To embed photo into Flickr. Follow link here

Embedding You Tube Videos

Assistive Technology (Tutorial Eight)

“Assistive technology refers to a broad range of devices, services, strategies that are conceived and applied to ameliorate the problems faced by individual who have disabilities.” (Cook, A. M., and Hussey, S. M, 1995)

Creating Success The Seminar Management Professionals
(http://www.creatingsuccess.co.nz/index.php?pr=Time_Timers)

The Time Timer provides the ability to judge how much time is left without having to know how to tell time. The products operate with high colour resolution, large dial numbers, and ultra-quiet quartz movement. These additional features make the Time Timer product line perfect for special needs applications such as students with ASD. With the Time Timer, users understand the passage of time and can monitor their own activities, improving their self-esteem. Better time awareness also relieves the stress and anxiety of disorientation.

20cm Time Timer Audible – $70
The size of the 20cm Time Timer makes it our most versatile product for both individual and group applications. This classroom-tested timer comes with a base for free standing operation. With the Time Timer Audible you have the option to use a visual depiction only, or add sound to signal the end of a time segment.

Time timers at Star Education $82 + GST 30cm
http://www.star-educational.co.nz/view_products.php?cat=22

For pictures and more information on the Time Timers follow the above links.


Boardmaker v6 Standard
Bring Boardmaker activities to life with voice as well as video and animation support and make the computer a student-learning tool with Boardmaker Plus! software. Featuring more than 4,500 Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) in both colour and black-and-white, all in 44 languages, Boardmaker Plus! is a drawing program combined with a graphics library and database that also has the ability to talk and play recorded sounds and movies. This interactive component allows users to create talking activity boards, worksheets, schedules, books, writing activities, games and more, and adapt all materials to each student. Visit http://www.star-educational.co.nz/view_details.php?detail=true&cat=78&subcat=&id=181

Other related links
Ministry of Education-Special Education
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/educationSectors/SpecialEducation/PublicationsAndResources/AutismSpectrumDisordersResourceForTeachers.aspx

Star Educational
http://www.star-educational.co.nz/view_details.php?detail=true&cat=78&subcat=&id=181

Autism New Zealand
http://www.autismnz.org.nz/

Verticle Limit

Video by 2nd year OT students. 2009

THe Wrong WAy

Video made by second year OT students. 2009

The Internet and On-Line Communities (Tutorial Six)

The Stroke Network;
On-line Stroke Support and Information resources Always here - we are here for you whenever you need s, 24/7!

http://www.strokenetwork.org/

"Welcome to The Stroke Network web site. We are glad that you found us. We are an on line stroke support and information group designed to help everyone in the stroke family. Always here, our stroke support group is available 24/7. The purpose of our organization is to provide on line support for stroke survivors and caregivers of adult stroke."

This site offers resource information on stroke, members a chance to blog, find out information from others in similar situations, a monthly newsletter and guest spots. People contribute by asking questions, giving feedback or offering advice from personal experience.

This is a safe forum and questions can be asked without a member feeling embarrassed that the question is 'silly'. It provides research material, experts advice, personal experience from those who have had a stroke and caregivers. The members are all like minded and seem to be seeking hope from those that have recovered.

EXAMPLES OF POSTINGS

Posted On: Monday, May 04, 2009
" I really believe talking about what happened to us stroke survivors really helps. I'm a 3 year survivor as of May 5, 2009. I now speak to civic groups about stroke. What we can teach others is really giving others hope. Thank you for being here for all of us. "
Doug Combs

Posted On: Sunday, May 03, 2009
" I am a stroke survivor of two and a half years Dec. 10, 2006. I find Stroke net a good place to come and be with others like yourself. To find a cause and live up to it. You all are great. Thank you. "
Bruce Schwentker

Posted On: Monday, March 09, 2009
" I was stroked in 02/05. Stroke Network gave me friends who were in the same situation and hurdles I was experiencing. The volunteers have all been so pleasant and understanding. Everyone has made me feel we are one big family. "
Jean Kozelka

