Task 1: Step by step process required to embed You Tube video into your Blog.
Task 2: Step by step process required to embed a Flickr Badge into your Blog.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tutorial Seven: Assistive technology
According to (Cook & Hussey, 2000), assistive technology is referred to broad range of devices, services, strategies, and practices that are conceived and applied to ameliorate to problems faced by individuals who have disabilities. 
(Cook, A.M., & Hussey, S.M. (2000). Assistive technologies: principles and practice. St Louis: Mosby)
One piece of equipment introduced in the assistive technology tutorial was the GoTalk 20+
Features:
• 20 message buttons, each 28mm x 28mm • Five recording levels
• 15 minutes of memory
• 100 message capacity
• Five independent "core message" keys
• Great sound quality
• Built-in overlay storage
• Built-in keyguard
• Digital volume control
• Built-in handle
• Lightweight (650g)
• Size 230mm x 305mm x 286mm
• Uses 2 x AA batteries (not included)
• One year warranty
Gotalk 20+ is an assistive tool that supplements or replaces speech and writing when these are temporarily or permanently impaired and inadequate to meet all or some of a person's communication needs. Use of Gotalk 20+ involves selecting messages from a set of possibilities. The user can use these elements alone or in combination in order to communicate a variety of messages
Price (inc GST) $495.00
(Cook, A.M., & Hussey, S.M. (2000). Assistive technologies: principles and practice. St Louis: Mosby)
One piece of equipment introduced in the assistive technology tutorial was the GoTalk 20+
Features:
• 20 message buttons, each 28mm x 28mm • Five recording levels
• 15 minutes of memory
• 100 message capacity
• Five independent "core message" keys
• Great sound quality
• Built-in overlay storage
• Built-in keyguard
• Digital volume control
• Built-in handle
• Lightweight (650g)
• Size 230mm x 305mm x 286mm
• Uses 2 x AA batteries (not included)
• One year warranty
Gotalk 20+ is an assistive tool that supplements or replaces speech and writing when these are temporarily or permanently impaired and inadequate to meet all or some of a person's communication needs. Use of Gotalk 20+ involves selecting messages from a set of possibilities. The user can use these elements alone or in combination in order to communicate a variety of messages
Price (inc GST) $495.00
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities
The community I have chosen to investigate is Skype
The focus of Skype is to enable the world's conversations. It allows users to send instant messages and make video & voice calls over the internet with friends, family and even randoms anywhere in the world.
People choose to contribute to Skype as it provides free services such as voice/video calls to anyone else on Skype; conference calls with 3 or more people and instant messaging; file transfer and screen sharing. Users can also call landline and cellphones around the world by purchasing the Skpye credits. It is simple for the users to contribute. The users need access to internet (preferably broadband), a webcam, download the Skype software and sign up for a free account in order to contribute. Anyone can join up and contribute, the site is safe and secure as the users have the choice of who to/not talk to.
People would choose to contribute to community such as Skype as it provides free services and services that the users needs to pay. Users get to choose the desirable service to socialize and keep in touch with anyone around the globe as well as meeting new people who enjoys using Skype to meet other new people in the comfort of the users own home. Users can save a lot of money by using the free voice/video call but more importantly it is safer to meet someone new by video chatting to avoid meeting people with fake details on their profile. this could be the incentive for singles to join the community and go on to look for potential partner.
Example of the topics being discussed:
Play, Gear, Mobile, mac, security, business, and international blogs with 10 different commonly used languages.
Skype-News has learnt that users of other computers, mobile devices or non-Windows operating systems are not warned that they have no control over much of this information. For example, their location or time zone, are apparently taken from their private operating system paramaters, without any warning, and displayed to - at the very least - those who have placed them on their contact lists, as well as the number of "friends" they have. There is no way to turn this "feature" off, and a good comparison of what it means is in order: it basically amounts to a one-way mirror into - potentially - your bedroom or at least the living room of your house - but a one-way mirror from the outside looking in, not the other way around. Not being informed about, and having no control over, others being able to know your apparent location or time zone, is surely an invasion of privacy.
