About Us
Who:
Carroll Tech is the effort of a dedicated group of individuals who work at The Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts.
Staff members include access technology instructors with over 50 collective years of experience teaching blind and visually impaired children and adults. Trainers Heather Campbell, Brian Margie, Nancy Tavis, Jerry Berrier and Robert Baran assist in the development of curriculum, as well as act as classroom and on-line instructors.
What:
Carroll Tech is a web-based distance learning service intended to assist blind and visually impaired individuals, as well as to train education and rehabilitation professionals. Instruction is offered in access technologies such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, Braille embossers, note-takers and scanners. Each course is comprised of text, videos, exercises, quizzes and chat sessions.
Where:
The Carroll Center for the Blind is located in Newton, Massachusetts. Access technology classes continue to take place each and every day in our 9,500 square foot Technology Center, but Carroll Tech exists primarily on the web. CarrollTech.org houses all of the class content and hosts the iVocalize server used to conduct the audio chat sessions that are such an important part of all classes.
How:
Carroll Tech courses are provided over the Internet through our web site CarrollTech.org with the use of an audio chat server iVocalize. Videos used in the classes are created with Camtasia Studio and are played back using Windows Media Player.
When:
Each course is offered either as "Instructor led" or "Self Paced". Instructor led courses are offered four times each year and include audio chat sessions with the instructor. Self paced courses can start any time and you can take up to 12 weeks to complete them. Class schedules allow students to take all levels (Introduction, Intermediate and Advanced) of a particular application.
If you wish to know more about our organization, The Carroll Center for the Blind, browse on over to www.carroll.org and take a look. Learn about our Rehabilitation Department where people who are blind or visually impaired learn the skills that will allow them to live independently, attend school and hold a job. Check out our Education Department where our staff teach blind and visually impaired children the use of Braille, the long white cane and other educational skills while they attend schools in their own neighborhood. Learn how a blind person can sail a boat, climb a mountain, ski across a snow-covered countryside and paddle a canoe down the Charles River, all in our Outdoor Enrichment Program.