Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Week Seven - Assistive Technology
Assistive technology is defined as “any piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercial off the shelf, modified, or customised that is used to increase or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities” (Cook & Hussey, 2000)
During the assistive technology tutorial the piece of adaptive equipment I chose to use while making scones was a wobble switch. A wobble switch come in different sizes, long and short, can be attached to a small base that can be sat on a table or wheelchair tray, or with a bracket that can be attached to the edge of a table or wheelchair. Used with people who don't have controlled movements, they just need to hit it once and what it is attached to will start and hit it again and the item will stop. It means you don't have to hold the switch down to make something go and because it is long you don't have to hit in the same exact place every time. A wobble switch can vary in cost between $100 and $400 depending on size and what it can be attached to.
A wobble switch increases functional capacity by allowing the people who wouldn't normally be able to participate in an activity due to uncontrolled movements, not being able to hold onto an object, or turn or press a switch, to be able to participate.
A wobble switch was used in the tutorial to make scones with a range of switches. By using the wobble switch I was able to realise the benefits of the switch. It was long which meant I didn't have to reach far for it, it was coloured brightly which would make it easier to see for people with visual deficits and was light which meant not a lot of strength was required to turn the switch on. All in all it was a very valuable piece of technology.
During the assistive technology tutorial the piece of adaptive equipment I chose to use while making scones was a wobble switch. A wobble switch come in different sizes, long and short, can be attached to a small base that can be sat on a table or wheelchair tray, or with a bracket that can be attached to the edge of a table or wheelchair. Used with people who don't have controlled movements, they just need to hit it once and what it is attached to will start and hit it again and the item will stop. It means you don't have to hold the switch down to make something go and because it is long you don't have to hit in the same exact place every time. A wobble switch can vary in cost between $100 and $400 depending on size and what it can be attached to.
A wobble switch increases functional capacity by allowing the people who wouldn't normally be able to participate in an activity due to uncontrolled movements, not being able to hold onto an object, or turn or press a switch, to be able to participate.
A wobble switch was used in the tutorial to make scones with a range of switches. By using the wobble switch I was able to realise the benefits of the switch. It was long which meant I didn't have to reach far for it, it was coloured brightly which would make it easier to see for people with visual deficits and was light which meant not a lot of strength was required to turn the switch on. All in all it was a very valuable piece of technology.
Week Six - Community
The online community I am going to discuss is Facebook (www.facebook.com). Facebook is an online social networking site launched in February 2004. Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college. Anybody can join Facebook as long as they are over 13 years old, Facebook is recognised worldwide and is multilingual. The site is highly interactive, being able to chat online with friends, or view others profiles and leave posts. Facebook allows you to decide upon your own privacy settings, ranging from allowing anybody to see all your information to completely private and only allowing friends to view your profile. This is good as it allows you to be private ad not let the whole world find information out about you. Many people on Facebook use it as a means to keep in contact with friends or reunite with people they haven't seen in a long time, or some people use it meet others. There are a wide range of topics discussed on Facebook, ranging from political views, cultural views, joke pages sports or events. There is most definitely something on there that everybody will enjoy. The only downside that Facebook can not provide that a real community can is the physical contact with people, however I think that is the reason people enjoy Facebook so much. The are able to stay in contact with the people they wouldn't normally meet in a real community situation or that they are not able to meet in person, such as a family in another country.
Week Four & Five - Video Production
Youtube
“Was founded in February 2005, YouTube is the world's most popular online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small” (http://www.youtube.com/t/about)
Story Boards
For the past two weeks tutorials we had to plan, film and edit a short movie. It was to be based on an issue we faced and only a couple of minutes long. We began by using a story board. This was very useful to see the whole movie and to plan each individual shot of scene. It made the filming a lot easier as we could follow the story, but also see all the scenes that needed to be shot in a certain environment to prevent from going back and forwards between scenes. The Story board was also very useful when it came to editing the scenes, as they were all out of order from filming it was easy to watch the scene see where it was on the story board and place it in order on the computer. The movie has been posted in an earlier posting.
“Was founded in February 2005, YouTube is the world's most popular online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small” (http://www.youtube.com/t/about)
Story Boards
For the past two weeks tutorials we had to plan, film and edit a short movie. It was to be based on an issue we faced and only a couple of minutes long. We began by using a story board. This was very useful to see the whole movie and to plan each individual shot of scene. It made the filming a lot easier as we could follow the story, but also see all the scenes that needed to be shot in a certain environment to prevent from going back and forwards between scenes. The Story board was also very useful when it came to editing the scenes, as they were all out of order from filming it was easy to watch the scene see where it was on the story board and place it in order on the computer. The movie has been posted in an earlier posting.