Posted On: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
" I love the Stroke Net. It makes me aware that I am not alone when I am struggling I know that I will always have Stroke Net members on my side. You know they say that a club is only as strong as the weakest link, well I can say without a doubt, that there is no weak on the link, you are so strong, and you are what keep me strong. It means al ot to me to be able to go on and chat with the members and to learn how they are coping . So keep on going let there always be a Stroke Net, you keep me safe and thankful. Thank you Stroke Net. "

Lenny HarrisonGlobal Television n/a

Posted On: Friday, January 02, 2009
"This site gives validation to my thoughts and feelings of my post stroke life. Thank you."
David Keogh

http://www.strokenetwork.org/applications/TestimonialsManager/inc_testimonialsmanager.asp

Ethical issues that may arise from this site is the fact that expert advice is available and although is states 'Complete the form below and select the department of your choice. All experts are licensed or board certified and will answer your questions for free. Any email questions answered by our Experts is not a substitute for medical care. In all cases you should follow-up with your physician. Please read our Medical Disclaimer.'

There may be those that do not follow up with their GP and try to implement change on their own.

The site is world wide and so offers advice from many areas the world over. This site lets people feel they are not alone and their struggles have been dealt with in the past and someone somewhere has that wee gem of advice that is going to get them through the next hurdle. The sense of community is grounded in people sharing personal details in order for others to move forward.

The community lacks the 'coffee group' feeling and being able to connect person to person. Groups that meet face to face have a bond beyond their 'disability', whatever it may be.

Video Production Part One (Tutorial Four)

The Basics
How do I add a video to my blog or web page?

• You'll need to edit the HTML of your blog entry or page—this should be relatively straightforward. In Blogger, for example, just click the "Edit HTML" tab.


• Next, go to the video that you want, and look for the 'Embed' box in the "About This Video" section. Copying the HTML code that's there into your website will create an embedded player; the video will play within your site when the user clicks on the 'Play' button.
  You can re size the player by editing the object width="425" and height="350" fields at both the beginning and end of the embedded player code.


• Make sure that the sizes you choose have the same ratio as the default numbers, so that the video doesn't get stretched—just multiply the width by 0.8235 to get the height. http://www.youtube.com/youtubeonyoursite#

What is YOUTUBE?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005.[2] In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for US$1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.
The company is based in San Bruno, California, and uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos. Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS and the BBC and other organizations offer some of their material via the site.[3]
Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Accounts of registered users are called "channels". Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users over the age of 18. The uploading of videos containing defamation, pornography, copyright violations, and material encouraging criminal conduct is prohibited by YouTube's terms of service.[4]

To sign up with YouTube go to https://www.google.com/accounts/LogoutWarning?continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fcreate_account&ltmpl=sso&hl=en-NZ&service=youtube

Storyboarding and Scripting a Short Film

Storyboarding is putting a written story into drawings so the progress of the story that is to be filmed can begin to become visual. The storyboard is referred to in the production of the film to keep the film makers on track and to stop time being wasted.

Scripting is what is both heard and seen on the screen and should include things like moods and expressions, vocal expression, movement of the characters, sound tracks, lighting, camera angles and shots, background sound and settings etc.

Even if you do a 30 sec video like the one posted here a storyboard and script can save you a huge amount of time. It gets the ideas down, gives you a visual for all the crew to work off and removes the need for hours spent editing at the other end of the shoot.

For some more tips check out Professor Monkey at Overview Video on http://www.sotherden.com/video101/overview.htm. He has some good basic tips to get you through the whole process.

Blogging Part One (Tutorial Three)

Definitions of blogger on the Web. Retrieved 15 April, 2009, from http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4DANZ_enNZ312&defl=en&q=define:blogger&ei=rZPlSfe7FsSCkQXrsfnPCw&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
a person who keeps and updates a blog wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Blogger is a blog publishing system. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger_(service)

A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger

A contributor to a blog or online journal en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blogger

What's a blog?
"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others.
And we're pretty sure the whole deal is just getting started". Blogger tour - What is a blog. Retrieved 15 April 2009, from http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g


