Volume 11, Number 3 • Fall 2003 • Advanced Technologies

NASA Reaching Visually Impaired

NASA stretches the limits when it comes to education, reaching students and teachers with vision disabilities, helping them to learn and teach about the exciting realms of math, science and robotics through their very own cyberspace classroom. The Learning Technologies team at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, is building an array of e-tools for blind or low-vision students, educators and professionals.

The Information Accessibility Lab (IAL) is a software platform that will provide an alternative way to access NASA math and science content, which would otherwise require graphical display—unseen by the visually impaired. Although IAL was originally conceived as a tool for the blind, it offers a unique way for all students to tackle the crucial concepts of spatial visualization, which underlie ideas in mathematics and science.

The IAL technology was developed over the last year to support the NASA-wide Learning Technology Project, an effort under the NASA Education Enterprise Technology and Products Organization headed by Dr. Shelley Canright. The purpose of the technology is to provide alternate access to spatial/graphical content for students with vision or spatial perception problems.

While hand-generated descriptions are great for situations in which the content is static, there are many situations such as simulations and real-time activities where interactive content is generated dynamically, and thus an automated tool is desirable. The NASA application is to enrich the educational resources offered by the Agency, as well as to encourage students who are blind and their educators to consider science, technology, engineering or mathematics careers.

The first prototype application currently under development is the Math Description Engine (MDE). Similar to the standard graphing calculator used by algebra and trigonometry students, the MDE enables precollege and college students to key in an equation to be graphed. However, unlike the graphing calculator, the MDE analyzes the equation and translates the graph results into a format that can be visualized through text and sound.

The MDE combines the standard method of solving and calculating mathematical problems to generate text or sound descriptions of common curves in a graph. Through sound descriptions, musical tones vary to illustrate the curves as they go up or come down.

The Texas State School for the Blind and Vision Impaired and the National Federation of the Blind both show keen interest in the capabilities the IAL delivers.

“My hopes and goals are to be part of this broader movement that is now practical for people with all kinds of disabilities,” said co-inventor Robert Shelton, NASA Learning Technologies Regional Center Project Manager. “We have a lot of the technology to make this happen, and I want to give children a chance.”

Shelton, who is completely blind and holds a doctorate in mathematics from Rice University in Houston, Texas, knows firsthand the challenges that lay before students in learning math and science while visually impaired.

Other Web-based tools have been developed to aid students and educators. “ROVer Ranch” transports students to the exciting world of robotics, enabling students to design, build and perform mission tasks, just like NASA robotic engineers do. “NASA Qwhiz” puts students to the test, quizzing them on the NASA mission. Students can play against the computer or interactively against other students. The Internet Information Library Access Device (ILIAD) equips teachers with a smart search engine that features an e-mail interface. Because the browser is text-based and not graphical, it has become increasingly popular among blind computer users. “The Intelligent Math Tutor” boosts precollege and college students’ math success. The Web-based and now CD-ROM series eliminates hefty costs of textbooks and provides all the necessary tools to learn mathematics by computer, including algebra and trigonometry. *

For more information, contact Robert Shelton at NASA Johnson Space Center, robert.o.shelton@nasa.gov. Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

NASA Official: Jonathan Root • Web Design: Printing & Design Office, NASA Headquarters • Credits