Tutorial Eight: Assistive technology

Provide a definition of Assistive technology (your Cook and Hussey reading may be helpful with this). Assistive technology is a broad range of devices , services, strategies and practices that are conceived and applied ti assist problem an individual would have with learning a skill. This is particularly concerning people with disabilities.

Describe one piece of equipment introduced in the assistive technology tutorial. Provide information on size, cost and functions. I looked at the FlexAble switch that was a long pole type device(about 48cm long) that can be moved in any direction. This can be used to switch on or switch off an appliance. This can be moved in any direction round 360 degrees. The idea being that the person can hit out at the switch as they do not need full directional control to access the switch. The cost is $245 plus gst $30.36. This is available through Spectronic web site. www.spectronics.co.nz

How does your chosen piece of equipment increased functional capacity for the user? Provide examples here from the tutorial and lecture. This allows the user a full range of movement to access a switch If they have no control over directional movement they can hit out and still access the switch which is then attached to their teaching device.

Tutorial Four and Five: Video Production Sessions

Task One: Follow instructions and work in a small group to plan and produce and edit a 30 second short. I worked with Dana, Melissa and Margie and shot a small 30 second video which we have edited and loaded onto this blog page.

Task Two: Set up a U Tube account

Task Three: Follow instructions to posting your video on U Tube.

Task Four (Blog Posting): Provide a brief summary of the services offered by U Tube. Information can be drawn from the week five tutorial hand out. You Tube allows people to post items of interest to themselves and possibly the world onto the Net to allow others to access them. These can be funny items, educational, informative or just stupid. Often items of interest from News stories around the world are posted there they can be accessed by anyone any where in the world who has access to the internet.

Task Five (Blog Posting): Provide a brief account (1-2 paragraphs) on how the use of planning (storyboarding and scripting aided your groups short film. We used the templates that were supplied and worked a story round leaves on campus. We decided where we were going to go and look for leaves. We wanted to include the trees by the Leith Stream by the commerce building and the ducks under the bridge. We insert ideas into each of the storyboard boxes and then went out on collected images. We used a mixture of stills and short film pieces that we had discussed. We went aorund the campus and recorded these with each of us taking paper in the shots or behind the camera. We did change ideas during the recording but this was due to not finding the appropriate sights that we had written on our storyboards. We collect ans shot a lot more images than we need to and then return to class to use the Imac computers to edit our shots and overlay the music to make the piece to load to You Tube.

Video

Video we shot in class

Tutorial Seven.

Task Two
Step by step instructions to add the Flickr Badge into my blog.

I had to create a Flickr account and I did this by following the step instructions on their home page. Once this was done I typed in the photo types I wanted and then. I typed in Sled Dog Racing. and added all photo's. I then click inside the script and then pasted the box into the box provided. I added a description. though I am not sure if that is showing. I named my badge sled dog racing and then hit save.

Task One.

1. Log onto You Tube account. and look for the video you would like to embed. I used the video tag link supplied by James.
   
2. The video had an URL that I had to copy
   
3. Then lob back onto my own blog page.
4. Click on Customize.
5. Paste the URL into the posting box
   
6. Write a heading and sdescription and the hit create post.
   

Tutorial Six

Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities

Either search online for a community which interest you or choose one of the provided online communities to investigate. Make sure your selected a community that comprises some form of online forum, discussion page or chat room. You may also wish to see if your community has a Wikipedia entry.

Provide the web address and the name of the community you are investigating www.housingot.co.uk

What is the brief or focus of this community This allows other OT's to comment on what they are doing in their practice in respect to building modifications and then look at the other links that they have made that can be added to their own blog page.

What services are provided? How interactive is this site? How can people contribute? There are lots of links to other useful sites that can be accessed by OT's that are working in the area of house modifications.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking? People who have skills in the area of house modification could be looking for other ideas or to find out what other therapist are doing in this area so they can share knowledge and keep up to date with what is happening in this area.