Engage your friends
"Blogging is about more than just putting your thoughts on the web. It's about connecting with and hearing from anyone who reads your work and cares to respond. With Blogger, you control who can read and write to your blog — let just a few friends or the entire world see what you have to say!
Blogger Comments let anyone, anywhere, offer feedback on your posts. You can choose whether you want to allow comments on a post-by-post basis, and you can delete any comments you don't like.
Access Controls let you decide who can read and who can write to your blog. You can use a group blog with multiple authors as an excellent communication tool for small teams, families and other groups. Or as a single author, you can create a private online space for collecting news, links, and ideas, to keep to yourself or share with as many readers as you want.
Blogger Profiles let you find people and blogs that share your interests. Your Blogger Profile, where you can list your blogs, your interests, and more, lets people find you (but only if you want to be found)".
Blogger Tour - Engage your friends. Retrieved April 15, 2009, from http://www.blogger.com/tour_con.g


WOMF!
Had lousy service, used a great plumber, found a local hideaway that is a great deal, know someone with a cat to give away to a good home, had a fantastic meal out and want to share your experience, go to WOMF! The best place for opinions on local products & services!

WOMF stands for Word of Mouth Forum and it is the fastest growing blog in the country. WOMF offers bloggers a chance to share good and bad services, holidays, shopping experiences, Doctors, accommodation, whatever! This is a forum that allows you, the consumer to make informed choices about things that matter to you and the best thing about this site is, that the comments are from people from all walks of life going through every day situations that want to see others like them get a fair deal.

WOMF should be your first port of call when making decisions about things that mean a lot to you and where better to hear it than straight from the horses mouth (so to speak). So get WOMFing and sign up to http://otago.womf.com/signup.php

For further information and which countries has this amazing site see WOMF LIVE - Word of Mouth Forum http://www.womf.com/ and get WOMFing.

Digital Imaging (Tutorial Two)

"A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature"

Storing Digital Images
As with all technology there are always some things people like about the old that is not carried on to the new. Digital cameras have given us the opportunity to all become overnight photographers taking a lot more photos and seeing them before printing them so supposedly being more economical. It also affords us the luxury of storing our pictures in different ways in case of disaster. For example on a disc, the computer or a hard copy.

Informed Consent

“Informed consent is a process rather than a one-off
event. The essential elements of this process are effective
communication, full information, and freely-given
competent consent” (Fraser, 1998, p.1).
Informed consent is an integral aspect of service provision.
It is also an ethical and legal requirement under the codes
of ethics of various professional bodies, the Health and
Disability Act (1994), and Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (1996).

Ministry of Education. Informed consent guidelines. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/EducationSectors/SpecialEducation/FormsGuidelines/InformedConsentGuidelines.pdf

Use of Digital Images in Practice
Digital images are being used in Occupational therapy practice to make others aware of some of the difficulties faced by others that are less able. For example: Occupational Therapy at Grand Valley State University. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.gvsu.edu/ot/index.cfm?id=9D296622-CFA0-EB34-F9EDC9408F00E6C7 uses photos to highlight the interaction of OT's with clients and to promote the school.

Images are also used to enhance the skills and diversity of an OT, such as seen on the following website that has links attached to each image. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://images.google.co.nz/images?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4DANZ_enNZ312&q=Occupational+Therapy+photos&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i_3jSd31NcGTkAWhtczZCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Occupational Therapists are using digital images to show supervisors or other therapist. This is to ensure correct seating/posture/movements/equipment installation are in place for a client instead of creating another visit to the clients residents and wasting time for both parties.

Flickr

There are other ways in which people display their digital images which is less formal and offers others the opportunity to comment on the images. One such site is Flickr.com offering people an opportunity to showcase their photos and talent (or lack of) to others. Flickr's aims are 1. We want to help people make their content available to the people who matter to them. and 2. We want to enable new ways of organizing photos and video. For more information or to join Flickr go to http://www.flickr.com/

JPEG (Joint Photo's Experts Group) retrieved March 14,2009, from http://www.image-formats.com/jpeg.htm

