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Tech Tea Time Archive
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Mountbatten Tutor
Open captioned. The Mountbatten Brailler is a user-friendly tool, making it easy for children to develop awareness of Braille symbols and characters. Its clear audio response acts as a learning reinforcement, guiding the student through the entered commands. It is a typewriter with many additional media (speech, regular print on display installed in the device, connection to external devices), allowing the child to start his/her adventure with electronic appliances, trial and error without risk, and fun games. The Mountbatten is the first and only Bluetooth® Smart hard-copy Braille device that communicates wirelessly with iOS Bluetooth® Smart Ready devices.
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Transcript (TXT)TSBVI Tech Tea Time: NOA, the AI Vest for Blind Mobility by biped.ai
Open captioned. Meet Biped Robotics, a Swiss company that partnered with Honda to bring autonomous drive tech to the shoulders of blind pedestrians with its groundbreaking mobility assistant NOA. From real-time obstacle avoidance, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, and AI descriptions, NOA is designed to be the best complement for the white cane and guide dog and enhance the mobility, safety, and independence of blind pedestrians.
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Stories of Vision Loss Podcast
Open captioned. Let's talk about how podcasts, YouTube channels, and other resources are being used in our field. How do they fit into the greater fabric of education, advocacy, connection, and motivation... Let's share our ideas.
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Transcript (TXT)TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Explanation and Demo Hable One and Hable Easy
Open captioned. Join us for an in-depth session where we’ll introduce you to Hable’s innovative assistive devices – the Hable One and the Hable Easy. This session will guide you through the unique features and functionalities of each product, showcasing how they empower individuals to navigate and interact with smartphones and tablets independently. We’ll start by explaining how each device works, from the ergonomic design to the specialized command system that allows effortless typing, navigation, and voice commands. You’ll learn about the specific use cases each product is designed for and see live demonstrations of key functions. We'll discuss who these products are best suited for, covering their compatibility with various devices and apps, and explain who they might not be the best fit for. The session will also include insights into the development journey, user feedback, and examples of how Hable devices make a difference in the daily lives of users. Ideal for anyone curious about assistive tech, educators, family members, or potential users – come learn how Hable is opening new doors for the BVI community!
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Hands-free Device Control with the MouthPad^ by Augmental
Open captioned. Gabi Muñoz from Augmental will introduce the company's first product, the MouthPad^, which is aimed at providing universal, equitable access to one's personal electronics by leveraging wearable technology. This innovative assistive device is worn in the mouth on the upper jaw, much like a 'smart retainer/aligner', and it functions just like a standard wireless computer mouse with its Bluetooth radio, a touch-sensitive trackpad positioned across the roof of the mouth, and a suite of supporting sensors to provide all standard mouse functions. You can press your tongue on the trackpad to perform a click, and move your tongue across the trackpad to move the cursor across the screen. You can even opt to control cursor movement with head-motion tracking instead of the tongue, and much more. Muñoz will discuss the benefits of this intraoral approach, which include increased independence, expressivity, convenience and privacy.
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Using AI to Help Students with VI and other Complex Needs
Open captioned. In this session, we will explore the unique challenges faced by students with visual impairments (VI) when using technology and how artificial intelligence (AI) can support their learning. We'll discuss common barriers, such as accessibility limitations and the need for tailored educational experiences, and how AI is positioned to address these needs. Learn about how AI-Learners uses advanced AI techniques to create personalized, accessible learning games for students with disabilities. We’ll showcase the platform’s AI-driven features, such as adaptive difficulty levels, visual simplicity, and individualized progress tracking. A case study from Texas Schools for the Blind will highlight how AI-Learners successfully enhances student engagement and learning outcomes. The session will conclude with practical steps on how educators can get started with AI-Learners to support their students with visual impairments and other complex needs, offering an easy pathway to integrate AI into the classroom.
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Mind Mapping: Assistive Software for Essay Writing, Note Taking, etc.
Open captioned. Mind Mapping is theory based and proven to be great for planning, brainstorming, and reading and writing comprehension for both students and adults. Learn how individuals can overcome difficulties with Anxiety, Blank Page Syndrome, Feeling Overwhelmed, Confusion on Assignments and Time Management. Individuals with or without learning disabilities can benefit from Mind Mapping, but specifically, it can be helpful for individuals that have been diagnosed with ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, Executive Function Disorder, etc. In this interactive presentation, attendees will be guided through Mind Mapping best practices on how to visually organize topics, research, cite and reference information, and export data in any academic format, such as APA, MLA, etc. Furthermore, we will illustrate when Mind Mapping is paired with technology how it can enhance creativity, clarify thinking and improve understanding of the subject at hand.
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Digital Math: Workflows from Teacher to Student and Student to Teacher
Open Captioned. Workflows for accessible math are ever changing in the digital world! Come and join us to discuss multiple approaches for producing accessible math for all grade levels of students, various low-tech and high-tech options that students can use to express their learning, and factors that may influence workflows.
TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Tactonom Reader Live Demo
Open Captioned. Klaus-Peter Hars demonstrates the Tactonom Reader, a new tactile teaching tool with many applications across subjects.
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Transcript (TXT)TSBVI Tech Tea Time: Bookshare
Open Captioned. People with reading barriers face numerous challenges. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, 90% of whom live in developing countries. An even higher number of people have dyslexia or a language-based learning disability that makes it difficult or impossible to read printed text. UNESCO has reported that if all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty, equivalent to a 12% cut in world poverty. Bookshare® is an ebook library that makes reading easier. Members can access a huge collection of ebooks and read their way with the most customizable ebooks for people with reading barriers. See how Bookshare ebooks work. The library has over 1.3 million titles and is the most extensive collection of accessible ebooks in the world. It includes books for school, career, and reading pleasure, as well as titles in over 40 languages. The collection is supported by partnerships with over 1,000 US and international publishers and a dedicated volunteer community. Bookshare operates in the U.S. under a copyright exemption—the Chafee Amendment—which grants nonprofit organizations the ability to make books available to people with print disabilities without publisher permission. Bookshare receives publisher permission to provide books to members outside the US. Thanks to funding from the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare is free for all qualified US students and schools. Bookshare’s current funding award from the Department of Education is also referred to as the DREAM (Delivering Revolutionary Equitable and Accessible Materials) Center. Qualified individuals who are not students pay a nominal annual fee for their membership, including reduced fees in some countries outside the US. Learn about membership fees. Bookshare is an initiative of Benetech, a nonprofit that empowers communities with software for social good.