Introduction

Hello everyone,

In this blog we will be posting weekly updates about our progress with Access Lecture, but first we would like to introduce you to what our project is.

Access Lecture is going to be an iPad application that will help improve the classroom experience for students with visual impairments.  We are focusing more specifically on science and mathematics instruction because for these subjects it is especially vital for students to be able to follow along with what's written on the board, as it's written. Visually impaired students can sometimes get notes from a designated note-taker after class- but this is not a real solution.  Students need to be able to see the notes as they are written, and be able to hear the teacher's explanation of the notes at the same time or else they are at a serious disadvantage in the class.  Access Lecture is going to help visually impaired students follow along with instruction in real-time and improve their comprehension of the material.

The core idea behind Access Lecture is that the iPad could be used to display the notes as they are being written on a whiteboard, and it can do so without very much delay. Students will be able to view the whiteboard on the iPad, and will have the ability to zoom in and out on sections that they're having difficulty seeing. A keyboard can be attached to the iPad, and this will allow us to also explore using Access Lecture as a means for students to take notes as well. We believe that if we work off of these ideas and communicate with our focus groups about their experiences and their feedback on our project, we will be able to create software that will significantly improve the math/science classroom experience for visually impaired students.

The project is just beginning, but we're excited to start and look forward to sharing more information about our progress.