[nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to thesighted

Fri Jul 24 05:36:52 UTC 2015

Thank you Danielle, Ashley, Heather, and others for all of your
suggestions. Thank you Ashley for telling me a little bit of your
situation. I have always liked math and science ever since I was a
child. I had some vision until I was 15, and learned these subjects in
a sighted manner. Now, I can still visualize all of the print in my
head and do each step in my head like I did on paper when I was
sighted. I love to teach more than do, and math happens to be what I
know the best. Well, the talking calculator would be great for me to
use and I could present the graph on the whiteboard that Heather
suggested. I want to make it clear that I, the teacher am totally
blind. I, the blind person wants to teach the average sighted student
at the small community college level. Most of my students would have
just gotten out of high school. In words, as a one on one tutor,
people tell me that I can explain math concepts that they never
understood in their lives. I still need to figure out how I can write
my lectures on a laptop and edit the math symbols just like editing a
word document. Some people suggest learning the language of LaTeX,
while a couple of people suggests getting Math Type to work with MS
Word, and then getting LEAN which all working together would allow me
to write out the math. Next, there is the issue of reading symbolic
math texts. You cannot use a OCR problem like OpenBook to scan Math,
because it doesn't understand math symbols at all. There only so many
math texts you can get on tape. Freedom Scientific who raves about
getting people jobs with JAWS and such has not done too much for me
lol. Sure, I can do a lot on the computer, but nothing with math or
science. Has anyone on here used Infty reader to do OCR on math texts.
It is a math OCR program like OpenBook, but it can do the OCR on the
math and science symbols. I hear it is very expensive, and like Ashley
and I were talking about, Rehab will not purchase any technology until
you get the job and tell you when to start working. How can you get to
that point in a job search if you need $4,000.00 in technology? lol.
Thanks Danielle, I will try to get a hold of Tom. Is his name Tom or
Lie? How did you suggest for me to get a hold of him again? It is
great to be talking with you all. Heather, what do you teach again?
Keep in touch, Ashley, about how you are doing. It is sad, that blind
parents raise their own children, but yet others will not trust you
with their children. It is sort of like adopting. Anyone on the street
can bring a child into the world, Yet, when you are a very stable
person who is ready to raise a child, you are looked at through a
microscope lol. Take care all, and keep the ideas coming. Any ideas
are very welcome and will not be judged. I am a very laid back person
who wants to teach so much and to have that influence in the classroom
and teach what I love at the same time. Take care all.

