IS390 Spring 2022

What advantages does research offer to the decision-maker over seat-of-the-pants decision making? Doing the research would give a person a well-rounded view of any topic.   With research you should be able to see both what the advantages are as well as the disadvantages. Research provides prior experiences and accumulated knowledge based off of the experiments that were probably conducted. Making decisions after weighing the facts is the best practice to go with, especially in the realm of medicine. Otherwise you would be risking lives and would certainly result in a lawsuit. When my previous laptop died on me, I didn’t buy the first laptop that came up in my Google search. I perused several sites and compared not only the features but the prices as well.   After limiting my selection to a smaller number, I looked at the customer reviews as well to get a sense of the experiences that other people had with the laptops I was considering.   By doing my research I was a...

  What surprises have you encountered specific to your research question? Hands down, the most surprising fact I encountered was how slow it was communicating with AAC devices and specifically with BCIs.   Prior to this research, I would see Stephen Hawking on TV interviews, talk shows, and snippets of his “live” lectures.   What I didn’t realize that his “live” speeches were absolutely pre-meditated and scripted.   The questions were provided beforehand to give him ample time to compose an answer and have that ready to go when he pressed the button on his system.   This was probably the case even during “live” tapings, where the interviewer would ask a question and Hawking would have a response ready to go. With the magic of editing sometimes, it would appear as if Hawking and the interviewer were having a normal conversation in real time.   One article I read said that in the beginning, Hawking’s selection rate was 15 words per minute (Medeiros, 2015) ,...

  How many different sources provided corroborating evidence that supported the same facts? List the facts and sources. I found several articles, reviews, and editorials about brain-computer interfaces.   I ended up pulling information from two main articles Shih et al., and Brumberg et al., plus a YouTube video (Mike Chi, 2015) because all the facts were pretty much the same.   The differences were what areas of focus their article expounded upon.   Shih et al.’s article was aimed for an audience in the medical field, while Brumberg et al. was an introduction to BCI systems.   One difference was in how the different components of the BCI are labeled. Shih, Krusienski, and Wolpaw use the labels: signal acquisition, feature extraction, feature translation, and device output (Shih et al., 2012) .   The article from NeurotechEdu , broke down BCIs into more components:   signal acquisition, preprocessing, feature extraction, classification, translatio...

MEMORANDUM   TO:   Amy Herman and Richard Becker From: Joyce Bloom RE:   IS390 Reading & Research DATE:   May 18, 2022               The purpose of this memorandum is to summarize my source information that pertain to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices.   Background               AAC devices are not a one-size fits all solution for the individuals that require the assistive technology to aid with communication.   Each device needs to fit the individual’s need and could be further customized according to the individual’s ability to operate the device with the mobility that he or she is capable of.   Study Methods, Limitations, Brief Summary of Literature Sources   Except for one personal interview, I used articles and journals from the OC library’s databases.   The realm...

 The paper and publication has been submitted.  I still have a presentation to give during the last class meeting. I also have my peer reviews to complete. I have submitted one publication review as well as one paper review.  I am waiting to complete the other publication until after I've seen the presentation, so that I have more context about the content.  I have one more paper peer review that should be completed by tomorrow.

 By June 3rd, I had completed a rough first draft of the paper, and turned it in that draft by June 4.  I also completed the publication at the same time to turn in also on June 4. I have also been working on the presentation part, and feel lucky that I was part of the last group to present.

By May 27 I had a rough outline created for my paper.  The sources have been since collected and waiting in the Zotero repository ready to use. I switched priorities during this week to work on another paper.

As far as progress on the paper goes, I am working on following the white paper format outlined in the paper instructions.  Going over APA citation format with Amy was helpful so that I can cross that off the list now that I know what I need to do. This week it helped to have dates for submission and to go over a few of the concepts of what is expected of us.  I did hit issues with the amount of time I was able to spend on working on my research paper this week.  The end of the quarter for me coincides with the end of the school year for my kids, and everyone in my household is stressed.  I've had to wear my parent/caregiver hat more this week, and it has pulled my focus, time, and attention on my kids and their mental health instead.  The upcoming holiday weekend will be a nice break in the routine and I will have time to put my focus back on the paper.  Also because I made that request to my family to let me have that time for the paper.

