MountbattenLessons for the Teacher

By Rosa Mauer

These lessons are designed for teachers to complete before providing instruction to students. Check out the link below for more information.

http://www.accessibility.net/products.php?cat=34

Mountbatten Skills Checklistfor Student Evaluation

Student: ____________________ School: _______________________

TVI: _______________________ Associate: _____________________

Scoring KeyI = independentVC = verbal cue(s)PA = physical assist(s)X = not worked on yet or not applicable (explain reason)

Mountbatten Skills Date andEvaluator

Initials

Score Date andEvaluator

Initials

Score Date andEvaluator

Initials

Score

1. Independently load the paper into the device.2. Eject or remove paper appropriately when finished.3. Accurately locate keys 1-6.4. Locate and use the space and backspace when needed.5. Use the enter and NL key when required.6. Utilize other keys as appropriate.7. Turn the Mountbatten on and off.8. Adjust the volume with the control on the front panel of the Mountbatten.9. Independently erase the character behind the cursor (space with backspace).10. Erase character behind the cursor while replacing it with a correction (backspace with the character you want).11. Execute a regular command when instructed.12. Use chorded commands as required.13. Adjust speech through the speech menu.14. Center text when necessary (command, ce, enter).15. Right justify text (command, ra, enter).16. Check the battery status (NL space b together).17. Other18. Other19. Other20. OtherTotal Independent ScoreRosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for the TeacherLesson 1

Load and Eject the Paper

Skills Checklist

1. Load paper from the top.2. Load paper from the back of the Mountbatten.3. Eject the page manually.4. Use the keyboard command to eject the paper.

Work Time

There are two methods for loading the paper. Try them both to see which is best for you. First you will need to flip the Paper Grip lever up.

1. One method is to put the paper in at the top as you would with a Perkins. Push the paper through until the top edge of the paper is even with the aluminum bar. You can put the paper in to whatever level is best for you or your student.2. Another method for putting the paper in is to push the paper through from the back of the Mountbatten until the paper comes out the top. This may be easier for some students.3. Make sure that the paper is up against the left hand side of the Mountbatten.4. The paper has to be in straight.5. When the paper is situated the way you want it, put the Paper Grip lever back down.6. The embossing head will move across the page. This is called a Margin Search.7. You can use any size paper with the Mountbatten. The paper width will be checked by the Mountbatten Margin Search.8. Young students may begin assisting with putting paper in the Mountbatten. Students may start with simple tasks such as putting the Paper Grip lever up or down. Add tasks as appropriate.9. One way to remove the paper from the Mountbatten is to lift the Paper Grip lever up, then gently pull the paper from the Mountbatten.10. Eventually your student may learn the command for ejecting the paper. NL (new line) and the enter key will eject the page.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten, a sheet of paper, verbal cues, and physical assistance as needed, the student will correctly insert the paper into the Mountbatten on 90 percent of the evaluated trials. Correctly inserting the paper means that the paper is not jammed in any way. The paper must be straight and even.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for the TeacherLesson 2The Keyboard

Skills Checklist

1. Locate the Left Function key, Command Key, and the Right Function key.2. Demonstrate accuracy in locating the 6 Braille writer keys of dots 3, 2, 1" 4, 5, and 6.3. Locate the Backspace, New Line, Space, and Enter keys.4. Describe the purpose of each key.

Work Time

1. Though your young students may not need to know about all of the keys on the Mountbatten at first, you as the teacher will want to learn the location of the keys on the Mountbatten.2. LF will refer to the Left Function Key. This key is the round blue key at the top left corner.3. RF is the Right Function Key. This is the round blue key at the top right hand corner.4. BS is the Backspace key. Backspace is the blue key on the left hand side. The backspace has a textured finish on it.5. The Enter key is the blue key on the right hand side. It is also textured.6. NL stands for the New Line Key. The New Line key is the blue key on the lower keys of the keyboard. The New Line key is on the left hand side.7. The Space key is the thin blue key on the lower keyboard keys. Space is on the right hand side.8. The Command key is the round blue key in the middle of the keyboard between the dot 1 and dot 4 Braille writer keys.

