A person with a visual impairment sitting outside on steps using their cell phone.

Perspectives from Higher Education Experts in Orientation and Mobility

In the November 30 CIDDL Webinar, How to select Technology and Design Instruction: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities that Generalize Across Tools and Settings, Dr. Tara Courchaine interviewed Dr. Robert Wall Emerson, Dr. Sarahelizabeth Baguhn, and Dr. Nicholas Giudice regarding their processes for choosing technology to introduce in orientation and mobility (O&M) programs.
A woman looks through Virtual Reality goggles to see various images and videos spread out before her.

I’ll Cross that Virtual Bridge When I Come to It: Orientation and Mobility Training in Virtual Environments

One technology that has shown potential for creating safe spaces for teaching/practicing O&M skills is virtual reality (VR). According to Thevin and colleagues (2020), VR systems create immersive, interactive environments that provide students the opportunity for trial and error . Besides visual feedback, VR systems can provide both haptic and auditory information for the benefit of individuals who are blind or low vision.