By Diane Brauner on April 15, 2021
What if you are in the middle of a tech lesson and your student would benefit from a tactile overlay of the iPad screen? This post shows two quick and easy ways to create simple iPad overlays without an embosser or PIAF/Swell graphics machine. The app being showcased in the video is the free APH CodeQuest app, a coding concept app in which the player has to determine the path that the astronaut must take to reach his rocket ship. The path/maze is basically a grid with open and blocked off areas.
Tactile Materials
- iPad
- Paper
- Pencil/pen
- Scissors
- Painter's tape
- Sensational Blackboard OR graphic tape
Material Resources
- Sensational Blackboard (Concept Development: Drawing post with link to Sensational Blackboard purchasing information)
- Graphic Tape also know as Rainbow Tape or Washi Tape
In the video below, Jessica quickly shared two methods on how she traced the CodeQuest grid on to paper and then created a tactile graphic of the grid. Method 1, she used a Sensational Blackboard to draw a raised line image of the grid. Method 2, is she placed graphic tape on the grid lines.
Editor's Note: I recommend taking a screenshot of the CodeQuest grid and tracing the photo. If tracing the actual app, you may activate buttons in the app!
Top Reasons for the CodeQuest Overlay
- Assist student in dragging in a straight line across or down the grid
- Understand the concept of rows, columns and grids
- To build mental mapping skills of the grid layout and the spatial relationships of items on the grid
- Help transition from tactile graphics to digital resources
- To reinforce how many "steps" are needed along the path
Resources
- CodeQuest: A Free APH App!
- Teaching the CodeQuest App to Students Who Are Visually Impaired (Note: Tactile Graphics and 3D printer files are available for CodeQuest)
- Tactile to Digital Part 1: Math Robot
- Tactile to Digital Part 2: Math Melodies
- Tactile to Digital Part 4: Positions in a Table
- Tactile to Digital Part 5: Addition and Subtraction
