Project Math Access DVD 03 - Graphing - Part 09 Transcript Start Audio Description: Part nine; teacher interview; Graph-It. KAPPERMAN: Angel, I would like to know your impressions of using the Graph-It program with a student in the upper level mathematics classes. SELEB: I think the Graph-It program is really an excellent tool to implement the... drawbacks of the rest of the sighted class who are using a graphing calculator. If they have to graph equations or lines, things like that, the Graph-It program, paired with the Braille Lite and the Blazer makes a great tool for making permanent graphs,... or more permanent graphs than say if you were using Wikki Stix on graphing paper, or something like that. Also, it's more accurate,... It's just much more functional. It does have some drawbacks as well. Some technical difficulties if you don't know what you're doing, it can be tough. You have to know where your resources are and be able to access those. Also, it can be noisy, so it's not something you want to use in the classroom. If you have a resource room, or resource period, something like that, if you're working one-on-one,... with a student, that kind of thing, outside of the classroom because of the noise level with it. KAPPERMAN: What disadvantages would you see in using the Graph-It program? SELEB: As l just said, one of the disadvantages would be the noise level. You can't use it in the classroom with other students around just because of the amount of distraction is causes. Also, the technical difficulties of it. If you don't know what you're doing, you're going to have a hard time with it. And getting the parameters set up, getting everything set up can be a challenge but it's worth it once you finally get it all... going. STICKEN: After getting everything set up the first time, the first go through with Graph-lt... do you feel you could replicate this for other students without much difficulty? SELEB: Absolutely, absolutely. STICKEN: And the... technical difficulties you encountered getting the program set up and getting it to communicate with the Braille Lite and the Braille Lite with the Blazer,... were those due to, difficulties in interpreting the manual, or... was the manual accurate? Were there inaccuracies in the manual? SELEB: I think some of it was the manual, definitely. A lot of these manuals for technology for the visually impaired are poorly written, they're vague, they have errors in them, blatant errors,... And sometimes the print version may be different from the braille version. Just have a real tough time with it. I think the other thing though is just... it's so detailed, you have to set every little parameter you have to have everything set up just perfectly, or it won't work. I think a better way would be if companies could produce a program that all you had to do is say "Yes, I'm doing this with a Blazer". Or, "Yes, I'm using this with VersaPoint", or some other embosser... so those configurations, parameters are set up immediately you don't have to go through and individually do each one. KAPPERMAN: That's right. Similar to the way Microsoft XP works now where you just plug in a device and it recognizes it. That's the kind of thing you're talking about, right? SELEB: Right. More user friendly because you're already at a disadvantage being visually impaired you don't need all this other technology stuff, and there are so few people out there that actually know how to run this stuff,... that you're kind of lost. (laughs) and it can be frustrating. STICKEN: As a person who is very proficient in technology do you have any advice for the legions of teachers out there who aren't as proficient or perhaps don't have as much confidence or staying power Would you suggest they attempt to do this,... number 1. And number 2, if so, do you have advice for them to help them get started, because once you get started, you're good to go. And you can use it with lots of different students. SELEB: I would say, "Yeah, try it out". You know, your computer people in your building or your district can help. A lot of it is just computereze. It's that technical language stuff you're trying to figure out. Also, knowing your resources. Having people at a higher level who know the programs, that kind of thing, such as yourselves from NIU. You guys are a great resource, I know if I have questions I can call and you guys will help me out. You can call the company and ask for help. A lot of times they won't know where you're at,... but it's worth a shot. And even at some point,...a dream of mine would be to set up a network of teachers so we can email each other and say, "Hey, I'm having trouble..." with this program or that program. I'm fortunate enough to work in a cooperative with 3 other vision teachers so we can bounce ideas off of each other. See who's figured out what, you know, how do you work this? It helps a lot... to have those other resources. So, knowing where your resources are, definitely. It's worth the shot. It's worth trying out. STICKEN: And don't be afraid of it. SELEB: Don't be afraid of it at ALL. You can't hurt it, and you can't break it.