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.
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.
