Instructions: After viewing the modules for the course Teaching Graphicacy Skills, participants are expected to respond to one of the questions posted in a manner that reflects an appropriate level of analysis and engagement in the discussion; applying the knowledge and insights from the readings to practical applications; drawing conclusions based on the content, raising new questions, presenting a counter argument, etc. Each response should include the question number, be stated in complete sentences, and apply the knowledge from the readings and sessions to practical applications.
In addition, each participant is expected to comment on at least two participants’ responses. The responses should be reflective and thoughtful, not simple short answers like “I agree” or “Me too.” A thoughtful response integrates readings, may provide examples, add new information, or present a counter argument.
Analyze the tension between time constraints and instructional quality in tactile material creation. How do these competing demands shape instructional decisions?
To what extent do current tactile material practices reflect student-centered design? Where do you see gaps between what students need and what is typically provided?
To what extent do existing supports for tactile graphics use (e.g., resources, training, collaboration, tools) reflect the realities of classroom practice? Which gaps create the greatest barriers for teachers, and why?
When you consider your current practice, where might inconsistencies in formatting unintentionally increase cognitive load for students? How would adopting a standardized tactile layout shift not just access, but the way students engage with content?
How well do current preparation and training systems equip educators to make informed decisions about tactile graphic design? What gaps do you see, and how do they impact students?
5. How well do current preparation and training systems equip educators to make informed decisions about tactile graphic design? What gaps do you see, and how do they impact students?
When evaluating how well current preparation and training systems equip Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) to make informed decisions about tactile graphic design, there is a contrast between theory and classroom reality. In my experience, the preparation programs teach the importance of tactile literacy, focused on braille code and simple raised line tactile graphics. I was provided instructions in creating accessible materials with the use of a Perkins Brailler and APH products like TactileDoodle, Tactile Graphics Kit, and Picture Maker. In theory, this instruction seems like enough to then be able to provide student’s with the tactile information they need. I was not provided an opportunity to learn specialized digital tactile graphic tools like Romeo or Tiger. I feel that this lack of opportunity for me to learn these systems early in my education directly affects a student’s academic access and progress with tactile literacy. The reality is, I need to learn these systems. My students can fall behind their sighted peers because they cannot process information at the same instructional pace due to lack of access.
I believe tactile graphics remain an area of uncertainty for many Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVIs). Beyond teaching students how to interpret tactile graphics, TVIs are also responsible for creating accessible and meaningful graphics. This is often where the challenges begin.
The greatest barrier, in my experience, is time. Like many accessible materials, tactile graphics require thoughtful planning, design, and production. Even when teachers have access to the necessary equipment and software, creating quality graphics is not a quick process. In our program, TVIs have access to tools such as TactileView, so the issue is not necessarily the availability of resources. Rather, the challenges are knowing how to effectively use those tools and finding sufficient time to create materials that truly meet student needs.
My teacher preparation program, as well as additional coursework I have completed, emphasized the idea of creating graphics “on the fly.” I appreciate this approach because it allows teachers to provide immediate access to information during instruction. However, I worry that relying primarily on impromptu graphics may limit students’ exposure to the types of polished and complex tactile graphics they are likely to encounter on state assessments, college entrance exams, and in future educational settings.
There has also been increased discussion around the use of devices such as the Monarch to support tactile graphic access. While the technology is exciting, cost remains a significant barrier for many programs and districts. As a result, the gap between available innovations and the realities of classroom practice continues to be a challenge for teachers and students alike.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this question. I agree that teacher preparation programs emphasize the importance of tactile literacy, and there are certainly additional resources and professional development opportunities available. While not having experience with specialized digital tactile graphics tools may seem like a limitation, I mentioned in my own response that there is often a significant learning curve associated with using graphic design software effectively.
I am fortunate to have access to programs such as Tiger Designer and TactileView. Even with several years of experience using both, I still find the process of creating tactile graphics somewhat intimidating. Designing graphics that are meaningful, accessible, and appropriate for students requires considerable thought and practice.