"Jpeg format was designed to transfer graphic data and images via digital
telecommunication networking and was generally used to hold and transfer full
color photo realistic images. Before Jpeg, there were very few formats, which
supported 24 bit halftone images. TIFF and BMP formats allowed holding 24 bit
data, but they failed to perform a loss less compression of the data, which
contained thousand colors from the real world, on the high quality
level. Jpeg compresses photos though with quality loss. Compression algorithm
is that data are deleted for deal location (it allows to raise the compression
degree). Data are hold as pixel block in a certain color with intensity
information save (the matter is that a human eye discerns disintensity better
than discoloration).
Photos and multi-color images, transferred in this
format, are ideal for networking. It is not possible to refine Jpeg images,
though it is possible to debase them by decreasing the file size.
Jpeg format is primarily used to hold photo realistic graphic images with a large number of
colors.
Compressed data capacity depends on image contents. Compression
degree may come up to 25:1 without visible loss in quality.
Jpeg supports, Progressive Jpeg standard, which conceptually looks like interlaced in Gif
format. That means that Jpeg Progressive format images are loaded by parts,
which are displayed, as they are loaded. Such format is good for large files.
Unfortunately, it is a new standard, so some programs may not support it".

Digital Vs Optical Zoom

Finding the Difference Between Digital and Optical Zoom; go to Digital Vs Optical Zoom at http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/Digital_Camera/digital_optical_zoom.shtml

Digital zoom according to Wikipedia - is a method of decreasing (narrowing) the apparent angle of view of a digital photographic or video image. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping an image down to a centered area with the same aspect ratio as the original, and usually also interpolating the result back up to the pixel dimensions of the original. It is accomplished electronically, without any adjustment of the camera's optics, and no optical resolution is gained in the process. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 14, 2009 from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_zoom

Optical zoom is magnification created by a lens. This type of magnification is a "true zoom" and should not adversely affect image quality. Optical zoom should be your first choice for magnification whenever possible. About.com Photography. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://photography.about.com/od/camerabasics/qt/digvsoptzoom.htm

What is a Mega pixel????

"A mega pixel refers to one million pixels, and is commonly used in reference to digital cameras 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 grid of these squares or dots, which can be easily seen with a magnifying glass. The more pixels or dots that make up the display screen, the clearer the resolution or image will be. Greater numbers of dots or pixels allow for more refinement of the image, which results in higher, truer image replication". Wisegeek. What is a mega pixel? Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-megapixel.htm

Go to Digicamhelp at http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-parts/megapixels/ for further information.

Ethics and Information Technology (Tutorial One)

In today's society we have the option to use as many or as little devices from the technological word as we can wish. For some like me this only includes the basics such as the computer, mainly e-mail and a word programme, a cell phone and digital camera, and DVD video recorder. As I contemplate my future in the working world and consider how these things are being used to enhance an Occupational Therapist job I realise these objects are going to be essential for information gathering, multi note taking, communication and assessment.

"We hold to the philosophy that it’s not what’s going on inside a computer’s plastic container that is of greatest importance, but how this technology benefits those who are using it. Plus, we believe that computer technology is now a vital part of everyday life – from how washing machines operate to how running shoes are designed – and its possible uses are limitless!" Retrieved 15 March, 2009 Otago Polytechnic. Information Technology, from http://www.otagopolytechnic.ac.nz/schools-departments/information-technology.html

The use of devices that take video or photo's has ethical implications that need to be considered. These images once put 'out there' in cyber world loose there intended purpose and can become ill used by others. The issue of 'who' has access to the images we put on our tools needs to be addressed.(see: http://library.thinkquest.org/26658/)

Intellectual Property (IP) for New Zealand, refer Intellectual Property of New Zealand (IPONZ), run by the Ministry of Economic Development http://www.iponz.govt.nz/cms/what-is-ip/what-is-intellectual-property

For an interesting overview from a US perspective of global issues around IP refer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eejH0ANk-M

What is social justice and who does it effect? Why do we think about it in relation to technology? In Computer Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Bynum and Rogerson say that "social justice requires that society develops policies and practices to more fully include people who, in the past, have had limited access to computer resources: women, the poor, the old, persons of colour, rual residents, person's with disabilities".

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.
Retrieved February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent

As technology moves into our lives more and more we are forced to learn, comprehend and teach. There is an advantage to being able to download information quickly, video a client and send it through to a supervisor for comment or view techniques on line. But were does the 'person, feelings etc' come into the equation? How do we keep information private, is social justice being served? The techology is there but the privacy, ethical and intellectual property issues are not well known enough to future proof a person's rights, just yet.

AT LAST!!!!! I am on!