Not much progress has been made this week as far as this paper goes.  The only activity I accomplished was conducting an interview with a friend over coffee.  Her interview consisted of talking about her family’s experiences with speech assistance for their low-functioning autistic son who is now 23 years old.  For several years he was non-verbal and currently does not converse with a full vocabulary like a neurotypical adult would. Low-tech AACs worked best for her and her family, using pictures convey his thoughts. I hope to be able to work in her experience into my paper.  Now that the paper requirements and rubric have been published on Canvas, next week’s task is to sift through it and start sketching out a draft for the paper.

This week I accomplished reading several articles on the various types of AAC devices.  Fun facts I learned this week include the discovery that Val Kilmer’s underwent a tracheostomy  as part of his throat cancer treatment (Warner, 2021), that permanently damaged his voice box.  Since then he has collaborated with Sonantic, a UK based software company, using AI technology to recreate his voice from previously recorded works (Stiernberg, 2021). I also learned that the University of Washington has a program called the Washington Assistive Technology Act Program (WATAP) that has a lending library of all different types of adaptive equipment ( Device Lending Library | WATAP , n.d.) .  Through the program the devices can be loaned out for 3 weeks for a small fee, where the amount of the fee is dependent upon the type of equipment. One of the areas I possibly want to explore is how accessible some of the technology is for the public.  Simple low and non-technical ...

·         What is your prior experience with citing your sources? Have you had to use APA or MLA formats? Is this easy for you, or do you struggle? What sources do you use to cite your sources and/or create bibliographies? The first time I attended college was in 1995 at James Madison University located in Harrisonburg, VA. My freshman year was when I learned how to use a handbook for the MLA writing style.  The styling was hard to get used to since it was all new to me, but by the end of my time at JMU it became easier for me to follow the reference guide for MLA citations and bibliographies. My second collegiate journey started in 2015 at Olympic College, where I have used both MLA and APA formats for several of the papers I have submitted. I often struggled with getting all of the correct bibliographical information for my references, as well as getting them in the proper alphabetical order since it was all done manually. One of my English ...

·         What strategies/criteria did you use to determine when you had gathered enough information to meet your research goal? At this point in my research journey, I know that I have not yet gathered enough material to reach my research goal.   My strategies/criteria I am using is a simple list of questions: Is it relevant to my topic? Can I use excerpts from the article to put in my research paper? Does it fit anywhere in my rough outline for the paper? So far, I have been able to complete enough reading to complete a four page paper, but I need to look for more articles to fill in the gaps of my knowledge.   I still need to learn more about other speech generating devices as well as look into the Autism Spectrum Disorder angle of dealing with speech disabilities. I have a family friend whose son is non-verbal with ASD, and my plan was to sit down with her to learn about their journey.   However, that sit-down with her is on hold...

This week I am currently still at the reading phase of the research.  It’s a comfortable place for me in my journey.  This week alone I was able to gather more material that will help me learn more about AAC technologies.  Amy had pointed out early in the quarter the search engine Carrot 2 , and this week I have utilized the search feature to help with my research journey. Not only did it help point out more articles that could be useful for me to look at, but I also used the “tree map” feature as a mind map that helped introduce other branches and side topics I could potentially add to my research and reading. Below is a screen shot of the tree map results from Carrot 2 when I searched for AAC technologies. This week I did not have any issues, and hopefully it will stay that way for a while.   Next week I hope to have weeded out what articles and topics are not relevant, so I can focus on finding what I really need for rounding out the content for my research pap...

