TACK-TILES® Word Processor Cursor Movement demonstration.

Materials needed: TACK-TILES® Braille Systems any Braille code version.

Skills targeted: Shortcut to understanding the action of a cursor on a screen of text.

Setup: Use a TACK-TILES® large support slate as it comes out of the box, covered with TACK-TILES®, or construct a paragraph of your own using TACK-TILES® on a blank support slate. Using a palm size slate assemble a small group of TACK-TILES® at random or place words, if this is preferable.

Procedure: Choose a TACK-TILE® other than one of those on your support slate to be a cursor. Recommendation: a blank TACK-TILE®.

TACK-TILES® attach as readily to other TACK-TILES® as they do to support slate. Using hand over hand or hand under method for a youngster, or any appropriate method, move the "cursor" TACK-TILES® across the field of Braille letters just as slowly, methodically, then also just as quickly and randomly as a cursor on a computer screen. Choose a TACK-TILE® to land upon, then stack the "cursor" on that TACK- TILE®. That lower TACK-TILE® represents the character to the immediate right of the blinking cursor on the visual screen.

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Explain by moving the "cursor" how its action reflects the push of each arrow key. That is he cursor simply moves to be stacked on an adjacent letter/TACK-TILE®.

Still focusing on the large TACK-TILES® support slate, yet turning to the palm slate for the demonstrations of opening, closing, and breaking lines, the palm slate with it's fewer TACK-TILES® will convey insight into massive rearrangements of lines of text that computers routinely effect. When the backspace key is pushed the explanation must include the removal of a letter to the left of the one the cursor resides upon; a delete key depression has the same effect to the letter to the immediate right then ranks close. Depression of a character key inserts a letter and the line expands to accommodate it. Explain the effect on the text when the return key is pushed.

This process should substantially reduce the time needed to convey a concept of the these crucial two-dimensional visual phenomena to the understanding of a visually impaired learner.