Family & Student Info
Technology at Overbrook
TOWERS PRESS PUBLICATIONS
The mission of Towers Press is in support of the mission and vision of Overbrook School for the Blind. Specifically, the mission of Towers Press is to develop and publish manuscripts (in the form of articles, monographs, books, and curricula) that help to foster and improve the education and training of all persons—with or without multiple impairments—who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind.
Mathematics Made Easy for Children with Visual Impairment
by Dr. M.N.G. Mani
Overbrook School for the Blind / Towers Press is proud to release Mathematics Made Easy, a publication of ON-NET / ICEVI
Teachers, Students, Parents this book is for you!
An invaluable resource for Teachers of Secondary Level Mathematics throughout the world whose students are blind or visually impaired. A new and improved opportunity for children with visual impairment throughout the world to master secondary level mathematics. A resource for parents who are trying to help their to children learn mathematics.
Written in English, this book is the product of an international collaboration to assist children with visual impairment throughout the world to master secondary level mathematics by providing their teachers and parents with a resource for improving instructional strategies.
The material presented in this publication is divided into five modules:
Module 1 deals with the commonly used methods of teaching mathematics to visually impaired children. This section also includes valuable information on preparing mathematics text material, the learning characteristics of visually impaired children, and evaluation procedures in mathematics.
Module 2 provides the teacher with detailed self- instructional procedures to learn and teach the effective use of the abacus. The exercises provided in this module
Module 3 provides instruction in the use of the Nemeth Braille code for all secondary level mathematical notations. Each code is described in detail and accompanied by
Module 4 provides instructions on how to adapt procedures for teaching nearly 500 secondary level mathematical concepts. During field testing this module was found to be particularly helpful to teachers in both understanding and teaching concepts to the visually impaired learner.
Module 5 deals with a range of creative math activities including paper folding and use of the natural environment in teaching and understanding basic and secondary mathematical concepts.
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by Cay Holbrook and Alan Koenig
The authors of the Parents’ Guide—Cay Holbrook and Alan Koenig—have many practical suggestions, creative ideas, and educational strategies, which they present in an easy-to-read, jargon-free style. At the heart of their writing is the belief that all children have the right and the need to be literate according to their own, unique abilities and that visually impaired and blind children can learn to read and write as well as sighted children. The only differences might be in how they learn and what method or methods work best for them.
Because we all learn by doing, the Guide is experience based, presenting opportunities for you and your child to “experience literacy” in a variety of ways, such as touch, sight, and sound and in a variety of settings. And above all—because learning can be fun and having fun makes learning easier—the experiences are as warm and welcoming as they are serious and necessary.
We are most pleased to publish this book and know that it will prove helpful as you and your young child experience literacy together.
Technology for All: Assistive Technology in the Classroom is written by the educational staff who developed Overbrook 2001--the nationally recognized school-wide technology project--and by teachers who use access technology every day. This 160-page book is an easy-to-read, field tested resource for all schools and colleges that need assistive technology in the classroom.
Technology for All: Assistive Technology in the Classroom is an essential resource for teachers who want to integrate access technology into their lesson plans and for administrators who want to start or improve an access technology program. It is for educators who work with students that are blind, deafblind, or visually impaired. It is for educators whose students might be college bound, cognitively impaired, or multiply impaired.
About the Authors
Excerpted from Technology for All: Assistive Technology in the Classroom by OSB Staff. Copyright © 2001. All rights reserved.
Authors' Introduction: How to use this Book
Technology for All is written and designed primarily for classroom teachers who work with students who are blind or who have low vision. It is also meant to provide assistance to administrators, board members, parents, and others who want to introduce access technology into their school or who want to expand an existing program.
So, if you are an administrator or teacher and looking to initiate or expand the use of access technology in your school, please start at the beginning with the Overview. You won't learn everything you need to know--your school, like ours, is unique--but you will get a glimpse of how our school got a program started and saw it through to a successful conclusion.
If your school already has a viable access technology program, you might prefer to skip the Overview section for now and go directly to sections 2 and 3. But we hope you will also consult the Overview, and all the other sections, along the way.
