MATHEMATICS MADE EASY FOR CHILDREN WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

A RESOURCE FOR EVERY TEACHER

Recognizing the need to promote good mathematics education among children with visual impairment, the Overbrook-Nippon Network for Educational Technology (ON-NET) and the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) is pleased to announce the release of a new publication; one that every teacher of children with visual impairment will want as a resource in teaching mathematics.

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 include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fraction, decimals, square roots, and percentages.
• 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 illustrations.
• 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 non-mathematics 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.

This publication is a result of three years of research and development by a project development team co-chaired by Dr. M.N.G. Mani and Ms. Aree Plernchaivanich with contributions from teachers throughout Asia.

This publication will be available in January, 2006 and can be ordered for US $ 35.00 plus shipping and handling from:

or

ICEVI and M/s. Webel Mediatronics, Kolkata, India have also brought out WIMATS (Webel-ICEVI Mathematics Transcription Software) to facilitate easy transcription of mathematics books into Braille format. This software enables reproduction of visual format of the mathematical text on the screen. The codes used at the secondary level mathematics are grouped under different categories such as functions dealing with fractions, shapes, algebraic operations, inequalities, etc., so that the transcriber knows where to locate the inserted figure, shape, symbol, etc. The software is Windows based and is compatible to work with all types of Braille embossers. Those wishing further information and updates on this WIMATS should direct inquires to the ICEVI Secretariat sgicevi@vsnl.net