[Blindmath] Blindmath Digest, Vol 100, Issue 7
Mary Woodyard
marywoodyard at comcast.net
Thu Nov 20 20:08:49 UTC 2014
My son just completed a government project that required them to do surveys
and then make bar graphs in powerpoint to present their information. None
of the students knew how to accomplish this task and I taught them, as well
as another group. My experience with a teacher when they want something
this specific is that it is not the main focus of the assignment - just
something that the teacher said "Students should be able to produce in 10
minutes". I think the answers to your questions lie in what type of class
it is and how central the graph is to the assignment. My son is a Visually
impaired student and although tedious - it was something he could achieve.
If the work to create the graph is overshadowing the concept your student is
supposed to be learning - then I would have your student ask the teacher if
there is an alternative assignment he could do that will show the same skill
- but not be so difficult for him to accomplish.
Excel and Powerpoint graphs are both used to present information both in
business and schools - but the real question is what kind of class and
assignment is this?
-----Original Message-----
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Subject: Blindmath Digest, Vol 100, Issue 7
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Today's Topics:
1. excel graphs and other ways to show data (Lewicki, Maureen)
2. Re: excel graphs and other ways to show data (Bente)
3. Re: excel graphs and other ways to show data (Godfrey, Jonathan)
4. Re: excel graphs and other ways to show data (John Gardner)
5. Re: excel graphs and other ways to show data (Lynn Reed)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 17:07:29 +0000
From: "Lewicki, Maureen" <mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org>
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Message-ID:
<AD0247C3A039BA4B87F37DD2B02CCCEF129E48F7 at HEX2.mail.neric.local>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Good Day! I have A student whose teacher has assigned making a graph, using
provided data, in an excel spreadsheet. He asks that the graph include lots
of labels, lines that separate the phase changes, inserts of shapes and
clip art, etc.
Folks are you using excel spreadsheets to share data with your peers, or
submit as part of your assignments, etc or are you using another program?
Will this eventually serve my students well to know so much about something
they cannot see?
Is there a way to get JAWS to read the graph? It does not appear to have
that as an option, so when we go into the doc to add info into the graph, or
change labels, there is really no way to tell if they have succeeded. There
is also no way to tell if the graph is sitting on top of the data table!
Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central School
332 Kenwood Avenue Delmar, NY 12054
http://bethlehemschools.org<http://bethlehemschools.org/>
(518) 439-7460
Fax (518) 475-0092
"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real
problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that exists. If a
blind person has the proper training and opportunity, blindness can be
reduced to a mere physical nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 12:39:44 -0500 (EST)
From: Bente <bente at casilenc.com>
To: "Lewicki, Maureen" <mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org>, Blind Math list for
those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Message-ID:
<1935288254.2110287.1416418784207.open-xchange at oxweb02.eigbox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Maureen,
While JAWS will work with Excel, I don't believe it will read anything
other than information in the cell. This sounds like an assignment that
will either require a sighted aide or some modification. My question would
be: What is the learning objective the assignment is testing. Also, is
there a modification that can be put in place so that the student can show
mastery of that objective, but still be able to work independently? I would
urge someone to discuss this with the instructor, possible a meeting with
the student as well so the student can demonstrate what they do with JAWS.
It has been my experience that instructors don't generally know how much is
involved until there is a demo.
When they see it for themselves, they are more willing to modify and work
with the student.
Bente J. Casile
Math Learning Specialist
Disability Support Services
Wake Technical Community College
Raleigh NC
> On November 19, 2014 at 12:07 PM "Lewicki, Maureen via Blindmath"
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>
> Good Day! I have A student whose teacher has assigned making a graph,
> using provided data, in an excel spreadsheet. He asks that the graph
> include lots of labels, lines that separate the phase changes, inserts
> of shapes and clip art, etc.
>
> Folks are you using excel spreadsheets to share data with your peers,
> or submit as part of your assignments, etc or are you using another
program?
>
> Will this eventually serve my students well to know so much about
> something they cannot see?
>
> Is there a way to get JAWS to read the graph? It does not appear to
> have that as an option, so when we go into the doc to add info into
> the graph, or change labels, there is really no way to tell if they
> have succeeded. There is also no way to tell if the graph is sitting on
top of the data table!
>
> Maureen Murphy Lewicki
> Teacher of Visually Impaired
> Bethlehem Central School
> 332 Kenwood Avenue Delmar, NY 12054
> http://bethlehemschools.org<http://bethlehemschools.org/>
> (518) 439-7460
> Fax (518) 475-0092
> "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real
> problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that exists. If
> a blind person has the proper training and opportunity, blindness can
> be reduced to a mere physical nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Blindmath:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/bente%40casilen
> c.com
> BlindMath Gems can be found at
> <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 19:17:36 +0000
From: "Godfrey, Jonathan" <A.J.Godfrey at massey.ac.nz>
To: "Lewicki, Maureen" <mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org>, "Blind Math list for
those interested in mathematics" <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Message-ID:
<D59DA89C3CD73C44A799E7087F8E6A9ED6622B at tur-exch-node1.massey.ac.nz>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi,
I would like to answer the question posed about whether it is worth teaching
about the graphics being used.
My answer is fairly blunt. Do you want this student to have the choice of
working in a world that expects to be given information in a visual form
such as a graphic? It doesn't matter if the graphic has value to the
student; it is about the reading audience not the author. I think learning
how to create such graphics is different to knowing how they are created.