I suspect the issues raised in this week’s discussion will remain relevant for quite some time. We are seeing an increasing emphasis on graphics and visual representations, often with less accompanying text, in many newer curricula. This shift is concerning because all students, including sighted peers, are increasingly expected to analyze and interpret visual information. Ensuring that students with visual impairments have meaningful access to those same concepts will continue to be an important challenge for our field.
Question 1: Analyze the tension between time constraints and instructional quality in tactile material creation. How do these competing demands shape instructional decisions?
I am currently in classes to become a TVI, so I do not have hands-on experiences with this topic. However, I felt like the article Tactile Materials in Practice: Understanding the Experiences of Teachers of the Visually Impaired in this week’s assigned reading helped provide some needed insights on the topic of tactical materials. While it covered a variety of topics related to tactical material creation, one of the concerns addressed was the time it takes to create effective tactile materials for student use.
On page 11, the article states “Time was the largest factor for TVIs when deciding which tactile materials to use. The lack of time often hindered participants from obtaining the materials they would have preferred to work with.” The article also shared that some of the TVIs interviewed would prefer to use real objects or 3D models, but would provide tactile graphics if they didn’t have the time or were unable to find a real or 3D model. In a pinch, they used verbal descriptions if they didn’t have time to create either a 3D model or tactile graphics. However, some of the TVIs interviewed didn’t like relying on verbal descriptions because auditory may not have been the student’s most effective mode of learning, causing him or her to potentially miss key information for concept understanding.
Interestingly, not many of the TVIs interviewed mentioned technology, relying heavily on materials from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) or self-created tactile materials. While I know that learning how to work technological programs that produce tactile graphics would take time, I wonder if the programs would help ease some of the issues related to time constraints and tactical material creation or if using technology to create tactile graphics would raise a different set of concerns.
Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts about how current preparation courses teach educators about tactile graphic design. Since I am currently taking classes to become a TVI and haven’t yet taken my classes on tactile literacy, I can’t speak from experience. However, I do know that my undergraduate coursework for my special education degree didn’t fully prepare me for work as a special education teacher. I had a strong foundation, but the daily experiences and interactions made me a much stronger teacher. I think the same applies here. Even very strong preparation courses can’t fully prepare someone for everything that they are going to encounter in their future roles. I respect that you looked at your current teaching practices, saw a need to learn digital tactile graphic tools, and want to learn how to use these tools so that you can better help your students with visual impairments!
I enjoyed reading your thoughts about some of the challenges TVIs face when trying to create and use tactile graphics with students. This fall, I start working as a TVI for my school corporation and one of my concerns is producing quality tactile graphics. As you shared, I want to create meaningful and accessible tactical graphics, which takes time. As both you and the author of the article Element Arrangement on a Tactile Graphic Document shared, creating tactile graphics that follow a predictable, accessible pattern is important. As you shared, students will see polished, complex tactile graphics on assessments and in future coursework, so teaching what students will see is important. Also, as shared in the article, having tactile graphics that follow a predictable pattern or that are set up in the same way reduces the cognitive load for students with visual impairments. Instead of first figuring out how the tactile graphic is set up and then interpreting the information, students are able to just start interpreting the information on the tactile graphic if the format is familiar and predictable. However, I can understand that time is such a limiting factor! I look forward to learning more about technology programs that can help me create quality, meaningful tactile graphics for my students.
#1: From my experience, in our classroom setting the support person (myself) for the student is the person creating the tactile materials. This course has taught me so much about methods of reading a graph (grid, perimeter, and cyclic) and the strategy of preteaching, and the importance of understanding the legend/key. It has also shown the importance of giving the student the time to explore the graph before the class discusses same. In reality, the “tension” between time constraints and instructional quality is real. From a day to day perspective, the teacher in the classroom must give the support person time to prepare the tactile graphics for the student. They must give the support person time to preteach the graph to the student. Too often this does not happen and the student is expected to understand the graph at the same time and speed as the sighted students in the classroom. This is not practical and the “tension” is truly the frustration of the VI student trying to learn and understand.
The predictable pattern of a graphic is a superb idea that I hope becomes a reality. This would take so much pressure off of interpreting data and instead allow the student to quickly discern the “topic” of the graph and already know where to find the data instead of rediscovering the wheel time and time again!
