[Blindmath] [Blind math] Spatial Abilities

Sun Jun 8 22:04:10 UTC 2014

My two cents about the three d printers. I took some pictures of objects to the teacher with the 3 d printer and he said I needed to use a program to develop a template, or search online to find them...too much hassle, at least for that activity. i found other ways to make it meaningful, but the 3d printer seems a long way off for me to use. In addition, when the teacher demonstrated it for my blind student, it took 30 minutes to make a 2 inch by one inch rectangle.. I can still build that faster using wiki sticks, or thick cardboard! So for now, I will stick with easily found manipulatives, which by the way, are readily available in any math materials catalog, not just APH.

Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central Schools
700 Delaware Avenue
Delmar, NY 12054
http://bcsd.k12.ny.us/

On Jun 6, 2014, at 11:44 AM, "Sina Bahram via Blindmath" <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Again, just to be clear, the reason i specifically mentioned $400, and not to split hairs here, is that for $100, you get the kit, not the printer. You have to assemble it yourself. Sure, this might not be hard for a technically minded person, but it's nontrivial for a regular teacher who has one thousand other concerns and demands on their time. For $400 you got the printer assembled.

Plus, that kickstarter is done now, though I did see a helpful link on their page allowing folks to still get in on the action.

Regarding the pen, right on, and that's definitely the best way to do it, though I still just want to make sure folks understand the implications of time and effort required.

Take care,
Sina

President, Prime Access Consulting, Inc.
Twitter: @SinaBahram
Company Website: http://www.pac.bz
Personal Website: http://www.sinabahram.com
Blog: http://blog.sinabahram.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Perry [mailto:kperry at blinksoft.com]
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 11:29 AM
To: 'Sina Bahram'; 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'; 'Mike Jolls'
Subject: RE: [Blindmath] [Blind math] Spatial Abilities

I was speaking of the peachy which is a kickstarter project and is $100 but I don't have one yet of course.  As for the 3doodler.  I don't disagree that it is not good for making solid objects unless you can hold your hand as still as a print head.  I can however make pretty accurate 3d  cubes and pyramids using a tactile graphic as a blue print.  So for eample I will print a square on paper using a braille printer then follow the square building  four squares  then attaching them together to make a perfect qubit.  I took this idea from the way the guy made the ifle tower model using a printed picture.  It is not easy but it can be done.   The link for the peachy is found below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/117421627/the-peachy-printer-the-first-100-3d-printer-and-sc

-----Original Message-----
From: Sina Bahram [mailto:sbahram at gmail.com] On Behalf Of Sina Bahram
Sent: Friday, June 6, 2014 10:03 AM
To: 'Ken Perry'; 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'; 'Mike Jolls'
Subject: RE: [Blindmath] [Blind math] Spatial Abilities

I think we might need to expand a bit on this, and only because I suspect Ken was in a hurry when writing his email.

A 3DPrinting pen like the 3doodler, which I also have, is not appropriate for making models of the kinds covered in a multivariable calculus class or anything involving solids, really. While, it can, with a good bit of practice/carefulness, be used to construct something as simple as a cube or 3dimensional prism, the resulting model is not anywhere near the rigidity of a 3d printed one, and furthermore, if dimensions matter or if scale is important in any way, I'd recommend some caution.

As for a 3d printer as low as $100, I only know of one as cheap as $200 or so, and that was only for the first batch of backers on kickstarter before jumping to $300 or $400, but I don't recall a whole printer for $150 or less that is not a pen or handheld.

The point is though, that if you can swing $400 to $800, there are entire companies dedicated to serving this tier of cost point, and the major difference is software support, which is getting better all the time (open source and all that), and size of the build plate.

Take care,
Sina

President, Prime Access Consulting, Inc.
Twitter: @SinaBahram
Company Website: http://www.pac.bz
Personal Website: http://www.sinabahram.com
Blog: http://blog.sinabahram.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ken Perry via Blindmath
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 8:50 AM
To: 'Mike Jolls'; 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] [Blind math] Spatial Abilities

Actually the 3d printers can be found as low as $100 and I use a 3d pen
right now.  I will be getting one of the new lyx 3d pens as soon as they
come off kickstarter but for now the 3doodler is pretty cool.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike
Jolls via Blindmath
Sent: Friday, June 6, 2014 7:52 AM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] [Blind math] Spatial Abilities

OK, so APH produces these 3D shapes ... but with the advent of the 3D
printer, this might make production of such shapes more readily available
to teachers ... if they had ready access to one.  Perhaps this could be a
tool that could help teachers obtain the 3D shapes they need independently
of places like APH.  Just a thought.  I just looked up the price quickly
using Google .. .they range from $600 to $3000 ... fast glance there.  So a
teacher couldn't just go out and throw down pocket change and get one.
Still, if a school district could pop for the money, plus the software
required to drive the printer ... it might make production of such objects
easier.

Now all we need is a breakthrough in production of a multi-line Braille
display ... but that's for another discussion group.

To: emanuela.ughi at gmail.com<mailto:emanuela.ughi at gmail.com>; blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2014 10:52:21 +0000
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] [Blind math] Spatial Abilities
From: blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>

Emanuela, I Would certainly like to see pictures of the objects, if you
would like to send them to me. There are organizations in the US, primarily
the American Printing House which  considers producing things that might be
of value to the blind population

Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central Schools
700 Delaware Avenue
Delmar, NY 12054
http://bcsd.k12.ny.us/

On Jun 6, 2014, at 3:39 AM, "Emanuela Ughi via Blindmath"
<blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org><mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Emanuela
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