·         How did you select your research topic? What resources did you use, which selection criteria did you follow? At the beginning of my research journey, I had chosen the general subject of Adaptive Technology.   The area of Adaptive Technology is broad already and the type and use of this kind of technology is specific to an individual’s need and disability.   My reason for this area was influenced by a real-world example of my 70-year-old father’s experience with accepting and learning to use his many adaptive devices after he suffered a stroke last year.   My subject area was further narrowed to the area of Adaptive Speech Technology which is often referred to as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices.   Again, I am using real-world and personal experiences with two of my family members that steered me into the area of AAC.   When my daughter was a toddler, we had her in speech therapy to help her...

 With my focus leaning towards Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, I have collected roughly 6 articles that were related to my topic.  Of the six I was able to complete reading through 3 that were helpful and relevant to the subject area I am looking for.  An interesting tidbit I learned about Stephen Hawking this week was that with his AAC device using cheek muscles, he only produced one word per minute.  It dawned on me that the TV interviews I have seen on the news and documentaries were obviously staged and edited to eliminate the idea that it took a considerable amount of time for Hawking to answer in a complete sentence.  What I’m learning is that even though AAC devices to offer people an opportunity to share their thoughts and words, it takes a considerable amount of time and effort to do so when normal speech would have taken a fraction of that time. With that in mind, I'm leaning towards learning more about the challenges AAC devi...

  ·         While exploring and scanning, note at least three new terms you either have not heard before or have seen but do not really understand. Look up those words and provide a meaningful dialogue that explains the terms in the context of your research topic. AAC – augmentative and alternative communication BCI – brain-computer interfaces EEG – electroencephalography SGD – speech-generating devices SMR – sensorimotor rhythm There is a huge gap in my knowledge regarding Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, so I began with a helpful article titled: “Brain-Computer Interfaces for Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A Tutorial.” I figured that a tutorial was a great way to begin to get an introduction to some terms and concepts I am not familiar with.  All the terms listed above are from this article. When I think of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), I have a vision of a device that belongs in the realm of s...

  ·         At this point, your topic should be a fully-fledged question ready to be researched. You need to have identified how you will pursue your research (literature search, surveys, experiments/experience). Include that information in your progress report. I do not yet have a fully-fledged question formed based on my research topic: Adaptive Speech Technology. Even though I narrowed my topic down to a specific area, I now need to find my focus within the realm of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).   Do I want to investigate the devices themselves? If so, which ones? Or do I want to expand on the issues with equity and the disadvantages that low-income individuals have with accessing AAC devices?   I have identified how to pursue my research through articles, journals, and potential interviews with those in the field.   ·         Where should you be in your research journey?...

 Journal Prompt: Consider possible topics for your research project in this course. What interests you about these topics and why do you think they would be a good fit for the course? Which research methodologies do you think will likely serve you well as you begin your research (experiments, literature review, surveys, etc.)? I am leaning towards Adaptive Technology devices that aid those with speech impairment. This area falls under the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), which means all the ways that someone communicates other than speech ( Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) , n.d.) . I have a personal connection to this area that we briefly experienced years ago when my daughter was a toddler and was diagnosed with speech delay.   In the beginnings of her speech therapy, we used picture boards with Velcro attached icons as tools to help her communicate her thoughts and needs. This method is a very low-tech AAC to help with her speech and lan...

  Research topic identified   At this stage of the quarter, I am just now identifying the area of topic I would like to research.  The topic pertaining to Adaptive Technology is vast and varied, so I’m sure that along the way I will end up finding a more specific area of focus in the subject.  I would like to explore how being deaf, blind, and/or unable to use hands and/or feet does not mean you are left behind in a technologically advancing society with the help of Adaptive Technology devices. Planning  I would like to visit the Assistive Technology lab at Olympic College, but according to the OC website access to the lab is by appointment only.   I will inquire about the lab at the beginning of next week. The biggest hurdle for me is to figure out where to start looking. What would most likely help is to fine tune what area of Adaptive Technology I would like to focus on, that way I will be able to find results pertaining to the specific subject. ...