dards in the Captioning Key and Description Key . Families of these children can use DCMP resources at home. For example, if a family learns their newborn child is deaf, they can begin learning sign language through videos in the DCMP collection. They can also learn about other language op- tions and educational choices for their child. As the child grows, there are ASL storytelling videos they can watch. Then when the child enters school, there will be videos for use in the classroom. Teachers and other professionals can use DCMP media in the classroom but also for professional development. Series such as Physics Girl , hosted by MIT graduate Dianna Cowern, help teach high school students about physics through experiments, demonstrations and cool new discoveries. Teachers wanting to learn more about working with students who are deaf and stu- dents who are blind will enjoy the FSDB Pineapple Professional Development series. This series demonstrates teaching meth- ods and instructional strategies for best practices in the class- room. As long as a teacher has one qualifying student, they are eligible for a free account and can use DCMP materials in all sec- tions of that class, even if there is only one qualifying student in one section. DCMP has educational videos for early learners through high school and into transition. There are videos on all academic top- ics: math, science, language arts, history and much more. But there are also videos on topics such as building social skills, self-advocacy, resilience and others. DCMP has videos on a broad range of topics to support a well-rounded education and healthy life habits. The media in the DCMP collection is all high-quality educa- tional content. These videos are commercially produced by com- panies such as PBS Digital Studios, PBS Learning Media, History Channel, Sesame Studios, The Fred Rogers Company, Universal Kids, National Geographic, National Science Foundation and Scholastic, to name a few. Additionally, the videos are correlated with Common Core and state standards. Each video page shows a link to “Standards” along with production information. A per- son who is logged into their account will see standards listed for their state, as the system automatically connects with that member’s information. The member can then view all standards the video matches and search for additional videos that meet those standards. It is easy to search for videos that teach a spe- cific standard and to document which standards a video meets.
DCMP media can be accessed through almost any Inter- net-enabled device: standard computer, laptop, tablet or smart- phone. There is an iOS app, a Roku channel and an Apple TV channel. Most videos are also available on DVD because some DCMP users do not have reliable Internet service for streaming videos or they might prefer DVDs to play during long road trips. DVDs can be ordered at no charge, as DCMP pays postage for shipping and return. Those using an app or specialized device to access DCMP media should not forget to check out the website periodically. It contains additional features and more than just the media library. The DCMP website allows members to set browsing prefer- ences so they can narrow their search for media. The grade lev- el, accessibility feature, and runtime can be set as filters. DCMP has content in English and Spanish, both captioned and de- scribed. For example, a middle school teacher with a student who is blind can set browse preferences of grade levels to 4-6 and accessibility to English description. This will filter the search results and provide videos that will match specific needs. DCMP uses player-based captions and description, which means the user has more flexibility and control over the viewing experience. When viewing captions, the text size, style and col- or can be modified, as well as the background color. This allows customization for students who may be deaf and low vision, or a student who just prefers a specific style of captions. If a video is available in both English and Spanish, the user can choose to play the audio track in Spanish and show English captions. This is great for bilingual families or English language learner (ELL) students. Captions and description can be played simultaneous- ly. This is helpful if a teacher happens to have a student who is deaf and a student who is blind in the same class, or a student with both hearing and vision loss. Another customization fea- ture is the playback speed. The playback speed can be slowed to allow students who are deaf more time to take in the visuals and the captions. Actually, this feature can be beneficial to all stu- dents, since some academic videos can be fast paced. Slowing it down can allow everyone more time to process the information. DCMP videos also come with a transcript. On each video page, there is a button below the video for “transcript.”The system will default to the caption transcript; however, users can choose the description transcript, or both. This feature allows users to search through the video to find specific words and phrases. The
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August / September, 2020 | www.closingthegap.com/membership Closing The Gap © 2020 Closing The Gap, Inc. All rights reserved.
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