Inclusive Communication with Augmented Reality for deaf and hard of hearing

UIDB/05021/2020 UIDP/05021/2020Deafness is an often undervalued but increasing problem amongst world’s population. Besides the difficulty in hearing sounds, it involves many cognitive and emotional issues, like learning difficulties, isolation and disempowerment. In this paper, designing artefacts for deaf people is analyzed from two different perspectives: technology and communication science. Regarding technical issues, research shows how Augmented Reality can be applied using screen interfaces or smart glasses translating sounds into visual stimuli; from the communication side, the focus is on storytelling and how it can be combined with the technology referred to engage people, enhance learning activity and create a community. By looking into these two aspects, the suggested approach is to merge them in a conceptual creative project that can be appealing and useful to the public, through the use of interactive storytelling, while also using the visual benefits of an immersive Augmented Reality experience.publishersversionpublishe

Evaluation of sign language learning tools: Understanding features for improved collaboration and communication between a parent and a child

Deaf children with hearing parents typically have issues with learning sign language fluently and developing literacy. In addition, these children rarely establish a strong, interpersonal bond with their caregiver. Currently, there are insufficient resources for helping bridge the gap between deaf children and hearing caregivers. This thesis proposes to explore solutions and evaluate their effectiveness with both the hearing parents and deaf children. Multiple mediums are investigated for the purposes of uncovering the most effective combination of sign language learning methodologies. This research will help designers better understand the world of deafness and how to design instructional tools that effectively utilize information about the needs and customs of the Deaf community

The Effects of a Tier 3 Pre-Kindergarten Language Intervention on Children with Hearing Loss Who Communicate Orally

This dissertation includes four independent but related chapters. The first chapter provides an overview regarding the whole dissertation document. Chapter 2 reports the procedures and results of a research synthesis focusing on vocabulary, oral language, and/or storybook reading instruction for children with hearing loss who communicate orally. The third chapter is a research study which used a single-subject design in order to assess the effectiveness of a tier-3 level of language intervention for children with hearing loss within a response to intervention (RTI) model. This research study also reports the relationship between children's hearing characteristics and their language performance. Although this research study focuses on children with hearing loss, the results can also be considered in light of children with weak language skills due to factors other than hearing loss. The final chapter presents specific strategies for teachers and parents regarding how early childhood teachers and parents of young children with hearing loss can assist their children's vocabulary and oral language development through storybook reading instruction, and ultimately support these children to become better readers

Using Information Communications Technologies to Implement Universal Design for Learning

The purpose of this paper is to assist Ministries of Education, their donors and partners, Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs), and the practitioner community funded by and working with USAID to select, pilot, and (as appropriate) scale up ICT4E solutions to facilitate the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), with a particular emphasis on supporting students with disabilities to acquire literacy and numeracy skills. The paper focuses primarily on how technology can support foundational skills acquisition for students with disabilities, while also explaining when, why, and how technologies that assist students with disabilities can, in some applications, have positive impacts on all students’ basic skills development. In 2018, USAID released the Toolkit for Universal Design for Learning to Help All Children Read, section 3.1 of which provides basic information on the role of technologies to support UDL principles and classroom learning. This paper expands upon that work and offers more extensive advice on using ICT4E1 to advance equitable access to high quality learning. Like the UDL toolkit, the audience for this guide is mainly Ministries of Education and development agencies working in the area of education, but this resource can also be helpful for DPOs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wishing to pilot or spearhead ICT initiatives. Content for this paper was informed by expert interviews and reviews of field reports during 2018. These included programs associated with United Nations, Zero Project, World Innovation Summit, UNESCO Mobile Learning Awards, and USAID’s All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development. Relevant case studies of select education programs integrating technology to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities were summarized for this document

The Meaning of Movement: Using Motion Design to Enrich Words for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

This thesis aims to address challenging areas of vocabulary for deaf and hard of hearing children by developing an open resource for students, parents, teachers, and content creators that utilizes motion to enhance written words for deaf and hard of hearing children. This research seeks to study the means of nonverbal communication such as body language expression and paralinguistic prosody (i.e., tone, intonation, volume, and pitch) qualities within the framework of graphic design through motion design. Body movement and expression are essential during face-to-face communication, but written language lacks such context clues. Additionally, the hard of hearing may not fully detect prosody within their range of hearing. This lack of information gathered through body language and paralanguage can be replicated with animated movement, which adds greater context to otherwise static text, enhancing insight into the meaning or use of a word. Seeing how a word in written form correlates with enhanced meaning through movement provides greater understanding and retention. This enhancement promotes improved communication in the world through graphic design. Motion design, specifically kinetic typography, offers a promising tool to help aid with language learning for continued exploration and development