NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/misc/handicap/7774

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-23 | 22.0 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!bunker!sheldev.shel.isc-br.com!wtm
From: bklyn.BITNET![e-mail] (Tzipporah Ben Avraham)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Online Education: Dawn Of A New Idea For Disabled
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 23 Nov 92 19:06:18 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Reply-To: bklyn.BITNET![e-mail] (Tzipporah Ben Avraham)
Lines: 479
Approved: [e-mail]
X-Fidonet: Split
Originator: [e-mail]

Index Number: 25791

[Forwarded by Patt Bromberger <[e-mail]>]

ONLINE EDUCATION: DAWN OF A NEW IDEA FOR DISABLED
by Tzipporah BenAvraham

         She sits at her computer and starts to dial. Her voice
synthesizer speaks as she dials into the campus with her modem.
The "campus" "connects". She is also in a wheelchair, and uses
a ventilator. It is December. There is snow on the ground. Accessible
transit is not reliable YET and her fatigue would weigh her down.
But she is going to work. And not leaving her home. She is an
online professor and instructor for the New School for Social
Research's Connected Education; a full accreditted masters degree
in Media Studies taken without ever leaving one's home and
done using a method called "distance education". The instructor
is blind, is in a wheelchair, and uses a ventilator because
of advanced multiple sclerosis. Yet she has advanced education
and has been teaching others disability technology online since
1990 in this virtual campus. And the "she" is me! Let me tell you
about this new idea  in education.

       In 1985 Dr Paul Levinson was teaching a computer mediated
instruction by modem and personal computer to soem professional
people. He approached the New School for Social Research Masters
Program in Media Studies and offered to start a revolution:
the revolution of technology in computer mediated instruction.
This innovator saw how this new medium could be interactive
through Electronic Mail and "libraries" of computer texts. And one
cold winter morning in 1985, the "online program" called Connected
Education came to be. The classroom was the computer. Electronic
mail gave instructions to the students on books tests and tasks
to accomplish. In public electronic mail students would ask
their "professor" questions and replies would be publicly posted.
Many expert papers from the students also appeared in the
"library" of files.

        However in 1986, a deaf student of Farleigh Dickenson
University approached Dr Levinson wishing for a way to participate
in his classes. Dr Levinson still also teaches at that University.
He cross-registered enrolled in a class at the New School and
commented how for the first time he could participate real time
with everyone else.  Here is what Dr Levinson wrote about it
at the time. He was enchanted by the possibilities of educational
opportunities even then:

                      \\//0\\//

Here is something Paul Levinson of he executive director
of Connected Education had to say in something called
"Electronic Chronical". This was in 1986 when a deaf young
man joined his online classes at the New School for
Social Research. The young man said it was the FIRST time
he had EVER participated equally in a college class. Online
education for disabled is called the "great equalizer".

Here are the words of Dr Levinson in his article in 1986
when the deaf young man was a student and participant
in his online degree program:

We were moved indeed by what Tina, my wife, describes.  At
the time, I wrote an "Electronic Chronicle" about this
called "Wings". It follows below.  (Tzippy -- you have our
permission to post this elsewhere if you like.)

THIRTY-TWO                                          5-18-86

                          WINGS

                     by Paul Levinson

     Amidst all the important discussion of the uses of cc to
mitigate global disputes and in general help humans on a
species-wide level, I thought I'd share with you an account of
how cc* has made a difference in at least one individual's life.
 (CC is computer conferencing)
     For the past month and a half, Connect Ed has benefitted
from the participation of a student totally deaf since birth.
Remarkable for many years, this person always wanted to make an
impact in the world at large -- sign language was mastered early
on, but the student decided to pursue the same higher education
as that available to those without hearing impairment.

     The actual process was not easy.  The student tapes
lectures attended in person, and has them transcribed for
later reading. Although most of the content is preserved, such
an approach engenders a very passive, non-interactive mode of
learning.

     When I first met this person (I'm deliberately avoiding
use of pronouns here so as to in no way compromise this
person's identity), I was instantly struck by a vivid twinkle
and thirst for knowledge in the eyes.  Fortunately, prior
experience on Compuserve had given this student rudimentary
knowledge of cc which could be translated rather easily to EIES.*
(EIES is the system we used at the New School to teach online)

     The intellectual contributions -- though fine -- have
really been the least significant aspect of our relationship,
at least for me.  Far more gratifying have been the ways we have
communicated, the ways our exchanges via this medium have given
me a friendship with someone I likely never would have been
friends with otherwise.  I've learned that a world minus all
sound engenders a certain gentleness, at least in my friend,
and exposure to this gentle though vibrant mind has proven a
real education for me, in the most profound way.

