The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre). Welcome Back One & All!!!
I gotter say, I had a spectacular holiday which included lots of reading, family, house painting, sorting (the life administration variety), circus skills classes, gardening, camping, friends, food and almost enough relaxation. The cooler days agreed with me – though I know all you sun lovers out there are wishing for The Actual SUMMER.
Everyone I have seen so far seems to have had pretty good holidays on the whole – there have been excellent overseas trips, marriages, new grandchildren born, people finding new partners (!!!) and lots of students hearing about their entry into tertiary courses – see below for some details!
Make sure and check the 2004 PD calendar which is packed full of goodies for everyone – Visiting Teachers, school personnel, parents and students!
Happy 2004 and happy term 1! And hope to see you all soon!
For the complete list of SVRC offerings for 2004 please go to: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/PD2004.html
Please remember to enrol: tel 9841 0242, fax 9841 0878 or email svrc@svrc.vic.edu.au
The following events will be held in term 1:
Term 1 Professional Development Event |
Date |
| Visiting Teacher Day | Tuesday 10 February |
| Educational Support for VCE Students with Vision Impairments (low vision and blind students) – Years 9, 10, 11 and 12 – for subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, careers teachers, therapists, parents VTs and students | Monday 23 February |
| O&M Morning Linden Woodruff, Guide Dogs Victoria |
Wednesday 25 February |
| Educational Support for Blind Students – for class and subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, therapists, parents and VTs supporting students who utilise braille | Tuesday 9 March |
| Mountbatten Workshop (For ‘Users’) 10am-12.30pm Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology |
Thursday 18 March |
| Educational Support for Students with Low Vision For class and subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, therapists, parents and VTs supporting students who have low vision (Maximum 80) |
Friday 26 March |
Prepared by Denise Probert, July 2003
The first ‘Come N Try Day’ for Blind Sports Victoria, funded by ANZ, has been organised for term 1, 2004.
When: Thursday 4th March 2004
Time: 10am - 2.30pm (final time may vary slightly)
Where: Vision Australia Foundation 454 Glenferrie Road Kooyong
3144
Cost: A Gold Coin Donation would be appreciated
Activities: cricket, golf, goalball, swish & more!
Registration is essential: see contact details below
The program is as follows:
For further details, please contact: Hazel Hockley, Coordinator of Come N Try
Days
Tel: (H) 9725 8039 or 0412 224242; email: fruitnnut@bigfoot.com.au
This is an exciting opportunity specifically for educators, therapists, and eye specialists who work with young children, ages birth to five, with CVI and presented by the VIISA Outreach Project, SKI-HI Institute, Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
Dr Hyvarinen, world renown Finnish paediatric ophthalmologist, is best known for her development of vision assessment tools for infants and children with multiple disabilities.
Webcast lectures (one hour each)
Lectures will be posted on the website at weekly intervals beginning Friday, March 26, 2004. Once posted, lectures may be viewed at any time while they remain posted (approximately two weeks). This assures that all participants may view the lectures at a convenient time or repeat the viewing if desired.
Webcast features
To register
All participants must register. The fee is US$50 for all five lectures. For easy registration and more details on the webcast series, Dr. Hyvarinen, or the sponsors, log on to: www.ksar.usu.edu/leacvi
At this time, the site is still under construction, but it will be operational by Feb. 9, 2004 for registration.
“VCE: Successful study techniques” offers a comprehensive list of successful study techniques that may be useful for your senior students (source unfortunately unknown). The subheadings include:
Go to: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/study.html
RVIB has several education seminars planned for the year including:
1. Accessing the arts – programs to include students
with vision impairment
The focus of the day will be on drama, music and art.
Topics include: teaching strategies, adapting the curriculum, alternative formats
for music (audio, braille and large print) and skills acquisition.
Date: Tuesday 9 March 2004; 9.00am-4.00pm
2. Including students with vision impairments in physical education
programs
Topics include: teaching strategies, gross motor development, recreation, competition,
skills acquisition, integrated games and activities. Please wear loose comfortable
clothing.
