[CSENews] - National Science Foundation --An ACE for Visually Impaired Students in Computer Science

Wed Dec 3 19:22:55 EST 2008

Story title from NSF* An ACE for Visually Impaired Students in Computer 
Science*

URL follows
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112729&org=NSF&from=news 
<http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112729&org=NSF&from=news>

Press Release 08-209

*Project works to increase participation of visually impaired students 
in computer science*

*Picture follows -- visually impaired students work through a computing 
task at ImagineIT [no alternative text found]*

Photo of visually impaired students working through a computing 
challenge at ImagineIT.

Visually impaired students work through a computing challenge at ImagineIT.
Credit and Larger Version 
<http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_images.jsp?cntn_id=112729&org=NSF>

*Story resumes*

*November 25, 2008*

/View a video interview 
<http://nsfgov.http.internapcdn.net/nsfgov_vitalstream_com/ace_final.swf> 
with the leaders of Project ACE, an initiative based at the Rochester 
Institute of Technology (RIT), which is working to help visually 
impaired students achieve success in computer science. /

Many computing luminaries, such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, have an 
early experience in common--an engaging experience in middle school or 
high school that sparked an excitement for learning everything they 
could about computers. Today, many young people are surrounded by 
computing at home and in school, and some of them will likely find a 
similar passion that will lead them to push tomorrow's frontiers in 
computer science.

For visually impaired students, however, the pathways to studying 
computer science are more complicated. While technologies can make it 
easier for them to use computers, the visual nature of modern computing 
makes it difficult for them to participate in programming courses and 
other types of computing instruction. These students also commonly lack 
the resources and preparation other students get in computing before 
they get to college, and there is a dearth of visually impaired role 
models in computing to inspire them as they pursue their degrees.

Enter Project Accessible Computing Education (ACE), an NSF-funded 
initiative at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The project 
is designed to help prepare visually impaired middle school and high 
school students participate in computer science programs at the 
collegiate level. Project ACE's ultimate goal is to increase the number 
of visually impaired students pursuing degrees in computer science and 
give them the foundations they need to be fully successful in their 
studies and beyond.

According to Stephanie Ludi, a professor of software engineering at RIT 
and the principal investigator for the project, in the long run, 
encouraging these students will benefit everyone who uses a computer. 
"Because of the unique perspective they have," Ludi said in an interview 
this month, "they can create software that is really more usable for 
everybody."

The project is focused on three areas: better preparation for visually 
impaired students before college, support for these students as they 
face challenges in computing that other students do not, and educating 
teachers in how to best help these students learn and achieve.

Last year, the project conducted an interactive workshop for visually 
impaired students and their parents called ImagineIT. The four-day 
workshop, held at RIT's B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and 
Information Sciences, brought together more than a dozen visually 
impaired students and their parents from around the country and gave 
them an opportunity to tackle "real world" computing applications and 
learn about career opportunities in computing. The students worked 
collaboratively on a number of challenges, including building and 
programming Lego Mindstorm robots to interact with the environment by 
navigating through a maze to find a sound source.

According to Thomas Reichlmayr, also a professor of professors of 
software engineering at RIT and co-principal investigator on the 
project, the workshop was helpful for everyone. "It was a good 
opportunity for the students," Reichlmayr said, "but also for their 
parents to network with other parents, to share experiences with their 
school districts and their own experiences as well."

In addition to helping these young programmers gain a better 
appreciation for computer science, Project ACE also used the experience 
as a foundation for future workshops centered on preparing teachers to 
work with these students. Educators and students alike can go to the 
project's Web site, http://www.se.rit.edu/~imagine-it/ 
<http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://www.se.rit.edu/%7Eimagine-it/>, 
and find lesson plans, tutorials and other resources.

Ludi says that Project ACE will repeat the ImagineIT workshop next year 
at RIT and also in Southern California.

In the next few years, the students from the first ImagineIT workshop 
will enter college. According to Ludi, some of them have already 
expressed interest in majoring in computer science.

-NSF-

*End of original story. Media and program contacts follow*

*Media Contacts
*Dana W. Cruikshank, NSF (703) 292-8070 dcruiksh at nsf.gov 
<mailto:dcruiksh at nsf.gov>

*Program Contacts
*Janice Cuny, NSF (703) 292-8950 jcuny at nsf.gov <mailto:jcuny at nsf.gov>

*Principal Investigators
*Stephanie Ludi, Rochester Institute of Technology 585-475-7407 
sal at se.rit.edu <mailto:sal at se.rit.edu>

*Related Websites
*More information about Project ACE is available here.: 
http://www.se.rit.edu/~imagine-it/ 
<http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://www.se.rit.edu/%7Eimagine-it/>

*National Science Foundation description follows*

/The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency 
that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of 
science and engineering, with an annual budget of $6.06 billion. NSF 
funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and 
institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 45,000 competitive requests 
for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards 
over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly. /

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