A Clear Vision: Affordable Camera for VI Students

Hey Tek-Ninjas! Recently I went to a local conference called NCTIES here in Raleigh, NC. This is not the type of conference I typically attend, but I may add it to my roster from here out. NCTIES is primarily geared for our gen-ed students, and I typically attend the special ed oriented conferences. Turns out, I have been missing a lot of terrific opportunities.

As I was walking through the vendor area I stumbled upon the Ipevo booth.

Let me backtrack for a moment. One of the great frustrations I, and others experience in the world of Special Needs, is how expensive things can be. There is always a argument (possibly legitimate) about the small volume of production or the R & D driving up costs. Regardless, equipment is often really pricey. For example, I have some portable "video magnifiers" which cost over $2,000 which we use with a few of our students with significant vision issues. I chafe at the cost every time I look at the device.

So. Back to Ipevo. They sell a range of document cameras, along with other technologies. They DO NOT bill themselves as selling products for visually impaired students. But, nonetheless, I was curious to compare. Their products are a fraction of the price. My question was, would they do the job?

After sharing my thought process with the very knowledgable and friendly sales rep, Alex, he sent me away with a couple of cameras and an interactive whiteboard system to test.

So far I've been very impressed. As was our Visual Impairment Teacher (VI). She was quite frankly astonished. Refer to Fig. 2 for a side-by-side comparison

Figure 2

For enlarging work at a student's desk, we found the Ipevo camera did a good job (refer to Fig. 3 for 12x magnification). Where it struggled some, was magnifying work from the whiteboard (not what it is designed for), which the un-named camera did a great job.

Figure 3

There is also a question of durability over a few years. Middle and high school students will take their camera out of a backpack, set it up, break it down, and stuff it back into their pack easily 5+ times a day. The Ipevo camera is metal, with a high grade plastic neck and three hinges. It seems durable, but the more expensive competition is all metal with no hinges. But lets be honest, if the Ipevo product needed to be replaced every few years, it's still a pittance of the cost, and then you get the newest upgrades!

I am getting ready to assign the Ipevo camera to a student with visual impairment. He's an elementary student, so there is no issue of changing classes. Our VI teacher has given me the go ahead with regards to the magnification being sufficient. We will monitor the student's success with the device, and report back. 

I'm also interested in the iZiggi-HD Document camera by Ipevo, as it works wirelessly with iPads. I may have to try one of those next! Also, I ordered a magnifying lens for $19, which screws onto the bottom of any of Ipevo's document cameras, adding an additional 2X magnification. I'll report on that, when it arrives. 

Hajime!

Guest Blogger! ArtSee Studio iPad App & ArtSee Studio Case

One advantage of working in a school system is there are often very talented veterans I get to rub elbows with and learn from. Donna Swahlan, is one of those veteran Occupational Therapists. She works with our pre-k students, and is an endless font of wisdom. When asked if she might like to write a post she came back with the following:

Purpose of App:

ArtSee Studio is basically an art app that allows children to draw, stamp, move objects, make

use of various “themes”, and apply sounds to artwork. It also has Activities and Games including Odd One Out (think about the question, Which one does not belong?),  Association (Which items go together?), Coloring, and Connect the Dot activities. It may be best suited for children 2.5-7 depending on what features are being used and the child’s skill level.

The app is free on the app store (with some in app purchases) and can be used independently.  However, additionally, there is a plastic “case” that can be purchased here for between $10 and $20.

Tools (Digital tools in the app and also physical tools in the case):

• Doodlee: (Green and Black Stylus) A drawing tool that can be used like a traditional crayon, marker etc, but can also be used horizontally on its side to add textures to a picture.
• Stampee: (Purple Star/Flower shape): Stamp down with this tool to add characters and objects to artwork.
• Funnee: (Long Orange rectangle shape): Allows user to change the theme. Themes that come with the app include Vehicles, Safari and Underwater.
• Pointee: (Green Arrow shaped tool): Allows the user to move (run, jump, drive etc) and create a path for the object being moved. This tool draws a dotted/dashed pathway as the tool is moved and once the tool is taken off the screen then the object (like the vehicle or animal) moves and follows the drawn path.
• Rollee: (Blue smaller rectangle shape) allows user to add background art and patterns to the artwork.
• Melodee: (Pink Music Notes) Allows user to add sound and animation to the various stamped objects.

Additional Features and Possibilities:

A user can import photos into the app and use these as part of their artwork. An example of using this feature is to take a full body picture of a child, import the photo and then have the child “draw” himself on top of the photo. The children I have done this with have LOVED this! Additional thoughts I have had about possibilities include taking a photo of an object such as a table and have children move objects on, under, next to the table. Take a picture of a toy garage and move the digital vehicles into the garage teaching perceptual, space and directional concepts and supporting the language goals of our speech therapy friends. You get the idea. Really the possibilities are potentially quite endless.