Date: Tuesday 9 March 2004; 9.00am-4.00pm
3. Students who are blind and vision impaired in the early years
Topics include: acquisition of literacy and numeracy through braille and large
print, teaching strategies, adapting materials in alternate formats, demonstrations
of equipment and adaptive technologies, issues of socialisation and developing
independence.
Date: Wednesday 10 March 2004; 8.45am-4.30pm
4. Students who are vision impaired with additional disabilities
Topics include: multi-disciplinary approach to education, flexible enrolment
options, teaching strategies, behaviour management, adaptive materials and developing
independence.
Date: Wednesday 10 March 2004; 8.45 am-4.30 pm
5. Students who are blind and vision impaired in the middle years
Topics include: teaching strategies, adapting materials in alternate formats,
demonstrations of equipment and adaptive technologies, issues of socialisation,
and developing independence, and issues relating to transition from primary
to secondary school.
Date: Thursday 11 March 2004 8.45am-4.00pm
6. Towards the VCE - students with vision impairments in the senior
years
Topics include: teaching strategies, adapting materials in alternate formats,
demonstrations of equipment and adaptive technologies, issues of socialisation,
developing independence, preparation and special examination arrangements (VCAA
guidelines).
Date: Friday 12 March 2004 2.00pm-8.00pm
A meal will be available at a cost of $10.00
Further information
For additional information contact: Rachel Grealy RVIB Education Centre 333
Burwood Highway, Burwood 3125
Tel: 9808 6422; fax: 9808 2194; email: grealra@rvib.org.au
The Victorian sub-committee of the Australian Braille Authority is holding a forum on the Future of Braille Codes in Australia. They are keen to achieve as much input from a wide representation of people as possible.
When: Saturday 7th February 2004; 2.00-5.00pm
Where: Day Centre, Vision Australia, 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong
Public transport: via 69 tram and Kooyong train station
Entry: via red doors at top of roundabout
Cost: free
Why: to discuss options for future braille codes to be used in Australia which will also give guidance to the Australian delegation attending the third general assembly of the ICEB (International Council on English Braille) in March 2004.
Format: background talk on UEBC (Unified English Braille Code)
and its developments over the last couple of years, and a summary of key points
by Bill Jolley as outlined in his paper ‘Braille Codes At The Crossroads’
(available on request).
Discussion by four guest speakers from different backgrounds to address the
topic of ‘Are Australian codes meeting Australia’s needs?’
they include the following perspectives: Gillian Gale, educator; Allen Egerton,
braille producer; Louise Pearson, a recreational braille reader; and Jason White,
a student.
Open forum discussion following afternoon tea where input from braille users, transcribers, proofreaders and teachers is sought. The ABA is keen for this forum to be an inclusive consultation process involving many braille readers. Important decisions about braille codes to be used in Australia must be made and therefore attendance is strongly recommended in order to give guidance to the delegation attending the ICEB meeting in March this year.
RSVP: ASAP to Leona Holloway for catering purposes and also if you would like a copy of the paper ‘Braille Codes at the Crossroads’. Email: Leona.Holloway@nils.org.au or tel: (03) 9864 9701
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, November 2003
National Information Library Services has relocated to 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong. Member Liaison Team contact details (between the hours of 8.30 am to 6.00 pm EST) Monday to Friday is 1300 654 656, fax 03 9864 9677 or email library@nils.org.au
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, November 2003
ANSWD promotes an equitable learning environment for all tertiary students including those with disabilities. ANSWD has an email discussion list for students to discuss educational and broader social issues related to their disability status.
To subscribe to the list, send an email to Majordomo@mail-g.deakin.edu.au
with ‘subscribe anzswd-list’ somewhere in the message (without quotes).
If you wish to send a message to the discussion list address it to anzswd-list@deakin.edu.au
Additional information about ANSWD can be obtained from the web site www.deakin.edu.au/answd
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, November 2003
Blind World is an online magazine which selects items that are relevant to
people who are vision impaired. Some of the online catalogues include: national
news, international news, people, places and things, guide dog and puppy raiser
stories, blind sports, athletics and recreation, medical news and blindness
research, products and gadgets for the blind, eye health and care.