Cut and paste an example of the type of topics being discussed (you may have to provide a context to your excerpt). I struggled with this so I have chosen to put in a written statement. Information sharing- comments and links may be added in by other participants to share their knowledge or show appreciation for ideas that are being put together.

Considering material presented during the course and make comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community e.g. lack of identity and accountability. You can search and gather information in most cases for free. There is often no cost involved so it is free information share. There is no accountability or reliablity in the information that is on the page.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on the benefits this community holds over traditional notions of community e.g. communities reliant on geographic proximity World wide searches and communicating with people all over the world but there is no face to face stuff. O.T. working in the same practice can communicate through this method at their lesiure.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment what this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can. There is no face to face stuff it is all on line and it stops the basi art of talking and spending time with a real human.

Tutorial Three

Tutorial Three: Blog Creation Tasks

Task One: Follow instructions to set up a account with Blogger This will involve setting up a Google account (make note of your user name and password)

Task Two: Follow instructions to complete the following Blog construction tasks Choose a Blog Template (this can be changed later if you wish) Provide a Blog title (this will need to incorporate your name and the course title Participation in Occupation 1) Provide a Blog outline. This is a short statement outlining the purpose of the Blog (this information should come from the course outline and assessment guidelines for Participation in Occupation 1). Complete your Blog profile (you need to include your age, gender, industry, occupation and location) Up load a photo to your Blog profile

Task Three: Follow instructions to start posting content. Your first two post should be taken from the technical descriptions for tutorials one and two. I have managed to do most of this I think but not without considerable help from James and fellow class mates. I have found this a challenge and I am not sure I could do this again without full assistance.

Task Four: Provide a brief summary of the services offered by Blogger (this will be your third posting. Information can be drawn from the attached hand out). In addition to this name one other Blog host. Blogging is about connecting with people and fellow colleagues around the country and around the world with similar interests as you. It is your chance to share your ideas and see what others are doing. You can see feedback on ideas and attitudes on particular topics from like minded people. You can have control over who sees your blog and who can make comments on it.

Task Five: Upload 5 photos from tutorial 5 onto your flickr account. We did take photos using the digital camera however they did get misplaced in the system and we were unable to load them onto the blog

Any remaining time can be spent · Exploring Blogs hosted by Blogger and other services (e.g.myspace) · Setting up a personal Blog · Organising your flickr account into groups

Tutorial Two: Digital Camera use and applications

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”. Briefly discuss this statement in relation to digital camera technology. What would you consider to be some of the pluses and minuses digital camera technology holds in relation to more traditional film based cameras? Digital camera's are more instant and if the image is not what you want it can be edited or deleted straight away and then the shot can possibly be retaken. You do not have to wait for the film to be developed before you can see your image. The camera can also store lots of images and you can then print them through your home PC or taking them into the shop for processing.

List some of the ways that digital images can be stored transferred and manipulated using other communications technology. Images can be printed into a hard copy. They can be loaded into a PC and then emailed to others and they can be used in Web pages. The images can be stored straight into a PC or they can be stored onto a CD Rom

Given the prevalence of image capturing devices, and thinking about the issues discussed in tutorial one, consider what sort of ethical issues may arise with their use. The person who has had their image captured has no control over what happens to this after the image has been taken. It can be used in many ways without their knowledge or consent. The image can be altered and used in an inappropriate way and this can be distressing for the owner of the image.

Briefly discuss some of the ways that digital images could, or are, being used in occupational therapy practice. Digital images can be used by occupational therapy to assist clients that need a photo profile of task. This can be used into a book that can be used as a hard copy of the client to follow. They can be used in a return to work situation where the client needs memory joggers to follow a task if they are using compensatory techniques.

Provide a brief summary of the services offered by Flickr.com Flicker is an online photo service which is a way of sharing and storing your photos with the people you want to through the internet.

