Education

GI: I’m one of a group of champions in a whole range of areas as to how the NBN is relevant to Australian society. I wasn’t in the original group and I kept going back to the minister, Stephen Conroy, and saying “Look, disability is the untold story of the NBN. I think you should have someone telling these stories.” He came back to me and said, “That’s great, will you do it?”

Videos and multimedia are being used more and more in the classroom – a trend the new Australian curriculum certainly encourages. Using video not only allows for variety and engagement, but for a real benefit for students’ literacy: captions. Similar to foreign language subtitles, captions are the text version of audio, including speech, sounds and music.

Captions are essential for students who are Deaf or hearing impaired and also have immense benefits for students learning an additional language, struggling readers, and visual learners.

Studies have shown that using captions can enhance the learning experience for all students, with particular benefit to students who speak English as a second language or with learning difficulties, not to mention the Deaf or hearing impaired students for whom captions are absolutely essential.

Media Access Australia found and tested three educational apps that include captions for all students.

Brainpop

Cost: Free, $1.99 per month, $6.99 per month (unlimited access)

Captions are not only essential for children who are Deaf or hearing impaired but have been demonstrated to improve literacy outcomes across the board. Captions are particularly valuable for students who speak English as an additional language, struggle with reading or are visual learners. Our education campaign, cap that!,encourages teachers to turn on captions whenever they press play in the classroom.

Running on a version of Google's Android operating system, the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD (both 7 and 8.9) tablets will include text-to-speech technology, a voice guide, and the ability to change text size and colour. These accessibility features will be available on the tablets in early 2013.

The tablets allow users to access content on Amazon such as music, games, apps, magazines and eBooks, as well as browse the web through a WiFi connection. Kindle Fire uses standard definition while Kindle Fire HD uses high definition.

When the grant began, it was used to fund the captioning of entertainment videos, but it has evolved over the years and is now used to caption DVDs and online videos with an education or community focus. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the grant this year was Education Services Australia, which provides online videos that can be accessed by schools and used as curriculum material. This was mostly in the form of short film clips, including newsreels and other historical material from the National Film and Sound Archive.

By turning on captions by default on audiovisual resources used in the classroom, teachers can boost literacy for all their students, particularly those with learning disabilities or with a language background other than English, and ensure that their Deaf or hearing impaired students – often too embarrassed to request captions – are included in the learning process.

Splash provides free articles, videos, audio clips and games linked to the new Australian Curriculum. The extensive online library covers maths, English, history and science for primary and secondary students up to Year 10, with other subjects to be added in future.

The site also gives teachers topic collections and ideas for incorporating Splash content into the classroom, as well as useful tips for parents.

The winners in each category were:

Derek Brandon, founder of the UK’s Your Local Cinema website said, “'Each year in the UK around 800 children are born with significant hearing loss, and every day another 100 people start to lose their sight. Thanks to the inclusion of hundreds of subtitled and audio described shows, National Schools Film Week 2012 will enable hundreds of children with hearing or sight loss to enjoy the cinema experience with their classmates.”