Week Three - Blogs
Just found out about this website today in class and discovered that Blogger.com was made to allow people to voice their own perspectives and opinions on a wide range of topics. A blogger is able to attach movies, pictures and games on their blogs that others can watch and view, and of course upload their opinions through their blog.
So far done two of the above, attached photos with my Flickr badge and uploaded my opinions.
So far done two of the above, attached photos with my Flickr badge and uploaded my opinions.
Week Two - Digital Cameras
Digital cameras have many good and bad things about them.
Some of the pluses are...
You can view the pictures you have taken immediately.
You can delete any photos you don't like, either immediately or later on.
Digital cameras can store more photos, up to there 100's, compared to film cameras that can only hold about 30.
Digital photos can be uploaded onto a computer and can be edited and all stored in the same place.
Can be viewed easily.
Some of the minuses are...
Need to upgrade technology often
Can only view photos if they can be uploaded onto computer and has compatible programme.
If computer breaks you can lose all photos
To get full benefits from digital camera can cost a lot of money for all the technology.
Digital photos are great for sharing with others and being able to edit them. They can be stored on websites such as Flickr or Photobucket. Flickr is a photo and video storage website, where users are able to create accounts and upload and share photos and videos with others. Photobucket is very similar and provides the same services. There are also sites such as Picnik and systems like Photoshop, where you can upload photos and edit and manipulate photos to change and enhance the picture.
With doing this ethical issues can arise, such as getting permission from the person or people in the photo, to take the photo and upload it onto a site such as website. With using sources like this you run the risk of having your photo used by others without your knowledge.
Digital photos are being used to document areas for housing modifications, e.g. bathrooms and ramps. They are also being used to document clients progress, e.g. taking a photo at the first session and after a few weeks to see how much the client has improved.
I never knew the difference between optical and digital zoom until the course, but now I know...
Optical zoom, is what I originally think of as zoom, it brings or brings a photo closer, generally keeping photo quality. Where as digital zoom essentially crops a part of a photo and enlarges this which causes the photo to lose its quality.
Megapixels
A megapixel is 1 million pixels. Megapixels describes the resolution of a camera, the higher the pixel number the clearer the picture. A pixel is each individual 2D square of a picture, so the more of them there are the clearer edges of pictures will be and the easier to edit and zoom into photos.
Some of the pluses are...
You can view the pictures you have taken immediately.
You can delete any photos you don't like, either immediately or later on.
Digital cameras can store more photos, up to there 100's, compared to film cameras that can only hold about 30.
Digital photos can be uploaded onto a computer and can be edited and all stored in the same place.
Can be viewed easily.
Some of the minuses are...
Need to upgrade technology often
Can only view photos if they can be uploaded onto computer and has compatible programme.
If computer breaks you can lose all photos
To get full benefits from digital camera can cost a lot of money for all the technology.
Digital photos are great for sharing with others and being able to edit them. They can be stored on websites such as Flickr or Photobucket. Flickr is a photo and video storage website, where users are able to create accounts and upload and share photos and videos with others. Photobucket is very similar and provides the same services. There are also sites such as Picnik and systems like Photoshop, where you can upload photos and edit and manipulate photos to change and enhance the picture.
With doing this ethical issues can arise, such as getting permission from the person or people in the photo, to take the photo and upload it onto a site such as website. With using sources like this you run the risk of having your photo used by others without your knowledge.
Digital photos are being used to document areas for housing modifications, e.g. bathrooms and ramps. They are also being used to document clients progress, e.g. taking a photo at the first session and after a few weeks to see how much the client has improved.
I never knew the difference between optical and digital zoom until the course, but now I know...
Optical zoom, is what I originally think of as zoom, it brings or brings a photo closer, generally keeping photo quality. Where as digital zoom essentially crops a part of a photo and enlarges this which causes the photo to lose its quality.
Megapixels
A megapixel is 1 million pixels. Megapixels describes the resolution of a camera, the higher the pixel number the clearer the picture. A pixel is each individual 2D square of a picture, so the more of them there are the clearer edges of pictures will be and the easier to edit and zoom into photos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)