Providing Equity Through Accessible Media

portunities for teachers and professionals to earn continuing ed- ucation units (CEU). DCMP offers three formats for professionals to earn CEUs: modules, workshops, and QuickClasses. Modules and workshops are shorter, self-paced trainings. QuickClasses are three-week, facilitated, asynchronous, online courses. All who successfully complete a training will receive a certificate for their records. Additionally, the trainings are pre-approved for credit with ACVREP (Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabil- itation & Education Professionals) and RID (Registry of Interpret- ers for the Deaf). For those working with older students, DCMP offers a mul- titude of transition-related resources. There are videos that ex- plore various career options as well as videos for learning how to write a résumé and go on a job interview. There are also on- line modules which provide more in-depth information and in- teraction: Getting a Job! for Students Who Are Blind and Visually Impaired , Getting a Job! for Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing , and Map It: What Comes Next?. DCMP provides services designed to support and improve the academic achievement of students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. The ultimate goal of the DCMP is for accessible media to be an integral tool in the teaching and learning process for all stakeholders in the edu- cational community, including students, educators and other school personnel, parents, service providers, businesses, and agencies. We often think the goal of captions and descriptions is to pro- vide equal access for individuals with disabilities. However, ac- cessible features benefit everyone and support the goal of Uni- versal Design. Making media accessible increases the learning potential for all students. Poor-quality captions and descriptions benefit no one. To quickly and easily find accessible, educational media, look no further than The Described and Captioned Media Program.

user can then jump to that point in the video. Additionally, tran- scripts can be downloaded. They can be provided to students to use as a study guide or to highlight for notes. They help teachers pre-teach vocabulary. They also provide accessibility to students who are deaf-blind. These students can be given an electronic copy of both the captions and description transcripts, and then use technology to access it or be given a copy in braille. COMING SOON Two more exciting features that will be launching soon are Clip Builder and Lesson Builder. Clip Builder will allow teachers to select a segment of a video and play only that segment or select segments from multiple videos and create a playlist. This will make it easy to play clips of the same topic from different sources so that students can be exposed to the topic multiple times in various ways. Lesson Builder will allow teachers to insert quiz questions in between video clips, permitting a student to watch a few minutes of a video, then answer questions before being allowed to move on. This interactive approach is designed to motivate students and enhance learning. To increase student involvement, teachers/parents can set up student accounts. Typically, students are not allowed to have full access accounts because not all media is appropriate for all age levels. DCMP wants to ensure that sensitive topics are monitored by a teacher or other adult. However, the adult member can create an account for their student(s). The teacher/parent sets up the account and then decides which videos the student will have access to. Access can be given by grade level and category or by individual video. For example, the adult can give access to content through Grade 6 in the categories of mathematics, lan- guage arts and history. They can also choose individual videos the student can watch. In this way teachers can use the flipped classroom model, where the students watch a video at home and then discuss it in class. They can assign videos as additional content to support a lesson. They can also allow access to videos that can be used as a reward. For example, if students complete work early, they are allowed to watch a video of their choosing from their DCMP account. DCMP has many videos that can be labeled edutain- ment. These are videos that are entertaining for the students but have educational goals. Some popular titles in this category are: Bill Nye the Science Guy, Paw Patrol, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Dog Whisperer, Top Chef Junior, Peg + Cat and many more. These videos can be rewards for students, and they may never realize they are still learning. In addition to content for students, DCMP also has content la- beled Adults & Educators. This content is intended for the adults to learn more ways to help their students. There are videos about specific disabilities and what parents and teachers need to know. There are videos about teaching strategies. There are videos on encouraging self-advocacy, promoting good mental health and strategies for preventing bullying. There are also op-

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