Ksubuzz

New SAS lab combines technology and learning

Kathryn Moore
March 2, 2010

The Student Accessibility Services lab moves to a new location.

There are three ways a person can learn information: visual, auditory and tactile. At Student Accessibility Services they incorporate all three styles with modern technology in their Adaptive Technology Lab.

There are three ways a person can learn information: visual, auditory and tactile.

At Student Accessibility Services they incorporate all three styles with modern technology in their Adaptive Technology Lab.

The lab has been in the works for the past four to five years and this semester, it becomes a reality.

Adaptive Technology Coordinator Mollie Miller is excited to have a space for her students to come to try out or work with different programs that would aid them with their learning.

“For years we used the conference room down the hall as a lab when testing wasn’t being done, but the problem was we never knew how many students were coming in until the day before,” Miller said. “Now, there will be a stationary area for students to work with the technology without having to be bothered.”

When the lab is completely finished there will be six computers, two at each table, and a portable presentation TV unit, so if there are students in the lab Miller can move the demo presentation to another area and all the computers will be uploaded with different types of software to accompany the user.

At SAS, a wall had to be moved, new carpet was installed, the walls got a paint job, more computers were moved into the lab and storage needed to be stored somewhere else for the lab to become a real.

The lab can be used by anyone.

“You don’t need to have a disability to use the technology or the lab,” Miller said. “It’s universal.”

Appointments should be made ahead of time so they can be aware of who’s coming in to use the computers in the lab.

SAS Associate Director Amy Quillin can’t wait for the lab to be finished as well.

“It should be finished in about a month, but students can still come in and try it out,” she said.

When the lab is done, there will be a mass e-mail to all of SAS’s students to let them know it is now fully available.

“I can put in other PCs and software that is readily available and add to it as time goes on,” Miller said.

Miller and Quillin both said the faculty is aware of the different software for the different ways of learning and are excited about it, especially since it is so adaptable for anyone to use.

The hours for the lab, when it’s completely finished, are as follows: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Thursday. The first four days of the week the lab will be open to be used by anyone at Kent State.

On Fridays, Miller will use that day for demos and to test the different types of software.