Goal Idea 1

Given a Mountbatten with the paper loaded, the student will write 4 of 5 key words correctly for 3 consecutive learning sessions. Independent means that no verbal cues or physical assists are necessary. Correct means that there are no Braille code errors.

Goal Idea 2

Given a Mountbatten, loaded paper, and five key words spoken one at a time by the teacher, the student will independently space after each of the five words for 5 of 6 evaluated teaching sessions. Independent means that there were no verbal cues or physical assists given. Correct means that the student pressed the space key with his or her right thumb to create one space after the word.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for the TeacherLesson 3Learn Mode and Advanced Mode

Skills Checklist

1. Toggle the Mountbatten between Learn Mode and Advance Mode.

Work Time

1. All Mountbatten’s are in Learn Mode when you receive them new.2. Using the Mountbatten in Learn Mode gives a young learner a simple and motivating way to begin writing and reading Braille.3. In Learn Mode the Mountbatten is a Braille writer.4. The Command key is disabled in learn mode. This will prevent your student from making changes that are not necessary.5. Advanced Mode allows you to use many advanced features of the Mountbatten.6. Advanced Mode is only available in the Mountbatten Writer Plus and the Mountbatten Pro.7. Your Command key may be disabled. To turn it on, press the four keys listed below all at the same time.

NL New Line KeySpaceLF Left FunctionRF Right Function

8. The combination of NL, space, RF, and LF will toggle the Command key on and off. To switch the Mountbatten to Advance Mode, the Command key will need to be turned on.9. To toggle between Learn Mode and Advance Mode, press the Command key.10. Then write the letters "adv" using the Braille writer keys. Press the enter key. Mountbatten will say "on" when Advance Mode is on.11. This command will toggle between Learn and Advance modes. The mode you choose will be saved even when you turn the Mountbatten off.12. When you turn the Mountbatten on, the mode you are in will be announced.

Goal Idea

Given a work time for writing with the Mountbatten, the student will independently turn the Mountbatten on when work time is to begin and off when work time is to end for 90 percent of the evaluated trials. Independent means that no verbal cues or physical assists were given. Correct means that the on-off switch was flipped one time at the beginning of the learning session and once at the end of the learning session.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for the TeacherLesson 4Two Speeches

Skills Checklist

1. Become aware of what recorded speech is.2. Define synthetic speech.

Work Time

1. There are two types of speech available on the Mountbatten.2. Recorded Speech is a human voice. This voice has been recorded digitally. It is a high quality voice that is easy to understand. This recorded speech is good for young children who are just starting to use the Mountbatten.3. In Learn Mode, recorded speech is always used.4. In Advanced Mode recorded speech or synthetic speech can be used.5. Synthetic speech is a machine voice. Most talking computers use synthetic speech.6. You can control synthetic speech. Speech quality and parameters can be varied. For example, the speech pitch and rate can be altered.7. Unlike the recorded speech, synthetic speech has an unlimited vocabulary.8. To turn recorded speech on:

a. Press the control key.b. Write the letters "spk" with the Braille writer keys.c. Press space.d. Write the letter r.e. Press enter.

9. You can set the Mountbatten to speak all keyboard keys, functions, and commands. In this way, a beginning learner can get feedback from every key that is pressed. To set the Mountbatten up in this way:

a. Press the control key.b. Write the letters "spk" followed by a space.c. Write the letter "a".d. Press enter.e. The Mountbatten will say "speak all keys".

10. Try the commands to see what the results are.

11. To turn synthetic speech on:

a. Press the control key.b. Write the letters "spk".c. Press space.d. Write the letter "s".e. Press enter.

12. Practice writing when the recorded speech is being used and when the synthetic speech is being used so that you can recognize the difference.

Goal IdeaGiven the Mountbatten, loaded paper, and completion of work, the student will independently eject the paper by using the "nl enter" command for 8 of 10 evaluated trials. Independent means that there were no verbal cues or physical assists given. Correct means that nl and enter were pressed and the paper was removed without jamming or ripping.

