students using computers
> on campus as well as students using the online platform on computers off
> campus. While the people who provide this kind of assistance may not
> necessarily know much about using JAWS with the online platform, they might
> be able to help you figure out a way for you to use the online platform when
> you run into trouble while using it.
> 
> Finally, if your college offers any kind of tutoring service, you may wish
> to look into whether or not they could help you access the discussion boards
> if you have trouble using them. In addition to providing help with the
> technical aspects of posting to the discussion board, they could also help
> you draft your responses to the discussion board questions if writing is a
> challenge for you.
> 
> Hopefully some of these suggestions will help you with your concerns about
> returning to classes to complete your degree. If none of them seem to work
> for your particular situation, I hope these ideas will help spark some ideas
> of your own that will work for your particular situation. I wish you the
> best of luck in your classes, and I hope you can find a way to finish your
> degree.
> 
> Warm regards,
> Elizabeth
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carlos Montas
> via nabs-l
> Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 1:18 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at att.net>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: Fwd: Taking on line classes and overcoming
> difficult situations
> 
> Good evening Arielle I  appreciate you writing back to me.  I struggled with
> things like articles not being in the correct format so that I could read
> them. I am hoping that by using the new Jaws ocr utility that  this will no
> longer be an issue.   Another issue I had was the inability to participate
> with the various discussion boards on Blackboard. I attempted to use the
> Black-board tutorials but nothing seemed to work. As , mentioned before I
> have spent most of my time this summer testing the new system called Canvas.
> I know that no system is perfect and that their are going to be challenges.
> I just feel that because I work full time that I did not deal with these
> issues because I just got so frustrated  with them.  I feel that one of my
> issues is that I need to develop better problem solving skills  when it
> comes to technology issches that I might experience. Perhaps I am not able
> to communicate in writing as well. So please feel free to contact me off
> list.  Thanks again for writing in response to my questions.  
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Aug 23, 2015, at 6:23 PM, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Carlos. Your questions are fairly general so I'm not quite sure how 
> to advise. Could you maybe share a specific accessibility challenge 
> you've had and we could brainstorm some solutions? As far as time 
> management goes I think the best thing to think about is just how you 
> can break down your course assignments into manageable daily work 
> chunks, and then to designate a certain number of minutes each day to 
> work on those assignments (when you are not at your job). For example, 
> if you work 9-5, you might designate 6-8 p.m. each weekday and 1-5 
> p.m. each weekend day to working on school stuff. Then figure out how 
> much time you have to complete each assignment and divide that up into 
> daily allocations of work. For example if the class requires 40 pages 
> of reading and a quiz each week you might plan to do 5 pages of 
> reading each weeknight and the remaining 15 pages of reading on the 
> weekend and then take the quiz each Sunday afternoon. Another strategy 
> is to build an extra day into your schedule each week for "catch-up"
> and use that time to meet with a reader and go over anything 
> inaccessible or just get caught up on work for that week. These are 
> just general guidelines so if you want to share more specific details 
> I may be able to help more.
> Best, Arielle
> 
> On 8/23/15, Carlos Montas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Good afternoon I wanted to repost the following message because I 
> wanted some more feedback on some of the questions that I've asked. 
> Thank you so much and may you all have a wonderful start to the semester.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Carlos Montas via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Date: August 19, 2015 at 9:28:13 AM EDT
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at att.net>
> Subject: [nabs-l] Fwd: Taking on line classes and overcoming 
> difficult situations
> Reply-To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at gmail.com>
> Date: August 19, 2015 at 9:24:00 AM EDT
> To: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at att.net>
> Subject: Fwd: Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult 
> situations
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at gmail.com>
> Date: August 19, 2015 at 7:38:42 AM EDT
> To: "nabs-l at nfbnet.org" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Taking on line classes and overcoming difficult 
> situations
> 
> Good morning to all.  My name is Carlos Montas.  I have been a 
> member of this great organization for a long time now.  For those 
> of you who do not know I am a vocational rehabilitation counselor 
> and I am also pursuing my Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling 
> through the online program at the University of Kentucky.  I first 
> started this process in the fall of 2013.  However as my caseload 
> grew, and I ,began to experience accessability issues with 
> blackboard and  the like I became extremely frustrated. Now that I 
> have been on the job for 4 years now I have a better idea of what 
> I am doing as a counselor.  My question is as someone who is 
> working full time and at the same time going to school what kinds 
> of suggestions would you give me as it relates to time management 
> and dealing with possible accessability issues? The University of 
> Kentucky has moved from Blackboard to a system called Canvas.  I 
> have spent this summer testing the system out with Jaws and System 
> Access as well as with my mac.  So far I have not had issues with 
> Canvas in the testing enviroment.  I withdrew and now I am going to
> attempt to complete my Masters.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> I start class next week and because of my past I find my self 
> feeling extremely nervous.  I know that working and going to 
> school is challenging but I know it can be done I guess the 
> challenge will be for me to put my past behind me.  thanks for reading
> this post.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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