[nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

Mon May 2 21:42:34 UTC 2011

Chris,
I use a computer; but as I said to find a text segment, you got to know the 
words exactly you're looking for.  If you have a variation on it, that won't 
help. Plus some stuff is probably just in the index/glossary, like 
definitions.  Often the index is not part of my e-text and even if it is,
its so big that using a computer may not be practical to find it.
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Nusbaum
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:55 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

I don't know whether you use a computer or notetaker to read
E-texts, but if you have JAWS on a computer or use a Braille-Note
BT, you can use a find command to find a text string, or
word/phrase in a large document like a textbook.  On a
Braille-Note, hit space with F for the find command.  Then it
will ask you, "Search forward or back?" If you want to search for
something that you know is further into the text than you
currently are, het f for forward, and to search for something
before the place where you are, hit b for back.  Then, it will
prompt "Find?" Type the text string you want to search for and
hit Enter.  If it finds the string you're searching for, it will
put your cursor under that string.  If you use JAWS on your
computer, I think the find command is Alt F3, but don't quote me
on that.  I'll have to check and get back to you on that.  If
there's someone else on the list who knows what the Find command
on JAWS is, please let us know.  Hope that helps!

Chris Nusbaum

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)

----- Original Message -----
From: <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 2 May 2011 00:31:32 -0400
Subject: [nabs-l] studying, skimming and reference material

Hi all,

College texts are full of words and examples.  Frustrating when
you cannot skim through especially when you need the highlights
for a test.
I take notes when reading.  But my notes don?™t always amount to
what the professor tells us to study for the test, if they tell
us.

So what do you do when the professor has a study guide?
Some students take it and jot down the coresponding pages to the
study topics and study those pages.
How do you use it?
Sometimes professors give a list of terms/concepts to study or a
list of questions to guide your preparation.  My communication
professor outlined on the board what concepts we needed to know
for our final.
But here?™s the thing.  I cannot skim the text or look up words.
My notes may or may not have them.  Even if they do, its still
looking for a needle in a haystack when reviewing for finals!  So
I?™ve usually had to ask a reader; they act as my eyes and look
in the index for the key words or skim for the key words or
headings in the chapter.

For me, I usually use audio whenever possible.  But even with
e-texts, I cannot skim because I don?™t know the exact phrase
and without that the computer does Not know what to look for;
also
it is divided in to chapters and I cannot search across chapters.
Another thing, how do you work with open book exams?
Do you have a reader there and they look up any info from the
book? That is what I?™ve done.
Again, openbook  tests let you use it as a reference tool, but
that is hard for us.

So any tips for studying or ?œskimming??would be good.  How
can you direct a reader to actually skim?  Usually they will read
too much to me rather than just the main paragraph of the topic;
generally under the main headings I find the introduction to the
concept and smaller headings tell you details/examples.

Ashley
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