1. Literacy access through eLearning WBU-ICEVI General Assemblies Rosen Centre Hotel, Orlando Florida August 2016 Dr Frances Gentle

2. Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children  Australian Charity; Established 1860  Services for children with sensory impairment, their families, and supporting professionals  Services Early intervention; Preschools; School support services Rural and remote videoconferencing (RIDBC Teleschool) Indigenous services Therapy; Assessment; Cochlear implant program Research and Continuing and Professional Education (RIDBC Renwick Centre) http://www.ridbc.org.au/about-ridbc

3. Literacy access through eLearning RIDBC Teleschool eLearning programs in Unified English Braille (UEB)

4. Need for RIDBC Teleschool?  Low population of children with sensory impairment, spread over large geographical area Australia’s size: 7.7 million square kilometres; total population of 23 million  Families in rural and remote communities in Australia have limited access to specialist support services

5. Teleschool: Core components  Education and therapy services via videoconferencing  Individualised programming  Individualised online sessions with children and parents (in home or community centre), or children and teacher’s aide (in school setting)  Simultaneous group sessions for children or parents e.g. national simultaneous storytime  Children and parents invited to annual RIDBC “camps” and physical resource support

6. RIDBC Teleschool: Service Recipients  Services to 200 children and youth aged 0-18 years and their families/carers Children and youth with blindness or low vision, deafness or hard of hearing, deafblindness, additional disabilities Located in Australia, Pacific Islands, ex-pats around the world (including Kenya, UAE, Malaysia, India and Japan)

7. Photo of play-based videoconferencing lesson involving RIDBC Teleschool teacher, child with cochlear implant, and the child’s mother. The teacher and family are using identical play materials. Source of image: http://www.ridbc.org.au/teleschool.http://www.ridbc.org.au/teleschool RIDBC Teleschool

8. Teleschool: Braille literacy  Qualified teacher of braille literacy  Educational support packages sent to children and families Braille and print books Tactile games and support materials 3-D models produced on 3-D printers  Parents/carers invited to braille camps at RIDBC 5 camps each year: (1) preschoolers; (2) junior, (3) intermediate and (4) senior school students; (5) children with vision impairment and additional disabilities

9. Teleschool access: Technology options  Low cost options: Mobile/cell phone; iPad, iPhone FaceTime (iPhone) or Android equivalent  More expensive options: Camera and television, microphone, Polycom software

10. eLearning: Unified English Braille  UEB Online for sighted learners http://uebonline.org  Accessible UEB Online for learners who are blind or have low vision http://accessible.uebonline.org/

11. UEB Online: Aims To offer braille training to anyone who has access to a computer and the internet, regardless of his/her location or financial circumstances To promote braille literacy globally

12. UEB Online: Content areas  About - UEB; UEB Online; Accessible UEB Online  Getting started, including using the QWERTY keyboard and finger placement  30 lessons in 2 modules, based upon UEB Australia Training Manual 2014  Resources, including: UEB Australia Training Manual 2014, braille references, cheat sheets, list of relevant books and articles, video resources, and useful websites  Contact us, including trouble shooting

13. UEB Online Access: Technology options  Mac or PC computer  Standard keyboard – 6-key entry  Any web browser (e.g. Safari, Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome)  Accessible version: –Screen readers (e.g. JAWS, NVDA) –ARIA Web accessibility attributes –Refreshable braille displays –Screen magnifiers

14. UEB Online: Registered learners  UEB Online – launched June 2014  Registered learners to June 2016: 7774  Accessible UEB Online – launched May 2016  Registered learners to June 2016: 141

15. Thank You  Thank you for your time  For more information, please contact Frances Gentle, frances.gentle@ridbc.org.au frances.gentle@ridbc.org.au