05 May Discovering the impact of invention
Our early years students visited the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) and JOYN to find out the difference inventions can make to people’s lives.
As part of their exploration of inventors and inventions, Grades 3 and 4 have been learning about the work of Louis Braille – the inventor of books for the blind. To gain a better understanding of how Braille’s invention has impacted the world of blind people, this week students visited NIVH in Dehradun.
There they saw how learning material is modified so that visually handicapped students can touch it and create a mental image.
“It was amazing to see the visually impaired children use braille text books and do math and other work on computers with the help of talking software,” says Sheila Irani, Grades 3 and 4 teacher.
A game of cricket between NIVH students showed how they were able to adapt to their challenges using innovative adaptions to their equipment. Our students visited the braille printing press and saw how technology has made printing of braille easy. The children tried reading some of the story books in braille which they found quite challenging.
“It was a wonderful experience and it made all of us realise that simple inventions can make a world of difference to the people who need it,” says Miss Irani.
JOYN India
The class went on to visit JOYN India, a social enterprise where artisans create beautiful fairtrade handbags and purses, to see the impact of innovation there. At JOYN, the tools used for block printing and beading are modified to suit the handicapped workers, enabling them to work and earn a living.
Sheila Irani says, “Children understood that it is not only inventions but also simple innovations that can change the way we do things…..they can change lives!”
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