[accessibleimage] Re: kids and touch tablet technology

Lucia,
You are so right. So very right. But TGD is only one and half people! One
retired nut and one very good programmer friend of 25 years with a full time
job. We have done this tactile audio stuff since its invention in 1987 -
when APH took Nomad we were delighted because as Lucia says - we need
graphics kits to be made - for a range of reasons that were out of our TGD
hands, APH stopped production - we at TGD are tool makers as I have said
elsewhere, not experts at K - 12 and College graphics in every subject - the
tools however cover that and more. The ATLAS I have just redone for TGD
Workshop is given away FREE because I do not have the expertise to give it
the full treatment suitable for some special needs -

I have frequently proposed to interested  "Tagraphic" makers that they can
EARN money by creating the kits using (now) TGD Workshop especially . THEY
earn every cent if they also do the distribution and as I have said
elsewhere that can be electronically done, one JPG file (for printing to
flexi-paper) or one SIG file from TGD QikTac for printing to embosser at US
Letter. One PIX file that is created as you go along making each Tagraphic
in AudioPIX. It is up to teachers to write the books - not the printing
presses! Go to it you guys - it can also be fun if you use your imagination.

For distribution and printing I have repeatedly advised that Repro-Tronics
in NJ (for the USA) or Zychem in UK for Europe (or anyone lese with "Paper"
or Braillon" can reproduce the images AND DISTRIBUTE through their own
systems - possibly charging a Royalty fee to the 'author' - try writing a
text book - I wrote a few - the publishers, Wiley, Arnold Academic Press,
who ever - take your artwork and text and print and publish and PAY YOU a
Royalty.

Someone has to write the books - teachers can do it - but there need to be
tactile audio 'viewers' out there - as Kaye T calls - them chickens and
their wretched eggs - THAT IS WHY NOMAD AND TGD THAT FOLLOWED ENABLES ITS
OWN AUTHORING - INTEGRAL TO THE SYSTEM - BUT WE CANNOT WRITE THE BOOKS AS
WELL _ I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CHEMISTRY AT HIGH SCHOOL OR GEOMETRY AT YEAR 4
and so on.

So, thanks Lucia - another sign that we have the right TOOL - much better
now than in the earliest days because so are computers - we first used 5 1/4
inch disks that were full at 360 kb. ! Designing to that is not as easy - it
is easy to make expensive things - very easy - it is bloody difficult to
make them at low end user cost -

I can assure you right now, anyone who wants to create Tagraphics for TGD
only has to get on with it - and get paid for it - NOTHING to me and maybe
NOTHING to the TGD distributor - depending on personal arrangements. Call
David "Bumpy" Skrivanek at Repro-Tronics  Daves@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and
discuss the possibilities.

Kaye has certainly hit a very important point that we have always known of -
and that is portability but for 15 years no one seemed to care! Clearly we
need a solution - I made the suggestion / offer in my last note to the
list - it needs discussion - but again - a Patent application for such a
derivative product as TTT is simply going to restrict progress - that is the
aim of a Patent - if it is granted do all TGD distributors run the risk of
being sued for distributing what they have been distributing for years and
years - and me - am I to pop into court to defend what I am now challenging?

Don

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lucia Hasty" <lhasty2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 10:56 AM
Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: kids and touch tablet technology


> Having spent 30+ years in the field of educating students with visual
impairments,  I would like to speak for the kids!
> Interpreting tactile graphics has long been- and still remains- a
monumental challenge to many students who read braille. And, as Kaye
mentioned, a significant portion of the content in today's textbooks is
presented in graphics only- no further explanation in the text. As implied
in Don Parkes' term "graphicacy", braille readers are no longer completely
literate if they cannot read graphics. We need to do something about that!
>
> We sighted folk- teachers, transcribers and producers of tactile graphics-
often look at a print graphic and busily set about making that print image
into a tactile version by simply reproducing the visual image in tactile
form (not the best of procedures) or we develop a set of our own symbols
that represent the information presented in the print graphic. In the best
situations, we also include a key in hopes that the reader can decode our
secret set of symbols into something meaningful. Meanwhile, for a whole pile
of reasons, the student is sometimes/often unable to make sense of the
symbols we used, even after the long hours we spent producing the graphic,
with whatever production method we used. (Kaye wondered how many graphics
are actually read. How many students are taught to read them?)
>
> What a phenomenal gift to students to have the graphic presented with its
own built-in interpreter! Whether the student is in her special classroom,
or sprawled out on his bedroom floor at home, or with other students in a
regular classroom, a graphic and touch tablet can hold volumes of
information that are actually accessible. The graphic and the voiced content
work together to provide a complete set of information on whatever the
topic. Once familiar with the equipment, the student can function
independently and not have to depend on the "intervention" of an adult. Our
goal as educators and producers of educational materials should be to teach
children to learn, to explore, and to gather the information they need to
participate in an academic program, at any level.
>
> When the Nomad came to the US through APH, I was its strongest proponent.
As a TVI, I believed that every teacher and every student should have one. I
got busy and learned how to program it, how to produce tactile graphics for
it, and wanted to teach it to every student. Alas, the time required to
produce appropriate materials to match the student's current curriculum
topic was overwhelming. Why didn't "someone" make sets of materials to use
with the Nomad?
>
> The same scenario accompanied the TGD, TGD Pro and Audio-Pix series. There
was the World Atlas and the Map Reading Kit- both well done, but my students
needed basic anatomy diagrams at the time, or geometry drawings, or earth
science.
>
> That "whole pile of reasons" mentioned earlier includes lack of solid
teaching materials to teach students to interpret graphics, lack of time
with students for TVIs to teach the skills, and inconsistency in the "secret
codes" used to produce graphics that are included in textbooks. As the
technology grows, and materials are developed to accompany the technology,
kids will have more opportunities to develop the skills they need to compete
for college entrance, scholarships, and other training programs. As the
technology becomes simpler to use, teachers and transcribers will be able to
produce more materials for kids.
>
> In the world of grown-ups, there are always issues of who owns what, who
gets paid, who can sell the most of their product. In the world of kids,
access to information is their most important issue.
>
> Thank you, APH, for working on the development of teaching materials for
kids to learn to interpret graphics.
> Thank you, BANA and CBA for working on guidelines for production of
quality, readable graphics.
> Thank you, Don Parkes and Co. for pioneering a technology so that students
can access graphic materials and content.
> Thank you, Sally Mangold, Steve Landau, John Gardner, and all of the other
people who are working to further develop technologies for kids to access
graphics and content at the same time.
> Thank all of you who spend the many hours producing graphics so that blind
kids can achieve literacy!
>
> Lucia Hasty
>
>
>

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