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for the TeacherLesson 5Making Corrections

Skills Checklist

1. Erase the character behind the cursor.2. Erase the character behind the cursor while replacing it with a correction.

Work Time

1. Explore using the two ways to make corrections. When you feel your student is ready, teach him or her how to use the two correction methods.2. Key in a letter.3. Maybe you changed your mind and you would like a blank space where the letter is.4. Press space and backspace together. This will erase the letter you wrote and leave a blank space where the letter was. Then the Braille head will return to the cell you were at. Try this for practice.5. Write a letter. If the letter is not what you want, you can replace it with the correct letter.6. Press backspace with the letter you now want. This will replace a character with a new character that you have entered. Try this now.

Goal Idea

When making an error, the student will independently use backspace with the intended character to replace it for 90 of the evaluated trials.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for TeachersLesson 6Skills Checklist

1. Activate and disable the command key.2. Use regular commands.

Work Time

1. You can turn the Command key on or off.2. Press the Command key. If there is no response, the Command key is off.3. You can toggle the Command key on and off.4. Toggle the Command key on and off by pressing Left Function, Right Function, Space, and New Line all at the same time. Try this now.5. When the Command key is off, there is no action taken when it is pressed. This may be good for beginner Braille students who should not be making changes. In this way, the Mountbatten acts as a simple Braille writer.6. If the Command key is off, the setting will remain when you turn the Mountbatten off and then back on. The same is true when the Command key is turned on.7. All regular commands begin with the Command key. Regular commands finish with the Enter key.8. As an example, you can toggle word wrap on and off by using a Regular Command. To turn word wrap on and off:

a. commandb. wwc. enter

9. When word wrap is on, the Mountbatten will say "on". Mountbatten will say "off" when word wrap is off. When word wrap is on, the word will not be spoken until space is pressed. Commands, such as Word Wrap, are toggle commands. They toggle between off and on.10. As another example, toggling between Advance Mode and Learn Mode is a Regular Command. To toggle between the two modes:

a. commandb. advc. enter

11. Some Regular Commands require a space or numbers.12. Some Regular Commands have a number in them. Numbers may be in lower or upper case.13. There are some Chorded commands available. Chorded Commands use space pressed with a letter or other combination.14. There are a few chorded commands that can be used at any time. Chorded commands are listed below.

a. Chord b backtabb. Chord c carriage returnc. Chord e endd. Chord f line feede. Chord h helpf. Chord i indentg. Chord p page ejecth. Chord r reverse linei. Chord t tabj. Chord z stops the speech (while speaking)

15. Try both regular and chorded commands to determine what is best for you or your student.

Goal Idea

Given a Mountbatten with paper inserted, a topic to write about, and verbal cues as necessary, the student will independently write two correct sentences for 5 of 6 evaluated learning sessions. A correct sentence means there is a capital at the beginning and a punctuation mark at the end. Spelling and Braille errors do not make the sentence incorrect for this goal. Correct also means that no physical assists were given.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for TeachersLesson 7Chorded commands

Skills Checklist

1. Become aware of chorded commands.2. Use chorded commands as necessary.

Work Time

1. Chorded commands use space with a specific letter.2. The available chorded commands can be used at any time.3. Use some or all of the following chorded commands during a practice time. Press the given letter with space to execute the command.

a. Chord B backtabb. Chord c carriage returnc. Chord e endd. Chord f line feede. Chord h helpf. Chord i indentg. Chord p page ejecth. Chord r Reverse linei. Chord t tabj. Chord z stops the speech while speaking

4. Practice and use the chorded commands as necessary.

Goal Idea

Given a Mountbatten with the paper loaded, the student will write his or her first and last name correctly for 5 of 6 evaluated learning sessions. Correct means that capital letters are used appropriately, there is a space between the first and last name, correct Braille is used, and correct spelling is used. Independent means that no verbal cues or physical assists were given.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lesson Plans for TeachersLesson 8Speech Control

Skills Checklist

1. Control the amount of speech that the Mountbatten speaks.2. Use commands available in the Speech Menu.

Work Time

1. As students grow and get to know more about Braille reading and writing, they may not need quite so much auditory feedback. There are many aspects of Mountbatten speech that you can change.2. You can have the Mountbatten speak errors and prompts only. No Braille dot keys will be spoken.

a. Press the command key.b. Write the letters spk.c. Space.d. Write the letter c.e. Press enter.

