Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

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Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

drsarah 24 May 2007 16:38

Before we start in on this conversation, I want to say that I KNOW none of you use television regularly as an instructional tool. You ALWAYS rely on interactive, student-based hands-on learning experiences and would NEVER plop your students down in front of a video. The point of this forum is to look at technologies like Descriptive Video Service (DVS) and Closed Captioning (CC) as examples of alternative methods of presenting information. If a student cannot, for whatever reason, see or hear what you are doing in the classroom, these tools might represent ways in which they might be able to access the information or interaction that is taking place.

DVS and CC are technology that may be helpful for people with visual impairments or hearing impairments when they are "watching" a movie or television program. With these technology, the scenes and movements in the movie are described without interrupting the script or other important audio information. You can find out more about DVS and CC at http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/services/.

DVS and CC are available on many television programs, and you can hear it by switching to the SAP (supplemental audio program) channel on your television. It is also available on some videotape and DVD recordings. Check out this technology. You can see an example of both these types of technologies at this website, which, by the way is a great tool for teaching evolution. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/teachstuds/tvideos.html

After you have had a chance to check out DVS and CC, either online or via your own television, please comment in this space: How does DVS compare to the visual information on the screen? How accurate are CC? How might these technologies impact the learning of students who cannot see or hear well? Could you use tools like these in the classroom?

Last edited on 24 May 2007 16:42 by drsarah Show more

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

mason 26 Jul 2007 02:35

Well…I think that both tools are very useful for those people that are deaf and blind, but UNFORTUNEATELY that are not the most accurate in the world. I watched specifically CC, and not only is it very distracting because you have to read the words and so it takes away from you seeing the characters and what they are doing because you are focussing on what the characters are saying or the sound of a tree branch cracking. but if you think about it, it is a little pointless to put in little sound things like…a bird sings or a rock is crunched under a persons foot, because I am thinking that most deaf people have never heard these sounds so those little extras woule really do nothing, because there is no point of reference. so perhaps just sticking to mostly words and what the haracters are syaing would be the best. I would also think it would be really hard to be blind and listen to what was going on. but I suppose it would be like reading a book and envisioning the story in your head. but then again…what would your mental pictures look like if you have never seen anything. NOT sure.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

jesstabak 28 Jul 2007 19:23

Quick response to your comments on the asides in closed captioning. Many people who are presently hard of hearing or deaf have not always had this difficulty… even with kids, some of whom lose their hearing as a result of illnesses or injuries. More importantly, though, I think that some (I'd definitely agree not all) of these asides can enrich the story or plot. When I've seen closed captioning, I've noticed some side notes that are distracting as you have, but other stuff is helpful … phones or doorbells ringing, a car honking, anything that will help inform what the characters are going to do next.

Last edited on 28 Jul 2007 19:23 by jesstabak Show more

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

ghughesstrange 30 Jul 2007 15:11

Sometimes the "sounds" that are given for the closed captioning are necessary for the plot or story. Also, I get annoyed at CC because I don't need it, and find that I am reading the lines on the television instead of just hearing the… but maybe this would be helpful for students that read below grade level. They are in a way reading along a text.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

jnsarak 17 Jul 2007 16:29

I think that, fundamentally, DVS will always fall short of the visual information that a television program or video conveys. TV is a visual media, and it's not possible to fully compensate for the visual presentation of material. The best DVS can do, I think, is present an overall summary of a certain program. In the example of the evolution videos on the PBS website, this is precisely what was done. The settings of scenes were never described, but additional narration was given (summaries of evolutionary science and history that weren't given in the normal dialogue), and this effectively conveyed the overall message of the video, but lacked the "flare" that some of the visual images gave. I'd be interested in watching a fictional program, such as a Harry Potter movie, in which visual scenes are much more important. I imagine it's much like a book on tape, but with less time available to describe scenes and actions (because the narration has to not interfere with dialogue and soundtrack).

CC, on the other hand, comes much closer to authentically replicating the full experience of a visual program. This is, of course, because it can still take advantage of the dominant aspect of such programming — the visual. While CC often misses specific words, and sometimes lags behind the actual dialogue on a program, I think it still gives a pretty full experience compared to the program as hearing individuals would receive it.

