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UEB Math Online

UEB Online’s new Braille mathematics program introduces students to Braille mathematical symbols and expressions.

UEB Online’s new Braille mathematics program  introduces primary students to Braille symbols and expressions, while more advanced Braille mathematics concepts are explored in a second module scheduled to be published later this year (2019).   UEB Online and its mathematics portions are self-paced, fully available online and require only a computer. The lesson information is also provided in in PDF format for download for printing if one wishes.

This program utilizes the standard keyboard s, d, f, j, k, l Braille keys to instruct students. According to the website UB online is “designed for people who can see and UEB Online creates opportunities for families and mainstream educators to access a simple system that will allow them to support children and adults with vision loss who are using braille – no matter where they live.” (https://www.ridbc.org.au/UEBOnline)

UEB online offers visual and non-visual modes, visual access mode being for people with sufficient sight to access regular sized print-based information on the website, with a high contrast mode for people with low vision who wish to adjust font sizes and background and/or text color. Non-Visual access mode is designed for people who wish to use a screen reader for accessing the website information and training. UEB Online strongly suggest that the UEB Literacy modules, consisting of two modules with lessons that address the literacy aspects of Unified English Braille be completed before the Braille mathematics modules.

UEB Mathematics consists of the following training programs:

Module 1, Introductory Mathematics offers ten lessons that address Braille mathematical symbols and expressions that are encountered during the primary years of schooling.

Module 2, Extension Mathematics (available late 2019) includes ten lessons that address Braille mathematics symbols and expressions that are encountered during the secondary years of schooling.

The UEB Introductory Mathematics module must be completed before commencing the UEB Extension Mathematics module.

Users must Register and lessons are freely available after registration but certification requires a nominal cost.

There are 20 lessons in total. Each lesson contains 2 exercises. UEB Online identifies errors made when completing exercises. Each error must be corrected before proceeding to subsequent lessons. 100% accuracy must be achieved before proceeding to the next lesson as well. There are no more than 40 characters in each line of braille with sound prompts like a manual brailler to notify of the approaching end of the line.

 Upon using the introductory math section, exercises are, for the first few exercises, mainly focused on typing UEB numbers with mathematical expressions in plain literary UEB, i.e., 3 plus 4 equals 7, the “plus” and “equals” being typed out. The program immediately notifies of errors and will not allow a user to proceed until the error is corrected. The UEB symbols for mathematical operations are addressed in later lessons but given time constraints and UEB Online’s requirement of completion of a lesson before proceeding, this author did not examine later lessons. A complete listing and manual of the UEB Online introductory mathematics course can be found at this link.

All in all, UEB online is a valuable addition to a TVI’s arsenal, not only for instructing students but also for self-training and practice. Mathematics teachers should be apprised that the introductory mathematics module does not address Nemeth code. There is a Nemeth code tutorial on the APH site.

 

By George Thompson

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