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Teachers of the visually impaired (TVIs) regularly present tactile materials (tactile graphics, 3D models, and real objects) to students with vision impairments. Researchers have been increasingly interested in designing tools to support the use of tactile materials, but we still lack an in-depth understanding of how tactile materials are created and used in practice today. To address this gap, we conducted interviews with 21 TVIs and a 3-week diary study with eight of them. We found that tactile materials were regularly used for academic as well as non-academic concepts like tactile literacy, motor ability, and spatial awareness. Real objects and 3D models served as “stepping stones” to tactile graphics and our participants preferred to teach with 3D models, despite finding them difficult to create, obtain, and modify. Use of certain materials also carried social implications; participants selected materials that fostered student independence and allow classroom inclusion. We contribute design considerations, encouraging future work on tactile materials to enable student and TVI co-creation, facilitate rapid prototyping, and promote movement and spatial awareness. To support future research in this area, our paper provides a fundamental understanding of current practices. We bridge these practices to established pedagogical approaches and highlight opportunities for growth regarding this important genre of educational materials.
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Exploring Technology Design for Students with Vision Impairment in the Classroom and Remotely
Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) teach academic and functional living skills simultaneously to prepare students with vision impairment to be successful and independent. Current educational tools primarily focus on academic instruction rather than this multifaceted approach needed for students. Our work aims to understand how technology can integrate behavioral skills, like independence, and support TVIs in their preferred teaching strategy. We observed elementary classrooms at a school for the blind for six weeks to study how educators design lessons and use technology to supplement their instruction in different subjects. After the observational study, we conducted remote interviews with educators to understand how technology can support students in building academic and behavioral skills in-person and remotely. Educators suggested incorporating audio feedback that motivates students to play and learn consistently, student progress tracking for parents and educators, and designing features that help students build independence and develop collaborative skills.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1652907
- PAR ID:
- 10230839
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21)
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445755