Hi Sheila, As you said, the student is frustrated. I agree 100%. How do you work with the teacher to correct whatever is creating the disconnect between what the teacher and the student/support person needs to learn and understand and not be frustrated? TVI’s/support people need the time to create the materials, time to pre-teach, time for exploration, and still be on pace with their peers. I guess it’s a rhetorical question since this topic continues to be brought up in discussions
I am noticing a common theme in responses; time. TVI’s need time, content level teachers need time, students need time. Time is one thing we have a set amount of, which means I try to be efficient. I also appreciate having the ability to create graphics on the fly because even when we think we have everything prepared for the student’s access to materials, we have to be flexible and creative when changes are necessary or last minute additions are needed. In reality, I feel that there will always be a gap between available innovations for tactile literacy and the realities of classroom practices.
I agree with what you shared. Having the opportunity to preteach concepts and allow a student to preview a tactile graphic can make a significant difference in their understanding. Unfortunately, as you pointed out, time is often the biggest barrier. Finding enough time to create a tactile graphic, review it for accuracy, and provide the student with an opportunity to explore it before it is needed in class can be extremely challenging.
In an ideal situation, we would receive instructional materials, including any graphics that need to be adapted, several weeks before they are used in the classroom. We know that this rarely happens. More often than not, we’re doing our best just to have the graphic ready in time for the lesson, leaving little or no opportunity for meaningful preteaching or previewing.
I remain hopeful that, if enough TVIs continue to advocate for the importance of tactile literacy and are passionate about improving access for their students, we will begin to see positive changes in how tactile graphics are planned for and integrated into instruction.
Patty
This part really gets me. This is where teacher teams really need to work together and understand that our VI friends need time, not always a lot but when the expectation is the same as their peers, they need time to get ALLLLL the components of a graphic, and that it will not look like their sighted classmates, just able to glance at it and get all of the parts. Time is the recurring struggle in your post and I couldn’t agree more.
this is also my concern. I can map and place anything on a wheatly board so fast, but how meaningful is that to the student when it comes test time. The classroom teachers dont kow/realize that what i just created super fast because they changed materials at the last minute is NOTHING like what they will see come exam time or come college. and to have the time to work with the staff, and the student and make the materials really is a huge barrier!
when I think about my current practice. I realize that when I create maps and other graphics for my O&M students that I am not always consistent. I typically change based on student need and lesson objective. I do not always include titles, labels or keys and if i do I put them where they fit not in the same place every time. This likely means they are having to spend more time focusing on the layout vs the time they can spend with the map itself.
I think if I were to use standardized procedures It would reduce the cognitive load of the “oh great I have to search the page to figure out what the heck I am looking at” vs the “oh, this is my neighborhood” then being able to focus on the task at hand or whatever the lesson objective is. this would also include using the same pieces (Wheatly) for the same thing every time. Bathrooms are always marked the same way, roads are the same texture, etc. This would decrease a lot of the explaining I would have to do outside of the targeted instructional piece.
I agree, I feel like once I finished my classes, I thought I was prepared and ready for my students. Then when you get into the real world you realize that what they thought is not enough, there is some much more I feel I need to help my students with tactile graphic. I wish I had the knowledge and the equipment to help make more tactile graphic for my students.
I also have issues with having things for pre-teaching or previewing for my students. I feel like having it on time, at times is me being lucky. I feel like during the year, I am drowning from not having the time need to prepare or make graphics for my students. Hearing another teacher feel the same helps me remain hopeful as well and know that I’m not alone.
5. How well do current preparation and training systems equip educators to make informed decisions about tactile graphic design? What gaps do you see, and how do they impact students?
I feel like the current preparation and training systems are not always effective in helping educators make informed decisions about tactile graphic designs. They teach and explain how we are to teach and make the graph, but not always in the best way. I know when I left school and training, I thought I was ready to create, make, and teach tactile graphic, boy was I wrong. I was overwhelmed with the task and lack of equipment. There are gaps of information, how fast teacher expect Visually impaired student to learn, (they expect them to learn at the same rate as their peers). Also, the material is not always what best for the visually impaired. Alot of times for my younger learner, the graphic pictures have more detail and it’s hard to explain to a new learner. These gaps impact my students learning and also stresses them out at time. I feel like with proper time and more access to equipment we could close the gap some.