An advantage with Skype community is that with a touch of button the users can see & chat to anyone wherever they are instantly, whereas traditionally people have to wait for photos or video footage to come through the mail to see what the other person is getting on from the other side of the world.
In comparison to traditional communities, this online community may waste a lot of time due to all the fancy addons and the interactions with others without leaving the house. But you do not get to do meaningful activities with the person! It is meaningless comepare to actually doing something with the other person and all the chatting can lead to wasting valueable time in front of the computer. It can also lead to injuries such as sore neck/back if the user stayed in front of the computer with a incorrect posture for a lenghthy period of time.
The focus of Skype is to enable the world's conversations. It allows users to send instant messages and make video & voice calls over the internet with friends, family and even randoms anywhere in the world.
People choose to contribute to Skype as it provides free services such as voice/video calls to anyone else on Skype; conference calls with 3 or more people and instant messaging; file transfer and screen sharing. Users can also call landline and cellphones around the world by purchasing the Skpye credits. It is simple for the users to contribute. The users need access to internet (preferably broadband), a webcam, download the Skype software and sign up for a free account in order to contribute. Anyone can join up and contribute, the site is safe and secure as the users have the choice of who to/not talk to.
People would choose to contribute to community such as Skype as it provides free services and services that the users needs to pay. Users get to choose the desirable service to socialize and keep in touch with anyone around the globe as well as meeting new people who enjoys using Skype to meet other new people in the comfort of the users own home. Users can save a lot of money by using the free voice/video call but more importantly it is safer to meet someone new by video chatting to avoid meeting people with fake details on their profile. this could be the incentive for singles to join the community and go on to look for potential partner.
Example of the topics being discussed:
Play, Gear, Mobile, mac, security, business, and international blogs with 10 different commonly used languages.
Skype-News has learnt that users of other computers, mobile devices or non-Windows operating systems are not warned that they have no control over much of this information. For example, their location or time zone, are apparently taken from their private operating system paramaters, without any warning, and displayed to - at the very least - those who have placed them on their contact lists, as well as the number of "friends" they have. There is no way to turn this "feature" off, and a good comparison of what it means is in order: it basically amounts to a one-way mirror into - potentially - your bedroom or at least the living room of your house - but a one-way mirror from the outside looking in, not the other way around. Not being informed about, and having no control over, others being able to know your apparent location or time zone, is surely an invasion of privacy.
An advantage with Skype community is that with a touch of button the users can see & chat to anyone wherever they are instantly, whereas traditionally people have to wait for photos or video footage to come through the mail to see what the other person is getting on from the other side of the world.
In comparison to traditional communities, this online community may waste a lot of time due to all the fancy addons and the interactions with others without leaving the house. But you do not get to do meaningful activities with the person! It is meaningless comepare to actually doing something with the other person and all the chatting can lead to wasting valueable time in front of the computer. It can also lead to injuries such as sore neck/back if the user stayed in front of the computer with a incorrect posture for a lenghthy period of time.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Tutorial Three: Blog Creation Tasks
This TUT was about setting up a Blogger account. We had to choose a Blog title and a Blog outline. In doing so, readers can see the purpose of the Blog. Basically we had to pimp our Blog by choosing a template and gadgets etc. We were asked to created a badge by linking our Blogger account to the flickr photos from tut 2. Its all pretty technical stuff. We also learned how to create new posts for our technical descriptions. Highlight for me from this exercise was choosing a gadget to go on our Blogger, playing around with the games and applications was rather addictive.
Main purpose of Blogger is to give people an easy way to share our thoughts — about current events, what's going on in our life, or anything else we'd care to discuss with the world. Twitter does exactly the same thing. But instead of Blogging.. they Twitt.
