Potentials of the tangible user interface (TUI) in enhancing inclusion of people with special needs in the ICT-Assisted learning and e-accessibility

  • Authors:

  • Matej Zajc;Andreja Istenic Starcic

  • Affiliations:

  • Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia;Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia,Faculty of Education, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia

  • Venue:
  • KES-AMSTA'12 Proceedings of the 6th KES international conference on Agent and Multi-Agent Systems: technologies and applications
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

In the modern society, inclusion of persons with disabilities in the mainstream education is increasingly enhanced. The presented example focuses on inclusion of individuals for whom their learning environment is created and adapted according to their special needs and capabilities. In establishing the learning environment, the role of multimedia and ICT is important. Persons with disabilities are often disadvantaged in ICT and in participating in the classroom collaborative activities. The paper presents a novel interactive application utilizing tangible user interface (TUI) as an alternative input device for computer-supported collaborative learning and game based-learning. In the final part of our paper, we summarize the main findings and results of evaluation of our interactive game for the ICT-assisted learning of people with special needs often having them tested in a real educational environment. The findings indicate high usability of TUI for people with physical impairment and severe to mild learning difficulties for whom it enables inclusive ICT and e-accessibility.