3. You can alter the speech so that only Braille dot keys are spoken. No function keys will be spoken.

a. Controlb. spkc. spaced. de. enter

4. The Mountbatten can be set to no speech.

a. Commandb. spkc. spaced. ne. enter

5. Commands to control speech are in a Speech Menu.6. To turn on the Speech Menu, press new line, space, and s together. This won't work if you are in Learn Mode. You must be in Advance Mode. Synthetic speech must also be on.

7. As a reminder, turn Advance Mode on with the steps below.

a. controlb. advc. enter

8. To turn synthetic speech on:

a. controlb. spkc. spaced. se. enter

9. To exit the Speech Menu, you will press space with e.

10. The first time you press each given character from within the Speech Menu, the current setting will be announced. When you press the same character again, you will scroll through the available choices.11. The last spoken setting will be kept when you press e with space to exit the Speech Menu.

12. To change the pitch:

a. nl space s to enter speech menub. dot 6 for higher pitchc. dot 3 for lower pitchd. Adjust to your preference.e. e with space to exit and save

13. The volume can be adjusted.

a. Enter speech menu with nl space s.b. dot 4 louderc. dot 1 softerd. adjust as you wishe. e with space to exit

14. Adjust the rate.

a. nl space sb. dot 2 slower ratec. dot 5 faster rated. Adjust to your preferences.e. e with space to save and exit

15. Change the Speaking Mode between three different options. The three options are: 1. letters spoken as ASCII, 2. letters spoken as dots, or 3. letters spoken as translated. To change the Speaking Mode:

a. nl space s to enter Speech Menub. l to toggle among the three optionsc. e with space to save and exit

16. ASCII is grade 0. All characters entered will be spoken as Computer Braille notation.17. In dot format, letters will be spoken as letters. All non-letters will have their specific dots spoken. For example, a question mark would be spoken as dots 2 3 6.18. Letters spoken as translated means that when you type a combination of letters, such as cd for could, the word could will be spoken when you space.

19. Change the punctuation. The three modes are Most, Some, or None.

a. nl space sb. p to toggle between the three choicesc. e with space to save and exit

20. Number Format allows you to have numbers being spoken as digits or as complete numbers.

a. nl space sb. nc. e with space

21. You may toggle capital letters on and off.

a. nl space sb. kc. e with space

22. You may have the Mountbatten speak commands as you write them.

a. nl space sb. cc. e with space

23. Foreign Characters spoken can be turned on and off.

a. nl space sb. fc. space with e

24. You can control whether or not Mountbatten speaks spaces or not.

a. new line space sb. sc. e with space

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 9Format Commands

Skills Checklist

1. Center text when necessary.2. Right adjust the text.3. Manipulate the margins.

Work Time

1. The formatting commands below will work in both Learn and Advanced Mode.

2. You can center the text on the page. The text to be centered will only be embossed after the new line key is pressed. The default setting is off. The command is a toggle command.

a. commandb. cec. enter

3. You can right adjust the Braille. When you right adjust the Braille, the Braille will be printed from the right hand margin. The default is off. This is a toggle command.

