An exploration of the potential of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist and enable receptive communication in higher education

The potential use of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist receptive communication is explored. The opportunities and challenges that this technology presents students and staff to provide captioning of speech online or in classrooms for deaf or hard of hearing students and assist blind, visually impaired or dyslexic learners to read and search learning material more readily by augmenting synthetic speech with natural recorded real speech is also discussed and evaluated. The automatic provision of online lecture notes, synchronised with speech, enables staff and students to focus on learning and teaching issues, while also benefiting learners unable to attend the lecture or who find it difficult or impossible to take notes at the same time as listening, watching and thinking

Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines

Possibilities of web-conferencing systems for disabled students

This paper deals with issues of web-conferencing systems accessibility and usability. These systems and applications are becoming increasingly popular in the educational process. Unfortunately, the majority of webconferencing systems are not designed for users with disabilities. The aim of this paper is to describe possibilities of web-conferencing system for teaching handicapped students and explain the benefits of using this solution for common education. The main part of testing the hypothesis and possibilities were carried out in the Adobe Acrobat Connect system which is commonly used in the educational process at CULS.Accessibility, web-conferencing system, education, assistive devices Anotace, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, GA, IN,

Guidelines of Assistive Courseware (AC) for hearing impaired students

This paper defines the disabilities and technologies suitable for the disabled which is called assistive technology (AT).Two types of AT are hardware-based and software-based. In this paper, the software-based is focused, specifically in the form of courseware which is referred to as assistive courseware (AC). With concerns to develop an AC for hearing impaired people, proper characteristics should be followed.The aim of this paper is to initiate a study to propose characteristics for developing AC for hearing-impaired (HI) people.This paper starts with an introduction containing the problem statement, scope, and the objective of the paper, followed with reviews of related literature, and methodology utilized which are adapted from the waterfall methodology.The characteristics and the prototype is outlined next, followed with some observation results whish show that the characteristics can make the HI students learn with the AC happily. The final part concludes this paper

iMSL Interactive Malay Sign Language Courseware for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired

Malay Sign Language (MSL) or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia is a language that has been used by the deaf people in Malaysia. The deaf and hearing-impaired people go to special schools to learn MSL. In current age, technology could be utilized for the purpose of providing MSL course for the hearing-impaired people and their stakeholders. With the provision of the technology based MSL course, learning MSL not only happen in schools, but also at home, or anywhere. This makes the learning activity pervasive. Based on that argument, this study aims at proposing a model for an interactive multimedia courseware which is called iMSL. Accordingly, this paper discusses the background concept for the needs and design of the iMSL. The objectives of the study include 1) To determine the interface necessity for the iMSL for the deaf and hearingimpaired, 2) To design and developed the iMSL, and 3) To evaluate the usefulness of iMSL through user testing. In accomplishing this study, Waterfall Methodology was adapted. There are involved three phase which are User Requirements, Prototype Development and finally the Testing and Evaluation phase. ADDIE Model also adapted in developing prototype of iMSL. The qualitative approaches such as observation and interview were conducted with four students in standard 1. The result of this study concluded that the technology based on courseware is an alternative tool that can be used to assist the learning process for the deaf and hearing-impaired students. It is easy to understand and help teacher to teach in interesting way

iMSL: Malay sign language for the deaf and hearing-impaired

Malay Sign Language (MSL)or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia is a language that has been used by the deaf people in Malaysia. The deaf and hearing-impaired people go to special schools to learn the MSL. Incurrent age, technology could be utilized for the purpose of providing MSL course for the hearing-impaired people and their stakeholders. With the provision of the technology-based MSL course,learning MSL not only happen in schools, but also at home, or anywhere. This makes the learning activity pervasive.Based on that argument, this study aims at proposing a model for an interactive MSL (iMSL). Accordingly, this paper discusses the background concept for the needs and design of the iMSL. It contains the problem that lead for the iMSL, and activities and techniques to involve

A comparative study of D2L's Performance with a purpose built E-learning user interface for visual- and hearing-Impaired students

