Educators

We desire to work with you, the educator, to provide the solutions you need to offer the best use of resources of access technologies and other resources in your science laboratory classroom. We work with both teachers of the Visually impaired (TVI) and science teachers to provide suggestions and recommended technologies to be used to assist you in your teachings. Also, we can provide the on-site training you will need to most effectively teach your students with BLV and aid you with the incorporation of our technologies into your science curricula. With these technologies, it is our hope that we can assist you in the completion of your individualized education plan (IEP) requirements in the science curricula. It is our hope through the use of our recommendations we can help you to remove barriers in your classroom and provide your students the most hands-on laboratory experience in the hopes in inspiring them to consider a career path in the science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) career paths.

As a teacher with a blind student, what should I do?

  1. Contact Independence Science LLC to speak to one of our consultants regarding your student's specific needs.
  2. Identify which components of hardware and software you already have in place and which you will need to purchase. We can work with what you already have, and/or provide any or all of the needed components.
  3. The three key components are the Vernier hardware probes, Logger Pro data collection software, and the Job Access with Speech (JAWS) screen reader. These components, along with the specific JAWS script files allowing JAWS to work with Logger Pro, are necessary to have a fully functional data collection work station accessible to blind users.
  4. We provide consulting services for setting up on-site systems, as well as training of faculty, staff, and students who will be working directly with the probe ware.
  5. Technical support will be provided by Independence Science LLC as well as Vernier Software & Technology.
  6. We assemble a complete work station including the Logger Pro and JAWS software applications. The necessary Vernier probe ware can be included based on feedback received from your science faculty.

Independence Science LLC also can provide the Tactile Adaption Kit available from MDW Educational Services LLC. This kit provides a number of low-cost methodologies and a suggestions book regarding how to use the kit to make tactile representations of mathematical and scientific concepts by using a magnet board and other tactile interfaces.

Independence Science LLC is committed to providing work stations that will empower students who are blind or low vision to have a more hands-on science laboratory experience. We are also committed to science initiatives promoting the full integration of blind students into science classrooms.