[Blindmath] Making the University classroom more accessible
hpscheffer at aol.com
hpscheffer at aol.com
Tue Nov 10 12:08:44 UTC 2015
Hi I recommend you check out Dr Robinsons site at www.yourtechvision.com she's fabulous with accessing the inaccessible but surely there's more to be discovered in making graphs tactile in real time.
Heidi
Sent from my iPhone
> On Nov 5, 2015, at 12:19 PM, Goda Biekšaitė via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Please, if there are any experiences that anyone could share - that would
> be great! Any feedback would be of great help!
>
> Cheers,
> Goda
>
> 2015-11-05 17:16 GMT+00:00 Goda Biekšaitė <goda.bieksaite at gmail.com>:
>
>> Hi Vincent!
>>
>> Thank you so much for the reply. I suppose our description of what we do
>> or where we are in the project is not clear.... Sorry about that.
>> Basically, since all of us in the team are sighted, we tried and reach out
>> to students that are visually impaired and schools, but we had such a low
>> response rate. And as the lady in our chemistry faculty has said - there's
>> a lot of research fatigue. And we fully understand it. However, we really
>> want to try and understand the problem. And...a silly and as ignorant as
>> this will sound, we genuinely don't know how visually impaired students
>> understand geometry and graphs, 2d and 3d objects. And without having
>> anyone to talk to...we had to rely on the internet. And that is why our
>> questionnaire is so broad.
>>
>> In regards of what we're trying to achieve. We are not trying to create a
>> new tech solution. We are well aware that creating a new piece of
>> technology is not the solution, as that is yet another thing to master, to
>> get used to, to implement an it's just not financially feasible either.
>> What we would aim to do is find a way to improve current technology or
>> software or adapt something to a current software. For example, to aid in
>> understanding chemical molecule diagrams, one of our university researchers
>> created a system as a plugin for JAWS and NVDA to translate a bitmap image
>> of the molecule graph into a multilayer audible system. It's not something
>> new but a small addition to what already exists. We are aiming to do
>> something similar.
>>
>> If you could give us any feedback at all. Of what it feels like to be a
>> visually impaired student doing a science degree, what frustrated you or
>> anything at all that you could tell - that would greatly help us! Also
>> this is just... It literally made us jump from excitement that we have
>> replies! We possibly have people to talk to!!!
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Goda
>>
>> 2015-11-05 16:37 GMT+00:00 vincent martin <vincent.martin at gatech.edu>:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>> I am a totally blind Ph.D. student in Human Centered Computing at Georgia
>>> Tech. I have previously earned four STEM degrees. I have worked as a
>>> rehabilitation engineer and research scientist and have advise a number of
>>> undergraduate and graduate level teams on similar projects. The first
>>> thing I always advise the teams to do is a very thoroughly literature
>>> review. As a graduate student doing research, it would be the first thing
>>> you would normally consider, but most undergraduates have never been taught
>>> how or why to do it.
>>> What you are asking in your survey is far too wide of a scope to assist
>>> you. You can end up going in so many directions and may end up recreating
>>> the exact thing that someone just did a few months ago. You can search the
>>> Journal of the Visually Impaired and the Blind, ACM's SIG Access (ASSETS)
>>> and the SIGCHI (CHI) journals for a vast number of projects related to
>>> creating access for people with visual disabilities.
>>> You can also just use any search engine for search words pertaining to
>>> this topic and the browser will give you many directions to go int. So
>>> many products/projects end up on some news program, but really are just
>>> class projects created for a class for too many times to count.
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Goda
>>> Biekšaite via Blindmath
>>> Sent: Thursday, November 5, 2015 10:23 AM
>>> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: Goda Biekšaitė <goda.bieksaite at gmail.com>; Lily Elshaktori <
>>> lilyelshaktori at gmail.com>; Priyanka Mohata <pmohata.95 at gmail.com>;
>>> Gareth Humphries <garethjhumphries at gmail.com>; Poppie Simmonds <
>>> poppie.leigh at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: [Blindmath] Making the University classroom more accessible
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>>
>>> We are 3rd year Computer Science students at the University of Birmingham.
>>> As part of our course, we are studying a module called Software Design
>>> Study, in which we research and design a solution to an existing real life
>>> problem. Our team is looking into further aiding visually impaired students
>>> in a classroom setting.
>>>
>>> We are in the early stages of our research and would like to speak with
>>> as many visually impaired students, teachers of the visually impaired or
>>> anyone else who works in this area.We would like to get a better
>>> understanding of learning and teaching techniques used, problems faced and
>>> areas for improvement.
>>>
>>>
>>> We have made a questionnaire and it would help us greatly if you could
>>> answer some or all of the questions, and if there is anything that you
>>> would like to add, or even if you would just want to share your experience
>>> - we would really appreciate it.
>>>
>>>
>>> We can't wait to hear from you,
>>>
>>> Goda
>>>
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>>
>>>
>>> If you’re a student:
>>>
>>> -
>>>
>>> What software are you using in the classroom currently?
>>> -
>>>
>>> How accessible is it?
>>> -
>>>
>>> How easy to master is it?
>>> -
>>>
>>> On average, how much time do you spend using the assistive software
>>> in the classroom?
>>> -
>>>
>>> Did you go to a school or university for visually impaired?
>>> -
>>>
>>> IF YES:
>>> -
>>>
>>> What techniques did they use to teach mathematics?
>>> -
>>>
>>> How did they explain the different geometrical objects? Both 3d
>>> and 2d.
>>> -
>>>
>>> How did they explain graphs and visual representations of
>>> formulae?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What techniques are used to draw and represent graphs?
>>> -
>>>
>>> IF NO:
>>> -
>>>
>>> What techniques did the teachers use to integrate visually
>>> impaired into the classroom?
>>> -
>>>
>>> Did the teachers write and explain things on the board, if so how
>>> did they accommodate you?
>>> -
>>>
>>> Did you have anyone or use any special technology to assist you
>>> in
>>> the classroom?
>>> -
>>>
>>> Was there anything that you think you missed out in the
>>> lectures/lessons?
>>> -
>>>
>>> If you could change one thing about how the lectures are going at the
>>> moment and the support that you get - what would it be?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What would be a perfect piece of technology for you (regardless of what
>>> has been created already. Please. Go wild)
>>>
>>>
>>> If you’re a teacher:
>>>
>>> -
>>>
>>> What techniques have you used to better accommodate the visually
>>> impaired students?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What difficulties have you noticed that visually impaired students
>>> encounter?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What subjects and areas do the students struggle the most?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What support systems/technologies do you use in your classroom or for
>>> preparation for the classes?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What additional preparation do you make to cater for visually impaired
>>> students in the classroom?
>>> -
>>>
>>> How familiar are you with the assistive technologies that the students
>>> might use?
>>> -
>>>
>>> How did you explain (if you ever had to) graphs, geometric forms, 3d
>>> and
>>> 2d objects, trajectories and distances?
>>> -
>>>
>>> What support do you get from your University or School/College?
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