Analyze the tension between time constraints and instructional quality in tactile material creation. How do these competing demands shape instructional decisions?
I absolutely agree with most of my cohort peers re their responses to this question. Overall, the TVI is usually juggling a number of things along with their actual student caseload and direct work. Preparation, meaning, just getting the classroom teachers to give materials in advance of instruction is probably the largest factor, and one that can create tension. Tactile graphics, and the creation of them (on the fly, or in the school (as opposed to the materials that are ordered prior to the start of the school year) is a huge issue. Creating these materials does require very intentional, and thoughtful planning from the TVI and or the material specialist that is supporting the student and materials. If there is not time to sit and think abut best practices re development of the graphic, the student is already going to be at a disadvantage. Secondly, although many of us have learned to create graphics for our students “on demand” so to speak, (it is much better to receive the tactile graphic for a high school students biology class, from the get go) we are often in the position to develop the graphic without more standard equipment. For example, I am much confident and relaxed when creating graphics for my youngest Braille learner, than I am when I have to create something for a middle or high school student. Precision is key, and the qualities that go into making the materials is much more specific verses, for example, than determining the salient feature of a spider and then creating a graphic of the spider. Third, when we have to spend time creating the graphics, we have less time for the instruction of the skill of learning tactile graphicacy, and all that comes with it. If I have just received supplemental material for student I had a lesson with, I am obligated to make the materials and adapt them, so that the student can participate with his classmates, and be part of the instruction. I lose time with that student. Quality graphicacy instruction must also be intentional, and requires time and practice with the student. It is not an easy task to balance it all, and it definitely creates stress. In my role, the number one thing I am always encouraging is “it is the classroom teachers job to teach, and the students job to learn.” My job ( is to make sure the student can access it the way they require it, and to develop a way for that to happen, (along with specific goals and objectives, and everything else). The teacher can still teach the other students, when our learner is without materials. But, our learner cannot learn. I always have thought about the fact that in the general education world, very few parents would stand by and “wait” for materials to be placed in front of their own students with good vision. How long do you think a parent would stay quiet if their child was without all of the maps in a social studies class, or without the diagram of the brain, when getting instruction on that topic in class from the teacher? Yet, our learners often have to wait, get the material later than their same aged peer, or miss instruction, fall behind, or work on something later, because the material was not readily available. Instructional decisions, in my experience, have been impacted. For example, 2 years ago the district I service was piloting a new math program. The book (4th grade math) was brand new and would have to be sent out for braille for the first time. Many pictures and graphics as well. The book was turned in, in January of 2024, and this was for the student in the fall of 2024. (8 months ahead of the school year.) I later found out that the book was ready, but not all of the graphics and pictures. My student started the year without those things for the first 3 chapters. The teacher and administration made the decision that the student would work out of a book from prior years, which required very different instruction. In this scenario, the student had materials, but was not at all with his peers in class during math, because it was so different than the math book the rest of the class used. This caused a great deal of frustration, mostly on the part of student and myself. Who would be facilitating the instruction? In the end, I ended up providing all the math pages for the student on the new book, but on my own time. There must be a balance and a more even playing field when it comes to material production for the students we are working with. And time is critical as our students require high quality graphics.
Patricia
I agree with all that you said, and I really like your point about the production of graphics. There districts and areas where equipment is scarce due to funding, and it may not be an option for everyone to have the bandwith to create the materials. While creating materials on the fly offers an opening to create the materials, time constraints as you mention continue to be an obstacle. We have modeled in our district having the local district provide a person to learn to create braille using a Braille work station our district provides, and we train them in the basic code as well as making other materials. I am the one providing the more detailed graphics on the fly, but there is not always time. I appreciated your perspective. Analyze the tension between time constraints and instructional quality in tactile material creation. How do these competing demands shape instructional decisions?