     The consideration of technologies -- especially
computers -- often takes the form of lofty, abstract analyses
of what this and that device can do for humanity.  I'm part
of this tendency myself, and think that such analyses are
necessary and crucial.

     But technologies clearly have different impacts on
different people, and what is a luxury or even a real benefit
for some may be a basic necessity for others.

     For me, and I assume most of you, word processing and
computer conferencing have proved marvelous ways to increase
the dissemination of our ideas and the stimulation of our
minds.  These benefits now seem almost essential to me,
though I know that my intellect lived pretty well without
them.

     For my friend, the capacity to commit thoughts to screen
where they can immediately or later responded to is something
quite else. For the first time in this person's life,
communication can take place with the vast world without any
real or social or psychological effect of handicap.

     Computer conferencing has given this person wings that
all of us take for granted, and this ultimately may be one
of the most important consequences of our medium.  It certainly
is among the most beautiful.

[Copyright (c) 1986 by Paul Levinson.]

     And thus started Dr Levinson's dream. A campus where the
physically disabled could be the equal of their co-eds. Where
it did not matter if the person was using a voicebox or was
deaf. Where a wheelchair met no barriers except those of the
limits of intellect. This is not to say that all students
who enrolled were disabled. Far from it. Most were working
persons. Many had careers and a placebound class was too
difficult or impossible. The courses are part of a section
in the media studies degree program called "technology in
society".

               A PROUD DAY- A GRADUATION

     And it was a proud day when the first completed online
masters was earned by a lady named Gail Thomas who graduated
as the first completely online masters degree graduate from this
program. Gail, who is NOT disabled, lives in Long Beach California,
She only came to her graduation. It was the ONLY time she ever
stepped foot in New York in her whole degree. Gail now is an
instructor of database retreival for the college and teaches the
same way she learned: by modem. And in turn the very valued skills
of learning database retrieval can be taught online at a distance.
Scholars, lawyers and businesses pay royally for data searches
and this skill can be obtained by taking her class. Voila!
Instant cottage industry! And for the homebound person, it becomes
an answer to potential self-sufficiency.

Here is the listing of current upcoming courses:

               Connect Ed - New School OnLine Courses
               --------------------------------------

                     Dec. 1, 1992 - Jan. 31, 1993

Director: Paul Levinson, Ph.D.
Associate Director: Tina Vozick

Each course carries three graduate or undergraduate credits. Graduate
credits applicable to New School MA in Media Studies Degree upon
matriculation; awarding of graduate credit assumes possession of
earned bachelor's degree and completion of New School registration.
Connect Ed students may pursue MA in Technology and Society awarded
by the New School entirely online (39 credits including thesis).
Undergraduate credit is general New School Adult Division credit.
Tuition: $416 per credit ($1248 per course) graduate, $393 per credit
($1179 per course) undergrad and non-credit.  Registration fees: $60
graduate, $20 undergrad and non-credit (payable only by students
who did not register for Fall 92). These fees include all
necessary connect time for courses with exception of local call to
data packet network.  Special half-tuition audit rates are
available for some courses, for read-only access.

          COMPUTER CONFERENCING IN BUSINESS AND  EDUCATION  (Paul
     Levinson)    This   course   focuses   on   the   electronic
     transmission of  text  and  numbers  through  computers  and
     telephone/carrier  wave media, and the impact of these forms
     of  print  transmission  on   American   and   international
     business  and  education.  Topics  include:  electronic fund
     transfer  and  home  banking;   commercial   consensus   via
     computer  conferencing;  electronic  libraries  and  24 hour
     data  bases;  comparisons  of  major  computer  conferencing
     systems   available   today;   relationship   of  speed  and
     permanence  of  information  and  decision-making;  bulletin
     boards,  commercial, and public service information systems.
     Attention  given  to  psychological  as  well  as  practical
     consequences of these developments.

          INTRODUCTION  TO  ONLINE  RETRIEVAL  SYSTEMS  (Gail  S.
     Thomas)  This course explores the characteristics and use of
     commercial  and  scholarly  online,  interactive  databases,
     such  as  DIALOG,  VuText,  and Predicasts. Students discuss
     and implement strageties  for  effective  online  searching,
     methods  of  keeping search costs low, and choosing the best
     database for a search.   Direct  "hands  on"  experience  in
     online  searching  is  provided  via  connection to Dialog's
     "Ontap" training base at no extra charge.    Practical  work
     is  complemented  with  reading  and  discussion of texts in
     information theory and computer networks.

