[Trainer-Talk] Helping iDEVICE-using students get organized

Wed Sep 21 01:53:18 UTC 2016

Hello,

I think as trainers, no matter whether we are in rehabilitation or education, we need to constantly be talking with students about what technology our sighted peers are using for what tasks. They need to understand the pitfalls of using an iDevice for extensive editing. We may want to, as an organization, do some timed comparisons of specific tasks on a computer and on other devices, Chromebooks, Android, iDevices and Mac. I think the huge diversity in technology is going to eventually confuse and impair more than just blind users. Sighted kids who graduate with little experience on the operating system there employer uses will need to relearn things they thought they already knew.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 20, 2016, at 3:45 PM, Nimer Jaber via Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I believe that organizing in this manner takes a different type of a
> mindset, and is something that students should begin learning and doing at
> an early age. Cloud storage works great. I have asked various disability
> coordinators at universities what their views are about students that come
> in and insist on doing everything with an iPhone or any other mobile
> device... The response I remember the most vividly is "it is a recipe for
> disaster".
> 
> I strongly recommend that students learn the use of a PC, and they utilize
> mobile devices where practical. On a mobile device, one of the first
> lessons we work on after basic navigation is the ability to create folders
> I like folders and organization, but this concept is pretty difficult for
> some students to grasp. Still, with patience and persistence, it is
> possible. The earlier these lessons are hammered in, the better off the
> student is, and the more prepared they are to be efficient. It is important
> to note though that it is a stylistic thing... some people in general are
> more cluttered, and some are not. This applies to anyone, blind or not.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> On Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 3:15 PM Marianne Denning via Trainer-Talk <
> trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
>> A computer and an iDevice are totally separate tools.  Each is important
>> and has its place in a tool kit. I am a TVI who teaches technology to high
>> school students. Many of them fight me every step of the way when I insist
>> that they learn to use a Windows based computer with JAWS but there are
>> tasks students can accomplish with Windows and JAWS that an iDevice won't
>> do. How do they complete Powerpoints, research papers, math assignments...?
>> I love my iPhone and wouldn't be without it but it is very slow when it
>> comes to certain tasks and just won't do the job when it comes to others.
>> Sometimes I want the rehab counselors to go to school as a blind student to
>> find out what needs we really have. Okay, I am finished ranting.
>> 
>> On Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 3:13 PM, Greg Aikens via Trainer-Talk <
>> trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Debee,
>>> Good question. My initial inclination is to agree with you that these
>>> tasks are much easier on a computer, be it Mac or Windows and that
>> students
>>> should learn how to use a computer. However, technology continues to
>> trend
>>> toward mobile computing and more and more is possible on these devices.
>>> 
>>> I think many of the skills you describe can be applied to your students'
>>> cloud based storage system of choice. Could you help students learn how
>> to
>>> organize their files and resources into different folders in their
>> Dropbox,
>>> Google Drive, or One Drive? These systems have all been integrated into
>> IOS
>>> so that when you open an attachment, you can choose to send it to
>> Dropbox,
>>> etc.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> Greg Aikens
>>> Senior Assistive Technology Instructor
>>> Center for the Visually Impaired
>>> 739 West Peachtree Street NW
>>> Atlanta, GA 30308
>>> 404-875-9011 ext. 4285
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> CVI empowers those with vision loss to live with independence and
>> dignity.
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Trainer-Talk [mailto:trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Deborah Armstrong via Trainer-Talk
>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 3:03 PM
>>> To: Trainer-Talk at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: Deborah Armstrong <armstrongdeborah at fhda.edu>
>>> Subject: [Trainer-Talk] Helping iDEVICE-using students get organized
>>> 
>>> So another discussion question for the list. More and more of my BVI
>>> students are using iDEVICES exclusively, and I've noticed they are a lot
>>> less organized than students who used computers in the past. I work
>>> preparing alternate media at a community college but because I am blind I
>>> am often an informal trainer for new students.
>>> 
>>> I love my iPHONE but when I take classes,I do serious work on my laptop.
>> I
>>> might read the textbook on my phone, or take a few rough notes, but I
>> keep
>>> a separate folder for each class on my laptop and back it up regularly to
>>> cloud storage. In to that folder I dump all sorts of stuff, the textbook,
>>> the instructor's syllabus, slides and handouts, login credentials for
>>> online courseware, saved snippets from online research and of course my
>> own
>>> notes. I also keep a text file with the instructor's contact info, office
>>> hours, office location, textbook information, names of friendly
>> classmates
>>> and their contact info and other general info about the course. My system
>>> of organization resembles how I used to stay organized before computers
>>> with reel tapes and Braille!
>>> 
>>> But to be relevant to today's young people, I need to have tips for being
>>> this orderly with an iDEVICE. Students tell me their rehab counselor
>> won't
>>> buy them a laptop; they want to buy iPADS instead. Or they tell me their
>>> uncle bought them an iPAD and now rehab feels they don't need a computer.
>>> For them, using a computer is old-fashioned and most of them simply won't
>>> push to purchase or qualify for one.
>>> 
>>> But just because you know VoiceOver doesn't mean you know how to study
>>> with the iDEVICE. For one example, my students get most material, class
>>> handouts and syllabai emailed to them by me or the instructor. So now
>> it's
>>> all in their inbox, and they have to hunt through thousands of emails to
>>> find something.
>>> 
>>> If I get an email from an instructor I save it to a text file, save the
>>> attachments separately and put all of that in to the relevant class
>> folder.
>>> At work, I use Outlook rules and folders intensively. At home,
>>> Thunderbird's folders also keep my email from course discussion boards
>>> organized.
>>> 
>>> But,   For my students, Outlook and Thunderbird are foreign concepts;
>>> they've always done everything with email using just their iPAD or
>> iPHONE!
>>> 
>>> Anyway, I'm really feeling for these young people who get so overwhelmed
>>> coping with their courses mainly because they seem to have absolutely no
>>> idea how to organize and easily locate information inside their
>> materials.
>>> 
>>> What are your thoughts?
>>> 
>>> --Debee
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>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
>> Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
>> (513) 607-6053
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