On 7/23/15, Danielle Ledet via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi David, Tom's name is pronounced "lie". I should've specified that
> last night. Hear is something that may or may not help you in what
> you're doing. It is geared toward students but by you being the
> visually impaired one...flip the scrip. It was found on the Project
> ray blog.
>
> "Scientific Calculator – Sight Enhancement Systems has developed a
> number of scientific calculators to assist visually impaired students
> with their advanced math classes. One added function is voice back,
> currently available in both English and Spanish. Working almost
> identically to your typical scientific calculator, educators will have
> no trouble in assisting a visually impaired student learn its
> functions.
> SceneEye 500 – Also from Sight Enhancement Systems, the SceneEye 500
> is a camera that easily connects to a laptop or tablet. By magnifying
> the image seen by up to 50X, a visually impaired student can use the
> device to easily see the blackboard or any classroom presentation.
> Contrast is also adjustable to make the image even easier to read.
> Visually impaired students can record the images for later viewing,
> giving them a permanent study aid in what is being taught in class.
> This assistive device only works with Windows 7 or Windows 8, but has
> an intuitive interface when used with a touch screen device.
> Braille Compass – Using a Braille imposed tracing wheel, this compass
> from Howe Press enables blind students to complete math tasks with no
> assistance. The point end works the same as on regular compasses, but
> the student is able to read the tracing wheel with their finger and
> make the proper adjustments.
> Video Magnifier – With its large 7’’ display, the Olympia video
> magnifier enables visually impaired students to follow along in their
> textbooks and read and complete worksheets. The device features a
> range of magnification settings as well as a tilt screen for optimal
> viewing. Battery operated and portable, the Olympia can be used in the
> classroom or at home and has no limitations in the type of text it is
> able to view."
>
> On 7/23/15, Heather Field via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hello David,
>> I would think that you could use the interactive, electronic whiteboards,
>> now in many modern classrooms, to plug in your laptop and present
>> mathematics lessons to the class. These have largely replaced the
>> blackboard
>>
>> for lots of classroom teachers, and schools are systematically working to
>> get one in every classroom as funding permits.
>> Just a thought.
>> Warmly,
>> Heather
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: David Moore via nobe-l
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 4:15 PM
>> To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
>> Cc: David Moore
>> Subject: Re: [nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to the
>> sighted
>>
>> Hi Chase and all on this list,
>> Thank you so much, Chase, for the info about the TI-84 graphing
>> calculator. That will definitely let me present graphs and tell the
>> sighted what to do on their calculators. That is a huge part of what I
>> would need to do. If anyone can discuss editors that would allow me to
>> edit and manipulate math equations so I could present them to the
>> class, I would be so grateful. I have heard about Lean Editor, and
>> heard that the new Beta is coming out for trying soon. To read math
>> texts the class would be using, are getting a audio recording of the
>> text or doing OCR with Infty reader the only choices? I have a Braille
>> translator from 2005, and an old Romio Braile embosser. Would that
>> work for obtaining Braille formats of the math materials? How
>> expensive is Infty reader if I would need that. I hear it is quite
>> expensive. The way Rehab works in Ohio, is that you have to get the
>> job first before Rehab will buy any technology. How can I start a job
>> without the technology to start the job with? I appreciate any help
>> you have no matter how small. I do have a case open with Rehab, but
>> all they are doing for me is helping me to find a call center job. I
>> have a real God-given talent for explaining math in a way that will
>> allow many kinds of students with different learning needs to
>> understand the concepts. The sighted people I have helped orally with
>> math, tell me they never understood the concepts the way I explain
>> them in their entire lives. If I can present the material like a
>> sighted teacher, my dream would be fulfilled. I love teaching math
>> much more than using math to do applied problems like being an
>> engineer. I love math just for math itself. I am very outgoing though
>> and love working with and helping people with my math talents. I am
>> not the kind of person who just wants to sit in a lab and do math
>> computations all day to solve every-day life problems. I am definitely
>> a research-academic person. Take care and have a good day.
>>
>> On 7/21/15, Chase Crispin via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hi David,
>>> Orbit Research has adapted the TI-84 graphing calculator, which is the
>>> most
>>> common graphing calculator used in high school and college classrooms.
>>> It
>>> is sold by the American Printing House for the blind as the Orion TI-84
>>> Plus
>>> Talking Graphing Calculator.  This calculator allows a blind student or
>>> teacher to use all functions of the calculator with speech or by
>>> connecting
>>> a braille display.  When you generate a graph, the graph is played with
>>> tones.  The higher the pitch, the higher the coordinates on the graph.
>>> You
>>> can wear headphones to hear the audio move from left to right as it
>>> traces
>>> the graph, which can allow you to visualize the shape of the graph.  The
>>> unit vibrates when in the negative region, and the unit makes various
>>> beeps
>>> to indicate maximums, minimums, intersections, etc.  Since this unit is
>>> the
>>> standard calculator with a speech unit on top, it is operated the same
>>> way
>>> sighted students would use the calculator, so you could tell them exactly
>>> which buttons to press and let them look at the output on your screen.
>>> You
>>> could also print graphs from the calculator and display them on the
>>> classroom wall or board.  If you want to learn more about the calculator,
>>> search for it on:
>>> http://shop.aph.org/
>>>
>>> At the NABS meeting at Convention, someone demonstrated a math editor
>>> that
>>> was fully accessible that would allow you to enter, manipulate, and
>>> display
>>> math equations, but I do not have the name of that product written down.
>>> Hopefully someone else here knows about this software and can provide you
>>> with more detailed information.  I hope this helps.
>>>
>>>
>>> Chase Crispin
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nobe-l [mailto:nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Moore
>>> via
>>> nobe-l
>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2015 4:07 PM
>>> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: David Moore
>>> Subject: [nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to the
>>> sighted
>>>
>>> Hi All.
>>> My name is David Moore from Columbus, Ohio.  I received my masters degree
>>> at
>>> Ohio State in mathematics education  I also received a BS in mathematics.
>>> Now, I do some tutoring.  I tutor sighted college students one on one in
>>> Calculus and other higher concepts.  With one on one tutoring, I have the
>>> student read the problem to me and I tell him or her exactly what to
>>> right
>>> down as I do the problem in my head.
>>> I learned math by listening to tapes and by reading my texts with the
>>> Optacon.  I know what all the symbols look like in print, because of the
>>> Optacon.  This leads into the help I would grately appreciate from all of
>>> you.
>>> I want to teach a classroom full of sighted students at the small
>>> community
>>> college level.  This has always been my dream.  First of all, How do I
>>> type
>>> out my math lectures so the content will look to the students as though I
>>> wrote it on a board?  I use JAWS and Openbook.  That technology, however,
>>> can't help me write or read math texts.  Next, How do I get JAWS to read
>>> the
>>> math content that I am typing into an editor so I can edit what I am
>>> typing
>>> just like in a word document?  Next, How do I read math texts that the
>>> college or high school would use so I can prepare my lessons from the
>>> texts?
>>> I want to be able to read the math material, write out a lecture that I
>>> would present to the students, and have a way to grade there work that
>>> they
>>> input.  I really need help from an experienced blind mathematics teacher
>>> who
>>> teaches the sighted.  I am a very slow Braille reader and know little
>>> Nemoth
>>> code.  I do all computations in my head and picture all graphs in my head
>>> by
>>> feeling with the optacon.  The problem is, I have no more optacon.  Rehab
>>> took it back years ago, and I have never looked into getting another one
>>> in
>>> years.  I have just done a little bit of this one on one tutoring where I
>>> just tell the student what to right down.  I didn't know how this
>>> technique
>>> would work in front of an entire class with nothing for the sighted
>>> students
>>> to look at.  In an Interview, I don't know how it would go if I said that
>>>
>>> I
>>> would just stand in front of the class and tell them what to write down
>>> with
>>> no representation for them to look at.  Also, I heard that much math is
>>> done
>>> on graphing calculators compared to when I was in school in the 1980s.
>>> How
>>> would I access graphing calculators that students would use to do their
>>> homework on?  With my few one on one students, I just show them how the
>>> graphs look with my finger while they play around with their calculators
>>> to
>>> get something that looks like what I am drawing with my finger.  When I
>>> try
>>> writing print on paper or board, it goes all over the place.  I can
>>> picture
>>> the print in my head, but I have trouble writing it in any kind of
>>> straight
>>> line.  I would so much appreciate any help or suggestions you have for me
>>> to
>>> obtain that teaching job at a high school or small community college and
>>> how
>>> I could do all that is needed with assistive technology.  Thank you so
>>> much
>>> in advance.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Danielle
>
> Email: singingmywayin at gmail.com
>
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