     SCIENCE FICTION AND SPACE  AGE  MYTHOLOGY  (Sylvia  Engdahl)
     This  course  examines  the emerging mythology of the "Space
     Age," with emphasis on its  expression  in  science  fiction
     films  and  other mass audience genres.  Taking off from the
     acclaimed video series and  book  _The  Power  of  Myth_  by
     Joseph  Campbell,  we consider the positive role of myths in
     individual lives and societies, and we  apply  this  concept
     to  the  worldwide technological society that is emerging in
     our era.  We compare and  contrast  traditional  myths  with
     the  myths  represented in popular science fiction, which in
     many  respects  is  more  meaningful  in  today's   culture,
     including  specific films and TV series like "Star Wars" and
     "Star Trek."

          DESKTOP  PUBLISHING  (Ari  Davidow)  This course covers
     the new potential that low cost desktop  publishing  systems
     have,  both for existing large organizations and for smaller
     enterprises. The emphasis here is on  the  use  of  personal
     computing  and  printing  equipment  for  the  production of
     finished hard-copy -- interchangeable with the  products  of
     traditional  printing  houses.  Major  hardware and software
     options and costs are explored for IBM, Macintosh and  Atari
     ST-  based systems along with relative ease of use and which
     kinds of applications are best suited to each. Focus on  the
     use   of   desktop  technologies  for  the  preparation  and
     publication of reports, pamphlets, in-house newsletters  and
     catalogs, and government materials.

          MANAGING IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD (Walter T. Anderson)
     This course surveys new developments in cognitive science,
     philosophy, psychology, anthropology, literature, history,
     and  popular  culture  and  examines  how  they  relate to
     management  styles, problems  and strategies in  business,
     social  relations, and personal  concerns.  Issues include
     postmodern  feminism,   personal  identity  and  morality,
     informational   ethics,  and  the   "politically  correct"
     controversy.   Students  develop scenarios of Western  and
     global culture, based on  issues addressed in the course.

     Connect Ed offers an entirely on-line MA in Technology and
Society (offered through the MA in Media Studies at The New
School for Social Research). We also offer non-credit On-Line
Writer's Workshops, tutoring in English as a Second Language,
Foreign Language Workshops, a Workshop in OnLine DataBase
Searching and in Disability and Technology.

     (The New School for Social Research was founded in 1919,
and is a fully accredited undergraduate and graduate level
institution.)
                            \\//o\\//

MY class is in Disability and Technology and is taught for
masters credit in the summer every year since 1990.  It is also
taught as a 4 week seminar class in adult education seminars
intermittantly thtoughout the year. Here is my syllabus:

SYLLABUS REVISED
for the Connected Education online program
for 8 week course. Adaptation of the following
taught at Brooklyn College CUNY:

Tzipporah Benavraham
60.1 Computer and Information Science
Project course- co-supervisors Dr Moishe Augestein and
Mr Wang Chi Wong

8 lessons: 8 weeks
Pre-reqs; some computer literacy or application
course with cpu and peripherals knowledge
or permission of instructor upon interview

Purpose of course: To learn of the nature of disability
computing applications. To explore the current state of the
art of materials. To do an array of projects in all
disciplines of education dealing with adaptive technology;
To write an expert paper on a topic of interest and/or
learn computer programming of the special needs materials

NATURE OF COURSEWORK: Brief summary of disability and
computer technology. Three standard lectures: one
mid-term; one final; Required paper showing products of
project done in coursework.

Lesson 1: History of Disability technology;
typewriter invented for the blind; tdd for deaf pre-cursor
of the modem; phone  "failed experiment" invented for Bell's
deaf wife; lightbulb and Edison as invention due to mobility
impaired porter; and other significant inventions. The
relation of technology to "innovation" or for the "love"
of a disabled person in history. Cites and books.

Lesson 2; Mandated OSHA safety and machinery course.
electric plugs and wet substances; where not to place
hands; anti-static mats; pregnant women and VDT law;
Electro magnetic interference; sheilded vs non-sheilded
cables. Grounds.

Lesson 3: methods and materials in disability computing:
what computer and adaptation goes with what disability.
Video of lab (14 minutes) and array of books and materials
on each subject. First steps of the plan for for "project"
related to one of the machines. Demonstration of each
application: voice synthesis; voice recognition; braille
output (all 4 types) TDD baudot/ascii modems; Large print
screens; tactile graphics; optical character recognition;
uses in augmentative speech; low vision blindness; persons
with delayed mental development; learning disabilities.

Lesson 4. Midterm; Methods and materials
and an array of multiple choice questions. 20 questions
in all 10 essay and 10 multiple choice. With 3 required
safety questions as per OSHA rules.

Lesson 5: In Lab session with series of application problems
discussed. Topics covered this week usually are: need
for standards; other computer tech and usability; database
resources; use of the CUNYPLUS system for materials. Special
manuals on adaptive equipment. Had a speaker once for
issues of financing technology for disabled. Can invite
speakers if class concensus is such it is desirable. List
of speakers available. Also articles by disability computing
experts on different applications and philosophies. (will
be online for searches and downloads)

Lesson 6: Discussion of paper and questions concerning final exam
any needed database searches discussed and progress report
on papers.

