Make the Cut – Fall 2021
Paul Menton Centre, Carleton University 
TRANSCRIPT: Assistive Technology Presentation – Jordyn Tremblay

[PADDY] Next, we have Jordyn Tremblay. Amanda mentioned her a couple of times already. Jordyn is a Learning Strategist at PMC. our our techie guru … sorry, she— and she's our techie guru and uh she will outline important assistive technology for you. Jordyn, over to you. 

[JORDYN] Hi everyone! Thanks for the introduction, Paddy. um So, as you heard before, my name is Jordyn. I am an Assistive Technologist and Learning Strategist at Carleton University. And I’m here to “Spill the tea on AT”! um Today, we're going to go through some different technology demonstrations and I also want to provide some tips that I have learned as a person with a disability who has used assistive technology for the last 18 years. 
So, to start with Tip Number One - what's really important is “Know What You Need.” Knowing how you think and how you work with technology is really important before you start. Some people really like technology that has all the features like me. um Some people want things to just do a couple of things so it's nice and easy to work with. There's no wrong answer. It's just best to kind of know what you'd like and let your Assistive Technologists know so they can help guide you to some different options. A really good example of this is notetaking technology. With note-taking technology, you might want to have the option to type. Some technologies will give you the option handwrite. um There's also technologies that have audio recording capabilities and others that are better for drawing pictures and diagrams. So, kind of knowing how you like to take your notes … how you want to take your notes for your courses can make a huge difference. So, I am going to start up a screen share and let's take a look at some software. um Okay hopefully, this should all be working … but over here … yes it is. um We have a screen share of a screen share of screen share of what is happening on my iPad. um This is an application known as Notability. um Now, what I’m really excited about for this particular application is it has recently been declared that they've created a free version of this application. Before you used to have to pay to even use this application. So, now they've switched to a model where it's a yearly fee and there's certain premium features, but overall, a lot of the major note taking features are available. And I just want to say quickly guys. I’m so sorry if it looks like I’m looking all over the place with doing the demos. It's a lot easier when I actually look at the software so you guys don't just see random gibberish on the page. So, for Notability, this is a great software because you have the option to type. You have drawing features … that's my lovely smiley face, but I should really just stick to stars. um Highlight information. You can also upload um various like PowerPoint um slides and pdf documents to annotate. But what is really cool is you have recording capabilities. So, this is recording what I’m doing right now, but in addition to recording my audio what notability is doing is it's also recording my actions as well. So, if I stop this recording here … tap down … you see how the triangle over there is all grayed out. I can click on the triangle … maybe … maybe, if it likes me. Okay, maybe “Hi” is going to work better for me. Come on. Fine. We'll just play the recording at this moment. But what's going to happen is at the point of the recording when I did a particular action, it's going to bring that item like I just did for the triangle in full color. So, I know exactly what I did while I was taking my notes based on the recording of my professor. Now, something to keep in mind with uh note-taking software, there's a lot out there. There's a variety of different options. Notability, in particular, is ideal for someone who has access to an iPad. It is also available for any student who uses a Mac, but don't fear if you don't have those technologies. There's plenty of applications available for Windows computers, android tablets. There's also note-taking technology such as smart pens that will allow you to write in a physical notebook. 

Okay, now let's move on to our next tip which is “Knowing your Device”. So, um with assistive technology, as you can imagine and also as you can kind of see from Notability, um there's a variety of different devices that you might be able to use varying software and applications on. um So, knowing the operating systems that you have access to can sometimes make a difference. There are plenty of technologies that can work on a variety of different operating systems. But some are very specialized. um One other important thing to keep in mind before you head to your post-secondary institution of choice um is thinking about what sort of new laptop you're going to be wanting to get. um So, this is always a major question during the first assistive technology appointments. um There's always a big debate between Windows or Mac computers. um Overall, from an assistive technology standpoint, both are excellent. um It's kind of based on your preference, on how much you guys are willing to fork out for a computer. um I do recommend when if you're getting a brand new computer, um just consider like has your laptop um been like made in the last three years or so. If you have like a slightly older laptop, you should be okay. um But if you have something older than three years, you're definitely going to want to make sure you do your research just to make sure um everything has the right specs you need for running your technology. The other tip I have is just check your processor on your computer. We typically recommend that on average if you have an i5 processor, you should be good to go. um The other major thing before you make any computer purchases is just check in with um your program of choice, just to see if they have any recommendations. uh Some programs do not; others, such as Engineering, for example, might require specific specs for you to use so you will be able to use technology um specific to your program. So, the technology I wanted to pair with this is bringing in some of the awesome Time Management Strategies Amanda brought up is Habitica. So, this is an excellent application. It's going to be available on Android computers … uh sorry, Android uh devices, iOS devices. It's also available on the web. um And this is a tool that you can use to keep track of the different things you need to do, habits you want to build. um And what's really fun about this is it's kind of based around role-playing games. So, you can make a little avatar … um you have the option to add the different habits you want to build. um So, let's see uh what's a habit I’d like to try. Oh, I forgot to enable dictation for this app. Come on. Read two hours a day. And I can hit “create” and that's now a new habit that I can add to my list, and every day that I accomplish that habit, I can just hit the plus button and it gives me additional stats for my character to kind of grow and rank up. um What's also nice about Habitica is there's a lot of socialization um with it. So, there's ways to interact with the online community to kind of build up your habits. And I know there was a question before for Amanda about um keeping track of different uh projects. Using an application like Habitica, that's a habit tracker, is a great way to kind of map out for yourself all the steps you need to do and stay on top of them. 

