The Bean Experiment has just been posted!
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I like the challenge of trying to make an activity work for
everyone in the class. Working with children with visual impairments (VI) presents
additional challenges especially when conducting a group lesson on the Interactive Whiteboard
(IWB). Steps must be taken to ensure engagement, despite limitations in their
visual input. This newly posted activity
(Bean Experiment) can be used to illustrate how the the Animated Step-by-Steps,
by design, can help children with VI stay ‘tuned into’ what is happening on
the IWB.
At the most basic level, the student with VI can be provided
with some ‘hands on’ interaction with each item as they are introduced during
the What We Need section of recipes, crafts and science projects.
This can be accomplished under the guise of having the child pass the object to
another adult to place on the work table. Thus it becomes an additional step
that is functionally integrated into the flow of the lesson.
The sound effects incorporated into the Animated Step-by-Steps can also be
valuable in helping students with VI stay connected to the lesson. Here are a
few features that come to mind:
Chime Sound
A chime sound is used to indicate when a page is complete thereby signaling a need to move on to
the next step or page.
Whoosh Sound
A whoosh sound is
consistently used to mark the entry of a new visual on the page.
Page Forward and Page Backwards Sounds
You may have noted that the sounds associated with the page
forward and page backward arrows are different. This
feature was incorporated to provide students with VI additional clues as to
which direction the program is moving. If for example, the teacher is
progressing through the life cycle of the bean plant … has moved to the
‘continued page’ but decides she now wishes to backtrack to the previous page,
the ‘page backward’ sound is audibly different than the ‘page forward’ sound.
This immediately alerts the child with VI that the program is moving backwards, not forward.
Objects can often be identified by the sounds they make. During the What We Need section, for example, it is sometimes feasible to add sounds to support object recognition. In the Bean Experiment, the sprayer enters the page with a whoosh followed by a brief spraying sound. Similarly, after the marker enters the page, it draws a line accompanied by the familiar squeaking sound that a marker makes when being used. After the masking tape whooshes on to the page, the tape end is animated and the familiar sound of tape dispensing can be heard.
The Bean Experiment is also designed to promote skip
counting by 2s. This can be problematic when you are unable to see two items
moving in for the count. Steps were therefore taken to introduce a repetitive double sound to indicate that two beans are landing in the bag just before the corresponding auditory number is
heard (pom pom ... two; pom pom ... four; pom pom ... six).
In addition to features that are inherent in the design of
the Animated Step-by-Steps, there are also several relatively simple and
inexpensive options to allow students with severe VI to view the IWB content up
close:
Option 1: A child with VI may derive benefit from being
seated at the classroom’s IWB computer. Although this is the simplest solution,
it may not be feasible in your classroom (e.g., IWB computer may be elevated or
located outside the immediate area of the IWB).
Option 2: The Microsoft PowerPoint App (free) can be
installed on an iPad allowing the child
to view the currently displayed Animated Step-by-Step on the iPad while the
teacher is using it on the IWB. The student (supervised by a Para Educator) can
now follow the lesson up close on an iPad. This option does, however, require that
an adult monitor the forward movement of the program, i.e., he/she must be
vigilant about keeping pace with the IWB version. It is also necessary to make
sure that the needed file is linked via Dropbox to the Microsoft Powerpoint App on the child’s iPad. In the free version of the
app there are limitations to the number of files that can placed in the program at one time. Once a file
is no longer needed it can be deleted making room for a new file.
Option 3: Splashtop is a software program that
can be used to display the IWB on the teacher’s iPad. It has the advantage of
allowing the teacher to control the IWB lesson from anywhere in the classroom.
It is important to note that the teacher now controls the IWB from the iPad not
the IWB. After downloading the Splashtop app on to the classoom’s iPad, another
program called Splashtop streamer must be downloaded on your IWB computer.
Option 4: Of greater interest, however, is another
version of the software called Splashtop
Classroom. This software allows the IWB computer to be simultaneously displayed
on up to 3 iPads! While the teacher uses one iPad to control the IWB, a student
with severe VI can be using a second iPad displaying the exact same content.
This approach has the advantage of allowing the child’s iPad to automatically move
forward at the same pace as the teacher’s iPad, thereby eliminating the need to
manually pace the program. Please note with Splashtop, the child can also be called upon to
trigger an animation (by touching anywhere on their iPad). The animation can be seen by all on the IWB.
Here’s hoping these features and suggestions will be
beneficial for all the students in your class!
... ‘til the next post …
© 2015 Carol Goossens’, Ph.D.
canadiangoosse@gmail.com