Visit Blind World at: www.home.earthlink.net/~blindworld/
Source: OzBrl Discussion List (responses from Josie Howse and Bruce Maguire)
There are a number of options for producing braille when only having the use of one hand. A technology assessment is recommended to determine the best option for the individual.
Source: LiveWire, December 2003
How Many Books Can You Carry in Your Pocket?
Using the amazing new BookCourier you can carry a whole bunch of books and magazines and articles in your pocket, as well as your favourite music. BookCourier is a really small and convenient way to have all of your reading materials with you at all times.
BookCourier can speak electronic text files, voice files as well as music files. As supplied it can store up to 128 MB of data at any time, but this can be upgraded to 1 GB of memory at any time.
There is a rapidly growing collection of text and music materials available today from a variety of sources on the World Wide Web; some are by subscription and some are free. Once you have downloaded this material to your PC, BookCourier software enables you to transfer these files directly into the BookCourier, so that you can take all that reading and listening material with you wherever you go. BookCourier runs on 2 regular AA batteries and is supplied with headphones, a cable and software for the PC.
In addition BookCourier has a built-in voice recorder that lets you record your own audio files, like those important to-do lists and phone numbers. A built-in sleep timer means you can drift off to sleep listening to your favourite music, and also use BookCourier’s alarm to wake you up again!
BookCourier has been designed to be fully accessible to blind and vision impaired users, and includes easy to use controls for adjusting volume, reading speed and a whole lot more.
BookCourier has a special introductory price of $695 and we have data sheets available with full details on all the things this excellent tool can do. Please give Quantum Technology a call if you are interested to know more: tel (03) 9585 3277 or email tboyd@quantech.com.au
Reviewed by Lyn Robinson
Spinout Stories are a collection of high interest stories with related activities for students in the upper primary to lower secondary sector. They have been produced as a kit which contains four booklets and a CD. The graphics and print are quite clear and bold and of particular interest to teachers of students with low vision is the fact that the stories on the CD have auditory output in an Australian voice. Different fonts can be used according to student’s preference.
Each story is produced in three levels of difficulty. The teacher can select the level of difficulty for the student.
There are word games and cloze activities at the end of each story to reinforce the words used in the text. These games also use bold print and the layout is simple and clear.
One of the activities also allows the student to type their own version of the story in a text box under the picture. All of the stories have audio output; the stories are pre-recorded and have a natural voice. In the sections where the student writes their own stories the text-to-speech engine on the computer is used and the commands can be accessed by mouse or by hitting the return key. There are two packs in the series, a Blue Pack and a Red Pack.
Stories in the Blue Pack include:
Stories in the Red Pack include:
Activities: Blue Pack
Activities: Red Pack
Available from: Louise Ryan mobile: 0411 663 829
Greygum Software http://www.greygum.com.au
Cost: $150.00 Single User – Windows + Mac dual format CD
Source: Victorian ABA Minutes, December 2003
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has developed an educational web site to encourage literacy among all children - sighted and those who are vision impaired - with games, graphics and a book reading club. It’s aimed at those in grades two to six.
Go to: http://www.afb.org/braillebug
Source: Technology Update from Spectronics, December 2003
Research indicates that when students select their own books to read, their literacy levels improve. ‘My Own Bookshelf’ gives your students the ability to select their own electronic books from their own customised bookshelf and read them as often as they wish.
It is a very easy-to-use program for creating talking books – a few simple steps and you have created books which can be selected from the bookshelf and independently read by students who are using a mouse, touchscreen, IntelliKeys or switches. The program also keeps track of which books each student selects and how long they spend reading.
The My Own Bookshelf Book Reader included with the program means that it is also possible to share the books with other students who do not have the full version of My Own Bookshelf program installed on their computer.
For more information, contact Spectronics: tel (07) 3808 6833 or www.spectronicsinoz.com
Information Access is important to all people who have a print disability, and has many dimensions, including format (braille, large print, e-text, etc), and facilities (libraries, websites, agencies, educational institutions, etc). At the 2004 National Conference, we will explore the nexus between global trends in information access, and the requirements and contexts that operate at the local level across and within these various dimensions. Some of the topics that we hope to include, and which would be appropriate subjects for presentations, are:
Conference aims
To share information about the latest developments in the provision of accessible information
Conference details
When: Saturday 15 to Tuesday 18 May 2004
Where: Carlton Crest Hotel, Sydney NSW
Call for papers: Submission of abstracts
If you are interested in presenting at the conference, you’ll need to submit a 200-word abstract by email to the Convenor of the Conference Planning Committee by Friday 30 January.
