Enhancing White Boards in the Classroom

I can’t see very well without my glasses or contacts. My vision is so bad that people know that if I take my glasses off during a movie I am planning on going to sleep because they know I can’t see the TV without them. The odds of me being in class without my glasses or contacts is very slim, since I need them to drive. However, there have been instances where I have been out and had to take out my contacts because I scratched my eye and didn’t have my glasses to put on, so I had to rely on someone else to drive for me. Times like that can be both embarrassing and frustrating because I must rely on others to help me do something as simple as reading a menu.

When coming up with a solution to a problem it is important to form a framework for observation to assist in the development of the solution. This framework can be fairly simple, asking who, where, and what to determine how a product is being used (Rogers, Sharp, & Preece, 2012). In this case students in a classroom looking at the white board would be the framework for our observation.

At the beginning of the new semester each student is given a syllabus for each course they are enrolled in. Within the syllabus you will find a section for students with disabilities outlining students’ rights to accommodation to any disability they may have. Middle Georgia State University’s Disability Services defines physical disabilities to be any “physical condition, anatomic loss, or cosmetic disfigurement which is caused by bodily injury, birth defect, or illness” (Middle Georgia State University, n.d.). Loss of eyesight is considered a physical disability.

Each classroom could be equipped with a camera below the projector that could record the white board in real time and stream to the laptops of the students who have poor vision. This would allow the students to view the white board in full screen view right in front of them, so they could see what the professor is writing more clearly and be able to take notes more efficiently.

Reflections

It’s important to be sure to accommodate students with disabilities so that they may get the full learning experience that they deserve. Technology is a great way to ensure this happens.

References

Middle Georgia State University. (n.d.). Middle Georgia State University Disabilty Services . Retrieved from Policies & Procedures: https://www.mga.edu/disability-services/polices-procedures.php

Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., & Preece, J. (2012). Interaction Design: Beyond Human Computer Interaction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.



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