I actually use CC in my class whenever I show movies or clips of videos. I do this for a few reasons — first, it is sometimes difficult for students to hear everything that is said at all times (extraneous noises from outside of the classroom, students making sounds in the class, etc) and the captions can be relied on to help through these short times, and second, students can't help but read along as dialogue occurs in the program. On a very basic level, I think this helps students learn to read better, much like following along in a text while someone else reads it out loud (although with obvious differences in reference to natural fluency). While it certainly isn't necessary that I use CC, I find it helpful to use in my classroom.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

Mike Lederman 20 Jul 2007 19:34

Another way I have used closed captioning in the classroom is to try to engage students in reading by having them watch clips from foreign language films. (I was at an advantage in doing this last year because I taught World Geography, and we studied issues in countries with different languages, but I think it could be applied in English classes as well???) Students are forced to read the captions because they cannot understand the language being spoken in the film… of course this only works if it is a film covering a high interest topic. Otherwise I would expect zone out altogether.

One opportunity for this strategy came up during our unit on the U.S./Mexico boarder, South America, and the drug trade. We watched a movie called “Maria, Full of Grace” which, for those of you who don’t know is about a Colombian girl who comes to America with a stomach full of heroin wrapped in latex pellets. My students were riveted as Maria battles with customs officials and drug dealers, and they were actually reading! I sure of it because they wanted to rewind several times to catch dialogue if they missed it the first time.

For students who are reluctant or slow readers, I think this can be a very powerful tool for increasing their reading speed (because they have to keep up with the speed of the dialogue) and their ability to determine words from context (they have the visual to help them). And it allows them to practice in a way that is private. I hope to take advantage of this strategy whenever the opportunity presents itself in the future.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

mason 26 Jul 2007 02:45

Whew…I like the foreign film and the close captioning concept or subtitles. I guess I never thought about doing that before. Itwould be a great thing for students…even if the words are a little off. i actually thnk that would be great for history and geography lessons. And showing movies that depict different events in history such as World War II and the Nazis…like show Life is Beautiful, where the movie is in Italian. It's weird that when you do watch or at least when I watch a subtitle film, that at first I have to get used to it and then I get totally lost in the movie and forget that I am even reading. City of God is just about the best movie I have eer seen and I didn't even realize after about 3 minutes that it was in portuguese. it would be a great learning activity to watch CC or DVS or subtitles with all students and have them critically analyze how they react to the film and how it may be different to view a movie or film like this then in the traditional way. Interesting.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

aaseligman 01 Aug 2007 01:53

I agree that CC can be a helpful teaching tool. I actually taught Spanish as a foreign language myself so I pretty much had to use it with video lessons. I think it actually does a better job than alternatives, such as dubbing. Dubbing never quite captures the motion of the character's mouth's and it's distracting to try to figure out who is doing the talking and one often loses track of the emotions and feelings a character is trying to communicate. I often found that occasionally, again never as an aimless instructional tool or to kill time on days when few students might show up, hypothetically, I would show Spanish television (which often didn't have CC, or if it did it would be in Spanish), and have the students write the DVS script themselves. This forced students to pay attention and of course to look for actions and scenes of vocabulary they knew how to use, at the same time they were listening to Spanish language which forces them to keep thinking in Spanish and not just translating.
In fact, there is a section the AP Spanish test where the students have to open a booklet with a six picture cartoon story, and the test is to narrate the story on to a tape. It is not enough to simply know vocabulary, but students have to actually use verb tenses and create that sense of motion, not an easy task in a first language much less a foreign tongue.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

(account deleted) 01 Aug 2007 18:45

I agree whole heartedly with Mike that CC is instrumental in aiding students who struggle with reading. My boyfriend's brother has Cerebral Palsy and when he was younger he struggled to read but he was high performing in oral language skills. In order to increase his reading speed and comprehension they watched all programs at home with both the sound and the captions on. This allowed Keenan the modification of hearing the words that he was reading below. The best moments (as recollected by my boyfriend) were when the captions would not match the words and Keenan would point them out. As his reading proficiency increased, Keenan was increasingly allowed only to watch tv with CC and no sound to ensure that he really was reading all the words! In a similar way this can be utilized in your classroom. Watching DVDs or shows with both the sound and cc modifies for both auditory and visual learners. Further you can play fun "games" such as see how fast you can type or write down the dialogue for the clip I am about to show you.. Or act out the show using the cc as a script. This may be a way to integrate students with differing levels of reading and language proficiency into your general classroom.