Section 2 (Getting Started) is a guide to all that follows. It starts with a chart that lists both mainstream computer programs and the assistive technology that visually impaired students need to use the programs. This chart matches generic names with specific product names. For instance, under the head Web Browsers, there are entries for Lynx, Microsoft, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and Opera. Under Braille Writers, you will find Mountbatten Brailler, Perkins Braille Writer, and Perkins Electronic Braille Writer.
The chart is followed by a glossary of basic terminology, such as "magnetic card reader" and "QWERTY keyboard." The Glossary--and this is true for the entire book--is targeted to teachers who know something about computers and access technology.
The Getting Started section also presents a framework for the teacher to use in making effective technology decisions. This framework (SETT) emphasizes staff teamwork to assess the needs of the Students, the students' learning Environment, the Tasks they should be performing, and the Tools needed to complete the task successfully.
Because we believe that a school-based access technology program is only as good as the ability of the teachers to integrate the technology into their lesson plans, you will find two Technology Integration Worksheets. These worksheets contain eight questions for teachers to consider when using technology in the classroom. On the first worksheet, no answers are filled in, and we urge you to make copies for your future use. The second worksheet is a samples of how a teacher might fill in the blanks.
Section 2 also provides a model for writing lesson plans that incorporate technology as one of the learning tools. We think it works well and have adopted this framework throughout the book. We also know, however, that all lesson plans are the unique product of a collaboration between teacher and students.
Section 3 (Making It Work), which comprises most of the book, stresses that the technology must be integral to the lesson being presented. With this in mind, we provide another model lesson plan that uses the same framework as the model in section 2. This is followed by a technology materials chart that shows the materials used for each lesson title in the book. The chart lists the lessons in the order they appear.
Thirty-nine lesson plans follow, with such titles as Farm Animal Sounds, Current Events, and Women in History. In addition, section 3 presents ideas for getting the most out of the technology, practical suggestions for integrating the technology into your lesson plans, student profiles, and other information pieces.
Although we are proud of everything in the book, we know that in this section the best contribution we can make is to inspire you to write your own plans and to teach your own lessons.
Section 4 has worksheets to help you assess student progress in such areas as computer operating systems, word processing programs, and E-mail. The final section (Sources of Products) is a resource list that provides information for the vendors and suppliers of the equipment mentioned throughout the book. This section has the most current information as of press time.
You don't have to be a programmer or computer whiz to use Technology for All, but you should know how to boot up a computer or use a switch. Your understanding that children who are visually impaired need assistive and alternative ways to access information is important. Your further understanding that children with multiple impairments have the same right and an even greater need is essential.
Braille Literacy Curriculum
Braille Literacy Curriculum supports the goals of the National Agenda, emphasizes outcomes, and presents strategies for incorporating Braille into the total curriculum. It was tested in the classroom by experienced Braille teachers and reviewed by independent experts.
For further information, please contact Dennis Brookshire, Editor in Chief, Towers Press, Overbrook School for the Blind, 6333 Malvern Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19151; E-mail firstname.lastname@example.org Phone: 215-877-0313, ext. 263.
For your convenience you can use your credit card for purchasing the books at Amazon.com.
Towers Press Price Increases
Due to increased printing, shipping, and handling costs, starting October 1, 2009, the purchase price and shipping and handling charges for Towers Press books will increase. The new prices are:
Braille Literacy Curriculum $38.00 per copy plus $9.50 shipping and handling in the United States ($30.00 shipping and handling outside the United States)
Technology for All: Assistive Technology in the Classroom $42.00 per book plus $9.50 shipping and handling in the United States ($30.00 shipping and handling outside the United States)
Experiencing Literacy: A Parents’ Guide for Fostering Early Literacy Development of Children with Visual Impairments
$9.00 per book plus $4.00 shipping and handling in the United States ($7.00 shipping and handling outside the United States)
$115.00 for package of 15 books plus $9.50 shipping and handling in the United States ($40.00 shipping and handling outside the United States)
Mathematics Made Easy for Children with Visual Impairment $36.00 per copy plus $9.50 shipping and handling in the United States ($30.00 shipping and handling outside the United States)