Public Information Services for People with Disabilities

The current chapter introduces an accessible multimedia platform applied to the diffusion of the digital signature. The project presented in this chapter is a multimedia initiative to promote the use of information technology (IT), specifically, the digital signature. Through the modeling of typical daily situations, the platform provides simple responses to any uncertainties or concerns a user may hold about the digital signature, and the advantages which its use entails. The multimedia system has been designed to support subtitling and audio description facilities, with the objective of enabling access to the diffusion of E-government to persons with an auditory or visual disability. The results of the evaluation of the platform by test users of the system are positive, and have initiated the continuation of developments which encourage E-inclusion.

Supports for and Barriers to Implementing Assistive Technology in Schools

This study examines practitioners’ perceptions of the factors impacting the implementation of assistive technology (AT) for students with disabilities in five public school divisions. Participants were five members of division-wide AT facilitation teams. Interview data indicated barriers including lack of stakeholder buy-in with a focus on administrative support. Important supports included the development and maintenance of relationships with instructional staff and technology coordinators. The ongoing need to build stakeholder awareness of and skill in implementing assistive technology was a common theme. Participants perceived that, if empowered to do so, an AT facilitation team can overcome existing barriers to implementation.

Elderly People with Disabilities in the Internet Age

The purpose of this research is to explore behaviour regarding the use of the internet by elderly people with movement disabilities. The study illustrates the ways, and the frequency, that they make use of the internet; while identifying the attitudes of non-users towards the internet. Quantitative research was carried out from a sample of 180 questionnaires divided into dyads (ninety users of the internet and ninety non-users) in order to explore and evaluate the attitudes and views of the elderly. The findings identify the factors that motivate older individuals with disabilities to move towards making use of the internet, and allow an understanding of the reasons why some of them are still distrustful towards the internet.

School of the Future

This chapter tackles the issue of e-inclusion in the field of school education. A picture of the new millennium learning panorama is outlined where new learners, new teachers, new tools and new pedagogies are around. Some experience –based reflections are also proposed on how, from this panorama, new learning opportunities may arise for “all” learners, irrespective of their individual differences and specific characteristics. The overall purpose of the chapter is to give an idea that the building up of a genuinely inclusive classroom is an achievable goal, provided that strong efforts are devoted not only in the direction of producing/using fully accessible e-tools but also (perhaps mainly) in the direction of making the most of them in order to suit the “different” needs of the “different” students.

Automatic Speech Recognition to Enhance Learning for Disabled Students

This chapter introduces the potential of Automatic Speech Recognition Technology (ASR) in the challenge of inclusive education. ASR technology combined with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enhances the learning of disabled people both in and outside the classroom. In the classroom, deaf and hearing-impaired students can benefit from a real-time transcription of what the teacher is saying. Also, a real-time transcription facilitates note taking for students with visual or physical disabilities. Outside the classroom, transcription and other media files (audio, slides, video, etc.) are powerful educational resources for all students, disabled or able-bodied. Some of most relevant projects and systems around the world are described and compared in this chapter to provide updated information about ASR technology performance and its application to enhancing the learning of disabled students.

Personal Learning Enviroments

Gifted Students, in spite of their very well known characteristics, have specific education needs in order to achieve their potential. Although they do not present a special educational need in the common meaning, they have very particular learning needs that, if overlooked, may lead to adverse feelings towards school and learning that can result in academic failure. Authors in the field agree that giftedness can and must be developed and providing challenging and facilitative learning environments is the first building block. The PLE, held up by WEB 2.0, for its openness and possibilities it offers to learn autonomously, resorting to exploration, discovery, networking with like-minded peers and experts fits the style and pace of learning of its user and shows to be a tool to fully suite the particular traits of these students. In this chapter a 5 dimension ple is conceptualized that accommodates the cognitive, emotional and education needs of gifted students.

Applying Virtual Reality (VR) to the Detection and Treatment of Clinical Problems in Educational Settings

In recent years, thanks in part to advances in computer technology, there has been a renewed interest in using Virtual Reality (VR) to improve the traditional intervention procedures used in educational and clinical settings. A growing number of researcher teams, and three-dimensional (3D) simulations, are oriented toward the detection and treatment of school-related problems such as violence in the classroom, hyperactivity, eating disorders, and drug abuse. In this chapter, the authors highlight the major advantages of using VR in clinical assessment and intervention programs. They also discuss some of the virtual tools that have been developed, as well as the results obtained with these tools.

M-Learning

Learning aims at interconnecting social classes, reducing poverty, and accepting diversity of all forms. This chapter presents technology enhanced learning for people with disabilities. At first, the author scans the phases of learning progression and proposes a learning model to represent their interrelationships. Then he explains the various types of disabilities within the learning reference of context and map available technologies to their corresponding learning disabilities. A special emphasis will be exerted on mobile-learning software, hardware, and systems that meet the requirements for learners with disabilities. In this research, the author find that although m-learning has several limitations and shortcomings to deliver to users, it is a promising learning technology for people with disabilities and its technological constraint and limitations are likely to be addressed and mostly eliminated in the near future.

Theory of Mind in Autistic Children

The authors discuss how multimedia learning systems and analogical reasoning could be used to help autistic children cope with the demands of reasoning abstractly and to develop their Theory of Mind. Learners with autism have problems reasoning about other’s mental states and beliefs, which has been coined Theory of Mind. The specially developed systems proved beneficial for the autistic children, which highlights the potential benefits that a multimedia system can have as a learning tool for Theory of Mind. However, there is some doubt over the usefulness of interactivity for learning beyond its enhancement of enjoyment and sense of participation. It is intended that the results will stimulate a reassessment of current multimedia theories as they relate to non-typically developing learners, and provide new directions for research in the area of support for children with ASD.

Benefits of CSCL for Learners with Disabilities

Perhaps contrary to expectations, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), particularly asynchronous text discussion, has characteristics that may be beneficial to learners with disabilities. CSCL seeks to bring the benefits of classroom-based collaborative and cooperative learning to the online environment. Collaborative and cooperative learning, and particularly its online form, CSCL, is a learning methodology with characteristics that may mask or compensate for specific disabilities. For example, in addition to the generally improved access offered by online learning, the slowed pace and anonymity of asynchronous text discussion has shown to improve social interaction for learners with communication and learning disabilities. This chapter suggests how learners with specific disabilities may benefit from CSCL discussion in postsecondary courses.