Main purpose of Blogger is to give people an easy way to share our thoughts — about current events, what's going on in our life, or anything else we'd care to discuss with the world. Twitter does exactly the same thing. But instead of Blogging.. they Twitt.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Tutorial Two: Digital Camera use and applications
In this tutorial, we demonstrated the competence in using a digital camera and tripod. We had to choose theme and capture 5 images which we will display them on our blog. The theme i have chosen is Signs around Polytech.
“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature.” In relation to digital camera technology, neither is better on an absolute basis. Film and digital cameras do different things better, and neither is going away. Although film based camera will decline in areas where digital camera excels but the choice depends on the user’s application. Here are some of the pluses & minuses digital camera technology holds in relation to traditional film camera:
Pluses
*Faster to develop photos
*being able to look back whether to keep/delete photos.
*depend on the size of the memory card. But generally more photos can be stored. And very easy to transfer photos to computers, CDs or social networking website.
Minuses
*The photos taken are not valued as much as they are very accessible.
* A cheap digital camera costs about $200, while a basic compact film camera costs $150. If you want a digital camera with additional features, it can run up to $700. Digital cameras store photographs on small removable cards. Each one of these cards costs anywhere from $50 to $100 depending upon capacity. Whereas a roll of film cost around $10, but you can only take approx 30 photos.
* Digital cameras are small computers that take photographs. Even the fairly simple ones come with many buttons, menus, options and settings. Camera manufacturers like to boast that their camera has more features than their competitor's. More features means controls that you will have to learn.
* Most digital cameras use rechargeable batteries that are just for that model camera. Digital cameras are battery hogs. If you own a film camera now, you may have had to change the batteries once in a couple years. Digital camera batteries will be drained if you take lots of photos. Backup rechargeable batteries are a necessity.
There are many ways that digital images can be stored/transferred and manipulated by using other communication technology. Such as computer hard drive, CDs, social networking website and digital photo
In tut one, we talked about ethical issues. The ethical issue that may arise when using digital image. Consent must be gained from the people involved, so their privacy is not invaded.
Digital images are being used in occupational therapy practice. During my 1st placement at a school setting, photos were taken during assessment to record the client’s progress. Also photos were taken during a special event such as sports day to capture the Kodak moment. And the photos were later displayed on the newsletter.
During this tutorial, we were asked to sign up for a flicker account and upload the photos we took. We are also expected to link the Flickr photos to our blog by creating a photo badge. Flickr.com is a free online photo management and sharing application. Their main service is to get photos and videos to people who matter to us.
There are many other photo storage websites which offers a similar service to flickr.com, facebook, myspace, bebo, msn and bebo are all very popular amongst young and old today.
The last things we looked at were digital/optical zoom and megapixel.
What is the difference between digital zoom and optical zoom? Digital zoom works much the same way as it does on your pc. The idea behind digital zoom is that it takes a portion of the image and expands that image to the full size of the image. What happens here is that the section of the image that you are looking at becomes bigger not closer, which means the quality is reduced. Optical zoom uses the lens within the camera to draw image closer. Using the optics of the camera the image is brought forward much the same way as binoculars. When using optical zoom, quality remains the same and the full resolution of the camera can be used on the zoomed image.
A megapixel refers to one million pixels, and is commonly used in reference to digital camera as an indication of resolution capability. A pixel is a tiny square on a computerized display that is so small it appears as a dot. The display screen is a solid gird of these squares as dots, which can be easily seen with a magnify glass. The more pixels or dots that made up the display screen, the clear the resolution or image will be.
“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature.” In relation to digital camera technology, neither is better on an absolute basis. Film and digital cameras do different things better, and neither is going away. Although film based camera will decline in areas where digital camera excels but the choice depends on the user’s application. Here are some of the pluses & minuses digital camera technology holds in relation to traditional film camera:
Pluses
*Faster to develop photos
*being able to look back whether to keep/delete photos.