a. commandb. rac. enter

4. The left margin can be adjusted to 0.

a. commandb. lmc. enter

5. You can set the left margin to the embossing head position.

a. commandb. lmhc. enter

6. The left margin can be set to a column number.

a. commandb. lmc. spaced. column numbere. enter

7. The right hand margin can be set to 0.

a. commandb. rmc. enter

8. You can set the right margin to the embossing head position.

a. commandb. rmhc. enter

9. The right margin can be set to a column number.

a. commandb. rmc. spaced. numbere. enter

10. You can set the Braille page top margin. The number is the number of lines.

a. commandb. tmc. spaced. a numbere. enter

11. The bottom margin of the Braille page can be set. The number is the number of lines for the bottom margin.

a. commandb. bmc. spaced. a numbere. enter

12. You can set the tab at the position of the embossing head.

a. commandb. tshc. enter

13. Clear all tab settings when you need to.

a. commandb. tcc. enter

14. Practice using format commands as you need them.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten with inserted paper, the student will independently write 80 percent of the alphabet correctly on 3 consecutive evaluated trials. Correct means that the Braille letters are written with accurate dot formations. The student may independently make corrections on letters and be counted correct. No verbal cues or physical assists can be given on letters that are counted correct.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 10Default Settings and Line Spacing

Skills Checklist

1. Restore the Mountbatten to the default settings.2. Adjust the line spacing when necessary.

Work Time

1. The Mountbatten can be restored back to the factory default settings.

2. To restore the Mountbatten to the factory default settings:

a. commandb. stdc. enter

3. If you make changes to the Mountbatten and want to simply return to the defaults, do so at any time.

4. Line spacing can be adjusted.

a. commandb. lsc. spaced. numbere. enter

5. The default for line spacing is 1.

6. If you want line spacing of 1.5 lines, then the command would be:

a. commandb. lsc. spaced. 1.5e. enter

7. Adjust the line spacing as necessary.

Goal Idea 1

When making an error while using the Mountbatten, the student will independently correct the error for 90 percent of the evaluated trials.

Goal Idea

Goal Idea 2

Given the Mountbatten with paper inserted, the student will independently write a heading with no more than 2 errors per heading to meet teacher satisfaction for 5 of 6 evaluated trials. For a heading to meet teacher satisfaction, it should include the students name on Line 1 of the heading, the date on Line 2, and the class or name of the specific assignment on the 3rd line. Names and words in the heading should be spelled accurately and the heading should contain appropriate capital letters and punctuation. One error should be counted for each spelling mistake, punctuation error, or omission. Independent means that no verbal cues or physical assists are given.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 11Dot Height

Skills Checklist

1. Adjust dot height for different types of paper.2. Use smaller pieces of paper in the Mountbatten when necessary.

Work Time

1. On the Mountbatten, you can adjust the dot height for different types of paper you might be using.2. Adjusting the dot height is used to correspond the impact force on the dots to match the type of paper you or your student is writing on.3. For heavy Braille paper, the impact force can be increased. Press the command key together with the Right Function key to increase the impact force.4. For lighter types of paper, the impact force can be decreased. Press the command key with the Left Function key to decrease the impact force.5. The factory default setting is for regular photocopy paper. This paper is lightweight paper.6. Try various impacts using different paper that you are using to see what is best.7. When you use smaller paper, such as birthday cards or note cards, the Mountbatten might not think there is paper in the machine. If this happens, the Mountbatten will not let you emboss.8. When this happens, press the space and the new Line key together during a margin search.9. Try using this when you need to Braille on smaller pieces of paper.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten with inserted paper and verbal cues, the student will write a correct thank you note or greeting card with no more than 3 errors per card for 4 of 6 evaluated trials. One error should be counted off for each Braille code mistake. If physical assistance is needed for making corrections or is needed for any other task, the card should not be counted as correct.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 12Battery