Okay, on to tip number three which is “Be flexible.” um The thing with technology is there's a variety of different options out there. I cannot always promise that I will provide you with the exact technology that you want, but I feel like I can speak on behalf of most assistive technologists, if not all assistive technologists … who am I kidding? … I can speak upon all assistive technologists for this … we will all do our best to figure out different options of technology that will work for you and be what you need. um So, I do always recommend be open-minded, be creative, um and keep asking questions - stay informed. So, um my example for this is Immersive Reader. So, I’m sure a lot of you have encountered reading software in your program. um Some of you might have used Kurzweil, some of you might have used Read&Write … excellent options! At Carleton, we typically use Read&Write, but a cool, free tool that's embedded in OneNote and Microsoft Word is the “Immersive Reader”. With the Immersive Reader in OneNote, you're able to upload a pdf document and you just need to go to “View Immersive Reader” and as long as you've uploaded the pdf document, at least, I’d say, a minimum of half an hour in advance. But I do advise students to typically upload things they want to read via Immersive Reader a day before. You would be able to just click the play button and everything it's highlighting right now, it's reading from that lovely pdf document right here. You can also draft up a paper you're working on or any sort of assignments, and you can take the text put it in OneNote or even Microsoft Word, go into the Immersive Reader and have it read back to you um what you have written. And this is a great way to edit because, fun fact, guys, reading software doesn't care about anyone's feelings. It reads exactly what's on the page. So, if you want some brutally honest, constructive criticism, definitely use a reading software.  Okay, the other kind of cool features that I especially like about Immersive Reader on OneNote is you can change the different text preferences … so, the size, the font that's used, the color that the text is on. You can break things down into the different syllables, highlight particular parts of speech, such as the different nouns. And you also have the option to kind of focus what you're reading on the page. So, if I want to narrow down to just three lines at a time, I have the option to do that with Immersive Reader. um Overall, it's a great, it's a fun software to use and there's a lot of different ways you can apply it. 

Okay, on to tip number four which is “ask questions about your technology and then practice”. So, with assistive technology, all questions that you have are fair game. um There is no such thing, at least in my books, of like a ridiculous question when it comes to assistive technology because some things can be a little intuitive but a lot are not. um So, never be ashamed to ask questions. um It's definitely helpful to kind of try things out on your own and reach out to your assistive technologists later if you want some feedback or recommendations. But with assistive technology, practice makes perfect. So, if you're not sure if it's working for you right away, give yourself a little bit of time. um Try it out for ideally a couple days, if not a week before making a final call. But always feel free, as soon as you have that feeling like “No, not working for me,” reach out to your assistive technologist. We'll be happy to meet with you to figure out what other alternatives are out there for you to try out. Now, the technology I wanted to pair with this is dictation software. um Some of you might have used dictation software in the past and not had a great experience. I completely understand that. I’ve been using dictation software since I was about 10 years old. So, I am very picky when it comes to my dictation software. um (dictating to the software) “I have been very impressed with what Microsoft has created and embedded into Microsoft Word. um I’ve been finding it's fairly accurate and easy to use … period … Sometimes it's not as powerful as I would necessarily like it to be … period … The reason for this I use Dragon Naturally Speaking. So, sometimes, I’ll use my dictation software to navigate through the software I’m using … period … new line … But if you just want to use a dictation software to get your ideas on the page, start working on assignments, um also potentially, if you're using an online test, it might be recommended you use this to write out your answers but it's definitely a great easy to use tool and it's free … period”

