Rich Resources: Audio & Braille

Overview

Math games and manipulatives for vision differences support math development for learners with visual needs. Hands-on experiences, such as puzzles, shapes, and objects, and audio supports, such as math talk recordings, support the development of Spatial Skills and Number Sense not just for learners with visual needs, but for all learners.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch how the New York Institute for Special Education uses iPads for learners with visual differences. Enlargements, voice overs, and a bluetooth-enabled braille writer allow for full access to the material.

To foster deep understanding of Geometric Reasoning, teachers can provide manipulatives for students to demonstrate their understanding of geometry concepts. They can also demonstrate number relations with different groupings of manipulatives and model Operations with concrete objects.

Design It into Your Product

Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

Learn how interactive whiteboards and video that is distributed to individual devices can support math learning for learners with visual differences. Through these technologies, students get personal and immediate access to the math content that they can look at closely and/or review on their own.

Products can support varying visual needs by verbally describing mathematical concepts and problems. This type of audio support is especially important for word problems. Additionally, products can provide the option of writing or reading numbers in braille. Tactile graphics, such as raised coordinate planes for Statistical Reasoning, can be used when audio or braille descriptions are too unwieldy.

View References

Resources

Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.

Examples

Math Adaptations

Ways to teach foundational math concepts to students with visual differences

Examples

Math Resources

Perkins Scout's curated links to strategies and materials for teaching students with visual differences

Examples

Webcast on iPad Accessibility

Perkins's explanation of iPad features that to maximize accessibility

Research

Assistive Technologies & Disabilities

Subtopic that includes research on the use and effectiveness of technologies for people with disabilities on Digital Promise's Research Map