[BlindMath] Learning High School Math

Wed Jul 21 06:10:15 UTC 2021

Hi @Susan,

Thanks for passing the reference to this very well written article by you which talks in detail about the comparison of Math in Nemeth and LaTeX. I am no way denying the purpose or usefulness of Nemeth but I am more concerned from the practicality point of view.

I would like to share some of the observations due to which we thought that it may be right to balance between Nemeth and solving Math through listening/typing and not relying on a single approach.

  *   The biggest hurdle is how can a student show his/her work when using Nemeth. For example, the question is given to student in Nemeth. If it's simple enough then a student can memorize the equation and solve it but what can be done if the equation is long enough to be memorized? In case of working on  Computer, it can be copied and pasted and then the relevant parts be modified. This may not be possible in Nemeth (as per my understanding which may be wrong). The above is based on the fact that a notetaker device is used for work and not the manual way.
  *   Notetaker puts a lot of restrictions, specially, that it has only 32 cells normally which is way less to even accommodate a simple equation.
  *   Math content many a times is written in literary format or mixed causing confusion to the reader.
  *   Not many books are available in Nemeth format.
  *   Even the ones that are available, they need to be availed in embossed format due to lack of sufficient cells in braille display/note taker.
  *   Most of the Math sites doesn't work in producing Nemeth when using a braille display. In this case, I mean, the http://openstax.org/books/elementary-algebra-2e/ e-book which is excellent source to learn Algebra.

Lately, I figured while working on Math that even using Latex makes questions appear more complex than they actually are because of the extensive use of { and } to scope the parameters. For example, the image below is a simple question from Rational Exponents section.

[cid:image001.png at 01D77DB9.B01BE980]

For which the latex equivalent is {\left( {\displaystyle \frac{{{x^2}{y^{ - \frac{2}{3}}}}}{{{x^{ - \frac{1}{2}}}{y^{ - 3}}}}} \right)^{ - \frac{1}{7}}}. Just the usage of curly braces makes this simple question sound very complex that's why I am at this point, not convinced that even Latex is a good alternative to Nemeth.

The more I am trying to understand to help my daughter, the respect increases profoundly for the vision impaired people who learned different subjects and completed education successfully as they must have overcome so many challenges to achieve so much.

Thanks

Shail

-----Original Message-----

From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org>> On Behalf Of Susan Jolly via BlindMath

Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 12:07 PM

To: blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>

Cc: Susan Jolly <easjolly at ix.netcom.com<mailto:easjolly at ix.netcom.com>>

Subject: [BlindMath] Learning High School Math

Hi again Shail,

I certainly understand why a braille user might want to have some knowledge of LaTeX in their toolbox.  However I'd like to point to some recent information and improvements as far as the use of Nemeth braille.

First I'll call attention to my recent article  for sighted LaTeX users explaining via examples why Nemeth braille is easier than LaTeX source for tactile reading as well as for writing math.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftug.org%2FTUGboat%2Ftb40-1%2Ftb124jolly-braille.pdf&data=04%7C01%7C%7C7d375994ce994755718008d94ae8817f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637623184730137183%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=oz1G%2FDUf14xmx78Sje7pZWdfFcF11dnP2wcjIYQtgcM%3D&reserved=0

Second is the Pearson Accessible Equation Editor which lets  a sighted person interact with a person reading and writing Nemeth braille math on a braille display. The editor can convert from print to braille and also from braille to print.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faccessibility.pearson.com%2Fresources%2Faee%2Findex.php&data=04%7C01%7C%7C7d375994ce994755718008d94ae8817f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637623184730137183%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=2RLTeTSGJWGY41TYMjwvMb7I7mLWPafGjOqbejbWMdk%3D&reserved=0

Third is this wonderful new method  developed by UTMOST for automatically converting math textbooks originally sourced in LaTeX to a free online format and also to a free braille file with the math portions in Nemeth braille.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faimath.org%2Faimnews%2Fbraille_full%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C7d375994ce994755718008d94ae8817f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637623184730137183%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=8xv6lD5%2BwNOzot7hX%2BBPGxTebkhHSmxWXUXy3w2il%2BQ%3D&reserved=0

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mathvalues.org%2Fmasterblog%2Fgetting-the-utmost-out-of-open-source-&data=04%7C01%7C%7C7d375994ce994755718008d94ae8817f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637623184730137183%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=FMltVwZY0s2v2kt91HEz39IK%2B%2B%2Fb%2Btjclw6GWDUa%2BIc%3D&reserved=0

resources

Sincerely,

Susan J.

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