Illinois
School for the Visually Impaired
658 East State Street
Jacksonville, IL 62650 (Toll Free 800-919-5617)
217-479-4400 TTY: 217-479-4415 Fax: 217-479-4479
E-mail: ISVI
www.isvi.net
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GENERAL INFORMATION NEWS PARENTS |
TECHNOLOGY FOR TODAY CAMP REPORT
At 8:00 p.m. that evening, a "mixer" dance was held for campers in the lower level of the Unit 2 dormitory where campers from the older three camps resided during the week. The dance provided an opportunity for campers to meet each other and have a chance to get to know one another from the Fine Arts Camp and Technology Camp. The DJ for the dance was one of ISVI's educators.
ISVI Educational
Staff
Computerized Information ProcessingStudents covered lots of terminology in which we hear when using computers and all the functions of those "hot keys". Quizzes were given each day to review this information. Games were also provided to help the students remember all these terms. Students went over the "hot keys" of Word Perfect and Microsoft Word and then used those commands in completing different activities while in the Word Perfect and Microsoft Word programs. Again, quizzes were given each day to work on these "hot keys." Students went over the "hot key" commands for the Group Wise Program (the e‑mail program used at ISVI) and then they would actually e‑mail the instructor and other students in the Technology Camp. This was really a popular activity of each camper. They would eagerly check their e‑mails each day to see if they had any messages. As an instructor, I would have one waiting for them with an "assignment" so that they would then have an opportunity to write e‑mail back to me with an attachment. Students worked on activity sheets while using the computer to see how much they knew about spacing rules, grammar rules in keyboarding, special characters on the keyboard, and number functions of the computer. Small booklets (or folders) that contained all the material that we had covered during the week of camp were created by Shirley Hainds and given to the students at the end of the day on Saturday. For Word Processing it contained the "hot key" commands for Word Perfect, Computer Terminology, "hot key" commands for Group Wise, several worksheets which would help them with using the correct usage of number keys, special character keys, and the function keys. Certificates were also created by Shirley Hainds to be given to each student who had completed the summer camp experience in technology. Students shared their experiences, their ideas, and their opinions about many topics and put those thoughts into paragraph form. The students used Word Perfect and Microsoft Word to create documents, and they had to format the selections by using our "hot keys" that had been covered all week. The paragraphs were not meant to be right or wrong responses but the students had to format their responses in written form and they had to justify their answers; giving reasons for their beliefs. Examples of these type of assignments were: Year Round School–Good or Bad; Cell Phones Allowed in Class–Yes or No.
At the end of the camp, students
received prizes for the number of correct responses they received on their
quizzes and projects. The students got into this activity and worked hard to
make sure that they got all the points possible. The points were represented by
stickers and were placed on poster board for all three sessions
of the camp.
The
groups were very
competitive on these activities.
Computerized Engraving The campers made several projects as they learned how academics are applied in the real world. Campers selected two or more items from the list below to manufacture: Wooden name plaque, brailled plastic signature card/ typo‑scope, metal key tag, and a plastic dog/cat ID tags. Safety and work behaviors were our priority as power equipment and hand tools were used or demonstrated during manufacturing. Several manufacturing skills were introduced as we worked with the material science of plastics, woods, and metals. Campers were allowed to independently design their projects. We explored the industrial language of math/science as we applied vocabulary meanings to numbers by using spatial and linear meanings to understand 3‑dimensional shapes. Graphs were explained as the computer interprets the three planes of X, Y, Z.
The campers and I had fun as we each
learned from, and about each other in this camps relaxed educational
atmosphere. Have a
great summer!
