Tutorial 7 - Linking with Blogs of Interest

This week we were expected to link with blogs of interest and leave comments on them. I was already linked with some from my class so I linked with some other OT blogs that are available on the internet and commented on some of them, particularly around the areas where i have been in placement and other areas of OT which I am interested in. Below is an example of the communication on a blog that I commented on. It is a classmates blog for a post she had explaining OT through the use of a youtube clip.This communication illustrated that we both have difficulty at times explaining exactly what is that Occupational Therapists do.





 
If you are reading through this blog and have something to say, please feel free to leave you comments of any of the below posts. 

Tutorial 8 - Assistive Technology

Occupational Therapist often get clients with a variety of disabilities to use equipment, some of this can be refereed to as assistive technology. Following having a guest speaker who was an occupational therapist at a school speaking to us, the blog entry to be written was about assistive technology. 

Assistive technology represents the “broad range of devices, services, strategies, and practices that are conceived and applied to ameliorate the problems faced by individuals who have disabilities” (Cook & Hussey, 1995)

So put into my own words, an simplified a bit, assistive technology is all the technology and equipment which can help people with disabilities to lead fulfilling and active lifestyles.

There is a rather wide variety of adaptive equipment available. One piece of equipment I found interesting was the talking photo album. The allowed you to put photos into a normal looking album, and then add a note to it in speech. This could be used for someone that was expected to lose their speech, and could do this before they lost their speech so they could still tell their story in their own voice. However the way our guest speaker showed it being used, was at a school where the teachers would take photos of the student who was unable to talk. The photo was then developed, put in the album, them a voice memo was added to it. This album would them go home to the parents so they could see and hear what their child was doing while they were at school. This link is a youtube clip that shows a talking photo album and how they are used. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMLV409Sbdw

Through some assistive technology companies talking photo albums can be expensive, however they are becoming more and more common and not just for people with disabilities, so this is bringing the price down. They can be purchased over the internet for about $65.00 US dollars.

References

Cook, A., & Hussey, S. (1995). Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practise. St Louis: Mosby.

Tutorial 6 - Online Communities

For the following tutorial we were required to look at online communities that in some way relate to occupational therapy, I chose to look at online games as play is the main occupation for children and it is something that many others choice to participate is as a leisure activity or when they have free time. Or my personal favorite procrastination technique when i'm supposed to be studying.  

The three sites which I will explore in more depth are

-       http://www.rummikub.com/

-       www.mindjolt.com

-       www.nick.com/games

Rummikub is a site where individuals come together to play a game against each other. The only game which can be played in rummikub which is a rummy game involving coloured d numbered bricks. Most often you will play against people from other countries who you do not know. It is suitable for a range or age groups from about 8 years upwards. The intention of this site is well met, as it is to allow people to enjoy playing rummikub against other internet users in a safe environment.

MIndjolt games is another gaming site, however it differs from rummikub in that it offers a wide range of games, and these games are mostly one player and played against yourself where you gain a high score, and can then compare that to the high score to that of others. Other games on mindjolt games will be played again the computer.

Nick.com is the website for the children’s television channel nickelodeon. This site like mindjolt games, offers a huge range of different games. The majority of these games however are aimed at a younger audience and involve the characters off the television programmes shown on nickelodeon. These games are also played against the computer or against yourself. Here you are able to join the nick club and leave comments on the site, chat with other members, vote for a variety of things and receive newsletters with the latest updates on the nickelodeon site.

People from all over the world are able to access these sites and play these games, the intention for all of the above sites is to offer games which the consumers will enjoy, and they also provide games which are not restricted to a certain age group due to violence or bad language.

The way in which you contribute is playing the games, and this is the same over all sites, however, in rummikub you are playing with other people and are able to chat with them at the same time, sometimes see a photo of them and see their previous statistics of how they have gone in other games. Mindjolt is the least interactive site, in that there is less for individuals to contribute aside to playing games and sharing scores. For each game they have a list of all the high scores, both for the week, and since the game opened, if you get a high score you name will be on this list. As mentioned earlier people are able to comment on the nick website, and enter draws and vote. However a lot of the interaction is based around the entire website rather than just the games present on the website. When on any of the above mentioned websites, you will be interacting, but not necessarily with other people.