I think Bente's comments are then relevant. Does the assessment actually
help this student understand the ways sighted readers comprehend
information?
I have to admit that from the description you provided, that the graphic is
far from simple, probably more about art and less about effective
communication of information and somewhat questionable on the whole. Just
because software allows the user to make a graphic more interesting through
use of clip art and changes in line types and colour, doesn't actually make
it right to do so. There has been a backlash against such frippery over the
last ten years or more because the best results tend to come from simple and
effective use of graphs. I tell my students that if it takes longer to work
out what is being shown in the graph than it takes to read the paragraph of
text supporting it, then start again.
Hope this helps,
Jonathan
-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lewicki,
Maureen via Blindmath
Sent: Thursday, 20 November 2014 6:07 a.m.
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
Subject: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Good Day! I have A student whose teacher has assigned making a graph, using
provided data, in an excel spreadsheet. He asks that the graph include lots
of labels, lines that separate the phase changes, inserts of shapes and
clip art, etc.
Folks are you using excel spreadsheets to share data with your peers, or
submit as part of your assignments, etc or are you using another program?
Will this eventually serve my students well to know so much about something
they cannot see?
Is there a way to get JAWS to read the graph? It does not appear to have
that as an option, so when we go into the doc to add info into the graph, or
change labels, there is really no way to tell if they have succeeded. There
is also no way to tell if the graph is sitting on top of the data table!
Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central School
332 Kenwood Avenue Delmar, NY 12054
http://bethlehemschools.org<http://bethlehemschools.org/>
(518) 439-7460
Fax (518) 475-0092
"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real
problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that exists. If a
blind person has the proper training and opportunity, blindness can be
reduced to a mere physical nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan
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To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Blindmath:
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ac.nz
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<http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 13:29:02 -0800
From: "John Gardner" <gardnerj at onid.orst.edu>
To: "'Lewicki, Maureen'" <mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org>, "'Blind Math list
for those interested in mathematics'" <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Message-ID: <002001d0043f$d7979270$86c6b750$@orst.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Maureen, there are two ways that your student can view the graph made from
Excel. An important part of ViewPlus' mission is making graphics
accessible. The Tiger Software Suite that is bundled with every ViewPlus
embosser will translate the labels in an Excel graph to braille, and the
student can read them to be sure they are correct. The format may be
changed a bit to accommodate the size of the braille however. If one
imports that graph into IVEO, it can be viewed as an audio-tactile graphic,
and the image will be unchanged, so formatting can be checked in full
detail.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lewicki,
Maureen via Blindmath
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 9:07 AM
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
Subject: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Good Day! I have A student whose teacher has assigned making a graph, using
provided data, in an excel spreadsheet. He asks that the graph include lots
of labels, lines that separate the phase changes, inserts of shapes and
clip art, etc.
Folks are you using excel spreadsheets to share data with your peers, or
submit as part of your assignments, etc or are you using another program?
Will this eventually serve my students well to know so much about something
they cannot see?
Is there a way to get JAWS to read the graph? It does not appear to have
that as an option, so when we go into the doc to add info into the graph, or
change labels, there is really no way to tell if they have succeeded. There
is also no way to tell if the graph is sitting on top of the data table!
Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central School
332 Kenwood Avenue Delmar, NY 12054
http://bethlehemschools.org<http://bethlehemschools.org/>
(518) 439-7460
Fax (518) 475-0092
"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real
problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that exists. If a
blind person has the proper training and opportunity, blindness can be
reduced to a mere physical nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan
_______________________________________________
Blindmath mailing list
Blindmath at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Blindmath:
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du
BlindMath Gems can be found at
<http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 11:27:48 -0800
From: Lynn Reed <iamlvr at yahoo.com>
To: "Lewicki, Maureen" <mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org>, Blind Math list for
those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] excel graphs and other ways to show data
Message-ID: <A09C39CE-0CE7-48B7-91B6-9E7F9B76BAE5 at yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
What is the age/grade of student in question?
Peace and Love to all!
> On Nov 19, 2014, at 9:07 AM, "Lewicki, Maureen via Blindmath"
<blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Good Day! I have A student whose teacher has assigned making a graph,
using provided data, in an excel spreadsheet. He asks that the graph include
lots of labels, lines that separate the phase changes, inserts of shapes
and clip art, etc.
>
> Folks are you using excel spreadsheets to share data with your peers, or
submit as part of your assignments, etc or are you using another program?
>
> Will this eventually serve my students well to know so much about
something they cannot see?
>
> Is there a way to get JAWS to read the graph? It does not appear to have
that as an option, so when we go into the doc to add info into the graph, or
change labels, there is really no way to tell if they have succeeded. There
is also no way to tell if the graph is sitting on top of the data table!
>
> Maureen Murphy Lewicki
> Teacher of Visually Impaired
> Bethlehem Central School
> 332 Kenwood Avenue Delmar, NY 12054
> http://bethlehemschools.org<http://bethlehemschools.org/>
> (518) 439-7460
> Fax (518) 475-0092
> "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real
> problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that exists. If
> a blind person has the proper training and opportunity, blindness can
> be reduced to a mere physical nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Blindmath:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/iamlvr%40yahoo.
> com BlindMath Gems can be found at
> <http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
------------------------------
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------------------------------
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