[nobe-l] Re Liz's questions

Tue Aug 23 03:30:15 UTC 2011

Thanks, Liz and James.

As for projecting from Braille note, it might be a good idea to bring
both your brail note and a small laptop to class.  Unlike brail
displays, they are now extremely cheep.  You can buy a netbook for
$200 online.  You can then project your document onto a screen and
that would not interfere with your lecture notes on braille note.

For a discussion section, a nice detailed handout might also be just enough.

Best,

Irina

On 8/22/11, bookwormahb at earthlink.net <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> You can read text files in the braille note like a word document or .txt
> file, but it cannot go to certain pages and probably would mess up
> footnotes. It translates the words for you in grade 2 braille, but some
> formatting you would observe on the PC is lost.
> I'd say its better to  have a computer to show your documents and project to
> a screen and other advantages james said.
>
> Ashley
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Fetter
> Sent: Monday, August 22, 2011 2:08 PM
> To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nobe-l] Re Liz's questions
>
> I have heard that both the BrailleNote and PacMate are supposed to be
> able to hook up to a monitor and display documents, but I have never
> used them for that purpose, so I'm not sure about their limitations or
> compatibility with specific monitors. I was able to get an external
> Braille display through my state's department for the blind at no cost
> to me, so that might be an option for those interested in going that
> route. The one major advantage I found of using a laptop and a Braille
> display is versatility, especially when I had to be able to go to a
> specific page in a word document. This was very helpful in conference
> presentations, in which I had to be ready for someone to ask a question
> about a claim made on a specific page in my paper or even within a
> footnote--that happened once. It also came in handy when discussing
> papers with students. I'm not sure if the BrailleNote Apex has a word
> processor that allows you to go to a particular page in a word document
> or to bring up footnotes, endnotes, etc; I know the PacMate and older
> model BrailleNote I previously used did not.
> All Best,
> James
>
>
> On 8/22/2011 1:36 PM, Elizabeth Phillips wrote:
>> Thanks, Erina, I really appreciate the suggestions.  It's great to meet
>> you,
>> too.
>>
>> I currently don't bring my laptop into section, for the extra jaws talking
>> issue you were mentioning.  I currently use a BrailleNote Apex, which does
>> have a Braille display on it--so I personally am hesitant about the
>> extreme
>> cost of a laptop display.  I do knowthat Braille Notes can hook up to
>> external moniters--does anyone know if it's possible to project a handout
>> word document from the Apex to an external screen?  That wouldn't solve
>> the
>> problem of using powerpoint, but it could be a great option if you can
>> work
>> with word or text files.  In philosophy there isn't much need for pictures
>> or diagrams, and as I am TAing for the class I'm in, the professor already
>> handles the powerpoint.  I hope someone can give you a more direct
>> suggestion on powerpoint and Braille--hopefully what I've said is at least
>> somewhat helpful.
>>
>> Be Well,
>> Liz
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf
>> Of Irina Anisimova
>> Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2011 9:49 PM
>> To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nobe-l] Re Liz's questions
>>
>> Hi Liz,
>>
>> My name is Irina and I am also a graduate student at the department of
>> Slavic Languages and Literatures at Pitt.
>>
>> I agree with Cayte that it will help to ask students to tell you their
>> names, when they make a comment during the discussion I tried it in my
>> classes, and although I always had to remind them, I remembered their
>> voices very quickly.  I also think that if you have more then 50
>> students in your class, you would never be able to remember everyone,
>> but at least you will know the active students.
>>
>> I will also suggest combination of handouts and projecting from a
>> computer to the screen.  Power Point is fine to use with JAWS.  I use
>> office t003, because I generally find it easier.  May be somebody else
>> could comment on using newer versions of PPT.  You can also project
>> Word documents onto a screen. Or even type in Word if you want to make
>> a quick reference.  I used to do that in my language classes.
>>
>> I also have a question for the list concerning using the braille
>> display for teaching.  I currently use JAWS and have a headphone in
>> one ear, but find it at times annoying, especially when I want to show
>> a clip from my computer and JAWS continues speaking for a while.  Does
>> anyone on the list use brail display for teaching?  Does it work well
>> with PPT and other programs?  I am considering buying it at some
>> point.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Irina
>>
>>
>> On 8/20/11, Cayte Mendez<katz4god at yahoo.com>  wrote:
>>> Hi Liz,
>>>
>>> My name is Cayte.  I'm an elementary school teacher in NYC.  Welcome to
>> the
>>> list!
>>>
>>> When I first started teaching I had a really hard time learning my
>> students'
>>> names.  One thing you might try is having students call out their names
>>> to
>>> you when they have a question or comment.  As the semester progresses
>> you'll
>>> probably learn to associate voices with the different names, so when they
>>> come see you before or after class you'll have a reference.  Also, I took
>> a
>>> few classes in college where we had assigned seats.  It's a little more
>>> formal than the usual set-up, but that way you can have an idea of who's
>>> talking by where they're sitting in the room.
>>>
>>> Presenting class materials without the board is a little tricky.  Do your
>>> colleagues use PowerPoint or is it ok to use handouts?  I have some
>> residual
>>> vision, so I don't know how accessible PowerPoint is, but maybe someone
>> else
>>> on the list knows?
>>>
>>> Again, welcome to the list and I hope we can be a helpful resource for
>>> you
>>> in the future.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> A book is a garden carried in the pocket.
>>>
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