An e-learning system in an academic setting is an efficient tool for all students especially for students with physical impairments. This thesis discusses an e-learning system through the design and development of an e-learning user interface for students with visual- and hearing- impairment. In this thesis the tools and features in the user interface required to make the learning process easy and effective for students with such disabilities have been presented. Further, an integration framework is proposed to integrate the new tools and features into the existing e-learning system Desire-To-Learn (D2L). The tools and features added to the user interface were tested by the selected participants with visually-and hearing- impaired students from Laurentian University’s population. Two questionnaires were filled out to assess the usability methods for both the D2L e-learning user interface at Laurentian University and the new e-learning user interface designed for students with visual and hearing impairment. After collecting and analyzing the data, the results from different usability factors such as effectiveness, ease of use, and accessibility showed that the participants were not completely satisfied with the existing D2L e-learning system, but were satisfied with the proposed new user interface. Based on the new interface, the results showed also that the tools and features proposed for students with visual and hearing impairment can be integrated into the existing D2L e-learning system.Master of Science (MSc) in Computational Science

Critical analysis in proposing a conceptual design model of assistive courseware for low vision (AC4LV) learners

This paper reports on an ongoing study, which intends to propose a conceptual design model of Assistive Courseware(AC) that is particularly designed for low vision learners (LV) learners.Altogether, 15 conceptual design models of courseware were compared and analyzed exhaustively with the main objectives (i) to determine the research gaps in proposing a conceptual design model of AC4LV and (ii) to identify their common components.Through a systematic and critical analysis, this study discovers that all of the previous models do not suggest any specific conceptual design model of courseware that caters the visually-impaired (VI) particularly low vision (LV) learners in detail.It is noted that this is the research gap that should be the focal point for further study.Also, the previous literatures suggest that Instructional Design (ID) model, learning theories, and learning approach must be the basic component in designing the conceptual design model of courseware

Emerging issues and current trends in assistive technology use 2007-1010: practising, assisting and enabling learning for all

Following an earlier review in 2007, a further review of the academic literature relating to the uses of assistive technology (AT) by children and young people was completed, covering the period 2007-2011. As in the earlier review, a tripartite taxonomy: technology uses to train or practise, technology uses to assist learning and technology uses to enable learning, was used in order to structure the findings. The key markers for research in this field and during these three years were user involvement, AT on mobile mainstream devices, the visibility of AT, technology for interaction and collaboration, new and developing interfaces and inclusive design principles. The paper concludes by locating these developments within the broader framework of the Digital Divide

Conceptual design and development model of assistive courseware for young low vision learners (AC4LV)

The focus of this study relates to technology (hardware and software) that is purposely designed for people with disabilities (PWDs), which is called Assistive Technology (AT). Previous findings reveal that studies related to educational content in courseware is highly lacking, particularly for low vision learners. Also, many existing conceptual design models of courseware lack of specific requirements and empirical evidences to cater the needs of low vision learners. Preliminary studies have proven that available content applications fail to cater the needs of low vision learners in terms of information accessibility, navigationability, and pleasurability. Hence, this study proposes a conceptual design model of courseware for low vision learners, named as Assistive Courseware for Low Vision (AC4LV). Four (4) specific objectives are formulated. The Design Science Research Methodology has been adopted. Eight (8) components of Conceptual Design Model of AC4LV have been constructed and integrated: structural, content composition, AC4LV element, learning theories, learning approaches, development process, instructional design model, and technology. The proposed model has been reviewed by 12 experts and validated through prototyping. It was found that the proposed model has been well-accepted by local and international experts. Prototyping has implicated that the model is useful to follow by novice and non-technical developers. On top of that, the findings of user experience testing indicate that the AC4LV is able to fulfill the needs of the low vision learners in terms of information accessibility, navigationability, and pleasurability. All these findings demonstrate that the Conceptual Design Model of AC4LV exhibits useful development for content application as well as providing theoretical and practical contributions of the study.This study provides guidelines for developing educational content in courseware that caters the need of low vision learners so that this particular group of PWDs may gain equal opportunities of learning