Adapted iPod Project
Toward the end of 2009, Special Education Technology BC contracted CanAssist to deliver 30 Adapted iPod Systems for use in SET-BC assistive technology classrooms by students with disabilities.
SET-BC was one of several organizations that helped make the Adapted iPod System available to more than 200 young
people with very challenging disabilities in B.C. by the end of 2010.
For SET-BC the device was a perfect fit. SET-BC is a Ministry of Education Provincial Resource Program established to assist school districts in educating students with a range of disabilities. In particular, SET-BC lends assistive technologies where required to ensure students' access to educational programs and assists the school districts in providing any training for students and educators in using these technologies
CanAssist's iPod project began in mid-2009, when Carl Spani, an electrical engineer, took an off-the-shelf Apple iPod and created an adapter for it. The unobtrusive adapter (called the podWiz) attaches to the iPod and allows the music player to be controlled by a single button or switch - the location of which can be determined by the user. Users can select functions such as Play, Pause and Skip Forward/Backward, as well as making volume adjustments, all by pressing a single, large button.
"We delivered it to some local schools and some of the kids were figuring out pretty quickly out how to use it," says Carl. "They were listening to everything from Mary Poppins to Miley Cyrus. It was pretty neat."
The system includes either rechargeable external speakers or special headphones, depending on each user's preference. In addition, there are five modes of operation - from simple to more complex, as well as a training mode - so that the podWiz can be tailored to meet each individual's needs.
The CanPlay podWiz also provides voice prompts for the main functions, eliminating the need for visually-impaired people to read the iPod's display.
Carl says it's exciting to know that so many young people
with special needs are now able to use the same technology as their able-bodied
peers.
(Top left photo: Carl delivers the iPod system to students at Lansdowne Middle School.)