Panning, scrolling, and zooming in/out are very important–especially for students with spatial deficits and no sight. We have had to mimic scrolling physically with hands on hardcopy to help students in the past.
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How did you teach scrolling with hard copies? I have a student currently who is struggling with this concept and would love ideas
Using Draftsman is a great way to have students with and without vision to draw out their concepts and ideas. Using a Tactipad to have students free form draw on Draftsman paper that then goes into TactileView to emboss is another great way to help students see their concept come to life. I also like to use a low-temp 3D pen to have students draw onto Thermoform paper to see what they can conceptually draw. Having students have a partially completed worksheet of a shape that they need to complete on their own with the 3D pen or Wikki Sticks is a good way to complete part to whole. Also, using a dot matrix embosser versus a True Braille embosser can help students build tactile discrimination of their shapes.
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Maybe try placing materials on an X-Y table to simulate movement (similar to what is on many CCTVs)
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Just another quick thought is how I use 3D printed objects for representation of real-life objects that are not accessible to our students. Creating 2D images for the Monarch with labels and important aspects/concepts can be paired to the 3D printed object. I also add Braille into the 3D prints that can be a matching exercise to the 2D images in the Monarch.
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Also, give your student a long string of embossing paper that has not been torn apart and have them “scroll” upward and downward by pushing the paper across the top of a desk/surface.
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Perhaps use the same method of masking: Create a cutout from a piece of paper which would only allow 20 cells of braille to be read from a printout of braille. Have the student move this “window” across the braille to simulate scrolling.
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Hi Conchita. This is one of those ideas that popped in my head while brainstorming with my team. MY TVI brain always goes to simple, unplugged solutions whenever possible.
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After this webinar series, it is clear that I need to thoroughly assess where students are with their tactile graphics understanding! Figuring out where they currently are, will guide the planning of instruction. I see where they need to be (downloading TGIL on the Monarch!) – now to fill that gap!
Since they will be able to access any graphic from the TGIL, I want to make sure that they are understanding what they look at – independently! Graphics on a Monarch will have limited texture levels and types, so students need to be well-versed in this type of graphics interpretation. I love the mention that electronic graphics should also partner with hardcopy graphics as well.
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Yes–it’s not an easy skill to learn and I think the more exposure to different kinds of tactile graphics is important. Using a PIAF, graphic art tape, velco picture builders, sloppy on the go graphics–they all impart information and I think will help our students use the Monarch.
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Exciting to see the TGIL and the Monarch together!
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Agreed. I’ve had the opportunity to share the Monarch with students and it awesome to see the excitement of the students searching for a preferred picture or graphic and discover all the other options that can be found. That virtual “rabbit hole” that we find ourselves going down when searching online is now an activity our students can enjoy as well.
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Years ago APH had a curriculum for teaching about tactile graphics, but it was discontinued. Are there plans for a revamp of a “teaching” curriculum to help students prepare to read more formal graphics?
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Will more training be available for Monarch prior to its release?
Absolutely! Stay tuned!
In the meantime, prepare your students by working on independent graphics reading skills!
Thank you, MC
It sounds like a new tool for students to use.
If our students have the monarch, what type of software is needed to produce braille and tactile graphics? Will it work with what we have already?
For example various software: Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Braille Blaster, Firebird, Ink Scape, Tactile View, and Adobe Illustrator. Or the only resource is aph-TGIL or Complete something NEW! “E-BRL”
I’m happy that students will be able to have tactile graphics sooner rather than later!
so many questions from the point of view of the braillist.
We will just have to wait and see! Looking forward to training on the Monarch.
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I’d collect feedback from users on their learning experiences.
integrate performance metrics within Monarch, allowing users to track their progress in using features like Zoom, managing tactile clutter, and panning.
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I taught my student top, botton, left, right with their body first. They knew top of their head, bottom feet and then left to right. This also helped with map directions north, south, east and west. along with verticle and horizontal. After they accomplished the direction, I added tactile graphics.
My student is in high school, so she has already learned the XY axis too.
I’m excited to start my student on the Monarch!
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Couldn’t agree more about teaching panning. The student I just demonstrated the Monarch to always wanted to learn what it was like to pan on the iPhone and in his words “zoom in and out”. This student has congenital blindness so grasping these concepts was difficult. The Monarch allowed him to quickly learn that “zooming in” made detail bigger on the screen. We worked with the tactile graphics library with the cell diagram and he was amazed by what he learned as he panned across the screen and zoomed in and out! It was amazing to watch. I recorded the event and will be sharing!
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