*depend on the size of the memory card. But generally more photos can be stored. And very easy to transfer photos to computers, CDs or social networking website.
Minuses
*The photos taken are not valued as much as they are very accessible.
* A cheap digital camera costs about $200, while a basic compact film camera costs $150. If you want a digital camera with additional features, it can run up to $700. Digital cameras store photographs on small removable cards. Each one of these cards costs anywhere from $50 to $100 depending upon capacity. Whereas a roll of film cost around $10, but you can only take approx 30 photos.
* Digital cameras are small computers that take photographs. Even the fairly simple ones come with many buttons, menus, options and settings. Camera manufacturers like to boast that their camera has more features than their competitor's. More features means controls that you will have to learn.
* Most digital cameras use rechargeable batteries that are just for that model camera. Digital cameras are battery hogs. If you own a film camera now, you may have had to change the batteries once in a couple years. Digital camera batteries will be drained if you take lots of photos. Backup rechargeable batteries are a necessity.
There are many ways that digital images can be stored/transferred and manipulated by using other communication technology. Such as computer hard drive, CDs, social networking website and digital photo
In tut one, we talked about ethical issues. The ethical issue that may arise when using digital image. Consent must be gained from the people involved, so their privacy is not invaded.
Digital images are being used in occupational therapy practice. During my 1st placement at a school setting, photos were taken during assessment to record the client’s progress. Also photos were taken during a special event such as sports day to capture the Kodak moment. And the photos were later displayed on the newsletter.
During this tutorial, we were asked to sign up for a flicker account and upload the photos we took. We are also expected to link the Flickr photos to our blog by creating a photo badge. Flickr.com is a free online photo management and sharing application. Their main service is to get photos and videos to people who matter to us.
There are many other photo storage websites which offers a similar service to flickr.com, facebook, myspace, bebo, msn and bebo are all very popular amongst young and old today.
The last things we looked at were digital/optical zoom and megapixel.
What is the difference between digital zoom and optical zoom? Digital zoom works much the same way as it does on your pc. The idea behind digital zoom is that it takes a portion of the image and expands that image to the full size of the image. What happens here is that the section of the image that you are looking at becomes bigger not closer, which means the quality is reduced. Optical zoom uses the lens within the camera to draw image closer. Using the optics of the camera the image is brought forward much the same way as binoculars. When using optical zoom, quality remains the same and the full resolution of the camera can be used on the zoomed image.
A megapixel refers to one million pixels, and is commonly used in reference to digital camera as an indication of resolution capability. A pixel is a tiny square on a computerized display that is so small it appears as a dot. The display screen is a solid gird of these squares as dots, which can be easily seen with a magnify glass. The more pixels or dots that made up the display screen, the clear the resolution or image will be.
Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethical Issues
In this tutorial, we talked about our own experiences with technologies in our spare time and during placement. We also looked at information technology and the ethical issues that surrounds IT. Here are the terms we have to define:
*Information technology - It refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the internet or the people that work with these technologies. (Tech Terms Dictionary, 2006)
*Computer Ethics - is a set of moral principles that regulate the use of computer. (Tech Terms Dictionary, 2006)
*Intellectual Property - refers to the ownership of intangible & non-physical goods. This includes idea, names, designs, symbols, artwork, writings and other creations. It also refers to digital media such as audio and video clips that can be downloaded online. (Tech Terms, 2006)
*Social Justice - is the application of the concept of justice on a social scale. (Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia, 2010)
*Informed Consent - is a phrase often used in the law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. And informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and future consequences of an action. In order to give informed consent, the individual must have adequate reasoning faculties and be in possession of all relevant facts at the time consent is given. (Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia, 2010)
Today, technologies are everywhere, to an extent that we can not keep up. Because companies are just keep coming out with better, flashier gadgets. In a way, we simply cannot live without technologies. Personally, I consider myself very tech-savvy. i feel competent using a lot of devices e.g. computers, cellphones, cameras, mp3 players, gaming consoles and gps navigators.
