2001 Conference Proceedings
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UIUC Summer Computer Technology Camps for High School Student
with Disabilities
Jon Gunderson, Ph.D.
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
College of Applied Life Students
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
Rehabilitation Education Center
1207 S.Oak Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Abstract
The UIUC Summer computer camps are an opportunity for high school
students to explorer higher educational opportunities, learn
about assistive technologies and develop skills in using the WWW.
Two week long camps are offered: one for students with
significant visual impairments and the other for students with
orthopedic impairments. The camps provide hands on learning
experiences with computers and a chance for students to share
experiences with their peers, college students, faculty and staff
with similar disabilities. Students live in college dormitories
during their stay and also sample campus life through evening
recreational experiences including: quad rugby, bowling, theater,
picnics and swimming.
Introduction
The summer technology literacy camps were born out of a need seen
by both the Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
(DRES) and the State of Illinois Office of Rehabilitation
Services (ORS). Brad Hedrick the Director of DRES and Bob
Galbreath (UIUC campus ORS counselor) saw the need for improved
preparation of students with disabilities for post-secondary
education. Many students were not well prepared for the demands
of campus life and the issues of independently managing their
disabilities. Discussions initiated in the Fall of 1997 to
determine how DRES and ORS could work together to develop
programs that would prepare students with disabilities for
post-secondary education.
There were four main areas of need identified:
Improving the knowledge of post-secondary educational
opportunities by students with disabilities.
Independent computer literacy for reading, writing and accessing
print and electronic information.
Transitional services for orienting students to campus life.
Knowledge of disability accommodation laws for education and
employment.
Barriers
There are structural barriers for students with disabilities to
learn about post secondary opportunities. A few examples of
barriers include:
Universities and colleges do not providing accessible
recruitment materials to high schools, unless there is a specific
request for accessible materials.
Counselors and recruiters are not familiar with disability
accommodation services in post secondary education.
Patronizing educators often feel continued education would be
"too difficult", other educators are discriminatory and feel
people with disabilities are "not capable" of continued
education.
Students with disabilities do not have the skills to
independently work in a university environment, since many have
been dependent on surrogates for classroom accommodations. There
are many other examples of barriers, but in general there are
more structural and attitudinal barriers for students with
disabilities to attend post secondary education than for
able-bodied students with the same academic credentials.
Independent Literacy
For students who cannot type on a computer keyboard, write with a
pencil, see the print in books or images on a computer screen
independent literacy is a major issue. Most school districts
provide students with writing and reading impairments with
surrogates to provide access to print materials or for completing
writing assignments. This model is often convenient for both
student and the schools since the able-bodied surrogate can
easily adapt to the needs of the student and the curriculum needs
little (if any) modification. The schools do not need to invest
in assistive technologies and support resources that enhance
independent reading and writing development of the student. While
the surrogate model may work in schools it does not provide
students with essential skills upon graduation. Students who
graduate without the ability to independently read or write will
be severely limited in their opportunities. Employment
discrimination law (Americans with Disabilities Act) does not
require an employer to provide surrogates for reading or writing
and therefore students with disabilities need to develop
knowledge and skills in technologies that enhance their
independent literacy in order to enhance their future
opportunities.
Rights and Responsibilities
Many students and parents do not understand their rights and
responsibilities under existing disability law for primary,
secondary, post-secondary and employment. This puts the educators
and administrators in the leadership role for managing Individual
Educational Plans (IEPs) for educational accommodations. In many
cases educators don't have the necessary knowledge of assistive
technologies to enhance independence, and in other cases
administrators are reluctant to purchase technologies due to
scarce resources for purchasing and supporting assistive
technology without proven knowledge that the technology will be
used effectively. Parents and students need to know their rights
for technology evaluations and for the inclusion of assistive
technology as part of educational accommodations, if they are to
be an effective participant in the IEP process. The more
knowledge and skills parents and students have in assistive
technologies, the more effectively they can advocates for their
use of assistive technologies to enhance their
independence.
Transitional Issues
Students with disabilities have a more challenges than an
able-bodied student transitioning to post-secondary education. In
addition to normal transitional issues all students face,
students with disabilities also face additional issues related to
transportation, orientation to accessible routes to classes and
campus resources, conversion of educational materials to
accessible forms, independent management of disability related
personal care issues (i.e. managing personal attendants,
environmental control…). The more of these issues a
student has developed compensation skills before they start
school, the more they will be able to compete on an even footing
with their able-bodied peers.