Okay, so, now that we've taken a look at some dictation software, um we're going on to tip number five which is “when stuff is not working, get help.” um Yes, I know I’m kind of quoting that uh line from the Thor movie where Thor and Loki are trying to get past all the bad guys, Loki doesn't like it … Thor does. I have to go with Thor on this one … always get help. um So, sometimes technology will glitch, crash, freeze … all those wonderful things. um It happens. It's part of life. um The number of hours I spend as an assistive technologist uh sitting there and just staring at my computer, wondering what in the world it's doing … it's been a lot! um But um I would recommend definitely take some time to try to figure out what's going on with your technology on your own. There's nothing wrong with that … try it out. Keep in mind, if right away you're like, “I don't like this,” do reach out to your assistive technologist. No matter what, if you cannot fix the technical issue in about half an hour after you've restarted your computer, reach out to your assistive technologist and any tech support you have for the technology. um It's important to reach out and ask those questions, to figure out what's going on. um I would just like to take this moment and say, please don't give up on your technology right away if it's not working the way you think it is. um Ask your assistive technologist questions. It might be just like a software glitch, it might be something more major. um But we'll be able to kind of guide you and let you know what's going on. So, with this, I decided it would be nice to pair a grammar check software. um I’m sure many of you have seen the advertisements for Grammarly. I’ll just mention right now, some institutions have site licenses for Grammarly. Carleton does not, but we do like to recommend Microsoft Editor which is another excellent option. um But as you can see, uh Grammarly is great because it'll flag various issues in your writing. It's also really nice for the editing when you're dictating text as I use it all the time … because a lot of errors with dictation software, everything is spelled correctly … spell check not as helpful. So, I would definitely recommend even if you don't use dictation software, consider using any sort of grammar check at your disposal to go over your papers. It can definitely be helpful um and it's in your right as a student to use all the different tools at your disposal. 

Okay, tip number six … um “To use your technology or not to use your technology, that's the question.” So, there's a lot of different technology out there. Sometimes the tech solutions though aren't always the best solution. Definitely, you do you. um Prime example, I have a lovely little sticky pad here to try to keep me on time um and so far, I look— it appears like I’m doing a good job, but I need to wrap up soon. um But the technology I wanted to pair with this is Transcribe. So, this is a feature that is being developed by a variety of different technology companies. uh With this um option, you'd be able to take an audio recording, or go into a live lecture, and basically have the software use AI technology to basically write out what the speaker is saying in that given moment. um Microsoft is currently testing out this feature and it's on the web version of Microsoft Word, but I am expecting that they're going to start rolling this out to um OneNote and Microsoft Word on the desktop in the near future. To use this, you would just be able to either start recording audio, or upload an audio file … which I’m gonna do because I did capture the audio from Bruce's introduction speech. So, I’m going to open that up and it's currently analyzing the audio file um and I’m hoping this doesn't take too long. um But once it's done, it's going to give me a preview of what the transcription looks like. um And then I can pick and choose … do I want it to show how many— like, the different speakers that we're speaking … um the time stamps associated with the transcription. I can then paste in the Word document and reference that later. I do recommend for any transcription technology, whether it be Transcribe on Microsoft Word on the web, or some other resource, use this as a supplement to your notes; definitely don't use this as your main source of notes because it's not perfect. It can be quite good, but based on the speaker, the quality definitely varies. Okay, it's of course stuck at the last two percent. 

So, I’m going to just let this keep going and I’m gonna move on to my seventh tip um because this last tip I don't actually have paired with a technology. um This tip is “do your research before buying.” As with anything, um it's important to research and make sure what you're going to purchase is actually a good fit for you. Keep in mind, most technologies have a 30-day trial, but some don't. um No matter what, I do advise part of your research process should be consulting with an assistive technologist before making a purchase because different post-secondary institutions have site license for other technologies. So, even though uh technology might not be your first fit, there might be something that's functionally equivalent available to you that you won't ever have to pay for. Ooh, excellent! The transcription has finished up. So, as we can see here, I have the preview. I’m going to click “Add to Document” and you know what, I just want this with my time stamps and there we go … I have my transcription of Bruce's intro speech and … overall, it's not looking too bad! So, that is all the technology I have for you guys today. I hope you guys um find the tips helpful. um Please feel free to reach out to me - my email is on the Carleton staff listing for the PMC if you have any questions later.