Thinking back on my fieldwork experience, which was at a school setting. Hoist and Electric wheelchair were the devices I see regularly. On one occasion I was introduced to a "typewriter" which is designed for children with messy writing. The client i saw at the time had Dyspraxia. I was fortunate to see the progress with the client, just how much the client improved with her school work. Assisting clients with or without assisstive technologies, thats what OTs do best.
Apart from all the positive aspects of technologies, there are problems too. E.g. copyright (intellectual property), invasion of privacy and stress of learning and coping with change.
In conclusion, I personally think a great understanding of ITC and the ethical issues will help us in our practice and daily lives. Technology has become an important part of our practice and we certainly cannot live without it in our every day lives. Understanding the ethical issues will allow us to respect everyone around us. But most importantly we need to treat others how they want to be treated and I believe by understanding the ITC and the ethical issues will help us achieve this.
Reference
- Tech Terms Dictionary. IT (Information Technology).(2006).Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.techterms.com/definition/it
- Tech Terms Dictionary. Computer Ethics.(2006).Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.techterms.com/definition/computerethics
- Tech Terms Dictionary. Intellectual Property.(2006).Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.techterms.com/definition/intellectualproperty
- Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia. Social Justice. (2010). Retrieved from March 1, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice
- Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia. Informed Consent. (2010). Retrieved from March 1, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent
*Information technology - It refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the internet or the people that work with these technologies. (Tech Terms Dictionary, 2006)
*Computer Ethics - is a set of moral principles that regulate the use of computer. (Tech Terms Dictionary, 2006)
*Intellectual Property - refers to the ownership of intangible & non-physical goods. This includes idea, names, designs, symbols, artwork, writings and other creations. It also refers to digital media such as audio and video clips that can be downloaded online. (Tech Terms, 2006)
*Social Justice - is the application of the concept of justice on a social scale. (Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia, 2010)
*Informed Consent - is a phrase often used in the law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. And informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and future consequences of an action. In order to give informed consent, the individual must have adequate reasoning faculties and be in possession of all relevant facts at the time consent is given. (Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia, 2010)
Today, technologies are everywhere, to an extent that we can not keep up. Because companies are just keep coming out with better, flashier gadgets. In a way, we simply cannot live without technologies. Personally, I consider myself very tech-savvy. i feel competent using a lot of devices e.g. computers, cellphones, cameras, mp3 players, gaming consoles and gps navigators.
Thinking back on my fieldwork experience, which was at a school setting. Hoist and Electric wheelchair were the devices I see regularly. On one occasion I was introduced to a "typewriter" which is designed for children with messy writing. The client i saw at the time had Dyspraxia. I was fortunate to see the progress with the client, just how much the client improved with her school work. Assisting clients with or without assisstive technologies, thats what OTs do best.
Apart from all the positive aspects of technologies, there are problems too. E.g. copyright (intellectual property), invasion of privacy and stress of learning and coping with change.
In conclusion, I personally think a great understanding of ITC and the ethical issues will help us in our practice and daily lives. Technology has become an important part of our practice and we certainly cannot live without it in our every day lives. Understanding the ethical issues will allow us to respect everyone around us. But most importantly we need to treat others how they want to be treated and I believe by understanding the ITC and the ethical issues will help us achieve this.
Reference
- Tech Terms Dictionary. IT (Information Technology).(2006).Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.techterms.com/definition/it
- Tech Terms Dictionary. Computer Ethics.(2006).Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.techterms.com/definition/computerethics
- Tech Terms Dictionary. Intellectual Property.(2006).Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.techterms.com/definition/intellectualproperty
- Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia. Social Justice. (2010). Retrieved from March 1, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice
- Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia. Informed Consent. (2010). Retrieved from March 1, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent
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