Hi again, Richard!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:

RW>  [...] when using qedit I want my synthesizer to give
RW>  me punctuation spoken aloud because it may be crucial
RW>  to proper syntax for program code.


           Uh-huh.  Some folks say guys aren't detail oriented, but the
guys I hang out with regard the punctuation of batch files as a serious
matter.  :-))



RW>  IF I'm using it to just read a textfile though I'll
RW>  shut it off.


           Too bad you can't use Victor Borge's Phonetic Punctuation... [BEG].



RW>  still speech doesn't have that immediate connection
RW>  to the brain braille has.


           Although I don't read Braille, I can relate as a clarinet player
to the concept.  Where speech does have an immediate connection to the
brain it's probably not the literal meaning of the words which engages the
audience.  :-)



RW>  I can speed read and still comprehend using Braille,
RW>  synthesized speech, I'm limited to the rate at which
RW>  I can understand spoken words, if not a bit slower.


           IOW, you find reading more efficient... just as I do.  You can
skim or scan the information in the owner's manual which you already know. 
You can slow down and/or re-read as necessary when you get to the more
difficult bits. You can take a moment to stop & enjoy a particularly
good turn of phrase or an amusing example of Chinglish.  If you're reading
for pleasure you can also use your imagination to understand how I'd read
"Double, double, toil and trouble" to a group of
fifteen-year-olds who considered me to be an old hag even when I wasn't
much older than they were.  Maybe it's type casting, but it works.  ;-)



RW>  Other disadvantage:  WHen doing something such as sitting
RW>  in a waiting room I don't want to be closed off from the
RW>  rest of the world as I would be with audio reading and
RW>  headphones, even one earbud is more cut off from the world
RW>  than I like to be.


           Yes.  When I'm sitting in a waiting room I play solitaire on one
of Dallas's castoff pieces of hand-held electronic wizardry which is still
usable as long as you don't mind too much if it reboots without warning
& forgets all about what you've been doing for the last ten minutes. 
These games don't take up so much bandwidth that I'm not paying attention
to my surroundings....  :-)



AH>  As a teacher I generally found a multi-sensory approach
AH>  most effective... i.e. the more connections one can
AH>  establish the better.

RW>  Always.  IN fact, some of my arguments in other activities
RW>  is that we're too busy teaching to standardized multiple
RW>  guess tests than we are putting folks' hands on what is to
RW>  be learned.  I get a bit frustrated with that .


           As do I.  Some folks like standardized tests because they think
the numbers are all that matters.  Okay, so here is a question from a
standardized oral test... "What are the colors of our country's
flag?"  The standardization was done in the US.  Is it fair to expect
elementary school students living in another country to figure out what was
going on in the mind of the author(s) & respond accordingly??  I often
felt similarly betrayed when I was a kid.  Tell me what you see... I'll
take the flak if it messes up the standardization!  As I'm sure you
realize, I'm not singling out Americans.  What bothers me is that kids are
rewarded for memorizing textbook answers & punished for noticing when
the textbook disagrees with their own observations.  I feel for the latter.
 I found myself under a lot of pressure as a teacher, however, to fill up
my mark books with numbers.  It didn't seem to matter to the folks who were
evaluating me what the numbers really meant.  Encouraging kids to think for
themselves is much more challenging & the assignments take longer to
mark.  If others prefer the easy way out sometimes I can well understand
the temptation... [wry grin].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+