People visit the site to have a fun time, and play games, people contribute to all of these sites as a leisure activity, and it is the fun they get out of it that keeps them returning to the site. No personal information is shared through either mindjolt or nick, unless individual’s choice to share it, only minimal information is shared on rummikub as you need a profile to play. You can see the profile of others that you play against.

Being able to play these games, gives individuals the opportunity to compete directly or indirectly against people they wouldn’t be able to in their geographic community. They are able to complete at a higher level, and against more people. In the case of rummikub players can find more people who are at the same level as them and playing can provide a sense of company. For the Nick site, it allows children to play games, and fill in time, when they don’t have company of means of playing other childhood games. As there is a variety of games all in the one site individuals have a lesser need to purchase new games frequently to keep children occupied. Online games are virtually priceless other than the cost of the internet, and they are easy to play when tired or sick.

Although there are positives of online games, there are also some negative factors that should be mentioned. Not everybody has access to the internet, and therefore some people do not have access to these games. Some software is required for the mindjolt games. When playing these games, individuals are constantly sitting down, not using much energy, and often eating at the same time, other more traditional games required players to be physically active. Online games could be considered a factor of the rising obesity rate. For many people, these games can be addictive, and they will spend a lot time in front of the computer, whereas other games not on the computer require people to use more social skills. Traditional communities would often have the individuals running around playing games where you have to interact in a different way to online games, this can teach children skills like sharing and social skills. Online gaming communities also had an age limitation, as young children cannot work a computer and therefore will be excluded from this community, this could also be the case for some elderly, not wanting to use computers.

Ethical issues have been addressed by nick, it is very important for them especially, to look at ethical issues, as their targeted population in young children. They have set up a page for the parents and outlined the steps they have taken to ensure their site is safe, and do not allow kids to be indentified when chatting with others. Other sites allow your real name to be noted, however no contact details, or locations can be seen.

Tutorial 2 - Digital Imaging

Digital imaging can be stored, transferred and manipulated through the use of technology,

Often photos that look unrealistic and photos of perfect faces on magazines are not completely authentic. The use of technology has allowed us to adapt photos to show in these magazines exactly what they want to be shown.  Storing images in something than can primary be done through the use of hardware. Photos are often taken on cameras and either stored in the camera or the memory chip of the camera; however it is becoming more common for people to use other devices to take photos like laptops and cell phones.  The photos are then stored on this hardware. They can also be transferred to CDs or USB sticks to be stored. Manipulating digital images can be done on a program as simple as paint, if the user wants to make it obvious the photo has been manipulated however for a more professional and discrete effect, Photoshop can be used. Through Photoshop you are able to change the colour and contract of the photos, add people and items into other photos and change the body shape, skin tone and height of people.

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”

Digital cameras seemed to be quickly adopted by many when they came out following the era of when most used disposable cameras; the digital cameras were clearly superior. In nearly every way possible they were better, you could take an many photos as you wanted but only had to print the ones which you liked being among the biggest highlights of the digital camera. But the film or disposable cameras still has their advantages. When a new technology is first bought out it is always going to be expensive, as were digital camera. Digital cameras ran on batteries which needed to be charged unlike the old cameras. And when getting the photos developed from film cameras it was always more exciting to see the photos as you were unable to see them before.  However new technologies are always being developed and modified. The prices have dropped significantly since they first came out making them more accessible to a wide range of people, they have increased the length of time which the batteries last for, made a higher quality photo, increased the zoom and decrease the time it takes to take a photo all while decreasing the size of the camera.

With technology on the rise ethical considerations need to be considered, people need to be mindful what they are taking photos of, and following this, what they are using the photos for. It is considered unethical to take pictures of the inside of private property without permission and it is also considerate to advise people that are in photos if you plan to share them, specifically over the internet. With the use of the internet it is easy to see others photos and copy them, many of them are covered by copyright laws and therefore must not be copied. Some other images have limited rights and therefore can be copied, but must not be adapted.

Digital cameras are currently being used in occupational therapy in the areas of housing modifications and client assessments. In housing modification they are used to take photos of the area which is to be modified and this helps to explain the modification which will take place, these are also used in the applications for funding, and stored with notes. Digital cameras can also be used when assessing client. Photos can be taken when the client is referred to a service; these original photos can then be compared after the client has received therapy to show progress.