This is slightly off topic but another television/visual technology idea I have heard about is the use of silent films where students need to pick up on body language to figure out what is going on. This particular teacher had the students write down the story as they perceived it. In this way a learner who struggles with writing can practice at their own pace. In addition this activity helps students who may have poor auditory skills learn to decode what a speaker is saying using their body language. (obviously none of us teach with the extreme gestures of a silent movie… well at least I hope not :))

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

EWhitworth 23 Jul 2007 14:27

I completely agree with jnsarak and the other comments made above regarding technology in our classrooms, specifically to help those students who cannot hear or see well. DVS is a really nice idea but like jnsarak said, T.V. is an experience that, in order to get the full effect, really does require visual and auditory capabilities. For the blind and deaf, DVS does attempt to “paint the picture” or help the viewer visualize but, essentially, this is very difficult to pull off.

I like closed captioning – despite a few mistakes and some delays, it definitely helps the hearing impaired to, overall, comprehend the television show. I never thought about using closed captioning while showing my kids videos and or TV. clips – that is a really great idea! Like stated above, not only does it help all the kids in the room “hear” (read) what is going on, it helps increase and build fluency. Besides, the kids can not really help but read the information on the screen, as an ELA teacher myself, the more reading, the better!

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

jesstabak 28 Jul 2007 19:28

I'm very interested in the notion of using closed captioning as a way to improve reading fluency (kids reading the words as they hear them). I've most frequently seen live events (news, sports, etc) in cc, and I've frequently found myself cringing at the typos and painfully mauled sentences, which would have put me off of using this as a learning tool, but it would make sense that cc on VHS or DVD would be free of these errors.

I am curious, though, about the timing of the captioning and the dialogue. Are they precisely in sync? I would worry that any delay would serve to confuse kids learning to read English, such as the ELA learners that Elizabeth mentions above, more than with standard learners who are just reading along for content reinforcement.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

EWhitworth 29 Jul 2007 02:13

Yes, the timing of captioning and dialogue and the effect it would have on confusion and fluency is a legitimate concern when it comes to cc. A kind of out there but fun approach (which would not really benefit the hearing or visually impaired students but is an option for visual and hearing learners) is karaoke and a karaoke machine! Use it with songs the kids already know the beat and rythym of so that they know the speed of dialgoue in relation to the timing of the music. Sounds crazy but I've been taught that karaoke is a super fun way to engage kids and get them to practice their fluency & reading.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

jesstabak 29 Jul 2007 03:13

I love the karaoke idea… an unexpected (but quite fitting) addition to a discussion board on multisensory approaches to learning.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

Susan Oliver 29 Jul 2007 03:07

I have to disagree with several of you when you say DVS doesn’t compare to the visual information on the screen. In my opinion, DVS can sometimes match, if not surpass the visual information in a TV show or movie. If you’re interested in seeing a fictional program similar to Harry Potter, check out this clip of Descriptive Narration for the Lion King. After watching it with my eyes closed, I was almost more into the movie than with my eyes open. Try it out for yourself, here:

http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/media/lionking/

The narrator explains details at the right time without interfering with words spoken by the characters (although there was only singing in this preview). She describes the scene and the movement of characters so well that I didn’t need to see what was going on to understand.

You might also be interested in this one viewer’s opinion of MoPix, the program set up to provide DVS in movie theatres through individual headphones to visually or hearing impaired clients. Bob researched how to get the system installed into a theatre closer to him.

http://ncam.wgbh.org/mopix/roadmap.html

I have not had any students who were visually or hearing impaired. However, I think these tools, CC and DVS, would be wonderful tools to use in the classroom if I did have such students. Additionally, I think you all have come up with some great ideas about improving students literacy skills through showing foreign films, increasing language fluency through CC, and improving fluency and reading through karaoke (great idea!).

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

EmilyEYoung 29 Jul 2007 05:41

I agree with you, Susan, I believe that DVS is equitable to visual programming. In order to say this, I have to imagine myself in the place of a person who is visually impaired: they most likely have fine-tuned listening and visualization skills, or at least visualizing what they think something looks like. So, their experience with DVS might be quite unlike the one I experience with using the examples posted - more enhance by their attuned skills.