Skills Checklist

1. Check the battery status of the Mountbatten.

Work Time

1. When you are using the Mountbatten without the charger plugged in, you can check the battery status.2. The New Line key with the Space and the letter b will check the battery status.3. New Line with Space with b will either tell you that the battery is okay or that the battery is flat.4. New Line with Space with b will also tell you if the power chord is connected or not.5. If the battery is flat, any embossing will stop.6. If the battery is flat, connect the Mountbatten to power for 24 hours.7. If the wrong power adaptor is being used, the battery may be flat. Use the adaptor that came with the Mountbatten.8. If the Mountbatten battery is still flat after it has been charged, the power adaptor may be broken.9. If the battery remains flat, check that there is power coming through the wall outlet.10. If the battery continues to be flat, it could be that the battery may be damaged and needs replacing. The expected life of a Mountbatten battery is 5 years.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten with paper inserted and a topic assigned by the teacher, the student will independently write 2 sentences for 5 of 6 evaluated sessions. Independent means that verbal cues or physical assists are not needed. Sentences should be counted correct regardless of Braille, spelling, structure, or punctuation errors.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 13One-Hand Mode

Skills Checklist

1. Use the Mountbatten in one-hand mode.2. Turn one-hand mode on and off.

Work Time

1. If you have a student who needs to have the Mountbatten in one-handed mode, turn this option on.

a. commandb. kuc. enter

2. By default, one handed operation is off. Command, ku, enter will toggle the one-handed option on and off.3. When one-handed mode is on, you must press space after each character.4. When one-handed mode is on, alternative commands for all chorded commands are available.5. To turn one-handed mode off, remember to press k space u space. The letters are not accepted until after you press space.6. To type the u you don't have to press dots 1 3 6 at the same time. As long as one dot key is pressed, you can press them sequentially.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten in one-handed mode with paper inserted, the student will write 50 percent of the alphabet letters independently on 5 of 6 evaluated trials. Independent means that no verbal or physical assists were given. Correct letters are those written with the correct dot formations.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 14Other Commands

Skills Checklist

1. Use commands that require the command key and enter.

Work Time

1. There are many regular commands that use the Command key and Enter.

2. Backtab

a. commandb. btc. enter

3. New line

a. commandb. crc. enter

4. Indent

a. commandb. inc. enter

5. Linefeed

a. commandb. lfc. enter

6. New Page

a. commandb. npc. enter

7. Reverse Linefeed

a. commandb. rlc. enter

8. Tab

a. commandb. tbc. enter

9. When you have extra time, practice the commands that you think you may need.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten with inserted paper, the student will take a spelling or other quiz with numbered items and will demonstrate independence at using the New Line key to go to the next line for 80 percent of the given trials on 4 of 5 evaluated quizzes.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Keyboard EchoLesson 15Keyboard Echo

Skills Checklist

1. Change the keyboard echo when needed.

Work Time

1. You can change the Keyboard Echo.2. Press New Line with Space with s.3. Then press the letter e to cycle through the modes of:

a. Letters On entering text means that each character is echoed as it is entered.b. Word On entering text means that the last word entered is echoed when you space or press the carriage return.c. Letters and Wordsd. When None is on, there will be no speech.

Goal Idea

Given a Mountbatten with paper inserted and a list of ten words given orally by the teacher, the student will write each word in Grade 2 Braille to meet teacher satisfaction with 80 percent accuracy for 5 of 6 trials.

Rosa Mauer 2009

Mountbatten: Lessons for TeachersLesson 16Amount of Speech

Skills Checklist

1. Control the amount of speech that is spoken when using the Mountbatten.

Work Time

1. As students progress and get to know more about Braille reading and writing, they may not need quite as much auditory feedback. There are many aspects of Mountbatten speech that you can change.

2. You can have the Mountbatten speak errors and prompts only. No Braille dot keys will be spoken.

a. Press the command key.b. Write the letters spk.c. Space.d. Write the letter c.e. Press enter.

3. You can alter the speech so that only Braille dot keys are spoken. No function keys will be spoken.

a. Controlb. spkc. spaced. de. enter

4. The Mountbatten can be set to No Speech.

a. Commandb. spkc. spaced. ne. enter

5. Adjust the speech as necessary.

Goal Idea

Given the Mountbatten with paper inserted, the student will complete a journal entry with 3 to 5 sentences independently for 4 of 5 evaluated trials. Correct sentences should begin with a capital and end with a punctuation mark. Sentences should not be counted wrong when there are Braille, structural, or spelling errors.

Rosa Mauer 2009