Assistive Devices–Hardware & Software A day-by-day explanation of activities is below. Monday was dedicated to various book storage devices available at ISVI. These units can also be used as digital recorders, mp3 players and in a few cases a note taker. Devices used include: the Milestone, Victor Reader Stream, Victor Classic, BookPort and Icon Mobile Manager. Students completed a device orientation, installation of batteries, inserting/removing storage cards, learned proper care, explored programs included on the units and exchanged information between each device and desktop/laptop computers. On Tuesday students visited a downtown coffee shop that provides free wireless access. This activity presented campers with a real life situation such as what would be encountered while in college, a hometown library, etc. If a family cannot afford to have internet access, this filed trip has now shown campers an alternative way to meet the challenge. Devices from HumanWare, Freedom Scientific and LevelStar notetakers were used for wireless access. Students explored selected sites by the instructor, beam files between units, created simple files and save/reopen them on the notetakers from storage cards or internal hard drives. Note takers used include: MPower BT (Braille style keyboard), M‑power QT (qwerty style keyboard), Icon Mobile Manager, Pac Mate BX (Braille style keyboard) and Pac Mate QX (qwerty style keyboard.) During the Wednesday sessions, campers took a trek around the nearby community using talking GPS units. The Trekker Maestro GPS System and Sendero GPS in conjunction with a HumanWare M‑power Note Taker were used as campers explored five blocks around ISVI. Campers used the devices to check direction, gain detailed information about addresses being passed, explore up coming intersections and took virtual tours of their home town’s points of interest as well as many more new experiences with this cutting edge assistive technology. On Thursday, campers used the other features of the HumanWare family of note takers and Icon Mobile Manager to share information between the note takers and desktop/laptop computers.
Campers returned to the same coffee shop visited earlier this week. Coleen and
Scott from Freedom Scientific demonstrated the wide range of new features on Pac
Mate Omni Note Takers. Campers used Skype, MSN Messenger, played games, and
did quite a bit of searching on the wireless access. Digital Cameras/Power Point
The campers from the older two camps–Fine Arts and Technology were divided up into four groups. Each night of the week–Monday through Thursday, campers rotated each night between four different recreational activities; bowling, horseback riding, an outdoor fun night and swimming in ISVI's swimming pool.
Bowling
Horseback Riding
Outdoor Fun Night
At the track area, the campers first sat on the bleachers while I led a
conversation about the importance of staying physically active. The campers
participated in the discussion by making predictions to my questions and sharing
relevant stories of their own. Next, we moved to the grassy area behind the
bleachers and stretched out and warmed up our muscles to prepare for physical
activity. After we were stretched and warm, we walked around the track for ten
minutes. Some of the campers even chose to jog or run around the track. After
about ten minutes of walking or running, we found our way back to the grassy
area to do some resistance training with the latex stretch bands. Many of the
campers had never used these stretch bands before and found the activity to be
fun. We did some repetitions of resistance training with our arms and the
campers tried their own ways to use the bands, too. After the bands were
collected, we engaged in some friendly competitions, such as who can do the
most sit‑ups, who can balance on one foot the longest, who can do
the most jumping jacks, etc. The highlight of the night was probably the
last activity that was a water balloon relay. The campers were split up into
two teams and they had to collect water balloons without popping them and
whichever team either had the most un-popped water balloons or completed the
challenge the fastest (in the case that both teams had the same amount of water
balloons left) won. The campers could then throw the water balloons at the
ground or at another consenting camper or adult. Once the pieces of water
balloon were cleaned up, the campers were given free time outside to swing,
gliding, or relax. One freeze pop (popsicle) was given to each camper during
the free time.
Swimming
Each of the three daily meals was served in the Dining Hall located in the center of the campus. For each meal, campers went through the food line cafeteria style with assistance being provided to anyone who needed help. Campers were also provided assistance in locating a table so each camper could sit where and with whom they would like. Meals were planned and organized by ISVI's dietary manager. All staff involved in the Technology for Today Camp thank you for allowing your child to spend the week with us here at ISVI's Summer Camp! All campers had a great time making new friends, learning new skills, and experiencing summer camp. We are hopeful your child will choose to join us again next summer! We wish you and your child a pleasant remainder of the summer months. |
EDUCATION
RESIDENTIAL LIFE OUTREACH RESOURCES |
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