Stanford U.  Will Test a Computerized Transcription System

  By KAREN BIRCHARD



  Stanford University is the first test site in the United States for a

  Canadian system designed to give students with disabilities a better

  shot at succeeding in college.

  Students testing the Liberated Learning Project (LLP) at

  colleges and universities in Canada, Britain, and Australia find they no

  longer need note takers at lectures where LLP is used.

  Although LLP adds some extra work for the lecturer, students, including

  those without disabilities, give the innovation positive reviews.

  Using voice-activated software, the system immediately

  converts a teacher's words into print that is flashed onto a large

  screen.

  After the lecturer edits the session for accuracy and

  corrects words that sound the same, the lecture is made available to all

  students online.  For the visually impaired, it can be quickly translated

  into Braille.

  "The student response has been fantastic," said David

  Leitch, the head of LLP and director of the Atlantic Centre of Research,

  Access and Support for Students with Disabilities, at Saint Mary's

  University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

  Saint Mary's has been using the system for two years.  "We

  find that all students in the classes where LLP is used are using the

  words on the screen to check their notetaking or find their place," Mr.

  Leitch said.

  Students without disabilities also say that the screen,

  with its real-time display, adds interest to the lectures.

  But the real winners are students like Jane Bagnall, who has

  been profoundly deaf since she was 6.

  In an e-mail interview from Saint Mary's, she said: "I could see the

  professor's lecture on the screen as he was speaking.  I was therefore

  getting lecture information in two ways (in  text and via the Sign

  Language interpreter). ...  The second benefit is having near-verbatim,

  edited lecture notes afterwards for studying.  This gave me an

  opportunity to reconcile my own classnotes with the actual lecture

  notes, as my own were far from perfect.  If I missed a class, the LLP

  notes would be available."

    According to Mr.  Leitch, access to lecture material has always been a

  problem for students with disabilities.  "Some wealthy universities can

  hire court stenographers -- each one costs about $60,000 a year -- but

  the majority of students with disabilities in most universities depend

  on volunteer note takers, and this is less than ideal," he said.

  "LLP certainly improves the accuracy and makes it easier for

  students to take a course," he said.

  Mr.  Leitch is pleased that Stanford has agreed to test the system,

  saying that the university's information-technology expertise means it

  can quickly develop solutions whenever problems arise.

  "Where we see a glitch, they see an opportunity," he said.

  _________________________________________________________________

  This article from The Chronicle is available online at this address:


http://chronicle.com/free/2002/01/2002012401t.htm


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