Name one other photo storage website which offers a service similar to Flickr.com www.shutterfly.com

Explain what the difference is between a digital and an optical zoom Digital zoom relates to how clear the image appears. The larger the number of digital zoom the more pixels you have and this gives greater clarity to your digital images. Optical zoom enlarges the picture but keeps the clarity of the image without distorting the colour or image.

Explain what is meant by the term mega pixel Pixels are the littler byts of colour that go to make up the total image. It is a little Byte of colour that captures that specific piece of the image and each of these pixels combine to make the total image.

Technical Discription one

Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethical Issues

Provide a definition of Information Technology/Information Communications Technology (APA reference required) Information technology . The production, strorage and communication of information using computers and microelectronics. Hanks, P.(ed). (1989) Collins Concise Dictionary. Glasgow: Bath Press.

Consider the definition of IT you have provided. How is this form of technology prevalent in our society? How common place has it become? Comupters are everywhere and we are constantly expected to use them and we have to get on board the train and learn. Most homes now have portable phones, computers, laptops, digital cameras, memory sticks etc..etc..etc. This makes it very hard for old tarts like me who does not cope and neither at times do I want to....But some time I will have to buy a digital camera and go on that train.

What IT devices or system do you feel comfortable and competent using? I am getting better with the computer. I am not comfortable with my laptop as it has Vista on it and I can't get my head round it. I am ok with cell phones but can't work a digital camera. I still cant programme the video but I can operate the dvd player.

Thinking about your own fieldwork experiences consider how IT is being used in Occupational Therapy practice? At the Ministry of Education technology is huge. email is used widely round the country and from person to person sitting next to each other. There are people employed solely to work in technology.... helping poor souls like me through to developing new stuff for children all the time.

What ethical implications arise from the capturing, sharing and transferring of information via IT devices (e.g. mobile phones) or systems (e.g. internet) The person who is being photographed may not know they are and may not want their image used. It is very unfair to do this because once its on the net that image can be used for anything by anyone and this could lead to problems. ie it could be that the person is in hiding from the FBI and then they are out there for the world to see and find.

Provide a definition of Computer Ethics (APA reference required) This is the branch of practical philosphy which leads with how computers professional should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics

Provide a definition of Intellectual Property (APA reference required) Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action. The individual needs to be in possession of all of his faculties, such as not being mentally retarded or mentally ill and without an impairment of judgment at the time of consenting. Such impairments might include illness, intoxication, drunkenness, using drugs, insufficient sleep, and other health problems. Some acts cannot legally take place because of a lack of informed consent. In cases where an individual is considered unable to give informed consent, another person is generally authorized to give consent on their behalf. Examples of this include the parents or legal guardians of a child and caregivers for the mentally ill. I

Provide a definition of Social Justice (APA reference required) Social justice mostly refers to an ideal of society, where "justice" refers to economic status rather than to the administration of laws. It is based on the idea of a society which gives individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of the benefits of society, although what is "fair treatment" and a "just share" must remain unclear or subject to interpretation. Retreived Februry 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice

Provide a definition of Informed Consent (APA reference required) Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action. The individual needs to be in possession of all of his faculties, such as not being mentally retarded or mentally ill and without an impairment of judgment at the time of consenting. Such impairments might include illness, intoxication, drunkenness, using drugs, insufficient sleep, and other health problems. Some acts cannot legally take place because of a lack of informed consent. In cases where an individual is considered unable to give informed consent, another person is generally authorized to give consent on their behalf. Examples of this include the parents or legal guardians of a child and caregivers for the mentally ill. Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent

In your own words briefly summarise why (or why not) a great understanding of ITC and the ethical issues it encompasses will help us in our practice and daily lives. It is vital that we know about this because of the confidentiality issues that are round in this day and age.Protecting our clients and ourselves is vital but being able to access the world of information is great.

What am I doing?

This is all new technology for me and is stretching my brain very much. Goodness knows if I will ever get the hang of this. Wish me luck as I learn each time.