In general, I believe the use of media and technology is a great way to expand the walls of the classroom and enhance ideas already learned. Using tools like DVS and CC open up these opportunities to people who otherwise not be able to experience them.

On the flip side, I also have use modifications of these tools in my classroom to get students to think more in depth about what they are ingesting. For example, when learning about DNA replication, I turn the sound off to a video of DNA copying itself, and the students write the narrative… almost as if they are hearing impaired. The same thing could be done using DVS - students could draw pictures and make visuals based on DVS, or some other equivalent activity. Similarly, CC can also be used for ELL students, and I found that using CC while showing clips greatly increases student comprehension, especially because they usually cannot see the narrator's lips moving in order to identify proper sounds.

Overall, I think these are two great examples of many in how technology can supplement and aid the needs of special education students.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

aaseligman 01 Aug 2007 02:07

Hmmm Emily, I'm not sure all people who are visually impaired are exactly Daredevil (terrible movie by the way, no matter how cute Jennifer Garner may be), but I do think it's a pretty good approximation. However, I guess the difference is thinking of which would be better, to listen to a football game on the radio or to watch it on TV with no sound? I think the radio can actually give more detailed broadcasts and explanations, telling you who each player is and when there's a penalty or other background information and context, but I think I'd still prefer the picture, to see it with my own eyes. It's like when someone tells me there's a cool clip of something on YouTube, even if it's a quote or something someone said, I'm still going to check it out myself because there's something to the visual experience for me. That may be my own bias, that I like being able to relate with something I see. I don't know though, I'm curious if all visually impaired people are more auditory learners, or do they become so by necessity, and what if they don't? Vice versa for hearing impaired, has anyone had experience in this kind of case?

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

jnsarak 29 Jul 2007 16:03

Fair enough. I guess instead of saying that DVS will always "fall short" of visual media, I'll just stick to the statement that it will always be a fundamentally different experience. Additionally, some visually impaired individuals have been so since birth, and may or may not (I really don't know) have the ability to visualize things as we do in the first place. This experience, then, will necessarily be different than watching it, but may not necessarily be inferior.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

ghughesstrange 30 Jul 2007 15:25

They may not be able to visualize it in our sense, but they will have some experience with the media. (This makes me wonder how blind individuals experience stimulus in their brain).

I also have never taught students with either visuals or hearing needs, but the concept of using CC or DVS as an aid is a great one. Those techniques that Emily uses in her classroom I can see using next year when I will be teaching Biology for the first time.

The purpose of CC and DVS is to help individuals who lack the ability to see or hear, but they are also very powerful aids to those that can see and hear but may be behind grade level in reading and writing ability. Lot's of stimulus can be a good thing for students.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

Liz Mickduff 31 Jul 2007 03:44

I think CC and DVS are great tools, the problem I have is how to get media resources into my classroom in the first place. For example, if you want to teach a life science segment or what have you, in order to use CC or DVS you can’t just tape a program from your local PBS station on your VHS and bring it in the next day to use with this technology. It requires seeking out such resources and unfortunately there is only one public library in DC that has many DVDs etc. in it. Regular video stores don’t always have such educational programming.

I certainly agree that CC is great for all students for a number of reasons. Yes, we might think it’s annoying to constantly read instead of following the movie picture itself but that’s the point- Its school! Our students need to read and if they feel like they can’t help themselves, all the better! They have all the time in the world to watch TV at home and not read along.

Really though, I think instead of us hearing and seeing folks speculating on weather or not this technology is useful, it would be beneficial to get some insight from some deaf or blind people. Or, better yet, consult your students after using this technology and ask them if they found it useful or not, and then of course why as well.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

terrakathleen 31 Jul 2007 14:37

I agree with Liz above. In theory, this technology has the potential to help vision and hearing impaired students access more of the activities that are used in the classroom. I think that the use of CC for a deaf student or DVS for a blind student are extremely useful tools, and both could be used for students without impairments as well (either as a way to increase fluency using CC or practicing visualization with DVS). However, actually getting the necessary technology might be an issue. Closed captioning - in the form of subtitles - is available on most current DVDs, but I don't think that DVS would be as easy to access. Does anyone have more information about this?

