Development of a Teaching Material for the Human Skeleton using a Visual Information Compensation Function

Abstract

Abstract: We investigated the use of a talking pen (Touch Memo ® ) combined with a specially labeled model of the human skeleton as a self-learning material on anatomy for visually impaired students. The talking pen replays previously input information when a dot-code label (re-recordable label) is touched. This study aimed to obtain students' evaluations of sites at which the dot-code labels can be attached at the indicative positions on the skeleton model to ensure ease of use, thereby determining the most user-friendly ways to use the labels for visually impaired students. Twenty-two visually impaired students specializing in acupuncture and moxibustion participated in the study. Four sites of attachment of the dot-code label to the skeleton module were examined: (a) directly to the bone, (b) head of a wooden screw in the skeleton model, (c) inside a hole of a 3.5-mm diameter, and (d) inside a hole with a 5-mm diameter. The participants evaluated the talking pen using a 5-point scale on the basis of recognition of the dot-code label and the responsiveness of the talking pen to the dot-code label. The results showed that students experienced more difficulty in recognizing the dot-code label by touch and in getting the talking pen to respond when the label was attached to a 3.5-mm hole than when it was attached by other means. In addition, regardless of t he degree of visual impairment, the most user-friendly sites were when the label was attached to the model directly and when it was attached to a 5-mm hole. However, attaching the label directly to the skeleton model often peeled off; therefore, we conclude that the use of the model with a 5-mm hole should be used and improved further