For further details contact Bruce Maguire: tel (02) 9868 2784 or email: bruceonline@ozemail.com.au
Mimio Xi is lightweight, portable and affordable digital whiteboard recorder. Mimio fits easily into any standard laptop bag or large pencil case and can easily be moved from classroom to classroom or building to building.
The Mimio capture bar can be attached to any standard whiteboard. When the teacher writes on the whiteboard with mimio stylus whiteboard markers, the image is transferred to the student’s laptop, allowing students with vision impairments to view whiteboard notes as they are recorded in colour and real-time. The Zoom feature allows magnification of the image – word, equation or diagram. Size of print, thickness of line and colour can be customized for the student. With the VCR-like playback feature, students can rewind and replay notes, stroke-by-stroke, at their own pace.
Visiting teacher Jeni Blake is again negotiating with Australian Presentation Systems for a bulk education price and also for a linkWIRELESS interface module for the Mimio Xi as an upgrade option. The linkWIRELESS interface, available for approximately $400 around April 2004, will consist of:
Education pack – Bulk purchase
Purchase currently includes:
Depending on the number of units ordered, the cost will be $1200-$1450 plus postage. To place your order, please fax the following information to Jeni Blake on: (03) 9782 3012:
DO NOT SEND MONEY TILL WE INVOICE YOU AS FINAL PRICE WILL DEPEND ON QUANTITY.
For further details please see www.svrc.vic.edu.au/MIMIO.htm or contact Jeni on 0428 134660.
If you would like to view a PowerPoint presentation of one student’s use of the Mimio in the classroom, prepared by Lea Nagel, please contact the SVRC.
Please call for copies of the following articles:
Excerpt: …they flew to Huntsville Alabama – and were immediately absorbed into the vibrant, tight-knit organization of the Space Camp. The students were assigned to one of several teams, depending on their age and school level. Students had busy schedules planned for them and worked full days from 6.30am until returning to their dormitories after 10pm each night. Like the other students, Lachlan was involved in two ‘space missions’. In one, he was the capsule commander and had to relay orders from his ‘superiors’ to the crew in the shuttle. In the other he had to construct a giant pyramid out of PVC… [Education Times, 4 December 2003]
Excerpt: …Along with their blindness, the brothers inherited an engineering company … Draffin Inwell employs 40 people in its four Bayswater factories, designing and manufacturing street and parkland furniture such as street signs, park benches, rubbish bins, bicycle racks, tree guards and lifting equipment… “It’s a tough way to learn, but going blind has taught me to look on the bright side. Can’t see it, of course, but I can look.” [The Age, 3 February 2004]
Excerpt: …Things were not easy for me, but by the time I had completed my program I had gained the skills (but, most important, the confidence) to succeed.
The most challenging thing for me while I was at the center was travel. The breakthrough came when I did my drop, where a staff member drops the student off from a car in an unfamiliar place. I remember thinking, “I don't think I can do this.” I walked for about a block before coming across a bus stop. From then on I knew I was going to do just fine. I got on the bus and got off at the light rail station and took the light rail to the Littleton downtown station. When I got to the center, I had an extraordinary feeling of exhilaration. I had done it! I didn’t think I could travel, yet I had found my way back to the center from an unfamiliar place. I felt on top of the world…
Do you know this person???
A teacher, preferably with vision impairment qualifications or an interest in the field, who would like to work in areas like:
If so – please call Deb Lewis – 9841 0242 or email deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au – no promises, though...
There is an expression of interest for a position of Advisory Visiting Teacher (Vision) in the Northern Territory that is likely to be available for 2004.
For details of this position please contact Susan Luong-Van, Manager Remote
on (08) 8999 8723.
Applications close on 4/02/2004.
Thanks to Jeni Blake for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to proof-readers Lea Nagel and Dianne Skillern.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).