The app has typical features for saving to a library, sharing by email (could be used to possibly send work samples to parents or to therapists data files), printing, and submitting to a gallery.

Additional Fairy Tales Theme is currently .99 (in app purchase)

Raves:

• Honestly the reason I bought this case and then downloaded the app is because the stylus (Doodlee) is excellent for preschoolers! I love the shape, size, weight, length, and feel of it for this group and their little hands. A plus is that once you have this stylus you can use it with any other child friendly I-pad app that requires or allows use of a stylus. I think probably kindergarteners or older children with delays who are still working on grasp would benefit from making use of the stylus. I like it so much that if I can, I plan to look into purchasing an additional stylus.

                                                        

• 
  If the case is purchased, the physical tools fit and snap into the case.   These tools are very nice for promoting the use of a pincer grasp as the user removes the tools by grasping the handle. For children with weak finger strength, they need to apply/use some finger strength but not an excessive amount. These same handles are very nice for continuing to promote a pincer grasp while the child is actually using the tools.  The tools are moderately secure when they are not in use.
• The case comes with a stencil that can be used for teaching shapes. It is in the back of the case.
• The app offers a really nice way to work on prewriting stroke development by drawing vertical, horizontal or circular strokes while having interesting and motivating objects, shapes or visuals on the screen.
• The case has a fold out panel on the back so that a user can angle the case, much like an Occupational Therapist would use a slant board. This promotes wrist extension in children who are still developing it. I have not actually used this slant feature, so I am not sure how stable it is.
• If you purchase and use the case, the case covers the home button on the I-pad so that a child does not or can’t leave the app. This can be something to consider during therapy or teaching sessions. Actually one could use the case with different apps when it is advantageous to have the home button covered.
• I think it is a good value for use with younger children, especially in a supervised or guided session.

Drawbacks:

• Some of the Amazon reviews say that the app is not intuitive enough. I did have to play with it a bit to get used to some of the features. It is not really that difficult though and the case does come with written directions (the papers are inside the back of the case).
• Other Amazon reviewers claim that it is easy to lose the small tools. This is not an issue for me, as I will only be using it in supervised settings.
• It is a bit bulky to be carrying around as a therapy tool, but I think it is still worth it. Additionally, I can just carry around the stylus, Doodlee, and use the stylus with the app without having to always bring the case for all of the kiddos therapy sessions.

Questions or Comments:

Donna Swahlan, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist,

dswahlan@chccs.k12.nc.us

AppleVis Exploring Apple's Work

I have always been impressed by both Microsoft and Apple's attention to how folks with Visual Impairments might access their operating systems. Both companies have historically offered tools embedded in their software, at no additional cost. Granted the quality has varied from year to year.  Often, because they are in the business of selling operating systems, and not accessibility equipment, finding information about these features is not as easy as one might like.

Recently, my brillant colleague and VI teacher, here in the schools sent me a link to AppleVis, showing "what's new and changed for blind and low vision users in i0S7.1. AppleVis is a community-based web site that is managed by a small number of volunteers. They are NOT Apple.

I was impressed by the work Apple continues to do, and frankly how big can the market share be for them? This is good work, with minimal financial gain. (okay, I will quit hero-worshipping Apple for a few minutes).

According to AppleVis, there are 6 new Accessibility features in i0S7.1, including 3 contrast settings rather than one, allowing users to choose an option that best supports their vision. One other feature is the ability to enable Bold Text for icons, text on i0S labels, keyboard, and the calculator. For the other four, visit their page, 'cause I don't want to steal all their thunder.

The page also lists the 25 improvements that have been made to pre-existing features including significant changes to VoiceOver functions.

In addition, the site offers up 13 bugs still found in the system. Love that they are willing to share the successes, as well as what still needs to be worked on.  It's comforting to find that an issue your having is not just yours alone.

Finally, I found the comments from other readers to be very edifying, and as useful as the official info. There are some smart users out there!

Intrigued by the wealth of info, I wanted to look a bit closer at who AppleVis is. This is pulled from their site:

A community-powered website for blind and low-vision users of Apple's range of Mac computers, the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
AppleVis is a rich resource that strives to empower the community by offering multiple pathways to access and share relevant and useful information. As a community, we seek to encourage and support people in exploring the many ways in which these mainstream products and related applications can offer opportunities to the vision-impaired for personal enrichment, independence and empowerment.
AppleVis also offers resources and mechanisms for raising awareness of the accessibility of Apple products and related applications, and for promoting further advancement in accessibility.

Membership is free. They do however welcome donations, as they are volunteer run, with no sponsorship. The site has several pages to explore apps, a forum for users to share ideas, a well maintained blog, Podcasts (tech oriented), Guides, and App Deals are listed, and finally Accessory Reviews. WOW! I am blown away by the thoroughness of their work.

If you or someone you know has visual impairments, this site seems like a necessity!

Happy Therapy!