Objectives of the Independent Literacy Camps
The camps are centered on the development of skills in the use of
assistive technology to augment their physical or sensory
abilities in order to independently read, create and transform
both print and electronic information. The camps are focused on
two disability groups: persons with significant upper extremity
impairments and persons with significant visual
impairments/blindness. These groups are targeted since they are
at the highest risk of not developing independent literacy skills
and their need for transitional services. More specifically, the
four main goals of the camp will be:
To Improve Awareness and Skills in Independent Literacy
Technologies Assist students in determining the types of
assistive technology that are most effective in meeting their
independent literacy and information access needs, and provide
hands-on training in the use and application of that technology.
Improve students' knowledge and skills in the use of the WWW via
active learning techniques, hands-on experiences and the creation
of personal WWW home pages. To provide transitional information
to students on post-secondary opportunities Orient students to
the career possibilities that may be achieved through
post-secondary education.
Orient students to campus life through tours and interaction with
current UIUC students with similar disabilities.
Increase students' knowledge regarding post secondary disability
accommodations.
Help students understand the process of admissions to
post-secondary institutions.
To Improve the Ability of Participants to Self-Advocate
Improve students' understanding of legislation related provision
of assistive technology within secondary and post-secondary
education, and employment settings. Improve students' ability to
advocate for themselves' regarding the inclusion of technology
for literacy and setting educational goals in their IEPs.
Camp Activities
Orientation to Higher Education Opportunities
The students lived at university residence halls during the camp
and had UIUC students with disabilities serve as residential
counselors. The students received tours of the libraries, digital
music lab, food and crop science laboratories and the NCSA
virtual reality cave. The students from the visual impairment
camps also attended the play the at the Krannert performing arts
center. Other evenings students went bowling at the student
union, played quad rugby, had a barbecue with UIUC students,
staff and faculty with similar disabilities. The students had
many opportunities to experience both the educational and
recreational resources of the university.
Picture of students and staff outside Beckman Research Institute
after touring the NCSA Virtual Reality Cave
Trying Assistive Technology
The campers were able to try a number of different assistive
technologies during the week. The following is a list of the
technologies that were demonstrated and available for students to
try during the camp:
Microsoft Windows Accessibility Options, Display options and
Mouse pointers Adjustable tables Alternative pointing devices:
Trackballs and ProPoint Large Monitors: 21" and 29" video
monitors used in low resolution graphics mode Screen
Magnification and Enhancement: Zoomtext Extra Screen Readers:
Henter-Joyce JAWS OCR Reading Software: Arkenstone Ruby, Kurzweil
3000 Word prediction software: Co:Writer, TextHelp: Read and
Write Voice input: Dragon Dictate and Dragon Naturally Speaking
Alternative Keyboard: TASH Mini-keyboard, BAT one-hand keyboard,
Intellikeys keyboard
Developing WWW Literacy Skills
Students learned how to access the WWW using Internet Explorer
with the JAWS screen reader, built-in accessibility options or
through Zoomtext. Students used Softquad HotMetal Pro to create
their own personal WWW home page. The WWW is becoming an
important literacy skill and students with these skills will have
more educational and employment opportunities, than students who
do not have these skills. Just like people with basic reading and
writing literacy skills, people with WWW literacy skills have
more educational and vocational opportunities. The students
created an on-line daily diary of their camp experiences and
published the results of their water balloon catapult predictions
on their home page. The students learned how to use elements like
headers, paragraphs, images and tables to create their WWW pages,
and how to transfer pages to a WWW server.
Higher Education Experience
The students participated in a water balloon launcher experiment.
The experiment required the students to collect data on the
distance a water balloon traveled based on the pressure and the
angle a balloon was launched. The students used the data to build
a mathematical model of the distance traveled using the software
Microsoft Excel. Each student used the model to predict the
distance a balloon would travel for 5 previously unmeasured
pressures and launch angles. The predictions were then tested by
comparing the predictions with actual distance measurements at
the test pressures and angles. The results were published on the
WWW home pages of each student. The visually impaired students
generated charts using Microsoft excel that were used to create
raised line drawings for the students to feel, complete with
Braille labels.
Picture of staff and campers launching water balloons with
accessible water balloon cannon
Picture of visually impaired student analyzing waterballoon
trajectory using raised tactile graphics generated from an Excel
spreadsheet they used to analyze their data.
Conclusion
Eighteen high school students participated in the 1999 camps and
22 students are expected to participate in the summer of 2000
camps from throughout the state of Illinois. The participants of
the camps included people of both genders, diverse racial, ethnic
and economic backgrounds. The 1999 students gave the camps very
high ratings and most wanted to increase the number of days of
the camp. Post camp surveys supported the camp staffs
observations that the camps were very successful in stimulating
interest in post secondary education, knowledge of assistive
technology for computer accessibility and their accommodation
rights.
More Information
http://www.rehab.uiuc.edu/camp
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Illionois Office of Rehabilitation
Services and the University of Illinois Partnership Illinois
project for supporting the development of the summer camps.
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