Elena Sabbi. Hubble Science Briefing 08/14/2014

Transcription

1 Elena Sabbi Hubble Science Briefing 08/14/2014 1

2 The Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project o NASA supports E/PO programs that involve the collaboration between astronomers and educators. o This project was inspired by the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project, a 60 orbit ultraviolet, optical and infrared survey of the Tarantula Nebula, the only starburst region in the Local Group of Galaxies. 2

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4 Reach for the Stars o ebook aimed at middle school students, but appropriate for many ages o Designed to stimulate interest in STEM and astronomy o Fully compatible with ipad built-in accessibility features to expose students of all abilities to STEM content 4

5 Reach for the Stars Reach for the Stars is the result of the collaboration between: an astronomer a science curriculum specialist and a blind software engineer and accessibility specialist Elena Sabbi Ada Lopez Ed Summers 5

6 ebook structure 7 chapters o Introduction o The Science of Astronomy o Tools of the Trade o Star Light o Life Cycle of Stars o Unraveling Tarantula s Web o Your Future in Astronomy 6

7 ebook structure Highly interactive o Each page has multimedia content o Interviews with astronomers o Data sonification o Multiple choice tests 7

8 Page Structure 1 Each page starts with a question, followed by a short answer. 8

9 How to interact with a page Each page has multimedia content static images Interactive images Multiple choice tests video Users can listen to each page by switching the read aloud button on and off. 9

10 Interaction ebooks allow users to explore, play and interact. Hands-on experience makes it easier to understand and remember concepts and ideas. 10

11 Interaction ebooks allow users to explore, play and interact. Hands-on experience makes it easier to understand and remember concepts and ideas. 11

12 Careers in Astronomy & Role Models Interviews of astronomers are spread throughout the book. 12

13 For Educators The fun fact images open multiple choice tests. 13

14 For Educators A glossary of the least common words and concepts is available. Students can highlight the text and write their own notes. 14

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16 ipad accessibility features Several built-in features make the ipad a powerful learning tool for people with cognitive and learning disabilities: Zoom is a built-in magnifier Invert colors allows a higher contrast in the images Closed Captions for video Mono Audio VoiceOver is a screen reader that lets you interact with your device 16

17 Why make an ebook fully accessible o According to the NIH, 1 billion people world-wide have some physical disability: 295 million have a visual impairment, and 1 million are totally blind. o In 2012, more than 6 million people in the US had visual impairment (Cornell University). o Educational material for children with disabilities is often expensive, hard to access and/or obsolete. It takes 36 volumes to translate one algebra textbook into Braille 17

18 An ebook for everybody o The main obstacle for children with disabilities are the low performance expectations that teachers, relatives and friends often have. o People with disabilities do not want separate material. o We propose to access the same material as everybody else, but in a way that adapts to individual needs. 18

19 Field Testing 19

20 Lesson learned Each page must have the same structure; otherwise it becomes disorienting for people with visual impairments. 20

21 How to interact with a page Users can listen to each page using the read aloud button, which is also helpful for dyslexia and other attention disorders. 21

22 Audio Impairment The built in mono audio feature helps those with hearing impairment in one ear. All videos come with captions that can be activated by users with auditory impairments. 22

23 Blind Users Users with visual impairments can read the ebook using VoiceOver and/or they can use the Bluetooth Braille reader. 23

24 How to Explore Images Most of the illustrations are static images whose descriptions can be made audible using either the readaloud button or VoiceOver. 24

25 How to Explore an Image Other images are complex interactive landscapes like the Tarantula Nebula that can be explored by touching the screen. 25

26 How to Explore an Image Other images are complex interactive landscapes like the Tarantula Nebula that can be explored by touching the screen. We have audioembossed images with short descriptions that can be read by VoiceOver. 26

27 Lesson Learned -1 Braille users explore pages using more than one finger, which triggers actions on the ipad. The first impression can be frustrating. 27

28 Lesson Learned - 2 Braille users explore pages using more than one finger, which triggers actions on the ipad. The first impression can be frustrating. Audioembossing can guide the image exploration, but totally blind users complain because they don t perceive size or density. 28

29 Tactile Overlays Braille users explore pages using more than one finger, which triggers actions on the ipad. The first impression can be frustrating. In collaboration with the National Braille Press we have created tactile overlays to help users understand the size, position, and frequency of the objects. Audioembossing can guide the image exploration, but totally blind users complain because they don t perceive size or density. 29

30 The Importance of Sound We combined audioembossing and tactile overlays to explore scatter plots too. Sound can be used to express different quantities. In the HR diagram pitch expresses luminosity. 3D audio is used to alert the user if a star is to the right or the left (expressing temperature). 30

31 Sonification Sonification is a very powerful way to express correlations e.g. compare the Main Sequence 31

32 Sonification Sonification is a very powerful way to express correlations e.g. compare the Main Sequence to Red Giant stars. 32

33 Sonification Sonification can be used to highlight the fact that in an image there are groups of objects with different properties, 33

34 Sonification to illustrate the electromagnetic spectrum, and different wavelengths, 34

35 Sonification or the presence of absorption and emission lines in a spectrum. 35

36 Summary o Reach for the Stars is a highly interactive ebook designed to expose middle school students to STEM content. o It can be downloaded for free from the ibook store o It is fully compatible with all the accessibility features built in to the ipad. o We tested how to use sounds and audio-embossing to make images and data available to students with severe visual impairment. 36