Lesson 7: Final exam: review of methods and materials of project.
Individualized per student based on the project. List of
questions based on what the major of the student may be.
Consult with department chair of student for appropriate
questions based on expectation of college for excellence
in the coursework.

Lesson 8: Final Paper due; review of total project. Explanation
of materials for coursework. If programming or applications
were done, the program and demo of product produced required.
Should be at least a 25 page paper.

Booklist:

1.  Dr Greg Vanderheiden; Computers, Communications
Control and Computer Access to Elderly and Disabled Individuals
College Hill Press 1987     3 volume set       $80

2. Apple Computer Resources in Special Education and
Rehabilitation
developped by the Office of Special Education Programs
Apple Computers, Cupertino California
edited by DLM Teaching Resources,
One DLM Park; Allen, Texas August 1987

3. A Final Report of the Task Force on Technology and
Disabilities
Office of the Governor Publication Unit
Governor Mario Cuomo; Executive Chambers; Albany NY
October 1987

4. 1987 Published Search Catalog
US Department of Commerce; National Technical
Information Service; Springfield, VA 22161
contains technical report searches concerning
voice synthesis; voice recognition; alternative
input devices and switches; environmental controls
and an array of technical reports

5. Personal Computers and Special Needs
by Dr Frank Bowe
Sybex Computer Books
2344 Sixth Street, Berekley CA 94710

6. Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of the Disabled;
a Glossary; Geneva; International Labour Organization,
1981 (HV1568/5/V62/1981)
(a listing of over 40 publications worldwide on this
subject)

7. Access and Opportunity: Academic Computing under
Section 508
HEATH resources: 1 Dupont Circle NW, Washington DC
20026-1193  1 800 544 3284 (hand-out)

8. The White Paper and Consideration Text
avaiable at the college hard drive in ascii
The plans disabled technology should employ for
disabled persons per disability and application

9. Managing End User Computing for Users
with Disabilities: March 1989
Susan Brummell, Director;
Clearinghouse of Computer Accomodations
GSA Room 2022 KGD
18th And F Streets NW
Washington DC 20405
[phone]

10. FIRMR Bullitens
GSA Regulations Branch
18th and F Street
Washington DC 20405
Mary Anderson
202 566 0194

11. Signs for Computer Technology; A Sign Reference Book
for People in the Computing Field by Steven L Jamison
National Association of the Deaf, Publishing Division
814 Thayer Avenue, Silver Springs, MD 20910

Other books and magazines are also reccommended;
ask instructor for more complete listing

So as you see this is a complete course of note and worth
regarding the timely topic of disability and technology.
And as you see I also teach this "hands on" at the
Brooklyn College Adaptive Computer Laboratory in a classic
13 week class as well with a hands on componant if one
really prefers a "halls of ivy" class. The Americans with
Disabilities Act mandates an array of assistive technologies
also. This online class can help teach a broad overview of
the newest developments to businesses, personnel directors,
parents or family members of persons with disabilities,
disabled persons themselves, special educators, rehabilitation
professionals seeking continuing education credits, librarians
and for computer laboratory administrators. Of course I am
blowing my horn about MY schools and MY class. However, you
see the other classes offered in the above schedule of classes
that are equally as useful and helpful for a person who is
placebound.

     Remember I also said that this is a MASTERS degree. If
someone wishes to take the classes as UNDERGRADUATE classes
and complete a whole BACHELORS in media studies, they
must have already acrued 64 transferable college credits.
There is a singular reason for the lack of a full online
bachelors. It is plainly that there are not enough scheduled
online classes in this program YET to do a complete 128
mandated bachelors. The New School for Social Research ONLY
offers bachelors and masters degrees. No associates. However,
as in the case of this deaf student, he cross registered
for the class and the credit applied to his degree at
Farleigh Dickenson.

     For MY class I have had students from Canada, West
Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Illinois. They never
once stepped foot in New York either! And my remotest student,
from Canada, is now a film director and disability media
specialist. He claims this class was the turning point for
him. And since he has a disability, I was particularly proud
to have him graduate from my class. Enablement! And Professor
Thomas also took the class online. With what she learned, she
adapted HER classes in database retrieval so all her books
are in ascii and all materials are online. It is a new wave
and an exciting one. In this aspect of technology, the disabled
have NOT been forgotten. Come join us. Welcome to a magical
new world!

[[ For more information about Connected Education online
programs and classes, contact Dr Paul Levinson or
Tina Vozick at CONNECTED EDUCATION of the New School for
Social Research at 65 Shirley Lane, White Plains, NY
10607 (voice) 914 428 8766 (fax) 914 428 8775. ]]