GEOVIB : An Application to SupportVisually Impaired and Blind Children inFollowing Geometry Lectures

Sammanfattning: Inclusive education has increased in popularity over the last two decades. Inclusiveclassrooms consist of children from diverse backgrounds and with variousimpairments, with special educational needs. Children with special educationalneeds in vision require assistive tools to access visual information. Topics thatmake strong use of such information, e.g. geometry, can therefore be challengingfor children with visual impairments or blindness (VIB) as well as their teachers.Assistive tools like video magniers and physical objects in the shape ofgeometric gures are used to aid VIB in learning basic geometry. Researchershave investigated tools and applications to aid VIB in learning geometry byusing haptic or auditory feedback as well as combinations of these. However,the tools are often not created with considering the classroom environment. Tounderstand the situation and challenges of these two stakeholders (VIBs andtheir teachers) better, a preliminary questionnaire was conducted. Five participantsof each of the two groups lled out the questionnaires. A concept for anAndroid tablet application to convey pre-existing geometric shapes and theirannotations to VIB, using sound feedback and sonication was created andpartly developed in two incremental implementation phases. The shapes arerecreated on the tablet using elements like circles and paths and then enhancedwith sound feedback to guide VIB to the various elements. With an iterativedesign, the two prototype increments were evaluated. The rst evaluation wasan usability study. Using seven blindfolded, young adult participants, feedbackwas gathered on dierent combinations between sound, tactile, and vibrationfeedback, as well as the general usability of the application for an validation ofthe approach. Each participants was presented the dierent approaches in anotherorder. For each approach, they were asked to explore three basic geometricshapes and then, without blindfold, draw these shapes. The time for applicationinteraction was measured and overall observation notes were taken. After eachapproach a short questionnaire was given to the participant. Another longerquestionnaire was conducted after all approaches were tested. It was foundthat sound feedback alone is not sucient in precisely conveying the geometricshapes to the users. However, combined with tactile objects to mark positionsof vertices on the screen the result improved signicantly and this approach wasfavored by the participants. The usability of the application is good but hasroom for improvement. A study was conducted with two teachers as expertslater on with the second prototype version. Two teachers with several yearsof experience teaching geometry to VIB in inclusive settings were interviewedconcerning the expected usability of the application for VIB and in the classroom,as well as general challenges and possibilities of including the applicationinto geometry lectures. As the teachers were located in Germany, they weresent a video demonstrating the application. One interview was conducted overemail while the other was conducted over Skype. The only challenges identiedare the media anity of teachers and the reliability of technology. VIB are notexpected to face challenges in utilizing the application and teachers could havemore freedom in the geometric shapes they present to their class.