As a random side note…Shawnee Mission West High School (where the evolution video takes place) is in my hometown of Overland Park, Kansas. I never would have guessed that the high school where I took my SAT would show up in this class :)

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

LuisTorres 31 Jul 2007 17:55

I actually posted my posts on the wrong posts…so here it goes on Group Three. JSweeney's post made me reflect on the importance of social context in videos and film. I teach social studies and use videos frequently to illustrate context, social framing, and give students a sense of the decision making process involved when analyzing history. I am most concerned that my visual or audio needs students will not be able to receive the same context either from accents, social framing, gender bias discussion, etc. in other narrated films. Some of the most meaty stuff in sociology revolves around the discussion of the roles and portrayals of minorities in films including the stereotypical accents, gestures, and costumes that caricature groups of people into categories and delineated groups. Exploring these topics is crucial to any social studies class and I wonder if using needs based grouping approaches might help in these cases.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

Mike Lederman 02 Aug 2007 02:15

Liz…one word for your resource woes: Netflix. They actually have a good selection of educational DVD’s and if you get the “3-discs-at-a-time” deal for the new low price of 16.99 per month, getting resources for school doesn’t even have to interrupt your personal viewing pleasure. (I’m sorry… this is my 2nd to last forum contribution, and I’ve started to go a little crazy).

Another idea that could enhance the viewing (listening) experience for the blind… many DVD’s have the “director’s/creator’s commentary” feature that can be turned on from the special features menu. The commentator(s) often chat during quiet moments in a movie that might otherwise leave a blind student feeling left out or confused, and hush up during important dialogue or narration, just like DVS. They can also (depending on the movie / commentator) provide some valuable insight into the meaning or making of a scene that can be valuable to all students. I recommend checking it out!

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

minnie 02 Aug 2007 02:29

Closed captioning sometimes is not very accurate. For example, it often gets acronyms wrong, distorting the meaning. But, if I had a hearing problem, I would find it very helpful. DVS is helpful in giving the basic "flavor" of a program. It really can't replicate a program.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

lizmcouat 02 Aug 2007 04:55

I concur with those of you who have expressed some discontent with both mediums presented here. CC is consistently inaccurate to the point where you can’t really understand what’s really going on (just try reading the 5pm news- and the newscasters read off a teleprompter! Why the CC is so poor is beyond me). I found an interesting article which addressed both DVS and CC in the classroom (as well as other computer related technologies). All of the research about how great these technologies are aside, I found a few lines to be the most powerful for me as an Urban Educator, “However, many teachers are not adequately trained on how to use technology effectively in their classrooms, and the cost of the technology is a serious consideration for all schools. Thus, although computer technology has the potential to act as an equalizer by freeing many students from their disabilities, the barriers of inadequate training and cost must first be overcome before more wide-spread use can become a reality.”

Use of Computer Technology to Help Students with Special Needs
Ted S. Hasselbring, Candyce H. Williams Glaser
The Future of Children, Vol. 10, No. 2, Children and Computer Technology (Autumn - Winter, 2000), pp. 102-122
doi:10.2307/1602691

For our classrooms, with limited means, simple seating (closer to the TV, a separate monitor with a simple split jack from the main TV), dictating, separate headphones and other “technologies” may be just as effective and more feasible. I found that when I tried to use Spanish CC for my ELL students once that the translation was so bad they actually preferred the English version because it was less confusing! If possible, obtaining transcripts of programs can be extremely cost efficient and effective when these technologies aren’t accessible to adequate. Large print can be modified for students with some visual ability and printed transcripts also provide deaf students with more accurate transcripts than CC (although they do come with their own draw-backs).

Susan, I LOVED the Lion King DVS you found- that is great! Emily, I did a similar exercise in my biology class for DNA transcription and translation.

Re: Group Three Discussion on Technology in Special Education

jkirmes 02 Aug 2007 17:05

I agree with you Marilyn. I know when I watch the closed captioning while on the treadmill at the gym (on the few occasions when I make time to go) I am often struck by the inaccuracy. On the other hand, when I forget my headphones and just use the CC I do understand what is happening much more than I would with only the picture - so overall the inaccuracy is unfortunate but it still certainly useful.

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